DCBL Debt recovery notice with CCJ on behalf of Excel parking

[zaf100]

Hi,

 

I have received a letter from DCBL which states:

"Your overdue amount of £269.48 due to Excel parking services ltd in relation to a county court judgement number xxxxxx has now been passed to DCBL to recover the debt on their behalf" It also mentions a further £75 + vat charge.

 

I have searched lots of forums and the advice has been consistent to ignore all letters from Excel parking or any debt recovery firms.

 

i am concerned this letter mentions CCJ number which suggests a CCJ has been issued. I dont recall receiving any court letters, although i have changed address.

 

Normally, I would ignore these letters as per the advice on the various forums but im worried if a CCJ has really been issued and what I should in this case?

 

Should i respond to DCBL?

Should i contact the court (and if so, which court would i need to contact as i have not had any details)? Or should i continue to ignore?

 

Please help as i am really stressed out now

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice/help.

Cheers

Edited March 31, 2018 by dx100uk
Format

[unclebulgaria67]

Check with the county court Tuesday, as you can't ignore a CCJ, because if you do, then if a Enforcement Officer pays you a visit to carry out enforcement, they will add another £235.

 

If you did update your address on your Car Registration document after you moved and before this parking penalty, then you could try set aside the CCJ. If you did not update your address, then a set aside might not be possible unless there are other issues to raise. A set aside costs £255, unless you can claim exemption because you are on benefits or on very low income.

[BankFodder]

I'm not sure the enforcement at this level would cost £235. This would have to be enforced by County Court bailiffs and I have the feeling that it is very much cheaper. However, it's probably not worth ignoring the CC J. Have you checked your credit file? CC J will impact on your credit rating.

[zaf100]

Thank you for your responses.

 

The parking fine was issued as my partner was driving my car and he got lost and thought he was turning into a small road, which happened to be a private car park.

The only way out was through the other side of the car park.

 

apparently their camera system detected this and issued a fine, (via post) which was purely unjustified as technically he did not park but just crossed this car park.

 

Car park in question is the manchester chorlton car park next to the banks and various other retail outlets such as quality save etc. Based on the advice on thse forums we have always ignored their letters and have never responded to date.

The initial fine was issued in 2015.

 

Towards the end of 2015, i changed address but i did get this updated on my v5 and driving license shortly after moving to my new address.

 

is there anyone else i should have informed relating to my change of address with relation to my car?

 

excel parking services somehow found my new address and have been sending me letters at my new address which i have also been ignoring based on all the advice which is consistent on various forums.

 

This is the first time i have seen the letter from DCBL and first time i am aware of this CCJ, from the letter they have sent. If Excel parking and DCBL are able to contact me on my new address then shouldnt any CCJ have been issued at my current address too as i have at my new address here now for approx 2.5 years.

 

what should be best course of action for me?

i understand i should not be ignoring the CCJ but what does this mean exactly?

That i should pay off the fine?

Should i contact DCBL?

And what does setting a CCJ aside mean?

on what basis can i set the CCJ aside and is there a cost involved in this?

 

Any help would be extremely appreciated as i am really panicking. I'm conscious now i will have bad credit rating plus having to pay a massive bill, which will keep increasing further. :'(

Edited March 31, 2018 by dx100uk
Formatting

[BankFodder]

If you are saying that a claim was issued against you but you are not the driver of the vehicle at the time – then you have a good defence.

 

You can certainly try to apply for set-aside and in theory you should succeed. However because it is probably due to you having failed to update your address in time, you will probably liable for the costs of the application and that would be about £250.

 

I think you will have to work out whether you need a good credit rating over the next six years.

 

Also, it is extremely rare that we advise people to ignore these letters. I think that you must have obtained that information from some other forum.

[ploddertom]

DCBL are acting as Debt Collectors in this matter - they add the £75 charge on in the hope you will just pay believing you have received an enforcement notice.

 

As has been said you need to find out whether there is a CCJ against you and if so to which address it was directed at.

The chances are that you do have a CCJ awarded by Default to an old address

- this is because DVLA will have given the Parking Co your address at the date the infringement occurred.

 

Surely if this was because of a drive through then there should be entry & exit times?

[zaf100]

Thank you for your prompt response. You are correct that the advice to ignore these letters was from several other forums.

 

The address was changed 2.5 years ago and it appears the CCJ must have been issued recently as this is the first letter i have seen with reference to the CCJ. I am just very upset i didnt get any court letters hence no chance to defence myself.

 

If it will cost 255 to set the CCJ asside then perhaps it may be easier to just pay up before the costs increase further. Is there a way of paying this with out the DCBL admin charge of £75 + vat? Also, would paying this fine remove the CCJ from my credit file? Or will it remain for next 6 years? :'(

[zaf100]

DCBL are acting as Debt Collectors in this matter - they add the £75 charge on in the hope you will just pay believing you have received an enforcement notice. As has been said you need to find out whether there is a CCJ against you and if so to which address it was directed at. The chances are that you do have a CCJ awarded by Default to an old address - this is because DVLA will have given the Parking Co your address at the date the infringement occurred.

 

Surely if this was because of a drive through then there should be entry & exit times?

 

there is no mention of when the CCJ was issued or any details of the incident.

I'm trying to google currently to understand how i can find out if there is a CCJ issued and how i can find out which address it was issued against.

 

However, to be honest i am a little nervous about finding info on the internet based on the previous advice i have read on several other forums that mentioned it will unlikely result in a CCJ, which turned out to be incorrect.

 

To be honest, i dont recall if there were start and end times.

There was a pic but it wasnt very clear and i dont recall if it had start/end times as this was sent back in 2015

[BankFodder]

You can search for the CCJ here - https://www.trustonline.org.uk/understand-judgments-fines/entries-on-the-england-and-wales-register/ccjs-and-the-register

[Bailiff Advice]

 

This is the first time i have seen the letter from DCBL and first time i am aware of this CCJ, from the letter they have sent. If Excel parking and DCBL are able to contact me on my new address then shouldnt any CCJ have been issued at my current address too as i have at my new address here now for approx 2.5 years.

 

Anyway, what should be best course of action for me? i understand i should not be ignoring the CCJ but what does this mean exactly? That i should pay off the fine? Should i contact DCBL? And what does setting a CCJ aside mean? on what basis can i set the CCJ aside and is there a cost involved in this?

 

Any help would be extremely appreciated as i am really panicking. I'm conscious now i will have bad credit rating plus having to pay a massive bill, which will keep increasing further. :'(

 

Unfortunately, you are one of thousands of individuals who every year have a judgment registered against them without their knowledge (in most cases, because of the failure of the debtor/motorist to update their address details with various agencies when they move address).

 

This problem was first debated in the House of Commons in 2016 (link below) and on 27th December 2017, was the subject of a Ministry of Justice public Consultation (which ended a few weeks ago).

 

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-11-16/debates/130AE067-BB52-4487-A412-AA8109F1CB3A/CountyCourtJudgments

 

 

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?483835-Consultation-on-Default-County-Court-Judgments-(and-where-claims-had-been-sent-to-an-old-address)

 

Many individuals faced with notification of a court judgment being awarded against them wrong believe that they have one month to make payment, when in fact, payment is due immediately and if paid within one month.......the entry made in Registry Trust will be removed.

 

You will note from the Consultation that the government are proposing that anyone faced with a judgment that they had not know about will be able to have the Registry Trust entry removed (i.e: 'Out of Time) on the following conditions:

 

• The court is satisfied that the defendant was unaware of the claim/judgment when originally issued/entered

 

• The court is satisfied that the defendant has only just become aware of the claim and judgment

 

• The defendant immediately pays in full

 

PS: My personal opinion is that if the Ministry of Justice insist that a payment of £255 is to be made for these applications, this will prohibit many people from applying. I cannot see why these applications cannot be dealt with 'without a hearing' (as with an 'N244' Application to the Traffic Enforcement Centre) and charged at £155. That would be much fairer and would not take up valuable court time.

[Bailiff Advice]

Taking my above post into consideration, my personal opinion is that as stated by Ploddertom, DCBL are acting in the capacity of Debt Collectors (as opposed to bailiffs). I would suggest that you make payment and whether you include the £75 'admin fee' must be your choice.

 

As to applying to the court for the CCJ to be 'set aside' (and the Registry Trust entry removed) I would suggest that you wait a while for the Government to announce the outcome of their Consultation.

 

PS: I am attending a conference in 10 days time where Registry Trust will also be in attendance ( the very thorny subject of Liability Orders being registered (with Registry Trust) is back on the agenda). I intend to raise the subject of this Consultation with them.

[dx100uk]

Oh dear

Excel and the fake bailiffs up to their usual tricks I see

[zaf100]

Unfortunately, you are one of thousands of individuals who every year have a judgment registered against them without their knowledge (in most cases, because of the failure of the debtor/motorist to update their address details with various agencies when they move address).

 

This problem was first debated in the House of Commons in 2016 (link below) and on 27th December 2017, was the subject of a Ministry of Justice public Consultation (which ended a few weeks ago).

 

Many individuals faced with notification of a court judgment being awarded against them wrong believe that they have one month to make payment, when in fact, payment is due immediately and if paid within one month.......the entry made in Registry Trust will be removed.

 

You will note from the Consultation that the government are proposing that anyone faced with a judgment that they had not know about will be able to have the Registry Trust entry removed (i.e: 'Out of Time) on the following conditions:

 

 

 

PS: My personal opinion is that if the Ministry of Justice insist that a payment of £255 is to be made for these applications, this will prohibit many people from applying. I cannot see why these applications cannot be dealt with 'without a hearing' (as with an 'N244' Application to the Traffic Enforcement Centre) and charged at £155. That would be much fairer and would not take up valuable court time.

 

This is has some really useful info - many thanks for sharing - much appreciated.

Edited March 31, 2018 by zaf100

[zaf100]

You can search for the CCJ here - link removed[

 

Ok I have done a check against my previous address and unfortunately there is a county court judgement on my file.

The judgement date is showing as 16th Sep 2016! I

genuinely was not aware of any of this until thursday when i received the letter from DCBL.

 

DCBL have asked me to pay the fine, plus the admin charge within 14 days.

Should i pay DCBL directly including the admin charge?

What would happen if i dont pay admin charge?

Could i potentially end up creating a bigger mess for myself and ending up paying alot more?

 

Is there any chance of having the CCJ removed.

This whole situation has been very unfortunate and feels very unfair.

This was all initiated due to a drive through accidentally and that too was done by another driver.

 

In hindsight it would have been better just to pay the initial stupid fine instead of ending up in this situation.

Im just really confused as to what is the best course of action for me now :'(

 

What should be the best course of action for me given this situation please?

 

p.s. many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and especially those that have replied. your help is greatly appreciated

Edited March 31, 2018 by dx100uk
Format

[ploddertom]

Ok I have done a check against my previous address and unfortunately there is a county court judgement on my file. The judgement date is showing as 16th Sep 2016! I genuinely was not aware of any of this until thursday when i received the letter from DCBL. Does it tell you who the Claimant was?

DCBL have asked me to pay the fine, plus the admin charge within 14 days. Should i pay DCBL directly including the admin charge? What would happen if i dont pay admin charge? Could i potentially end up creating a bigger mess for myself and ending up paying alot more? Personally I would pay the Claimant and only what they are due - which would not include what DCBL as they have no right to charge this not being the Claimant.

 

Is there any chance of having the CCJ removed. This whole situation has been very unfortunate and feels very unfair. This was all initiated due to a drive through accidently and that too was done by another driver. In hindsight it would have been better just to pay the initial stupid fine instead of ending up in this situation. Im just really confused as to what is the best course of action for me now :'( You can only have it removed by applying for Set Aside. If you pay it then you can ask for it to be marked as Satisfied but it still remains on your Credit File.

 

What should be the best course of action for me given this situation please? Providing you can prove this was just a "drive through" - you need entry & exit times for this, then I would go for Set Aside. If no proof then you may just have to put it down to experience unfortunately.

 

p.s. many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and especially those that have replied. your help is greatly appreciated

 

PT

[zaf100]

The claimant is mentioned as Excel parking services ltd in the letter from DCBL. On the credit file it doesnt mention who the claimant is.

It mentions the CCJ case ref number and court name as: County Court Business Centre.

The outstanding amount is being shown as £269.

 

i dont have any proof of the drive through unfortunately.

 

So should i contact Excel parking and pay them the fine instead of DCBL?

is there any chance of DCBL causing any further issues for not responding to their letter and/or not paying their admin charges?

[dx100uk]

Stop calling it a fine, it is not

Its a speculative invoice

 

Excel and probably BW legal purposefully got a backdoor ccj using an old address

 

I wouldn't be paying anyone anything.

Ring northants bulk Tuesday and asking for a copy of the claim form and the ccj by email PDF

 

Then ring up BW legal and tell them to set the ccj aside the ccj by mutual consent free of charge to you as he did not park anywhere but merely drove through within the 10 min grace period and that it was purposefully served to an old address

 

Dx

[zaf100]

Thanks for your response. Pardon me for my ignorance but what is a BW please?

 

Also, can i fill a claim form now as it appears this judgement was issued in 2016 - I thought you only have 28 days to respond within once the CCJ is issued?

[dx100uk]

BW legal or Gladstones will be the solicitors you need to ring once you action post 17

 

There no real point in filling in or paying anything

You'll never get that money back and it won't remove the ccj

 

The only way is post 17 try that first!!

 

Don't waste your money!!

[DragonFly1967]

If post 17 doesn't work (and I'm afraid that I think it's unlikely that BWL or Gladrags will agree (though it's worth a shot)), you can still save yourself £14 (owe nothing (that they claim you owe) to DCBL) and remove the CCJ from your credit file by applying for a set aside for yourself. The fee for this is £255 but may be worth it to a) remove the CCJ from your credit file and b) stick it to Excel and DCBL.

[ericsbrother]

If the camera capture they used for evidence to issue the original NTK is correct they had no cause to do so as they have to allow a "grace period"

so arguments about who was driving are very much a secondary matter here.

 

You need to get the full details from the court and then apply for a set aside.

This will cost you money but you can claim that back as the original claim is not a genuine one

so arguing that the costs should be borne by Excel as they have behaved unreasonably in this matter will probably be agreed with.

 

As Excel are obliged to write to the address given to them by the DVLA as long as you moved after the event this is a shoo in for the set-aside but you realy need to show that they were likey to lose or the judge may think that it will be a waste of time.