DCBL Final Notice – Parking Charge Appealed, No Response, Now Debt Collection

themonaleo · 2025-12-15T01:04:44+00:00

Hi all,
I’m hoping for some advice on a private parking charge that has now been escalated to DCBL, despite an appeal and what I believe is an incorrectly issued charge.

Timeline / facts:

Parking event took place in March 2025
Car park stated maximum stay: 2 hours
Original Parking Charge Notice alleges an overstay, but the total time recorded was 1 hour 56 minutes, i.e. within the allowed period
I submitted an appeal to the parking operator within the stated timeframe
I received no response to the appeal (no rejection, no POPLA/IAS code, nothing)
The next correspondence I received was escalation to debt collection
Since then, letters have continued to escalate, and I’ve now received a “Final Reminder of Unpaid Parking Charge” from DCBL

Key issues as I see them:

The charge itself appears to be incorrect, as the recorded duration is under the maximum permitted stay
My appeal was ignored, and the operator failed to respond or follow the proper appeals process
The matter has been escalated to debt collection without resolving the appeal
The charge has therefore never been properly established as valid or unpaid
I reached back out to the operator after it got escalated and they said there was nothing they could do as the Debt collectors now had it.

I haven’t acknowledged the debt to DCBL or made any payment.

Questions:

Should I now be responding to DCBL, or continue to ignore debt collector letters?
Is it appropriate to submit a formal complaint to the parking operator and/or their trade body at this stage?
Given the lack of appeal response and the apparent error in the overstay time, what’s the best next step to protect myself if this progresses to a Letter Before Claim or court action?

Any guidance would be really appreciated.