3. Letter before claim from DCB legal
« previous next »
Pages: [1] 2

Author Topic: Letter before claim from DCB legal  (Read 3798 times)

0 Members and 19 Guests are viewing this topic.

Letter before claim from DCB legal
« on: »
Hi

I have receieved a letter of claim dated 08 October from this company, for 3 unpaid parking tickets from 28 March, 03 April and 07 April.  I do not recognise the location of the offences (all in the same location) and am unsure who was driving.

I did receieve some letters before this but have not responded to any as I am only the RK of the vehicle and did not know anything about it.  Whilst this was rather foolish, I wanted to know if it is best to reply to this letter before claim and what my next options are.  I will try to upload a copy of the letter today

Many thanks

Logged

Share on Bluesky Share on Facebook

Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #1 on: »
In general it is a good idea to respond to Letters of Claim - once we see it, we can advise on a suitable response. What parking company are they acting for?
Logged
Away from 29th March - 5th April
Posting for the first time? READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide | House Rules

Useful Links (for private parking charges):
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) Schedule 4 | Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #2 on: »
Who is the claimant? Simply respond wit the following:

Quote
Dear Sirs,

Your Ref. ############
DCB Legal Ltd.
Claimant: [claimant name]

I refer to your your letter of claim.

I confirm that my address for service for the time being - assuming you don't faff about and delay any claim - is as follows, and any older address must be erased from your records:
[MY CURRENT ADDRESS]

The alleged debt is disputed and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I do not recognise the location of the alleged contractual breaches (all in the same location) and am unsure who was driving except to know that it was not myself, the Registered Keeper.

I note that the amount being claimed appears to be a hugely exaggerated amount which the Government called "extorting money from motorists". Don't send me your usual blather about that.

I have two questions, and under the PAP I am entitled to specific answers:

1. Am I to understand that the additional £70 per PCN represents what you lot dress up as a 'Debt Recovery' fee, and if so, is this nett or inclusive of VAT? If the latter, would you kindly explain why I am being asked to pay the operator’s VAT?

2. With regard to the principal alleged PCN sum: Is this damages, or will it be pleaded as consideration for parking?

I await your answers to the questions as you are obligated to respond to according to the PAP.

Yours faithfully.

[Your name]

I suggest you do not give this bottom-dwelling firm of bulk litigators any respect as they are not worthy of it. The tone suggested is perfectly acceptable. They are going to issue a claim no matter what. The purpose of the VAT questions is so that you can report the to HMRC for suspected VAT fraud.

I can say with 99% certainty that a DCB Legal issued claim that is correctly defended will eventually be discontinued.
Logged
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #3 on: »
I would suggest showing us the letter before sending anything - these things are all boilerplate, but it's always sensible to make sure there isn't anything unexpected on there, odd things do happen.
Logged
Away from 29th March - 5th April
Posting for the first time? READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide | House Rules

Useful Links (for private parking charges):
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA) Schedule 4 | Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #4 on: »
 

Please find attached the letter before claim - many thanks for the replies
« Last Edit: October 16, 2024, 03:38:15 pm by settop23 »
Logged
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #5 on: »
No change suggested to the response letter.
Logged
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain
Like Like x 1 View List
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #6 on: »
Thank you, I will reply to this via post. Is it worth sending it signed for or tracked or is a standard letter okay? What about email
Logged
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #7 on: »
Neither. Never use signed for. If no one signs for it ally you have is proof of non-delivery. If ever you have to send something by snail mail, use a free proof of posting certificate from any post office.

For everything from now on regarding this case, you will do online, either through a web portal or as an attachment to an email.

You respond to the LoC by sending your response as a PDF attachment in an email to info@dcblegal.co.uk and CC in yourself too.
Logged
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #8 on: »
Great, I will do that for now  :)
Logged
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #9 on: »
Hi

I have sent the letter across as a PDF attachment to their email address today. Am I right in assuming I do not need to submit an acknowledgement of service at this stage?

Logged
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #10 on: »
There is nothing to “acknowledge” service of. When you receive an N1SDT Claim Form from the CNBC, you will acknowledge service of that.

There’s no rush. You have 19 days from the “issue” date of the claim to acknowledge service. By acknowledging service, you then have 33 days from the “issue” date of the claim to submit your defence.

Before any claim is issued, DCB Legal have to respond to your letter that you have just sent as it has some questions that require answering.
Logged
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #11 on: »
Hi, I see thank you for the information. I was quite confused as to whether the letter from DCB legal was an official letter before claim or not, but I will wait to see if and when they reply to the letter
Logged
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #12 on: »
This is the response to the email I sent to DCB Legal :

 The parking charge was been issued as per the Contract. A charge of £70.00 has been added to the sum as per the contractual costs outlined on the signs, as our Client has had to go to the expense of instructing debt collection agencies to recover the debt. 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. 

 

Please note, the HMRC ‘VAT Supply and Consideration manual’ (VATSC06140), which was last updated on 02 September 2020, confirmed that Parking Charge Notices fall out of the scope of VAT.

 

You now have 30 days from the date of this email to make payment of £510.00. Failure to make payment may result in a Claim being issued against you without any further reference.

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

 

You must quote the correct case reference (--) 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.
Logged
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #13 on: »
All boilerplate stuff. Where did this alleged contravention take place? The name of the car park?

Can you get a clear phot of the signs with the terms at the location? They are claiming that the signs included mention of the £70 fee. We know it is a lie that it cost them £70 to engage a debt collector when they in fact operate on a no-win, no-fee basis. The governments own analysis of their costs in the Impact Statement issued earlier this year show that on average, it costs the PPCs less than £9 per claim (not per PCN) in recovery costs.

Anyway, a phot of the signs would help if possible.

With regards to their mendacious statement about VAT, you should report them to HMRC for suspected VAT fraud. There is no comeback and it takes literally minutes to do so online here:

Report tax fraud or avoidance to HMRC
Report tax fraud by a person or business to HMRC - tax evasion, VAT fraud, false, Child Benefit or tax credit fraud.
gov.uk


Whilst the PCN is non-VATable, any debt recovery fee is definitely liable to VAT and they have not answered the second question asked in your response to their LoC.

You can tell that you are dealing with intellectually malnourished individuals by this little bit in their response:

Quote
Had you of paid...

You are now waiting for the N1SDT claim form to arrive from the CNBC. When it does, show us the Particulars of Claim (PoC) and the issue date and we will provide guidance on the next step which will be the Acknowledgement of Service (AoS) and any deadlines.
Logged
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain
Re: Letter before claim from DCB legal
« Reply #14 on: »

Yes a very vague and unhelpful response from them.  I will see if i can get a photo of the signage where i parked this week and post back if they send any further communcations
Logged
Pages: [1] 2
« previous next »
  3. Letter before claim from DCB legal