DCB legal and CP Plus re Roadchef Service Stations

wildflynn

Ok I wish i'd have read everything in this forum back in March, but I didnt and I'm now going to court. However, my case is similar to the https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6169127/notice-of-debt-recovery-letter-from-dcbl  I was also told that they had voided my PCNs from 2014 and 2015 when I was working on Roadchef's sites. 
I'll explain in full below and hope that this maybe pulls other people in to help me with my defence. 

So, I'm a member of the public defending a case by CCPlus T/a GroupNexus  for 4 PCNs from back in 2014 and 2015. The main part of my defence is that I was working on site, and Roadchef didnt enter my VRN either correctly or at all. I had repeatedly called them and was told that they would be voided. I heard nothing for years and therefore thought it was all settled. Another part of my defence will be to question the possible deliberate ploy or policy to wait until 5 years has passed to pursue these claims, therefore claiming an extra 8% per annum in  interest on each ticket. I went to mediation this morning and we didnt agree  on a settlement, so this will continue on to court. I asked for an SAR (Subject Access Request) for all 4 PCNS and they only sent me details for one of them so i offered to pay for one of them minus the fees/charges etc which was rejected.  ( yeah i know, I shouldnt have offered anything, but i just wanted it to go away) For the record, 4 PCNs now stand at £950 plus court and solicitor fees.

 

What also irked me is that I had an email  response from a Director at Roadchef saying that they could have helped if i had gone to them earlier. I had gone to them earlier, and presumed it was settled. then years later CP Plus pop up with a letter of claim and summons. This left me in a catch22 situation  and is why I think that this is a deliberate ploy. They leave it 4 or 5 years to pursue the claim, then the landowner cant help you because it's 5 years down the line

 

That aside, I would like to hear from other people who have been targeting 4 or 5 years down the line and would ask if I can use their cases in my defence. If we can prove that this is deliberate, we can do something about it. I would also like to hear from a solicitor who'd like to take this up on my behalf. 

Thanks

KeithP

wildflynn said:

Ok I wish i'd have read everything in this forum back in March, but I didnt and I'm now going to court.

Hello and welcome.

Does that mean you have received a County Court Claim Form?

If so, what is the Issue Date on it?

wildflynn

Hi, Thanks Keith,
I was issued a small claims court form 28th April. I went online to Moneyclaim Online and put my defence in which  in short said 'that i was working on site, contacted the company and was told that the tickets would be voided. didnt hear anything for years until dcb legal contacted me. I ignored them because i thought it was a scam because the amount demanded it was so hyper inflated'
DCB Legal said that CCPlus had decided to continue with the claim and then it went to mediation  via phone this morning where we failed to agree on a settlement. So now it's going to court.

beamerguy

wildflynn said:

Hi, Thanks Keith,
I was issued a small claims court form 28th April. I went online to Moneyclaim Online and put my defence in which  in short said 'that i was working on site, contacted the company and was told that the tickets would be voided. didnt hear anything for years until dcb legal contacted me. I ignored them because i thought it was a scam because the amount demanded it was so hyper inflated'
DCB Legal said that CCPlus had decided to continue with the claim and then it went to mediation  via phone this morning where we failed to agree on a settlement. So now it's going to court.

Mediation is pointless.   Read this, the history of DCBL and their scam
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76631816#Comment_76631816"nofollow" href="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal/p1?new=1" title="Link: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal/p1?new=1">https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal/p1?new=1

DCBL will think you don't know about thia, the mediator would have been clueless
IMO, you should write to DCBL requesting their legal authority to add unlawful amounts, they have no answer and tells them you know what the courts are doing to such claims and they can look forward to a court spanking

KeithP

You now need to create a Witness Statement and gather evidence.

Prepare yourself by reading the second post of the NEWBIES thread.

Please show us exactly what you filed as a Defence.

wildflynn

Thanks both, It does look like CCPLUS have added the £60 as the 'fine' was £100 + £60 admin. so the abuse of process is valid. 
@KeithP Pasting my defence below. 
I dispute all of the PCNs because back in 2014 and 2015 I was self
employed, working for XXXXXXXX Ltd and Roadchef were a customer. I
visited these sites on numerous occasions and had my number plate
logged , but occasionally, the staff in WHSmith either forgot or
incorrectly entered my details. When I received these PCNs and on
subsequent follow up notices I informed both CP Plus and Roadchef
that they should be cancelled. Roadchef told me that they had
been voided.
I ignored the threatening letters from DCB Legal, because I
thought they were scams picking up on old lists of unpaid fines
This was eluded to in an article on the MoneySave Expert’s
website about them .
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6083869/dcbl-dcb-l
egal-attempting-abuse-of-process#post76631816
They had also added huge admin fees to each ticket amounting to
£952.74 for 4 parking tickets, making me think that they were just
a dodgy company trying to circumvent ruling POFA2012, the ruling
of the Supreme Court, about Double Recovery by adding superius
costs and admin fees
To summarise; I didn’t bother replying to DCB Legal because I knew
I didn’t owe the money and these claims looked dodgy should never
have been handed to them by CP Plus. Therefore, I had no reason to
deal with them or acknowledge what I thought was a phishing
attempt by them.
@beamerguy IMO, you should write to DCBL requesting their legal authority to add unlawful amounts, they have no answer and tells them you know what the courts are doing to such claims and they can look forward to a court spanking. Do you think I still should write to DCB Legal even though it's in my defence statement? 
Thanks guys

Le_Kirk

That is more of a witness statement (WS) than a defence, it contains no technical or legal arguments.  You could try to recover the situation by writing a good WS.  The starting point is the Abuse of Process thread already pointed out by @beamerguy but you could also read the standard defence template (I know it is a defence but it contains useful info for your WS)  
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6108153/suggested-template-defence-to-adapt-for-all-parking-charge-cases-where-they-add-false-admin-costs/p1

wildflynn

Thanks @Le_Kirk I'll do that as a WS. They have added the false admin charges, so hopefully that will do the trick

Coupon-mad

Abuse of process is not a defence to the parking charges though.  It's a defence to the added fake damages, but not the core issue.

The fact that you contacted them (who?) and were told they would be voided, is your evidence that supports your defence.  Please show us your draft WS & evidence list and your costs assessment, as you see in other example threads by people like @keypulse and @Chefdave.

Have you got a hearing date yet and a date to file & serve your WS & evidence?

Is the Defendant named on the claim a company (keeper) or an individual known driver?

beamerguy

Even though your statement shows extortion, a letter is designed to show a judge, whether or not they reply

Le_Kirk

wildflynn said:

Thanks @Le_Kirk I'll do that as a WS. They have added the false admin charges, so hopefully that will do the trick

You have to read what I have pointed you to and use it to compile your own witness statement because what you will be copying is a defence written as a set of technical and legal arguments and in the Third Person whereas a WS is written in the First Person and is a narrative of what happened on the day and subsequently.  The point of using the Abuse of Process part is to focus the judge on the additional admin fees or contractual costs (which they are not allowed to add) and, if you happen to lose the case, ask the judge to remove them.  Sometimes (well quite a lot) the judge will throw out the whole case.  You are trying to overcome a poorly constructed defence and a WS is not a way of filing an amended defence (it costs £100 to do that) but a way of supporting your defence and introducing evidence to back up what you did submit.

ETA: - I now see that @Coupon-mad has posted similar (and more) advice.