Finally got an update on this so here it is
They said I had until the 8th November to pay the £680 or they would issue a claim
They have now done this as I revived the notice from the tribunal dated 29th November for the following
The court letter states
Amount claimed 701.28
Court fee 70
Representative fee 70
Total 841.28
This is for parking In bay 5 on
9/6/24
17/6/24
18/6/24
6/7/24
This was dated 29th November
However…
Dcb legal have sent a letter of claim on the 2nd December stating amount due 850 and parking fines issued on
10/6/24
11/6/24
12/6/24
13/6/24
13/6/24
Now i now i need to reply to the tribunal with a defence of some sort which I have, emails from the landlord saying they would cancel off the fines, while we were waiting for a permit in June and the July fine where we returned to find a vehicle parked in our bay, to which the landlord said they would contact the parking company to ensure the fine was issued to them, clearly have not done
Apart from responding to the courts, should I also send dcbl an email about their obsolete failure to consolidate the claims when they have been asked twice at this point and have not
Again much thank you for helping me deal with this absolute disgrace of a company, the landlord is also gonna get an earful of me once this is dealt with
Please show us the Particulars of Claim (PoC). Preferably show us the actual n1SDT Claim Form only redacting your personal info, the claim number and the MCOL password.
Do not, under any circumstances contact DCBL (the debt collectors). Did you mean DCB Legal? They are two separate sister companies and you are only to deal with DCB Legal. So, if you have a question, please make sure you are referring to the correct company otherwise it becomes excruciatingly frustrating trying to give advice.
If you have received a second LoC for what is essentially more PCNs at the same location of the same reasons, they cannot sue you for those if they are already suing you for earlier ones. They should have combined all the PCNs into a single claim. It is knows as
cause of action estoppel.
We can cover that in more detail once we've dealt with the current claim. With an issue date of 29th November, you have until Wednesday 18th December to submit an Acknowledgement of Service (AoS). Follow the instructions in this PDF on how to submit your AoS:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xvqu3bask5m0zir/money-claim-online-How-to-Acknowledge.pdf?dl=0There is no advantage to delaying the AoS but by submitting it, you then have until 4pm on Thursday 2nd January to submit your defence.
So, tell us when you've submitted the AoS and we will provide the defence you will submit.
In the meantime, please show us the Claim Form with all the PoC and also show us the second LoC.
Sorry i didn't realise i hadnt typed dcb legal, here are the redacted links to the letters sent
https://imgur.com/8Bhxiny Claim Form
https://imgur.com/PLaBND9 LOC Back
https://imgur.com/aAwjtKN LOC Front
as you can see the letter of claim is showing for different dates, when i contacted them back in august they said i was liable for all 6 cases with them, but there is clearly more, we have asked twice now for these to all be consolidated into a single claim and they have failed twice, ill make sure to include that in my defence, as for the response i'm looking through that dropbox link now
sorry if i caused any confusion with the naming and i appriciate the help sorting this
(any issues with the links lmk ill get on it)
So the LoC you’ve shown us, is for a new upcoming claim for 5 PCNs where they’ve added the fake £70 per PCN. You do not want to be telling them how to do their job for the second LoC. Let them stew in their own mistakes and greed.
When you’ve submitted your AoS for the first claim, let us know. Do not use the MCOL to submit your defence. We can provide a suitable defence when you’re ready.
All sent off thank you ☺️
Yeah given that some of the claims in the court paper are later than the ones on this new loc it really doesn’t make much sense to me why they couldn’t understand a simple instruction of, please consolidate the fines into a single loc.
I’ll start typing up all my evidence in the meantime into a google doc that should make it easier to detail and submit when the time is right, emails, photos ect
When you’ve typed up your notes, please let us know the detail and timeline of actual events so that we can formulate a proper defence for you.
Please check the “issue” dates of the PCNs in the Claim Form and confirm if those are indeed the actual “issue” dates of the PCNs. I will bet that they are not the actual issue dates but the dates of the actual alleged contraventions.
redcated the details that cant be posted online but the actual form has these and the images needed.
The dates on the notice to keep do match the dates if that's what you meant ? wasn't too sure on that one
edit : forgot to mention we have a 3 day video from our camera in the flat as it points to the parking bays, very convinient as it shows a vehcile parked in the space for 3 days, no permit (images to prove this) and no fine issued yet they were also parked in bay 5, this is one of the same vehciles that has been caught taking our space. Would it be possible as part of the defence to request the number of fines VCS have issued to vehciles from the move in day to present to show an inconsistent enforcement of the rules ? it doesnt relate to my fines enterily however it shows inconsitent treatment of people delibertly breaking the rules and not being fined where we were legitematly waiting for the landlord to sort the permit
This document outlines the facts and circumstances supporting my defense against the parking charges issued by Vehicle Control Services (VCS). It demonstrates that the charges are unfounded and unfair due to factors outside my control and the failure of the claimant to act reasonably.
Summary
We had paid for a parking permit, but a delay in receiving it, which was beyond our control, prevented us from accessing our designated parking space within the garage. As a result, we were compelled to park in spaces owned by the landlord. We were assured by the landlord that any fines incurred during this period would be voided while we awaited the updated permit. However, this has not occurred, resulting in a claim by VCS. Our actions were not deliberate attempts to breach parking rules; we had no alternative but to park in Bay 5 temporarily.
Timeline of Events
Move-in Date (01/06/2024):
I moved into the property on 1st June 2024, while my roommate had moved in a month earlier.
Prior to moving in, I requested and paid for a parking permit, including a £75 deposit and the first month’s payment.
On the day of my move-in (a Saturday), the office was closed, meaning the permit and access to the garage could not be obtained until Monday.
Landlord's Assurance:
The landlord managing the property assured us that any fines issued while waiting for the permit would be voided. We were allocated Bay 6 inside the garage as our designated space.
Initial Parking Charges:
Upon receiving the Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) in the mail, we forwarded them to the landlord, who successfully had some fines voided. For example:
An email from the landlord stated: “Would you please cancel these 3 tickets as the tenant is still waiting for the updated permit?”
However, fines related to Bay 5 remained unresolved. VCS claimed they could not void these PCNs because Bay 5 was not under the landlord’s ownership. Despite repeated attempts, VCS refused to disclose the actual owner of Bay 5.
Permit Received (23/06/2024):
On 23rd June 2024, we finally received the permit and garage key. However, on entering the garage, another vehicle was occupying our designated Bay 6.
The landlord later confirmed that Bay 6 had been sold years ago, and the current owner of Bay 14 had been informally using Bay 6 due to a design flaw. This issue rendered Bay 6 unusable.
Email from the landlord:
“The developer made a mistake with planning Bays 6 and 14, and the current owner of Bay 14 has been using both spaces due to their layout. Unfortunately, Bay 6 is effectively unusable.”
As a result, we were reassigned to Bay 6 outside the garage.
Further Issues with Reassigned Space:
On 06/07/2024, we found another vehicle occupying our new outside space. This situation forced us to park elsewhere, resulting in another PCN.
We reported this to the landlord, who responded: “Please send me the ticket, and I will ask the parking company to cancel it.”
Despite this assurance, the ticket was not canceled and remains part of VCS’s claim.
Key Issues
Delay in Access to Permitted Parking:
We paid for a parking permit and were assigned a space. However, due to administrative delays beyond our control, we could not access the garage or use our space until 23/06/2024.
During this time, we were told we could park elsewhere without penalty, yet PCNs were still issued.
Confusion Over Bay Ownership:
Bay 5 is adjacent to spaces owned by the landlord. The lack of clear signage regarding ownership led us to reasonably believe it was owned by the same landlord.
VCS has not disclosed the ownership of Bay 5, leaving us unable to resolve the issue.
Reassignment of Space:
Once we received the permit and garage key, we discovered that the designated space (Bay 6) was unusable. This was confirmed by the landlord as a long-standing issue.
We were reassigned to an outdoor space, but this was frequently occupied by unauthorized vehicles, resulting in further PCNs despite our efforts to use the space we had paid for.
Failure to Consolidate Claims:
VCS has failed to consolidate all PCNs into a single claim, issuing separate claims for the same underlying issue (parking without a valid permit). This is inefficient and an abuse of the court process.
Conclusion
The parking charges issued are unjust and unreasonable. The delays and access issues were beyond our control, and the landlord assured us the fines would be voided. VCS’s refusal to consolidate claims and provide clarity on ownership further demonstrates a lack of good faith.
We request that this claim be dismissed, as the fines were issued under circumstances beyond our control, and we made every effort to comply with the rules once a permit and clear parking arrangement were available.
Attachments:
Proof of permit payment
Correspondence with landlord
Photos of spaces (images removed for protection)
OP, there are so many cross currents here that it's difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. Can we put process issues to one side for a moment and get to who might or might not owe who money and for what.
We had paid for a parking permit, but a delay in receiving it, which was beyond our control, prevented us from accessing our designated parking space within the garage. As a result, we were compelled to park in spaces owned by the landlord.
You then posted that the space in question here, bay 5, is not owned by your landlord, therefore placing it outside any terms of your lease.
Pl just confirm, is the parking space at the centre of this dispute owned by your landlord or not?
If not, was parking there simply self-help on the part of 'we' to deal with a problem with your landlord i.e. not making a parking space available as per your lease? And why was extra payment made to your landlord anyway if this space forms part of the 'premises' referred to in your lease?
Your landlord cannot give you reassurances regarding land they don't control and yet PCNs were accumulated well after such assurances were given.
Have we even seen the clear and prominent signs which form this alleged contract?
You might win on process deficiencies by the claimant, but if not and a judge wants to get to the nub of this issue then IMO you need to re-order your thoughts and change your approach.
You also keep stating: "We were assured by the landlord that any fines incurred during this period would be voided while we awaited the updated permit." What form of evidence do you have for tis "assurance"? Do you have it in writing?
This was the email sent to me from the landlord as I was ccd into it when they tried to get the tickets cancelled off, sorry if I confusion. As for the parking bay, there is no evidence it’s owned by a separate person other than the landlord on site, the parking signs listed state that you must have a permit to park (the usual ones you’d find in car parks ect from similar companies) all the bays are in a line, numbered 5-9 on this side of the property, there are others on the other side that are numbered as well, these are also owned by the landlord as well as the 300+ inside the garage, it seems this bay 5 is the only one not owned by the landlord
Good afternoon.
We are the agent leasing this parking space on behalf of the car park owner.
I would like to clarify that this parking space is during the renewal period and we usually have a one-month buffer period for us to dispute and provide evidence.
I have made the @Permits team aware of the situation and asked them to cancel all tickets until we receive the permit.
We placed the order in early June and received it on June 20, 2024.
Winner x 1
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