Dcbl car parking fines.

[Freyagillian]

hi, we have had 4 threatening letters from dcbl direct collection bailiffs Ltd regarding over staying in a private car park belonging to local shop. It started of at £100 but reduced to £60 if paid within 14days which we choose to ignore after reading they cannot legally charge us but think maybe on reflection we should have paid as we are now up to £170 and last letter says final notice of debt recovery. We are in Scotland. So many conflicting advise so really unsure what we should do. Some say to go into shop and speak to manager but this happened in January so to late to speak to them. Can they take us to court as they are threatening. We have not acknowledged anything at all to DCBL. My husband did try to phone them in the beginning but it was just an automated answer to pay the fine so never tried again. We are in our late 70’s so feel very threatened from all these threatening letters. Has this happened to anyone else, if so how far did it go, I mean how many letters dit you receive. We would really appreciate any advise.

As far as I am aware, in Scotland, they are unenforceable invoices. Just ignore them.

Did you breach the parking contract?

Dcbl were the company behind "Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away" on telly. They absolutely will take it to court and then they will push it to high court to get a writ so they can legally access your home. They waste no time and are brutally ruthless. Don't ignore them. Honestly

I’d speak to the shop keeper for starters before you do anything

Start from the beginning - why didn't you pay for parking in the first case?

It does sound like your best option is to see if the landowner will rescind the ticket, which you can still do even if it was in January. A ticket can be cancelled at any time, if the landowner no longer wants the parking company to pursue it.

How likely it is to be successful depends on why you didn't pay for parking, I suppose.

The parking company gave you time to appeal. I doubt they'll consider one at this stage.

I'm not familiar with Scottish law on this matter specifically but right now you're in breach of a legally binding contract, so your position isn't great.

Making any sort of contact is an admission of the 'offence'.. Ignore ignore ignore..

Understanding the Code of Practice for Private Parking in Scotland
Private car park management companies and landowners are not subject to the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 or the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.
As such, it’s up to private companies to lawfully manage their sites.
Many private car park management companies are members of:

• The British Parking Association (BPA), or
• The Independent Parking Committee (IPC)

Each association operates a strict code of practice which lays out how members should manage their sites. This includes erecting clear signage at entrances and ensuring road markings are clearly visible. The signage must display the Terms and Conditions for using a car park and the cost of penalties for failing to follow the rules.

Can I ignore a parking ticket from a private company in Scotland?
Ignoring a parking ticket from a parking company in Scotland is risky.
You risk legal action for non-payment because the matter could escalate to court and you could be made to pay – and possibly have to pay more.
There is a chance that you won’t be taken to court and you won’t ever be forced to pay.
However, lots of car parking operators do take people to court, even for smaller fines.

There is no machine to pay. Just a notice with times but really never saw it as we use to always use that car park before and there was no time limit on it. Obviously different owners. Just wish we had gone in earlier to shop.

I had one for an overstay at a hotel where they were slow getting the bill to me and coming to take my payment. Overstayed by an entire 13 mins and clearly the policy was to discourage non-customers parking, but I could never get through to the hotel reception to get them to cancel it...

Anyway, I ignored it / waited them out for about 4 years always expecting they'd give up. To my surprise they didn't. Finally when it got to the point that they filed in small claims court and it was supposedly going to be £400 or so, I wrote them an email saying I'd offer £50 to settle and make the whole thing go away.

They accepted.

So - I'd suggest you do that. You may be better off waiting until the very end and seeing if they will in fact take you to court but basically they know they have quite bad odds of winning and getting worse every day based on recent news so they will probably take the money.

Utter scumbag cretins.

You can still go in and speak to them. Or ring them if you're not local?

We're you in the shop that owns the carpark the whole time you were parked?

Unfortunately no, we parked there about an hour before it closed for the weekend, as I was saying parked there many time years ago when there was no time limit so we did not realise it had changed with new owners. The fact it started at £60 then jumps to £170 .🤷‍♀️

The fact it started at £60 then jumps to £170 .🤷‍♀️

Yes, but you wrote that you chose to ignore that warning. If you planned on arguing, you should have done it then. You can't complain about the terms now when you were informed about them months ago but made the deliberate choice to ignore them and hope they would go away.