Poole BMI Harbour Hospital parking fine. Help needed.

[des8]

So you can now write to DCB Legal along the following lines:

Dear Sirs,

I am receipt of your letter/email(/) dated ?/02/2025 with attachments

I note your client's Notice to Keeper Number ..... dated 25/07/2024 does not comply with the mandated requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection Of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to specify the period of parking to which the notice applied as prescribed by section 9 (2) (e) of the Act.
I would point out the recording of times of entry and exit do not correspond with a period of parking.
Your client cannot, therefore, transfer liability for the alleged charge from the driver at the time to me, the keeper.

There is no legal requirement to name the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

I do not expect to hear from you again except to confirm that no further action will be taken on this matter and my personal details have been removed from your records.
Yours etc

However they are unlikely to accept this and will continue to push for payment.
Come back here for further support if required

[mariukonie]

That's amazing. Thank you.

[mariukonie]

Hi again. I hope you're having great weekend. I've received the email below from DCB legal in response to first email I've sent them.
I noticed that they assume reason I didn't received NTK and Final Reminder is because I neglected address update with DVLA. This is not true as I have updated my driving licence and logbook on the day I moved houses in November 2024 so well after letters about parking charge were due to arrive.
I also noticed that they assume car was parked without providing any evidence for it. They only have photo of car driving in and out of land.
The time between entering and exiting was 18 minutes and there is grace period of 10 minutes after entering, but is there a grace period before leaving? If there is another 10 minutes before leaving wouldn't it cancel out the time the car was there? Sorry if it's silly question but I'm a complete newbie.
I would really appreciate if you could let me know what to reply to them.
I've removed my addresses from the email below.
Thank you for taking your time to read this. Best wishes.

Thank you for your email, in which you raised a complaint following the receipt of a Letter of Claim regarding an outstanding Parking Charge. I have undertaken a full review of the issues raised, and the
outcome of this review is detailed in the response below.
In the interest of clarity, when the Parking Charge occurred, Britannia Parking Group Ltd contacted the DVLA to obtain the name and address of the registered keeper of the vehicle involved in the contravention. Notices to the keeper and reminders were sent to (MY PREVIOUS ADDRESS ), on 25th July 2024 and again on 12th August 2024. The correspondence provided you with the opportunity to appeal the Parking Charge or transfer liability. Due to no response and the balance remaining outstanding, the Parking Charge was finalised as a debt. At this point, Britannia Parking Group Ltd instructed a debt recovery company to recover the debt.
DCB Legal received instructions from Britannia Parking Group Ltd on 31st December 2024 for litigation purposes. Due diligence was completed, and tracing returned (MY NEW ADDRESS). A Letter of Claim was sent to this address detailing the purpose of our instruction and offering you the opportunity to resolve the matter prior to legal proceedings being initiated.
You claim that you did not receive the Parking Charge notices. As advised above, the address provided by the DVLA was not the address DCB Legal traced for you. In light of this, it is reasonable to assume that the Parking Charge Notices were sent to a previous address. Please note that it is the responsibility of the registered keeper to update any address changes with the DVLA to ensure they are reachable regarding traffic incidents.
You have requested evidence of the Parking Charges, which was provided to you via email on 18th February 2025. Please note that the reason for the contravention was that your vehicle was parked without registering it at the reception of the location, which was in breach of the terms of the car park. You have also queried the car park’s grace period. Britannia Parking Group Ltd allows a grace period of 10 minutes, which is in line with BPA regulations.
As detailed in the notice to keeper, in line with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, if you, the registered keeper, were not the driver at the time of the contravention and do not provide the name and serviceable address of the driver, you will be liable for the balance.
With regard to your statement that the correspondence received from DCB Legal is predatory, I acknowledge that the receipt of debt recovery correspondence can be emotive. However, you would have been given the opportunity to resolve the matter prior to our involvement. DCB Legal has been instructed by Britannia Parking Group Ltd, and therefore, it is important that the lines of communication remain open to try and resolve the matter amicably.
You have enquired about the added debt recovery fee and whether VAT is included in the balance. As
the Parking Charge was unsuccessfully recovered by the Client directly, they instructed another party to pursue the matter, which subsequently led to the recovery fee being added. As stated within the British Parking Association Code of Practice, Section 9, Escalation of Costs: ‘Where a Parking Charge becomes overdue, a sum of up to £70 may be added.’ Since Parking Charges are not Vatable, additional charges to recover the debt are treated in the same manner.
Following my review, I find no merit in your complaint. DCB Legal has been instructed to initiate legal action regarding an unpaid debt. You were given the opportunity to appeal the Parking Charge and provide the driver's details before DCB Legal’s involvement. In light of the above, I am unable to uphold your complaint.
Kind Regards

[des8]

So if you want to play letter tennis you could reply pointing out that you did not move house until Nov, so you still wonder why you did not receive their earlier communications.
(in fact the statute assumes that items posted are delivered unless you can PROVE otherwise, so no mileage there anyway)

You could also point out that they have not commented on the fact their client's NTK does not comply with the Statute, and therefore they cannot pass liability from the driver to you the keeper.

You could also add that the statute only permits recovery of the parking charge, and not any additional costs or charges that BPA might like to add.
Their code is not a creature of statute.

The 10 minute grace period is only given once.

Unlikely they will take much notice as that does not feed their coffers.
They will continue pushing for payment of some amount, but may discontinue just before the court hearing.

[mariukonie]

Thank you for answering. I'll write them a short email based on your advice and probably end the game of letter tennis I really appreciate it. Best wishes.

[pharmchick2]

Thank you for answering. I'll write them a short email based on your advice and probably end the game of letter tennis I really appreciate it. Best wishes.

can you update us on the outcome of your case?