DCB Legal letter of claim and name change

IHaveANewName

Smart Parking, DCBL and now DCB Legal have recently started chasing me regarding an unpaid parking charge on 2021.

My first question is that since then I have changed my name. They have been addressing me by my old name up until now, but I just needed to check if I should advise them of my new name now in case it goes to court. I wasn’t going to bother advising them if they were going to lose interest, but if I’m thinking that I should tell them now.

Now I will give you the story behind the unpaid charge. Because of several factors on the signs in the car park, I ended up downloading the wrong app.

Firstly, the location of the car park “Delamere Street” in Ashton under Lyne does not appear on the car park signs and a code is shown instead. All correspondence from DCBL has referred to Delamere Street as the location, but it does not appear on the sign, which would have helped me identify if I was in the correct car park at the time.

Also the signs said to “use ringgo apps” which being plural, suggests that more than one app is available. I had only recently started using an iPhone ant the time and the App Store presented me with several options. I didn’t see one called ringgo in the App Store so I chose the top one called Your Parking Space. As there was no app called ringgo, I assumed it must be a generic term for parking apps, like Google for searching for something on the web or Hoover for vacuum cleaning. 

I downloaded the Your Parking Space app and paid for what I thought was the right car park, but it was a little further away from where I was and managed by a different company.

If the instructions to download the Ringgo app were clearer, this never would have happened and is my defence for not paying. If they had advised me to go to their website and download the app I would have done, but I didn’t see anything like that.

The Your Parking Space app is still on my phone and the installation date clearly shows it was downloaded on the date relating to this parking charge. If it goes to court, I will be taking my phone which shows the date I downloaded the app and also the receipt for the other car park.

If the instructions were clear and unambiguous, I would have installed the correct app in the first place.

Anyway I’ve copied the template from the newbies thread and added my reasons for not paying. That’s ready to email back to them.

Advise about my change of name, and any other advice for that matter would be very much appreciated.

By the way it’s already gone to POPLA who pretty much said I shouldn’t have used the wrong app. I also made the mistake of admitting that I was the driver. Hopefully the unambiguous instructions will be sufficient, but please let me know if this is not the case. 

Gr1pr

Definitely worth emailing the DPO at both Smart Parking and DCBLegal with correct, up to date details 

Plus emailing the LoC response template to DCB Legal too

You will be using the template defence by coupon mad to defend the future MCOL claim , with our help 

Coupon-mad

That’s ready to email back to them.

Add near the top, where you confirm your address, the correct new name too. Attach proof of the name change.

Also send the same to Smart's DPO.

You can remove the stuff about VAT, which is more trouble than it's worth! I will be removing it from the template LBC response because people keep coming back showing us DCB Legal's template reply which we don't want/need to see (please don't).

And while your case is quiet, please do this:

FIGHTBACK ALERT:

Please do the government's Public Consultation. We need every poster to complete this vital survey before the deadline.

See this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6617396/parking-code-of-practice-consultation-now-extended-closes-friday-26th-september/p1

We understand that you may need some pointers. It looks laborious, we get that. It doesn't matter; no knowledge is needed except re your own experiences so you can call out a scam industry and you'll protect millions of motorists and help change the law. 

I've written some guidance to help focus new posters on the issues. I've covered almost every question, providing ideas if you agree with our stance on things like DRFs, which we say must be banned.

Ordinary people like you are falling victim to this scam 15 million times per annum. Motorists need your voice added please.

CLOSES ON FRIDAY 26th SEPTEMBER.

Le_Kirk

You should, of course, also advise DVLA (driving licence AND any V5Cs) unless you've already done that.

IHaveANewName

Thanks for the advice so far. I have sent an email to info@dcblegal.co.uk and I also think I found the address of the person who sent it. 

Also, the letter was dated 26th August 2025 but I didn’t receive it until 11th September. This suggests that I can’t count on a speedy response from them by letter, so is it worth completing the reply form at dcblegal.co.uk/response as well?

Regarding the stuff about VAT, I sent my email after the first reply so it went out with that on it. Is there anything I need to know about it? Feel free to send me a link to a similar query if it’s easier. 

Finally I keep seeing MCOL being mentioned and it looks like I have to use my government I gateway account for that. Is this correct? I think I changed my name on the government gateway account last year but I didn’t receive a message to acknowledge the change. I will have a look to see if my details are correct on there. 

Gr1pr

Just wait for the reply, file it, then await the MCOL money claim to arrive in the post 

Yes you need to be able to login to your government gateway account,  in order to navigate through to MCOL 

Definitely check out your access whilst waiting 

IHaveANewName

I have received an email from DCB Legal. I can copy and paste it here if needed.

It is basically stating that it is no longer possible to appeal and that payment is now due and “Failure to make payment will result in a Claim being issued against you without any further reference.”

They have also asked me to provide them with my phone number, which I am not going to do. Any other advice before I reply?

Car1980

No need to reply. Just a typical begging letter from them.

You've covered yourself if they make a claim against the wrong person.

The claim will come and they will discontinue. They waste £35 and you have to fill in a few online forms. A waste of time for all involved!

Coupon-mad

Why are you thinking of replying? That's not in the advice!

You WANT the Claim Form. It's the end game where they will discontinue.

There are also over a dozen Smart Parking linked court defence threads in my post on Page 14 of the Consultation thread that I linked for you. All exactly the same. So easy!