PE/DCBL 2019 PCN - Notice of Debt Recovery - unpaid parking charge £170

[Billy Williams]

Received a debt recovery letter today, for an offence dating back to October 2019.  DCBL claim that the matter is being pursued on behalf of their client, who is Parking Eye Ltd.

It seems far more likely that DCBL have bought the debt, and are pursuing it on their own behalf?  The letter is festooned with suggestions that action from high court bailiffs can be expected if the sum demanded is not paid.

Q: I wonder is there any way of determining if the debt has been sold on to DCBL or not, and if it has been sold on and there is no deed of assignment, can action be taken in the small claims track to recover the debt? 

This post has nothing to do with my earlier posts about a writ of control, and is an entirely separate matter. 

[Nicky Boy]

"Debts" like this are not sold on.

Could you post the letter up, so we can be sure it isn't a letter of claim.

 

Also, please fill in the sticky below, and we'll take it from there...

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/391121-have-you-received-a-parking-ticket-please-fill-this-out/#comment-4684358

[Bazooka Boo]

Deeds of assignment are only for property aren't they?

 

And AFAIK DCBL don't buy debts, besides, if they have sent you a missive referring to their 'bailiff' practices, then that is wholly inaccurate and misleading, but quite typical of these lot.

 

Scan and post up their letter.

[Billy Williams]

Thanks for replies. Is DCBL part of "Parking Eye" I wonder?  If they have not bought a debt dating back to 2019, I can't see why they would choose to become involved, if not part of "Parking Eye"?

It's difficult to work out exactly what the letter is (other than a threat!), as at the bottom above the suggestion it is the precursor to a visit from High Court Bailiffs, it states "This case is not subject to high court or bailiff action"?

Would the court proceedings mentioned take place in the Northampton Bulk Centre, I wonder? If the matter comes to court, would the claimant be obliged to indicate if the debt had been bought or not? 

[Nicky Boy]

DCBL are just "guns for hire".

PE are paying them for their "legal expertise" and debt recovery abilites... HA!

Parking companies can legally chase you for up to 6 years for their imagined charges.

Upload the letter and fill in the sticky please.

 

You may as well start educating yourself on these companies by reading other threads on the forum.

[FTMDave]

There is no doubt whatsoever about what is going on here.  We have over 12,000 private parking cases and the pattern is always the same.

The parking company send various threatening letters and then if there is no reply get a third party like DCBL to write to pretend that the case has reached some sort of higher stage and the debt has increased by £70.

No way has the debt been sold on.

Yes, if PE do court it will be through the Northampton bulk centre, and the others have asked you to upload the letter so we can see how near you are to legal action.

[Ethel Street]

32 minutes ago, Billy Williams said:

It's difficult to work out exactly what the letter is (other than a threat!), as at the bottom above the suggestion it is the precursor to a visit from High Court Bailiffs, it states "This case is not subject to high court or bailiff action"?

That sentence is a standard 'disclaimer' DCBL put on letters they send out when they are acting as debt collectors. Because the full name of the company is "Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd" their name can give the impression they are bailiffs when they are actually only debt collectors and not acting as bailiffs. (Debt collectors are acting for the person who claims they are owed the money, bailiffs are acting for the court.)

I guess someone has rapped their knuckles at some stage - a court or a regulator maybe - and DCBL have been told they mustn't falsely imply they are acting as bailiffs when they aren't. Hence the 'disclaimer'. It doesn't mean the case is going to the High Court for bailiff enforcement.

In any case baliffs can only get involved after you have been to court, lost your case, but haven't paid. You are getting ahead of things, you haven't even had a court summons yet! 

[Billy Williams]

Thanks.  If it gets to the bulk centre, can I have the matter relisted to my local court, or it simply a case of rubber-stamping at the bulk centre, and then facing the possibility of enforcement action?

Have had several letters from DCBL in the past, and as no court action ensued relating to any of them, perhaps not responding to their threats is the best possible course of action?

Maybe as soon as someone they have threatened engages, that's likely to increase the possibility of rubber-stamping the debt, if it remains unpaid? 

As a matter of interest, are unpaid ULEZ fines, also rubber-stamped at the bulk centre?

[honeybee13]

This isn't a rubber stamp type case, it's a private parking company. If it gets as far as court, there's a hearing with a judge. The paperwork later gives you the option to choose your local court.

Ulez is completely different and you need to post in the Local Authority traffic offences forum for advice on that. 

Do you have any correspondence from Parking Eye?

HB

 

[Nicky Boy]

You really need to be reading up on other threads Billy.

Otherwise, we'll be here all day answering questions and that's not the best use of time for the site team.

Try reading some of our success threads.

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/347084-ppc-successes-no-questions-please/page/16/#comment-5230271

And please upload the letter  and fill in the sticky...

[Billy Williams]

Had letters from Parking Eye back in 2019, nothing more recently, though.  I am getting a bit confused now, as some have suggested these matters are rubber-stamped by the bulk centre, and others are claiming there are court hearings?

I can see enforcement action would be viable if the bulk centre was used, but cannot see it would be feasible if actual hearings in the small claims track is the process that would be used? 

Would Parking Eye themselves, be able to seek redress, through the bulk centre, but DCBL would need to go to the small  claims track? Sorry that confuses me . 

[honeybee13]

As Nicky Boy says, you need to read more PPC threads. Who suggested rubber stamped cases, not here I hope?

The bulk centre just issues what we call roboclaims for small claims cases that then go to the county court with a hearing that the defendant can attend. I could issue a claim against you if I thought I had grounds and had your address. [I don't.] Nobody actually checks if the claim is valid. Parking Eye could do this for an alleged 'debt' but not DCBL.

The only rubber stamping cases I've heard of are things like council tax that go to a magistrates' court.

So do you have any correspondence that could shed light on what this pertains to?

HB

[Nicky Boy]

No-one here has suggested rubber stamping.

This is something that would be taken through the small claims courts.

And only by the owner of the "debt". They may or may not employ a legal rep (DCBL).

Read up Billy...

Oops, sorry. Cross posted with HB.

[dx100uk]

please complete this:

the more important point is have you moved since getting the fake PCN/speculative invoice?

dx

 

[Billy Williams]

Quote

"Yes, if PE do court it will be through the Northampton bulk centre, and the others have asked you to upload the letter so we can see how near you are to legal action. "

The above was posted earlier, but several others have suggested these matters are not dealt with by the bulkcentre, so rather confused now?

Parking Eye and DCBL operate on some sort of partnership basis, so debts can be enforced lawfully by DCBL.  If a debt has been sold on to an unconnected 3rd party, then it isn't enforceable, and I would guess that is the reason for the partnership arrangement?

If these debts can only be enforced by a hearing at the defendant's local small claims court, it seems to me that unless the claimant is somehow able to inflate the amount owed to several £1000, then court hearings cannot be commercially viable? 

I would be very interested to find out for sure if it's either bulk centre or small claims? Suppose I could phone and ask the court, they are usually very helpful on listing matters? 

Got the first invoice from Parking Eye in 2019, followed by a few from DCBL. They ceased until a couple of days ago, when I got another threatening letter from DCBL, seems the same as the earlier one?  

 

11 hours ago, honeybee13 said:

As Nicky Boy says, you need to read more PPC threads. Who suggested rubber stamped cases, not here I hope?

The bulk centre just issues what we call roboclaims for small claims cases that then go to the county court with a hearing that the defendant can attend. I could issue a claim against you if I thought I had grounds and had your address. [I don't.] Nobody actually checks if the claim is valid. Parking Eye could do this for an alleged 'debt' but not DCBL.

The only rubber stamping cases I've heard of are things like council tax that go to a magistrates' court.

So do you have any correspondence that could shed light on what this pertains to?

HB

I have had a parking fine from the local council rubberstamped by the Northampton bulk centre before?  Do local councils no longer use that method of enforcement?

Have also had threats from HMRC, about "court", which turned out to be another bulk centre in Salford, where it was impossible to represent. HMRC after a while simply delete the various fines, and I suppose at some stage start imposing them again? 

[FTMDave]

Zzzzzzz.

You have been asked now four times to upload the letter and four times to fill in the sticky so we we can know what this is about.

If you can't be bothered I doubt we can do much to help you.

You can always go to a solicitor who will ask you for around £300 per hour to take the case, but the solicitor will also ask you for details of the case and copies of the paperwork.

[dx100uk]

just like your other thread.

sadly everything you are assuming or doing or following/believing/thinking is what you should do to date IS WRONG.

not sure if this is systemic with any mental situation you suffer from, but not one thing in your thinking here nor in your other thread is anywhere near 'correct'.

either you want help from this forum, or you want to simply go your own way. 

thats upto you but if you dont start providing answers to questions asked we cannot help you.

dx

 

[Billy Williams]

I am simply trying to find out if the case does go to court, if it would be heard at my local county court, or rubber-stamped at the bulk centre? There are differing views on this, and I am not sure which of them is correct? 

Parking Eye and DCBL operate under a partnership arrangement, and essentially that means debts owing to PE can be enforced by DCBL, and are not the same as if the debt had been sold on to a 3rd party, which would mean it was then unenforceable. 

Not sure how putting my personal details into the public domain by scanning a form threat letter from DCBL and posting it online, is going to help with getting this matter sorted?

Surely the thing that is most important here, is whether cases like this are dealt with in the bulk centre, or a local court?  I will try and call my local court today, and if I can find out, will post what they advise later. 

[Nicky Boy]

You are obviously looking at other sources for your information.

There are NO differing opinions here on "rubber stamping"

30 minutes ago, Billy Williams said:

Not sure how putting my personal details into the public domain by scanning a form threat letter from DCBL and posting it online, is going to help with getting this matter sorted?

No personal details... read >upload< instructions.

And yet again... READING OTHER THREADS, will cut down on all this discourse...

[Bazooka Boo]

PE & DCBL have a three year partnership to chase spec invoices yes.

As for putting personal details into the public domain, no-one has asked you to do this?

All that has been asked is for you to scan and upload the letter you have received from DCBL so others can assist you.

All you need to do is remove all identifiers on the letter.

You don't seem to want any help, and your post is just surmising and hypothesising, good luck with whatever you decide to do, you've wasted enough of my valuable time.

[honeybee13]

I think ringing your local court is the best thing as you don't seem to believe us. Please let us know what they say.

HB

[AndyOrch]

50 minutes ago, Billy Williams said:

Surely the thing that is most important here, is whether cases like this are dealt with in the bulk centre, or a local court?

Your local county court providing you submit an acknowledgment of service on time and state your intention to defend. Once a defence has been submitted the claimant cannot get a default judgment so no rubber stamping at Northampton. The claim has to be transferred to your local county court. This is called allocation.

Do nothing they get a default judgment  = Rubber stamped at MCOL Northampton.

MCOL cant deal with claims, it simply issues them its not a county court.

 

Andy 

[lookinforinfo]

Billy you have a number of misconceptions about the collection of money that is allegedly owed.

1. Parking companies cannot sell on their PCNs. they can use debt collectors and solicitors to chase up motorists  who have breached the terms and conditions.

2 the parking companies do not make a profit when they take motorists to Court-even when they win. they take some people to Court  [usually the ones they think do not understand the legalities of the laws relating to parking] ] so that it encourages others to pay up and so avoid going to Court.  

3' if the motorist does not pay the charge demanded by the parking company, they can take to Court  and they can win there. 

CAG members who give us the circumstances around how they received their PCN and filled out the questions that have been asked of them have a  very high chance of not paying a penny. Members  who do not complete the questions and fail to understand  how the parking system works could end up paying around £200+ . your choice.

4.  Other companies such as banks CAN sell on their debts when they cannot get the person who owed them to pay up. It is not unlawful or illegal. the companies that buy debts often   pay a small fraction of the total debt but then can pursue the debtor for the whole amount and that  includes taking them to Court.

You have been asked to complete some questions about  your original PCN a couple of times at least. so far you have not managed to do it. if this is because you do not know how let us know so that we can help. also it may be that you no longer have the original PCN.  This is a very important piece of paper since it is effectively a legal document which if the parking company do not get right can mean the keeper  does not have to pay the charge. If you cannot find it we can advise how to get a copy from Parking Eye.

At the moment we do not know whether you want to fight  the ticket  or  just want to give up and pay. If it is the first option  then please complete the form  below.

  Have you received a Parking Ticket - please fill this out?

By silverfox1961, February 24, 2016

[Billy Williams]

Thank you......I think I understand now! Not sure if I still have the original PCN, as it was issued in 2019?  Suppose it's now a matter of waiting and seeing if any paperwork from a court arrives? 

Cant see that court action is frequent though, given the fact that unless the debt can be inflated significantly, that this may well mean the claimant losing money?  Probably best to simply ignore the various threats? 

Do claimants ever insist on telephone hearings, I wonder? 

[honeybee13]

You wait to see if a Letter Before Claim arrives, usually from Parking Eye. That's the time to take action as you'll see from all the cases here that have gone that far. We help people with that all the time.

LFI has covered whether cases lose money in the post above yours.

PPCs like to ask for hearings on the papers only and we always advise people not to agree to that.

HB