Accidental small underpayment

Snakes_Belly

"I'm obviously relying on common sense and a reasonable judge."

So did I and I actually thought I had about a 50/50 chance of success. There was one particular issue that I knew could be a problem for me but it was not mentioned by the Claimant's representative. It did not work out too badly for me and I was happy with the outcome. 
 
Also use De Minimis as a defence point.

Snakes_Belly

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Royal+1+club(皇家一号）/@52.475436,-1.8964927,3a,15y,132.67h,71.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shE6OjXCz16KX6qQLDNUhuA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sladywell+walk+car+park+birmingham!3m4!1s0x4870bc89b526922d:0xad7a67897f607d80!8m2!3d52.4757293!4d-1.8962049

Is this the car park?

The images are not current and the tariff is out of date however it does say on the machine that a ticket will only be given if the correct tariff is inserted into the machine. On that basis you would not have received a ticket.

Coupon-mad

That is a very good point.  The issuance of a ticket by that machine was acceptance of a valid payment, then.

Snakes_Belly

If they are saying that you only paid for one hour then surely three coins would have been rejected. I think that the machine must have malfunctioned as it says that you have paid £5.00 on your ticket and there is no £5.00 tariff. 

https://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/carpark/hm/b5/birmingham/?arriving=202012141900&leaving=202012142100

Jimsnap

Thanks everybody for your help, it's really appreciated, I need to sort my defence out a bit more carefully, that is obvious.
That is the machine I paid at, thanks for posting this, I can see that might be an argument I could use.
Although it could be said the machine issued a ticket based on the initial £3 that I inserted, which was the correct tariff for one hour, and ignored the extra payment.
Do you think it's worth still talking to the DCB Legal at this point or just wait for the hearing? I'm guessing keep talking to them, but I don't want to give away all my defence details.

Coupon-mad

No point talking to DCBLegal. 

They are horrible - I've dealt with them myself when helping people and they just stonewall and bully consumers, IMHO.  If one of my student kids had a law degree (which they don't, they are scientists and they hand something back to the world, unlike parking robo-claim 'debt' firms).   I would disown my 'kids' if they got a job for the likes of DBLegal!  I'd hang my head in shame of anyone in my family thought they ''worked'' for that nasty robo-claim set up.

You do not 'wait for the hearing' after putting a defence in.   I assume you didn't mean that because you know from the NEWBIES thread, defence is not your only job.

Jimsnap

My next course of action is to request a SAR, I'm also going to ask:

1) The manufacturer, type and serial number of the coin mechanism.

2) What EU Type Approvals does the coin mechanism conform to?

3) Copies of the independent test certificates for those EU Type Approvals.

4) When was the coin mechanism manufactured and installed?

5) Do they have a maintenance record for the coin mechanism and when was it last calibrated?

Their case may be that I didn't have the additional pound or that the pound I inserted was 

faulty/forgery/whatever... and that the machine rejected it and it was my fault for not noticing this.
I'll point out that I'm 70, it was dark and I wasn't wearing my reading glasses.

This is their most recent reply to me-

"We write further to your email received in our office on 30th November 2020 and we thank you for providing your new address. Please note that we have updated our records.

 Our Client, Walton Wilkins T/a Premier Parking Logistics, have instructed us to recover the outstanding balance of £160.00 as on the day of the event, the ticket you purchased to park on site had expired. Please see attached images confirming that your ticket was only valid until 20:24. Whilst we appreciate your comments that you paid the correct fee but the payment machine did not register this, it is your responsibility to ensure that the ticket you purchased covered your stay on site. 

 When parking on private land, the contractual terms of the site are set out on the signs. You are entering a contract and agreeing to the terms by parking and staying on the site. Parking in breach of the terms as stipulated on the signage means that you are then breaking the terms of the contract.

 We note that you appealed the parking charge with our Client who rejected the appeal on 13th March 2020. Your appeal rejection response would have provided the opportunity to appeal further to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS) if you disagreed with our Client’s reasonings for the appeal rejection. Our Client have confirmed that you did not submit a further appeal to the IAS.

Further to the above, our Client issued a Notice to Keeper to you on 6th April 2020. A copy is attached. This notice reiterated that payment was outstanding and confirmed that legal action may be taken and additional costs incurred if the parking charge was not paid.

Payment of the full outstanding balance of £160.00 is now due within 30 days of the date of this email to prevent legal proceedings being issued against you, as per the Letter of Claim.Payment can be made via bank transfer to our designated client account:"

 

Account Name: DCB Legal Ltd Client Account

 

Umkomaas

My next course of action is to request a SAR, I'm also going to ask:

1) The manufacturer, type and serial number of the coin mechanism.

2) What EU Type Approvals does the coin mechanism conform to?

3) Copies of the independent test certificates for those EU Type Approvals.

4) When was the coin mechanism manufactured and installed?

5) Do they have a maintenance record for the coin mechanism and when was it last calibrated?

You won't get any of that from a SAR.  Do you have expertise in coin mechanisms in order to take this further. What will you do with any answers they provide?

I'll point out that I'm 70, it was dark and I wasn't wearing my reading glasses.

Do I sense a mild acceptance of culpability here?  Don't forget, it's their case to prove, I wouldn't be making their job in doing so easy!  Think about what you're saying!

Jimsnap

"You won't get any of that from a SAR.  Do you have expertise in coin mechanisms in order to take this further. What will you do with any answers they provide?"
I take your point, I guess I'm just trying to put them off.
There is culpability on my part because I never checked the ticket, I can't argue that, but I'm hoping to convince a judge that my intention and attempt to pay is evident by the £5 shown on the ticket.
In fact, I did pay the correct fee and don't know why it wasn't registered, as mentioned earlier it could have been a machine fault or a coin fault.
The fact remains, I didn't display a ticket for the time I stayed, even though it showed I'd paid £5 but was only given a ticket worth £3.
If the judge looks at it in simple terms and disregards my points then I have no chance.
I'd have more chance of getting let off with murder, reasonable doubt etc...

D_P_Dance

There is culpability on my part because I never checked the ticket, I can't argue that

Why should you?  Of course you can argue it, you are dealing with a scammer.