Parking Fines have escalated to DCBL with further costs

[Treats-101]

Hello I have some issues with parking fines that have been taken further from a private company which have now been passed onto the DCBL.

I need some advice as I feel these were unfair but the overall costs have now escalated after ignoring the letters.

There are a total of seven fines. I appealed and paid for two of these at a discount rate but did not open the letters until past the appeal time for the others. After ignoring them they have now increased substantially in price and pushed on to the DCBL.

What steps should I take from this as I feel they were unfair to begin with and believe I have a valid reason.

[des8]

So you still have five outstanding to dispute.
Are they all for the same location?

Can you upload them to a hosting site and post a link here?

Why do you think they are unfair (they always are!) and what is your valid reason for not paying them?
I can think of one and I haven't even seen them

And please don't dignify them with the term "fines".
They are solely invoices for a parking charge

When communicating with these companies, and when posting on open forums such as LegalBeagles, do not identify the driver.

[Treats-101]

Yeah all for the same location! So basically I was staying at my partners apartment on and off since the back end of summer last year. It wasn't until December I had essentially moved in. The parking on site does state a permit should be present. But prior to December I never received a parking charge or anything about parking there.

Now throughout December I had some 'privacy notices' left on my car stating my details were taken but nothing else. Now the original 4 parking charge letters were then sent to my old address where family still live because that's where my car was registered to. I didn't see the letters until some time after they were issued (Late January/Early Feb). I originally had 4 charges (from within early December) and was only within the time limit to appeal 2 of these from when they were issued which I did. I paid the reduced fine for 2 of the 4. A couple weeks later I had another 3 charges come through dating for (late) December charges again which were all consecutive days, one after another.

The thing is, I did eventually get a permit in the middle of December but it must have fallen off the dash and because I did not drive my car for the consecutive days they charged me in December I wasn't fully aware it had fallen.

So this means I now have 5 remaining charges. Because they were left alone, they have all increased in price by quite a lot. I originality ignored the charges but I have now received letters from the DCBL about debt recovery with a final reminder.

I would probably be happy to pay a reduced fine for the remaining charges to put it to bed but I can no longer speak to the private parking company as it is now passed on further.

I don't know whether to try and take this to court with them as I feel this is unjust.

[des8]

Parking companies rarely accept appeals to their charges (they are not FINES. Only the courts issue fines)
Your circumstances certainly wouldn't persuade them to drop the charges

I advised against identifying the driver on here (this is because some companies scour these sites to see if they can identify the driver)
It is harder to dispute the charge as a driver than as the keeper.

We still need to see the PCNs and the signs .

What does your partner's lease say about parking? Does it mention the necessity to display a permit?
Does she have her own allocated space?

[Treats-101]

My partner does not have an allocated space for the car park, you essentially just park wherever is available. It does state to park with a valid permit, but as nothing was ever brought up before while staying at the apartment just seemed odd that it was all bombarded in one month. I feel the notice left on the car wasn't clear that it was a fine just that details were being taken.

This is one of the charges.

https://imgur.com/a/qogiJtE

They are all the same apart from the dates.

[des8]

If that is an actual picture of the complete front and back of the Parking Charge Notice (and please don't dignify it by calling it a fine) it doesn't comply with any regulations at all.
In fact it doesn't even tell you how to pay!

Is it your partner's lease that states a valid permit is required, or that sign on the wall?
Can you upload a legible picture of that sign please

[Treats-101]

That was taken from online, the letter in the post said the same thing only difference was of the dates of when you could appeal or pay with a reduced fine at the time. Originally online this would gave the option to appeal at the bottom but now it has been removed as it's now way past the deadline

It's the sign on the wall + gate which says it is required.

https://imgur.com/m0lk9GU

[des8]

So what exactly does your partner's lease or tenancy agreement say about parking?

Please post up copies of the documentation you have received from VCS and DCBL

We need to see the paperwork, not your version of what they state

[Treats-101]

I've just checked the contract and can't see anything about parking. I'll contact the landlord/estate agent to see what their agreement is regarding parking on site.

Original VCS Letters
https://imgur.com/yGeFQGx
https://imgur.com/arFam5x

DCBL
https://imgur.com/5tE4EVr

Note that is just one of the 7 PCN's which all state the same reason. And that there is another DCBL letter with another 2 charges which total to 5.

[des8]

So those NTKs are not compliant with the regulations as set out in Schedule 4 of The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA2012).
This means that if they issue court proceedings against you as the registered keeper you have a good chance of winning.

However they may issue proceedings on the basis you were the driver, and then a different defence would be needed.
This would be based on the basis that the signs are forbidding (if you don't have a valid permit you can't park here)
They can't then say you have a contract to park, please pay £100, as it is not possible to contract to do something that is forbidden.

Do be aware that the county court process is sometimes a bit of a lottery

Now it is up to you to decide whether to pay the charges or await DCBL's sister company (DCB Legal) to initiate the claim process