Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Private parking tickets => Topic started by: CurlyGirlCymru on March 07, 2025, 10:54:34 am
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Thanks for replying and for the advice.
I'm loathed to do it but I think I will pay the £170 as I'm very pressed for time with my current commitments.
I've written to Costa again but I'm not holding my breath for a response as they didn't reply the first time.
STOP!!!!!!! Absolutely do not pay the ridiculous charge with the fake added £70. Jeez... the gullible tree is heavy with low-hanging fruit today.
If ParkingEye have handed this to the incompetents at DCB Legal to pursue, it means they know that have no chance of recovering this unless the recipient can be conned into paying up. ParkingEye have their own internal legal team and will always use that of they believe they have a chance at recovering the charge.
I can tell you now, with greater than 99.99% certainty that once they issue a claim (they definitely will), as long as you follow the advice and defend it, no matter how flimsy your defence, they will eventually discontinue the claim and that will be the end of the matter.
So, before I waste any more of my time on advice, are you prepared to fight this all the way to a discontinuance or are you just going to be low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree, ripe for the picking and paying up out of ignorance and fear? In the incredibly remote chance that this would actually get as far as a hearing and then assuming that you were unsuccessful, you would in all likelihood still pay less than the claim amount because £70 of that is a fake added recovery fee which is not allowed in the small claims track.
Anyone paying, especially at this stage, is a fool and becomes a part of the problem by funding this scam.
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Understood.
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Thanks for replying and for the advice.
I'm loathed to do it but I think I will pay the £170 as I'm very pressed for time with my current commitments.
I've written to Costa again but I'm not holding my breath for a response as they didn't reply the first time.
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You have three outcomes, all have downsides. Best option would have been to approach Costa when you got the PCN and got them to cancel it but it's probably too far along for that now.
1. Grit your teeth, pay it and get on with your life knowing it's sorted.
2. Sit tight, ignore the letters and wait for a claim form which may never arrive.
3. They issue a claim which may or may not get discontinued before they get to court.
Outcome 1 costs you now but get it sorted.
Outcome 2 doesn't cost you anything but you have it hanging around in the back of your mind.
Outcome 3 could potentially cost you more than £170 if it went to court and you lose, probably around £230 and you have the hassle of doing the paperwork, putting defence together etc.
Really depends on your appetite to push this through the system, and on the face of it without getting into the semantics you did breach the contract terms although there may be valid reasons why the contract isn't valid. The onus is on you to prove that with help from people here although some of the defences offered are highly theoretical and haven't been tested in court.
The protections of freedom act just bit just means they can hold the keeper liable if they don't know who the driver is (the contract is officially with the driver). There is no requirement for you to name the driver but they can hold you as keeper, liable if they have complied with the requirements of POFA.No doubt someone will be along in a minute to tell you the wording on Parking Eye PCNs isn't fully compliant with POFA but it's a very untested and technical defence and would need to be decided on by a judge.
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Thank you!
Here's the back of the letter: https://imgur.com/a/x7QTnNO
It does mention the 'Protection of Freedoms Act 2012'.
I'll wait to see if anyone else replies.
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The back of the notice to the keeper would be useful as well, does it mention the Protection of Freedoms Act? On the face of it it’s compliant to transfer liabilty from the driver to the keeper but only if it has the right words.
Wait for others to provide input before paying anything I suggest. I can’t myself see a magic get-out but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
I have at the back of mind a thought that Parking Eye only use DCBL for cases they think are hopeless, but I can’t substantiate that thought. If correct you ‘just’ have to endure the paperwork chain until they give up. Wait for better input!
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Ah, I see. So shall I just pay up the £170 to the bailiffs?
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OK, you received it, question about V5C no longer relevant.
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After a rummage, I have found a Parking Notice Charge from 'Parking Eye'!
Copy here: https://imgur.com/a/G8Ii5UZ
I was 11 minutes over the two hour time allowed.
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That’s not the notice to the keeper, which was originally sent by Parking Eye sometime after 17/7/24.
Whilst you should indeed ignore DCBL, you shouldn’t ignore the original notice from Parking Eye, but maybe you never received it. Is the V5C document for your car accurate?
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I will double-check to see if I've missed anything but I don't believe I have.
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Thanks for replying.
The original notice to keeper is here: https://imgur.com/a/TlCaKgy
This was the first letter that I received. I also saw on an earlier post advice that you should ignore letters from DCBL Debt Collections Bailiffs Ltd but not from DCBLegal.
On the back it has timestamped images of my car arriving and leaving the car park, showing and under 10 minutes 'overstay'.
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Original notice to keeper before all this? Do you have it? Can you post it? DCBL is acting on behalf of whoever issued this.
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Hello,
I received a debt collector letter from dcbl Direct Collections Bailiffs Ltd for £170, which I ignored, as I noted this has been advised on similar posts on this forum.
However, I have now received a 'Letter of Claim' from DCB Legal Ltd (dated 18 Feb 2025 - link to copy below).
To provide some context - I parked in a Costa Coffee Car Park while I stopped to purchase lunch and overstayed the 2 hour parking allowance, according to dcbl Direct Collections Bailiffs Ltd, by less than 10 minutes. The bailiff letter included photos of my car showing the times I arrived and left.
The reason given for the fine is "Vehicle Remained in Private Property In Breach Of The Prominently Displayed Terms and Conditions."
I used to visit this Costa Coffee regularly in between meetings and have never noticed the parking restrictions before. I assumed I was OK to park there as I have always been a paying customer when using the carpark.
I wrote to Costa Coffee when I received the bailiff letter but they have not responded.
I have dated proof of a purchase from this visit to Costa Coffee on a bank statement, and as it was for work, I'm sure I have a receipt from my expenses claim.
I would be very grateful for advice on what to do next to avoid paying the £170 fine.
Thanks
https://imgur.com/a/DzbAaUJ
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