About DCB Legal
DCB Legal Ltd is a firm of solicitors at Manor Park in Runcorn, registered at Companies House since 2017 under company number 10633864. It is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 638321) as a licensed body, authorised for all legal services. It is not on the FCA register.
DCB Legal says it works in debt recovery, civil and commercial litigation, and landlord and tenant law. It issues claims in bulk through the Civil National Business Centre, and its website has a page for people who have had letters from it about unpaid private parking charges. Its sister company DCBL can enforce a judgment that stays unpaid.
A Letter of Claim from DCB Legal is the formal step before a county court claim. It is not a court claim itself. Under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, you have 30 days from the date at the top of the letter to reply using the Reply Form. Use that time to dispute the debt, ask for documents or offer a payment plan.
Group Structure
DCBL (Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd)
Sister company at the same Runcorn address: a debt recovery agency and High Court enforcement firm. DCB Legal says it can pass a case to DCBL to enforce a judgment. Companies House lists the same person with significant control for both companies.
FCA reference: 702566Company number: 07408649
Creditor (varies per case)
The business that instructed DCB Legal and is owed the money, such as a parking company. It would be the claimant in any court claim. DCB Legal says its parking clients mainly manage parking on private land for landowners.
What a DCB Legal Letter Typically Looks Like
- A Letter of Claim setting out the basis of the claim and what will happen next if it is not resolved, which is how DCB Legal describes its letters.
- A Reply Form. The Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims says you should use it to reply, within 30 days of the date at the top of the letter.
- A case reference, which DCB Legal asks for on its online Letter of Claim response form.
- Phone numbers 0203 434 0433 and 01606 611955, and the address Direct House, Greenwood Drive, Manor Park, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 1UG.
- For a parking charge, an amount higher than the original charge. DCB Legal says the creditor is entitled to recover the costs of recovery.
- If the debt is not resolved, a county court claim issued through the Civil National Business Centre.
Your Rights
Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims
You have 30 days from the date at the top of the Letter of Claim to reply, using the Reply Form (paragraphs 3.4 and 4.1). Once you reply, the creditor should not start court action for at least 30 days from receiving your Reply Form (paragraph 4.2), and it should send documents you ask for within 30 days (paragraph 5.2).
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Schedule 4)
In England and Wales, a parking company can recover an unpaid charge from the registered keeper only if the conditions in Schedule 4 are met (paragraph 4(2)). The most it can recover from the keeper under that Schedule is the amount in the notice to keeper, less anything paid after it (paragraph 4(5)).
Limitation Act 1980 (section 5)
A claim founded on a simple contract cannot be brought more than six years after the cause of action accrued. DCB Legal's own parking page says a creditor has six years to pursue a parking charge.
Responding to a court claim
If a claim form arrives, you must respond by the date on it. You can pay, offer a different amount or defend the claim. GOV.UK says you can ask for another 14 days to respond if you are not paying the full amount.
Complaints
Call 0203 434 0433, email info@dcblegal.co.uk or write to DCB Legal Ltd, Direct House, Greenwood Drive, Manor Park, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 1UG. It acknowledges complaints within 5 working days and aims to finish its investigation within 28 days. Its procedure then names the Legal Ombudsman and the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Common DCB Legal Scenarios
A Letter of Claim for a parking charge you dispute
Reply within 30 days of the date at the top of the letter, using the Reply Form. Say you dispute the debt and ask for the documents behind it, such as the parking charge notice, the photos, the signs and the landowner contract. Under paragraph 5.2 of the protocol, the creditor should send documents you ask for, or explain why it cannot, within 30 days.
You are told the time to appeal has passed
DCB Legal says that once a charge reaches it, the time to appeal to the parking company or the independent appeals service has passed. You can still dispute the debt in your reply. Paragraph 6.1 of the protocol says that where a debt is disputed, both sides should take steps to resolve it without starting court proceedings.
You were the keeper, not the driver
DCB Legal says that where no other driver was named, the registered keeper will be pursued for payment. In England and Wales, a parking company can only recover a charge from the keeper if the conditions in Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 are met. If you think they were not, say so in your reply.
You need time to get debt advice
Box G of the Reply Form lets you say you are getting debt advice. Under paragraph 4.3 of the protocol, the creditor should allow reasonable extra time for you to get it. Free advice is available from Citizens Advice, StepChange and National Debtline.
A county court claim form has arrived
A claim form is a court document. You must respond by the date on it. GOV.UK says you can pay, offer a different amount or defend the claim, and ask for another 14 days if you are not paying in full. DCB Legal says that if no defence is filed, it can apply for judgment.
A county court judgment
GOV.UK says records of judgments are kept for 6 years unless you pay the full amount within a month. You can apply to set a judgment aside if you do not owe the money or did not receive the claim. DCB Legal says an unpaid judgment can be passed to DCBL for enforcement.
Dispute the Debt by Post
Our parking charge dispute letter is written from your answers in the letter builder. In its letter of claim mode, it replies under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, says you dispute the debt and need more documents, asks for the parking charge notice, the photos, the signs and the landowner contract, and asks DCB Legal not to start a claim while the dispute is open. The protocol says to reply using the Reply Form, so return that as well. Check the finished letter before you pay, then we print it and post it by Royal Mail.
- Replies under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims
- Says you dispute the debt and need more documents
- Asks for the photos, the signs and the landowner contract
- Challenges fees added to the original charge
- Asks them not to start a claim while the dispute is open
- Asks for contact in writing only
Dispute This Debt
- Guided step by step in the letter builder
- See the finished letter before you pay
- Printed and posted by Royal Mail
- Tracked delivery available
From £2.49 including printing and postage