@PallasAthena's post is well‑intentioned but legally sloppy, and it mixes up three different regulatory regimes:
• Debt collection regulation (FCA)
• Harassment law (Protection from Harassment Act 1997/NI equivalent)
• Data protection (UK GDPR/DPA 2018)
DCBL are a debt collector. They are not a party to any alleged parking contract, they have no independent cause of action, and they have no power to determine liability. They cannot issue proceedings in their own name and cannot lawfully demand payment from anyone who is not the alleged debtor.
In Northern Ireland there is no statutory keeper liability for private parking charges. If the registered keeper was not the driver, the operator has no lawful mechanism to transfer liability. That is the end of the matter as far as enforcement is concerned unless the operator can identify and pursue the driver directly.
Ignoring debt collector letters sent to the correct person is therefore entirely rational and what we usually advise. They add nothing, achieve nothing, and do not advance the matter in any meaningful legal sense. If the operator wants to pursue the charge, it is for the operator, not a debt collector, to take responsibility for that decision.
However, this situation is different because DCBL have written to an address where the named person has never lived. That is not about engaging with the alleged debt; it is about stopping a mis-trace.
The only sensible reason to respond at all is to prevent continued nuisance to an unrelated household. A single, neutral correction closes the loop. It does not legitimise DCBL, it does not acknowledge the debt, and it does not concede anything. It simply removes the wrongly targeted address from circulation.
One short response is enough. It should do only three things: state that the named person does not live at the address, require that the address be removed from DCBL’s records for that individual, and require that there be no further contact to that address about that person. Nothing else should be said.
If DCBL then continue to write after being clearly told the person does not live there, they lose any protection they might otherwise claim. At that point, complaints about misuse of personal data and unreasonable conduct become well-founded.
If they stop after one correction, the issue ends cleanly. If they do not, they have created the evidence against themselves.
No one at the mis-traced address should discuss the parking charge, the vehicle, the driver, the keeper, or Northern Ireland law with DCBL. None of that is their problem, and none of it is DCBL’s business.
In short: DCBL are powerless in substance, but correcting a wrong address once is about shutting down nuisance, not empowering them. After that, silence is entirely appropriate unless the actual parking operator or a solicitor appears with something that genuinely matters.
Send the following to DCBL by first class post and get a free proof of posting certificate from any post office. Do not sign it with a handwritten signature (typed name only). Do not add anything else, even if tempted.:
To whom it may concern,
You have written to this address regarding [NAME]. That person has never lived here.
This address is not associated with the individual you are seeking. Your records are therefore inaccurate.
You are required to remove this address from your records for that individual and must not contact this address again in connection with them.
Any further contact to this address after receipt of this notice will be treated as misuse of personal data and will be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
This notice constitutes a formal data rectification request.
[Name]
[Address]
