dcblegal Ltd - parking charge, company car

[thechad]

Can someone please advise, any help will be appreciated.....

I drive a company car registered to my place of work. I received a parking charge from a services I stopped at. I identified myself as the driver. They then asked me for quite a lot of personal details, address, number, etc, etc.. Following doing some research I found them to be a private company and refused to send them my personal details.

They then sent me a mail saying that because I refuse to give them my details they will charge my company and have since been sending them threatening emails with charges that have escalated from £50 to £170.

Is this legal and what can I do to stop this?

[des8]

You can't stop them (or anyone else) sending requests for payment to the company.
It is not illegal.

You refer to "my company". Is this company owned by you/
If not what does the company propose to do about the PCN?

If the parking company does not know both the name of the driver and a current address for service of court papers for the driver they can recover unpaid charges from the registered keeper

[thechad]

Thank you for responding.

By my company, it is the company I work for, I do not own the company.

[des8]

Do DCBL know your name and address?
If they do your company, could respond to them that as you have been identified (without reconfirming your identity) condition 5 (1) (b) of PoFA 2012 does not apply so DCBL cannot recover unpaid charges from the registered keeper

If DCBL don't know both your name and address it is for your company to take the next step.
Their options are:
1) ignore, but DCBL will then initiate a court claim which can then be defended
2)pay them
3) Inform DCBL you were the driver, and give DBCL your address. DCBL will then pursue you.

[thechad]

Thanks again, I have since given DCBL my details and asked that all future correspondence be addressed to myself, but, they responded saying that the transfer of liability has expired and that the company will still be charged and not me as the individual???

[des8]

Assuming a court claim has not yet been initiated they are talking b******s!

PoFA 2012 sch4 Sec5 applies:

Conditions that must be met [to claim unpaid charges from keeper]

5(1)The first condition is that the creditor—
(a)has the right to enforce against the driver of the vehicle the requirement to pay the unpaid parking charges; but
(b)is unable to take steps to enforce that requirement against the driver because the creditor does not know both the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver.

(2)Sub-paragraph (1)(b) ceases to apply if (at any time after the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the notice to keeper is given) the creditor begins proceedings to recover the unpaid parking charges from the keeper.

Para 2 (my italics) is clear that the possibility of proceeding against the driver is only removed when the court claim is initiated

So if you don't want your company handling the case have a conversation with HR


However it is usually easier for the registered keeper to defend these cases than the driver, so you may want to defend it on behalf of your company.
Can't say what sort of defence there is as we have not seen any of the parking charge notices or car park signs