-
I have received notification of debt recovery from DCBL for multiple parking charges dated back to 2019. I at no point have received the initial charges due to a house move before the date and an error with the log book.
I gifted the vehicle in question to my girlfriend who does not reside with me. They have eventually found me at my current address.
Had I known about the initial charge it would of been paid and that would of been the end of the matter.
I'm not denying the idiot has parked there and used it for work. However I was not the driver of the vehicle and can prove this as my Google timeline puts me in different locations throught the northwest. Surely even g24 and dcbl must realise that over 30 charges unpaid is highly suspicious.
The problem is now my girlfriend has stage 4 cancer and I'm trying to protect her from this.
DCBL are now recommending legal action and I need to avoid a ccj as it can affect my motor trade insurance.
Can anyone give me any advice ? Even if there's a way of applying for an out of time appeal to roll back the charges to the initial notification.
Regards
Gary.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ] -
-
Firstly, I'm very sorry to hear about your girlfriend's illness - I hope you're both coping as well as you can in the circumstances.
It would be useful to confirm a timeline of what happened when, and get some clarity here. As a starting point:- When did you move?
- When did you update the V5C (logbook) to your current address?
- When did you gift the vehicle to your girlfriend?
- When, if at all, did she become the registered keeper of the vehicle and get a V5C (logbook) in her own name?
QuoteHowever I was not the driver of the vehicle and can prove this
Whether you were the driver may be relevant, but it depends if G24 complied with the requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 - if they did, then they can seek to recover the charges from you as the registered keeper. The issue is we don't have access to the original notices to check.
Can you also tell us exactly how many charges are in play here? From the images you've uploaded (2 are identical), it looks like 28. If you've missed any off, show us, as the dates may be relevant as some are getting close to the 6 year cut off for debt claims. -
-
The first thing you must do, immediately, is send a Data Rectification Notice (DRN) to the G24 DPO instructing them to update their records with your (the Keeper) current address for service and to erase your old address. The highlighted words are there for a reason and you must use them.
Even if the debt collectors have now found your current address, you can guarantee that if G24 hold two possible addressed for you, hey will use the wrong one and you will get a CCJ by default. So, first priority, DRN.
It doesn’t matter if you were not the driver if the Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) were fully compliant with all the requirements of PoFA because they can then hold the Keeper liable if the drivers identity is unknown. Without seeing the postal Notice to Keeper (NtK), it is not possible to know for sure.
One thing is for sure, they are going to litigate over this because it is a fat juicy sum and they are rubbing their hands with glee over the prospect of suing you for the prospective amount. The only thing they cannot include in the amount they claim is the added fake £70 per PCN which most judges would never allow.
There are some steps that can be taken now, besides the urgent need to send a DRN. Unfortunately, I’m doing this on an iPad right now and I need to be sitting at my computer to be able to assist properly. I will get back to you within the next few hours with some further advice on how to move forward with this. -
-
There are 37 charges that have only come to light through DCBL.
These date from 10/1/19 through to 4/5/19.
I moved house approximately November 2018. The v5 was unbelievably changed on 5/5/2019 yes the day after the last charge.
Can I request a photo of the vehicle entering the car park as dcbl clearly know what car it is down to the fact it's white with a black roof. Dvla only state it's white.
If it's a forward facing camera it will be clear it's a female. My partner is also willing to confess she was the driver. It's completely genuine. She did it to commute on the train.
This is causing all sorts of stress , especially to her and she has enough to deal with.
Is there an out of time appeal to get the original tickets? -
-
The first thing you must do, immediately, is send a Data Rectification Notice (DRN) to the G24 DPO instructing them to update their records with your (the Keeper) current address for service and to erase your old address. The highlighted words are there for a reason and you must use them.
The very first thing you should do is the above.
Some good news amongst all the misfortune - the parking company have up to 6 years from the date of each parking claim to sue for the charge. So the one issued 10/01/2019 is already time-barred, so that's at least 1 they cannot recover. Any others that reach the 6 year mark before a claim is filed will equally not be recoverable.
In that regard, it is positive that it is still at the debt recovery stage. If they want to sue, they'll need to pass the matter onto DCB Legal (similar name, same folks, but different company to DCBL), who will need to issue a Letter of Claim, and give you time to reply before filing a claim. Let us know as soon as you get such a letter. You'll need to respond to this, but the fact they need to allow for a response allows us to delay matters slightly, which will mean that a few more of the charges will potentially become time-barred. This is obviously not a solution - but the fewer charges that are in play, the less severe the costs if the matter were to go to a hearing and you were to lose.QuoteCan I request a photo of the vehicle entering the car park
I'm not sure what this will achieve - you seem to accept the vehicle was there.QuoteMy partner is also willing to confess she was the driver.
Don't do anything yet, but thinking aloud, this could potentially be used tactically, depending on how quick DCB Legal are in getting involved. It would potentially make your girlfriend the defendant rather than you, which I realise you may be keen to avoid, but they'd then have to follow the pre-action protocol with her too, and by the time they got to being able to issue a claim, such time may have passed that the number of charges they'd be able to claim for would be greatly reduced. I'm not suggesting taking that course of action, but it's one to bear in mind as we see how things play out. -
-
I like to clear the decks:
The driver is liable for the charges, but can only be pursued if the creditor knows their details. You aren't going to tell them, so put her mind at rest. Whether you may be pursued in lieu for the alleged debts is a matter of fact and law e.g. were you the registered keeper at the times and has the creditor complied with the mandatory requirements of the applicable parts of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 etc.
The cumulative situation arose because you failed to update DVLA in a timely manner when you moved. As this database is used by all private operators and public authorities you might consider that you've been fortunate that only this creditor is pursuing you.
As posted, there's a 6-year limit(ceiling, not floor) on pursuing claims for simple contract disputes(IMO there are no extenuating circumstances which the creditor may claim given that your correct address appears to have been available since May 2019*). You can do the maths. IMO, engaging in procedural prevarication is your aim to do which you need to keep on top of all correspondence the precursor to which is getting your correct address in the frame as advised.
'Notification of debt recovery' isn't even a recognised procedural stage in proceedings, so in practical terms even now IMO you could forget about any claim earlier than April 2019.
Out of interest, did you update the V5C in your name before you disposed of the car?
-
-
Apologies for not getting back earlier. However, you’ve received some good advice already.
The debt collector stage that you’re at right now is not concerning. In fact it is good.
As pointed out, there is a 6 year statute of limitation for civil claims in England. That statute runs from the date of the alleged contravention, not from the date the PCN was issued.
Even if any PCN was actioned on today, they would have to issue a Letter of Claim (LoC) which must give you 30 days to pay or respond. If you respond on day 29 with a request for another 30 days to allow you to seek debt advice, they are obliged to delay initiating any claim by that period.
So, even if they issued an LoC tomorrow, 23rd January and you follow the advice, they would only be able to claim for PCNs issued after 23rd March 2019. So, for now, you only need to be concerned about PCNs for alleged contraventions after that date and for every extra day you don’t receive an LoC, you can extend the date they cannot issue a claim for the PCNs.
Right now we do not know whether the PCNs that you may be liable for are PoFA compliant, especially from 6 years ago when a lot of these parking companies were not as switched on.
Apart from the DRN, I would not do anything else unless an LoC is received. Once that stage is reached, we will have a better idea of how many PCNs you are potentially dealing with. When responding to the LoC on day 29, you can request evidence of the NtKs and that will then give us a better idea of where you stand as far as defending any potential claim.
One thing is sure, if they use DCB Legal as their bulk litigator, there will be serious flaws in any Particulars of Claim (PoC) which can be exploited.
It would be useful if you could list all the PCNs that pertain to contraventions (not the issue date of the NtK) after 23rd March 2019 to get a better idea of how big a claim they are able to make should they actually progress it that far.
-
-
The dates are.
10/1/19
11/1/19
13/1/19
19/1/19
16/2/19
18/2/19
19/2/19
20/2/19
21/2/19
22/2/19
25/2/19
26/2/19
1/3/19
2/3/19
4/3/19
5/3/19
7/3/19
8/3/19
9/3/19
11/3/19
12/3/19
14/3/19
15/3/19
16/3/19
18/3/19
19/3/19
22/3/19
23/3/19
24/3/19
26/3/19
27/3/19
23/4/19
27/4/19
30/4/19
2/5/19
3/5/19
4/5/19
-
-
On that basis, given the dates, it's likely that we can ensure that they are only able to claim for a maximum of 8 of these. And that's based on the pessimistic assumption that you receive a Letter of Claim soon (although we should probably work off that assumption, as all parties will be aware of the relevant dates).
Have you sent a DRN? -
-
I can get the original date of first contact from the letter when I get home.
-
-
If what you've received so far is not a Letter of Claim, I'm not sure we need to know the date you received the most recent letter.
Your priority for now is sorting out the Data Rectification Notice. -
-
We don’t know if those are “issue date” of the PCNs or the alleged “contravention date”.
Show us the letter that accompanied the list of all the outstanding PCNs. -
-
The first letter from DCBL was dated 26 November 2024.
I rang immediately because I initially thought it was a scam as I did not recognise the reg plate -
-
Please show us the letter.
-
-
As requested
[ Guests cannot view attachments ] -
Agree x 1
View List