DCB LEGAL QUERY

mydebtfreejourney24

Hello!
Thank you for all the information via this forum, I’ve successfully
managed to get a friends parking fine cancelled however, ironically, a historical one of mine has caught up with me and I’m now trying to fight this. 

Long story short, DCB Legal have sent me a letter of claim, I have the beginnings of an email response to send, incorporating the request to delete an old address and also for an additional 30 days, however, I’m unsure if/how to respond to my parking specifics and looking for guidance….

so I parked in July 2022, paid in full and left within my time, but I had a bit of a brain fumble at the time (due to a brain injury and MH issues) that meant when I stepped to the machine, I typed in ‘F’ to start my registration, but then my brain fog convinced me the coins needed to go first so I did that and lo and behold ended up with a ticket that just says F! 

It sounds completely bonkers I know, just simply one of those silly moments similar to when keys go in the fridge or something, but anyway, once the ticket was printed, the only thing I could think to do, and did, was write the rest of my reg on the ticket and display as normal. Left within half an hour or so, but kept hold of the ticket “just in case”… see I am quite sensible too… 
Anyway, of course I heard from ECP appealed by explanation of health and showing them the ticket, i lost, but was told that if I just paid £20 admin fee it’ll all be cleared. I didn’t do that, and ignored anything else I received. 

Anyway, I then moved address and recently have been “found” by DCB. 

To this day I still have the ticket and my bank statements corroborate parking costs paid at that time and date, so what do I do?! Send the email I’ve started and explain my story or send just the address/30 day info and await whatever else happens? I’ve seen the advice regarding Sarah Ensall and the Mazur case too so could include something about that? Or is my case a lost cause and I should just pay £140? 

Many thanks and apologies for any potential repeat questions!

Gr1pr

Stick to fighting ECP and DCB LEGAL,  following the advice in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad 

If you have a Letter of Claim giving you 30 days notice,  respond by email to the info@ email address 

Then await a claim form 

Eventually they will discontinue before the hearing fee deadline date,  next year 

No paying 

Coupon-mad

I do NOT think that is what happened.  This wasn't your decision; the machine moved on. Have you not seen all the national news articles this year about this?

mydebtfreejourney24

Thank you both for the reassurance.
@Coupon-mad what a good point, I hadn’t thought of it this way (re: machine moving on) and no, haven’t noticed articles - lots going on in my life this year so perhaps been a bit ignorant. I will certainly look back now though for additional conviction to my argument! 

Car1980

They'll just discontinue, along with the other 250 ECP claims they file every week.

Coupon-mad

mydebtfreejourney24 said:

Thank you both for the reassurance.
@Coupon-mad what a good point, I hadn’t thought of it this way (re: machine moving on) and no, haven’t noticed articles 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdeln2ly1z0o.amp

Watch the video with my contact, Lynda Eagan. There are a lot of us angry middle aged women helping people with this scam!

mydebtfreejourney24

Thanks all.
Template sent, hopefully it’ll be cancelled ahead of any hearing! But may be back if I need any further advice. 

mydebtfreejourney24

Hello again, please see reply received via email from an Amelia Grisenthwaite. Not responding specifically to anything I said except the request for a further 30days. Do I simply just wait for them to drop court forms through my letterbox now? Thank you again for any advice….

We write in response to your recent correspondence in response to our Letter of Claim (LOC) and will now respond as follows.

It is our position that the Letter of Claim (“LOC”) is compliant with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (“the Protocol”). The LOC provides adequate information for you to identify the debt that our Client is seeking to recover. We would respectfully draw your attention to paragraph 2.1(c) of the Protocol and remind you that both parties are expected to act reasonably and proportionately.

For the avoidance of doubt, please note that the timeframe in which to appeal the Parking Charge has expired. You were given the opportunity to lodge an appeal when the initial Notice was issued to you. Given that the case has been escalated to this firm for recovery action, the time to appeal has now elapsed and payment of the Parking Charge(s) is now required.

The amount owed is a genuine pre-estimate of the losses incurred in managing the parking location to ensure compliance with the clearly displayed terms and conditions. Further, in accordance with the British Parking Association (BPA)/International Parking Community (IPC) Code of Practice, where the Parking Charge becomes overdue and before Court proceedings have commenced, a reasonable sum may be added for the debt recovery fees. The correct recovery fees have been added and will not be removed, for completeness we would advise that the fee is not inclusive of any VAT, as it does not pertain to a supply of goods/services between you and our Client.

To clarify, when parking on private land, the contractual terms of the site are set out on the signs. You are thus entering into a contract (by way of conduct) and agreeing to the terms by parking and staying on the site. Parking in breach of the terms as stipulated on the signage means that you are then breaking the terms of the contract.

Attached are copies of evidence pertaining to the matter, however, if there are any documents that you have requested, but that are not attached, it is because we have deemed the request to be disproportionate and/or not relevant to the substantive issues in dispute. We respectfully draw your attention to paragraph 2.1(c) of the Protocol and remind you that both parties are expected to act reasonably and proportionately.

You now have 30 days from the date of this email/letter to make payment of the amount as per our Letter of Claim. Failure to make payment will result in a Claim being issued against you without any further reference.

Payment can be made via bank transfer to our designated client account: -

• Account Name: DCB Legal Ltd Client Account
• Sort Code: 
• Account Number:

You must quote the correct case reference () when making payment. If you do not, we may be unable to correctly allocate the payment. If further action is taken by us as a result of an incorrect reference being quoted, you will be liable for any further fees or costs incurred.

We would ask that you kindly furnish us with your most up to date telephone number and email address, this can be emailed to us at info@dcblegal.co.uk.

Please note that in the absence of payment in the next 30 days, our position remains as previously advised. As such, should our client instruct us to proceed with further legal action, we reserve the right to do so without any further reference to you.

If you are at all unsure of your legal position, we recommend that you seek your own independent legal advice 

Kind Regards,

Litigation Support Team

Gr1pr

File it away and wait for the inevitable N1SDT court claim pack from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL to arrive in the post 

mydebtfreejourney24

Noted, thanks.