Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi
so the court defence has been lodged as above, what happens next? My concern is the court finds against us and issues a CCJ before we know about it

Also had this (pasted below) back from DCB in response to the letter back to them, there is also a camera picture of our car going in and out 108 mins apart (car park is 45) There is a possibility we visited several times as I was installing a kitchen and spent half my life at Wickes.

Which leads me to another point, the incident was 29/8/19 which is now 2 weeks off 6 years, would that have any relevance re limitation?

 If the charge is valid, the fact that we had no communication until very recently meant that we had no way of paying the original amount and avoiding late charges
Thanks for all your help!
We now respond to the same as follows.

 

The terms and conditions on the signs stated 45 minutes free parking, or otherwise a parking charge would be issued. The vehicle was recorded on the land for 1 hour 48 minutes, as is demonstrated in the evidence attached. The parking charge was issued correctly.

 

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 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.

 

Schedule 4 (4)(1) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“the Act”) states “The creditor has the right to recover any unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the vehicle”. For the purpose of the Act; “keeper” means the person by whom the vehicle is kept at the time the vehicle was parked, which in the case of a registered vehicle is to be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to be the registered keeper. The DVLA confirmed that you were the Registered Keeper at the time the parking charge was issued and as no transfer of liability has been received by our Client, they have the right to recover the parking charge from you as the Keeper of the vehicle.

 


The Notice to Keeper was issued to you on 29th August 2019. A copy is attached. You were afforded the opportunity to; appeal the parking charge, transfer liability to the driver (if it was not you) or make payment. Neither a successful appeal, nor an adequate nomination were received, yet payment remains outstanding.

 

Our Client will ensure that there are signs clearly displayed on the land, outlining the terms of the parking.  These will generally be displayed at the entrance and exit of the land/ car park, as well as being positioned at various points throughout the land. Our Client does not need to prove that you read and understood the terms of those signs and will rely on the fact that the signs were situated on the land and that a reasonable person would have seen them.

 

You should always be vigilant when entering any land that you are not familiar with or that you know is privately owned and there are parking terms in place.


 


We have contacted our Client to request further evidence pertaining to the matter, once received we shall forward the documentation to you.


 

In accordance with the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice, where the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) 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. As such, the outstanding balance of £170.00 remains payable to prevent further action. The HMRC ‘VAT Supply and Consideration manual’ (VATSC06140), which was last updated on 02 September 2020, confirmed that parking charge notices falls out of the scope of VAT.

 

In relation to the comments concerning damages, the sum added is a contribution to the actual costs incurred by our Client as a result of your non-payment. Our Client’s employees have spent time and material attempting to recover the debt. This is not our Client’s usual business and the resources could have been better spent in other areas of the business. Had you of paid as per the Contract, there would have been no need for recovery action so the amount due would not have increased.


 

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

 

Account Name: DCB Legal Ltd Client Account   
Sort Code: 20-24-09   
Account Number: 60964441
You must quote the correct case reference (121960.13178D) 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, this can be emailed to us at info@dcblegal.co.uk.

 

Alternatively, you can contact DCB Legal Ltd on 0203 838 7038 to make payment over the telephone or online at https://dcblegal.co.uk/response/pay-online/.

@b789 Wow, that's fantastic, thank you!
@jfollows point taken

I'll keep you posted, hopefully this can be of some help to others

Show us the letter and any Parking Charge Notice (PCN) received.

READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide

At the time of the alleged contravention, was your V5C address top to date? G24 can only access the DVLA data once. If you've moved before that date and had failed to update the vehicle registration document, then you will never have received the original Parking Charge Notice (PCN) which would have been issued as a postal Notice to Keeper (NtK).

Here you go, jumped the gun, sorry