Author Topic: Follow-up Letter from DCBL – Not Registered Keeper – Do I Need to Pay?  (Read 519 times)

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I’ve received a follow-up letter from Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd (DCBL) about a parking charge.
I am not the registered keeper of the vehicle.
This is the first and only correspondence I’ve seen; I have not responded to DCBL or the parking company Euro Car Parks Ltd.
Apparently, I have overstayed the maximum amount of time allowed on 15/4/2022. However, this is the first letter I have received about this, dated 20/5/2025.

I’d like help with two things:
1. Do I need to pay this charge, given I’m not the registered keeper?
2. Could this affect the registered keeper’s credit score if left unpaid?
It does say at the bottom of the letter that “This case is not subject to High Court or bailiff action”, but I am not familiar with the laws on this matter and would like some further clarification, if possible.
I have included pictures of the letter I have received below.
Any advice would be appreciated before I take further steps.
Letter from DCBL



Picture of the car park


Parking Agreement Sign


Google Maps link
https://www.google.com/maps/@55.8506602,-4.4192661,3a,90y,340.9h,78.61t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1szpZBWQVGDpiM4m_vsDAHoQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D11.390478063053507%26panoid%3DzpZBWQVGDpiM4m_vsDAHoQ%26yaw%3D340.9007410826008!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDUxNS4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
« Last Edit: May 24, 2025, 03:48:10 am by Leo »

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To clarify, you say that you are not the registered keeper.

How have you received this correspondence?

Sorry for the confusion i am related to the registered keeper and I am a named driver on the policy

Quote
I’d like help with two things:
  1.  Do I need to pay this charge, given I’m not the registered keeper?
  2.  Could this affect the registered keeper’s credit score if left unpaid?
1) No, you can challenge it via the courts, if they initiate a claim
2) Not if you're the one they're going to sue.

Who is this latest correspondence addressed to?

The letter is addressed to my mother
also is there a way to find out if they are making a claim against me in court? and sorry could you elaborate on the second point if possible?

The letter is addressed to my mother
Okay, so you haven't received anything, your mother has.

DCBL aren't interested in anything that doesn't involve payment, so they can be ignored. Eventually, they will give up and refer the matter back to Euro Car Parks. Euro Car Parks will then pass the matter to DCB Legal (similar name, different company), who will issue a Letter of Claim, and eventually issue a court claim against your mother. If defended, this court claim will almost certainly be discontinued before it reaches the courtroom.

also is there a way to find out if they are making a claim against me in court? and sorry could you elaborate on the second point if possible?
As above - it will be your mother any claim is against. The answers in my previous reply were based on the assumption that you had received a letter, based on you saying "I’ve received a follow-up letter", whereas it now transpires it is in fact your mother who has received the letter.

perfect thanks for all the help

You (or your mother if she's the named recipient) can safely ignore all debt collector letters. Debt recovery agents are utterly powerless to do anything. They are not a party to any contract allegedly breached by the driver.

The ONLY thing that DCBL or any other debt collector can do is to try and persuade the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to pay up out of ignorance and fear. You sound as though you may be primed to be plucked from that tree.

Never, ever enter into communication with a powerless debt collector. You can safely y ignore them. Nothing whatsoever will happen. No court claim, no bailiffs, nothing!

Another thing you MUST do immediately, is edit your post to remover anything that would identify the driver, such as the Keeper. For now, your mother, as the Keeper is the only person who can respond to anything. You can do it all for her, but it MUST be in her name.

Whether you are named person on the policy is irrelevant to anything and you should stop harping on about that. There are only two legal entities involved here... the Keeper and the driver. Whilst the Keeper could be both, ECP (the operator) don't know that and there is absolutely no legal obligation on the Keeper to identify the driver to an unregulated private parking company.

So, you can handle all of this on behalf of your mother, as long as you do it all in her name. If you follow the advice, there no way you will be paying a penny to ECP.

As the Keeper is now receiving debt recovery notices, it is far too late to appeal this. Please confirm that this is the first correspondence received about this Parking Charge Notice (PCN). You have to ask, why did the Keeper not receive the original notices. Invariably, that is because the Keeper never updated their new address for the V5C registration document. Whilst updating the address for the drivers licence is one thing, it is in no way connected to the V5C, even though the DVLA handles both.

Please double check that the address on the V5C is, or at least was up to date and correct at the time of the alleged parking contravention. If it isn't, that needs to be updated immediately and can be easily done online. Also, if it was not updated at the time, then the Keeper will have to submit a Data Rectification Notice to ECP. Whilst DCBL have found the correct address through a credit reference search, if the operator, ECP, hold two possible addresses, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will use the incorrect one to save any court claim which pens a whole new can of worms.

You need to understand that nothing we advise on will have any effect on anyones credit rating. There's no chance of a CCJ on anyones credit file. The ONLY way anyone could get a CCJ is by default because they did not update their V5C address and they knew nothing about a court claim. In any other case, if a court claim was unsuccessful, as long as the judgment amount is paid within 30 days, it is expunged from the record.

So, before we can move on to providing all the advice you will need to get over this, you need to confirm whether the V5C address is or was up to date at the time of the alleged contravention.
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain

Paisley....Scotland. That rather changes things (in your Mother's favour ;D ).
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Well spotted!!! @Leo, there is no Keeper liability in Scotland (yet). As long as ECP don't know the identify of the driver, they can not do a single thing about this.

As this is in Scotland, you can ignore everything. Nothing will happen except you'll collect plenty of scrap paper.

The advice about the V5C is still relevant though.
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain