Apologies in advance, require some advice/help regarding G24 LTD and DCB Legal letter of claim

Bunks

First of all can I apolgise. Despite trying to follow the newbies threads and other cases and advice for hours, I simply do not know the next steps for my case and before I give up and pay it, I thought I would create my own thread which I know is annoying and I'm sure all the advice I need is on this board but there is so much advice I am lost in it all.

My situation is:

On 29th July 25 I parked in a Wickes carpark to buy something (Which I did), however during my time in the store, i recieved a distressing phone call which involved me sitting in the corner of the store on my mobile guiding directions to my son.
On 8th August I recieved a CPCN for £100 with a picture of my car showing I had overstayed the 90 mins and I was there 102 Mins.
At his point I googled and followed some advice to ignore all these letters. I can't remember if i got any more of these but i ignored them.
On 15th October I recieved a notice of debt recovery from DCBL for £170 . Again I ignored it.
On 4th November I recieved the same but a final reminder. Following advice on forums I ignored it.
On 11th November I recieved a letter of claim from DCB legal. At this point I phoned Wickes to see if they could cancel the PCN. She said do i have a receipt. I told her i could show them the bank transaction from that date and that if they checked CCTV they would see me in the store the whole time. She said it's too far to go back on CCTV and she couldn't help.
I googled some more and followed advice to send an email as follows below.

Dear Sirs,

Your Ref. xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Proposed Legal Proceedings
Claimant: G24 Ltd

I refer to your your letter of claim.

I confirm that my address for service for the time being - assuming you don't faff about and delay any claim - is as follows, and any older address must be erased from your records:

My adddress

The alleged debt is disputed and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I am sourcing and seeking independent debt advice and as such, I formally request that this matter be put on hold for an additional 30 days, in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims 2017 ('the PAP').

I note that the amount being claimed has increased by a hugely exaggerated amount which the Government called "extorting money from motorists".

Don't send me your usual blather about that.
I have two questions, and under the PAP I am entitled to specific answers:

1. Am I to understand that the additional £70 represents what you lot dress up as a 'Debt Recovery' fee, and if so, is this nett or inclusive of VAT? If the latter, would you kindly explain why I am being asked to pay the operator’s VAT?

2. With regard to the principal alleged PCN sum: Is this damages, or will it be pleaded as consideration for parking?

Yours faithfully

me


They have now replied with 

04/12/2025 09:49

 

Dear Mr xxxxxxx

We write to acknowledge safe receipt of your formal response to our Letter of Claim sent to you in respect of this matter.

Having considered your response, our position in respect of this matter remains as per our Letter of Claim. We note that despite your points of dispute, there is an absence of any evidence in support of the same so that we may consider this with our Client. If you do have evidence which you believe supports your dispute, please furnish us with the same within the 30 days afforded to you.

As it stands, the initial 30 day timeframe under the Pre-Action Protocol remains, and County Court proceedings will be issued following expiry of this 30 day period, without any further reference to you.

We strongly recommend that you contact a member of our dispute resolution team on 0203 838 7038, as a matter of urgency so we may discuss this matter with you and avoid a Claim being issued against you.

If you are at all unsure of your legal position, you may wish to seek independent legal advice

 

Kind Regards,

Litigation Support Team

DCB Legal Ltd

I was hoping to continue to search this board for my next step but to be honest i keep following links and other cases and i'm so lost with what to do next or if i have even sent the right response.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can send pictures of the letters if necessarily.

Regards

Chris

Gr1pr

Not a fine, just an invoice for the alleged breach of the parking contract on that private property 

No paying , you have done everything correctly,  including opening your own thread

Ignore their response,  the next step is a Money Claim N1SDT pack from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL to arrive in the post to your address within the next few months 

Follow the 8 steps in the defence template thread in announcements and use the template defence after completing the AOS online on MCOL,  next year 

Bunks

Thank you Grr1pr  I will go and try and find that now ready for the money claim pack 

Le_Kirk

You could also prepare yourself by checking if you have a Government Gateway log-in.  If not it is very easy to get one.  That way you will be able to look at the claim when it arrives, complete the AoS and submit your defence.  When the N1SDT arrives do post here the date of issue and the POC and we can give guidance and deadlines.

Bunks

Great thank you.  I do already have a gateway.

Bunks

Is it unusual that I have not had any letter or email since my last post?

Gr1pr

No, not unusual, their deadline is 6 years from the incident date

Bunks

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901709#Comment_81901709

So i may not hear anything for a long time then?

Coupon-mad

Depends when they do another batch of G24 claims. It'll be soon.

Umkomaas

Meantime, while waiting, have a read of the following thread (not every post, as they are all fundamentally the same, just pick some random ones), because if you follow forum guidance on dealing with DCB Legal claims, your case will also be recorded there later in the year. You won’t be paying G24 or DCB Legal a bean!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations/p1