NTK from Private Road unloading - POPLA decisions now in.

ParkerstNick

To update, we have now received a Letter of Claim from DCB Legal (18/10/24) and I will respond with a reply based on the suggested template.

I have a couple of questions:

1) The tone of the template reply is quite mocking in places. Is this a deliberate tactic or just because it is too much of a rare opportunity to miss venting scorn on the scammers' lackeys? I could easily be even more goading with my reply but is there any real point or is it just a bit of fun?

2) Is there any tactical reason for asking the 2 questions under the PAP? Is it advantageous to get into a discussion with them about the niceties of disbursements and VAT?

As ever, many thanks.

 

Coupon-mad

It is goading because they aren't worthy of respect.

If and when they've cleaned up their act and earned respect they'll get it from the public but I'm not holding my breath.

LDast

Don't worry about it and don't overthink it. Just follow the process as advised in the Newbies/FAQ thread and this will all be over in a few months when they inevitably discontinue.

ParkerstNick

We have now received a claim form from HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

It is for my son and he didn't check his mail box regularly in the communal lobby. The issue date is 28/1/25. Is it too late to apply for the 28 day defence deadline (by 25/2/25)?

Car1980

Log in and check you haven't been given a default on MoneyClaim online.

If not, just email over a defence now.

KeithP

ParkerstNick said:

We have now received a claim form from HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

It is for my son and he didn't check his mail box regularly in the communal lobby. The issue date is 28/1/25. Is it too late to apply for the 28 day defence deadline (by 25/2/25)?

With a Claim Issue Date of 28th January 2025, your son had until 4pm on Monday 17th February to file an Acknowledgment of Service('AOS'). Did he do that? If not, I suggest he does that right now - before the Claimant seeks and gets a Default Judgment against him.

To file an AOS, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Perhaps he should check his MCOL Claim History to see if a Default Judgment has already been made.

If an AOS can be filed, then your son has until 4pm on Monday 3rd March 2025 to file a Defence.

That's over a week away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the AOS guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

Coupon-mad

Car1980 said:

Log in and check you haven't been given a default on MoneyClaim online.

If not, just email over a defence now.

No. If there's no judgment yet he should do the AOS on MCOL which will block them from getting a CCJ and then he can take the following week to defend the claim easily.

But I fear he is too late?

@ParkerstNick Get your son to create a Government Gateway Account TONIGHT and CHECK MCOL NOW and immediately do the AOS. No delay. No questions, no more posts here yet. The NEWBIES thread is linked by Keith and AOS is easy!

He must do it NOW. 

ParkerstNick

Judgement was on 20/2/25!

Will read up on setting aside.

For almost 4 years I've been telling him he can ignore the threatening junk from the PPC and sols so by the time the crucial 14-day one comes he's become lapse about checking his post. 

And youngsters nowadays rarely get anything important by post. A mail-box is considered almost as redundant as a land-line. Ironically when this started all the correspondence came to me at home and i thought i was doing a sensible thing by giving them his new address.

Gr1pr

If he received the claim at his address and failed to act promptly,  I doubt that a £303 set aside would be successful,  

On what legal grounds do you believe it would be successful   ?  ( you snooze,  you lose   )

ParkerstNick

Gr1pr said:

If he received the claim at his address and failed to act promptly,  I doubt that a £303 set aside would be successful,  

On what legal grounds do you believe it would be successful   ?  ( you snooze,  you lose   )

As I understand it, it could be set aside if the defendant can demonstrate that they have a reasonable chance of defeating the claim. 

My main argument would be:

The PPC claim is based on contract law and the offer of a contract to park given by their signage. But all their signage says prominently that only authorised vehicles can park there -  some even say no parking at all. They can't have it both ways on the same sign, they're either offering you the chance to park or they're warning you off parking!.

There are other things that might be relevant - that the PPC contract does not appear to be in the names of the landowners, that an unloading event may not be a parking event, the relevant land may not have been specified etc. 

Would this be considered a reasonable enough case?