Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,

This morning we have received DCBL Notice of Debt Recovery - Unpaid Parking Charge. It says the offense happened on the 16.07.2020. My husband said he was at work that day (we do have WhatsApp messages to prove this) and the only thing he can think of is a parking place used to turn around in when dropping off work mate after work.

Is there anyway we can fight this? Also, at the time he was already living with me but we are not sure if DVLA knew of this as he moved in with me in Feb 2020 (covid and all) so he had no prior communication so to speak.

Could you please help us as I really don't want us paying £170 if he hasn't actually parked per say?

With regards
Andrea P.

DCBL are debt collectors and should be utterly ignored.
Please read https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/read-this-first-private-parking-charges-forum-guide/ and in particular stop veering towards identifying the driver.
We need to see the original PCN, not the rubbish from DCBL, can you post this?

DO NOT communicate with a useless debt collector... EVER! All they can do is try and persuade the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear. Debt collectors are powerless and should be ignored.

If this is the first you are hearing about this, the most likely explanation is teethe V5C registration document was not updated with the Keepers current address for service at the time. You need to check that the V5C has been updated with the current address. If it hasn't, you can do it online. However, that will not help you now.

If the address was not correct at the time, then you MUST send a data rectification notice to the DPO of (not so) Smart Parking Ltd. You send it to dpo@smartparking.com and you also CC in yourself. Your DRN must instruct the DPO to update their records with your current address for service and to erase your old address. The highlighted words are there for a reason, so use them. That's assuming 'you' are the Keeper.

Aside from the, all you can do for now is ignore all debt recovery letters and wait for a Letter of Claim (LoC) to arrive.

If you confer that the V5C address was not correct at the time, let us know and we can advise on a formal complaint to (not so) Smart Parking.

It makes no difference whether the car is no longer owned. What is relevant is who was the Registered Keeper at the time of the alleged contravention.

Good evening, we have today received this letter since ignoring the first one. Do we continue waiting for the one that says claim? Thank you in advance!

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Ignore DCBL for ever.
A Letter of Claim will come from DCB Legal in the fullness of time. Come back here when it does.

Respond by email to info@dcblegal.co.uk and also CC yourself with the following:

Dear Sirs,

Your Letter Before Claim contains insufficient detail of the claim and fails to provide copies of evidence your client places reliance upon and thus is in complete contravention of the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.

As a firm of supposed solicitors, one would expect you to be capable of crafting a letter that aligns with paragraphs 3.1(a)–(d), 5.1 and 5.2 of the Protocol, and paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction. These provisions do not exist for decoration—they exist to facilitate informed discussion and proportionate resolution. You might wish to reacquaint yourselves with them.

The Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols (Part 3), stipulate that prior to proceedings, parties should have exchanged sufficient information to understand each other’s position. Part 6 helpfully clarifies that this includes disclosure of key documents relevant to the issues in dispute.

Your template letter mentions a “contract”, yet fails to provide one. This would appear to undermine the only foundation upon which your client’s claim allegedly rests. It’s difficult to engage in meaningful pre-litigation dialogue when your side declines to furnish the very document it purports to enforce.

I confirm that, once I am in receipt of a Letter Before Claim that complies with the requirements of para 3.1 (a) of the Pre-Action Protocol, I shall then seek advice and submit a formal response within 30 days, as required by the Protocol. Thus, I require your client to comply with its obligations by sending me the following information/documents:

1. A copy of the original Notice to Keeper (NtK) that confirms any PoFA 2012 liability
2. A copy of the contract (or contracts) you allege exists between your client and the driver, in the form of an actual photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date, not a generic stock image
3. The exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract(s) which is (are) relied upon that you allege to have been breached
4. The written agreement between your client and the landowner, establishing authority to enforce
5. A breakdown of the charges claimed, identifying whether the principal sum is claimed as consideration or damages, and whether the £70 “debt recovery” fee includes VAT

I am clearly entitled to this information under paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c) of the Practice Direction. I also need it in order to comply with my own obligations under paragraph 6(b).

If your client does not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13, 15(b) and (c) and 16 of the Practice Direction, as referred to in paragraph 7.2 of the Protocol.

Until your client has complied with its obligations and provided this information, I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim and to consider my position in relation to it, and it is entirely premature (and a waste of costs and court time) for your client to issue proceedings. Should your client do so, then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.

Yours faithfully,

[Your name]

Hi, so we sent the email as you've told is to, we had no reply but we have received this in the post today? It won't let me attach the letter but it's from court