DCBL - Letter of Claim - Defence to be filed

Maybelle

Hello,

I've referred to the template thread for filing a defence but I have a little bit of a unique problem. I am neither the registered keeper nor the driver. I sent an appeal on behalf of the keeper using my email address and 1st Parking and DCBL have used this information to constantly hound me despite repeated attempts to advise them that I am the wrong person to be pursuing.

It has now gone to claims and I intend to defend in full but I am worried that the template provided may not be suitable for me?

I have not changed anything else in the template other than sections 2 and 3. I have changed it to the below but is there anything else I need to amend in the template?

2.       It is not admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question and liability is denied.  

3.  The Defendant was not the driver at the time of incident, nor have they ever been the registered keeper. Despite highlighting this to the Claimant they have continuously bombarded the Defendant with ‘debt recovery’ letters.  The Defendant cannot be held liable due to the Claimant not complying with the ‘keeper liability’ requirements set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4.

My primary defence is as follows;


I can't be held liable as I am not the keeper or drive

Should they decide to not see reason and insist that I am the driver/keeper then I still can't be held liable as;

• claim involves an element of double recovery and as such is an abuse of process
• signage used is not on the passenger side and not readily visible to the driver
• the NtK failed to give the invitation to keeper as required by 9 (2) (e).

Based on this, is there anything else I should amend/include in the template defense? When would I upload evidence (I have email from my HR dept confirming I was working on this day in a different location so I possibly couldn't have been the driver)

Coupon-mad

2.       It is not admitted denied that the Defendant was either the registered keeper or the driver of the vehicle in question and liability is denied.  

3.  The Defendant was not the driver at the time of incident, nor have they ever been the registered keeper. Despite highlighting this to the Claimant they have continuously bombarded the Defendant with ‘debt recovery’ letters.  The Defendant cannot be held liable due to the Claimant not complying with the ‘keeper liability’ requirements set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 and because this is the wrong Defendant.  The Claimants have misued the Defendant's data and presumed the Defendant was the keeper or driver, simply because the Defendant sent an appeal on behalf of the keeper using the Defendant's email address.  The Claimant and DCBL know this, but they have used this information the Defendant's data to constantly hound the Defendant with debt demands and now a court claim, despite repeated attempts to advise them that this is the wrong person to be pursuing. The Defendant also has an email from their HR Dept confirming they were working on this day in a different location so could not possibly have been the driver.  This is not news to this Claimant and the claim is a clear abuse of process, using the courts as a cheap form of intimidation.

Now, what about your counterclaim?  People have got at least £250 awarded and it only costs you a £25 court fee to claim for £300  :

KeithP

Although you haven't mentioned it, have you received a County Court Claim Form?
If so, what is the Issue Date on that form?


Why doesn't your para 2 say something like:
2.       It is denied that the Defendant was either the registered keeper of the vehicle in question or the driver at the time and therefore liability is denied. 

Redx

Excellent comments , but check for typos as I spotted one 😀👍

A nice one for a counter claim too 👍👍

Maybelle

wow! thank you all for your quick responses!

Can I still use all the other arguments in the defence template? I am tempted to throw the whole kitchen sink in the defence in case the judge for some absurd reason still believes I was the driver. 

@CouponMad - you're an absolute star, thank you so much for this. Their particulars of claim are very vague but I imagine point 4 in the template defence addresses this?. I have already completed the acknowledgement of service and I don't remember choosing to raise a counterclaim. Is it too late? At the time I just wanted this to be over and done with but they've honestly stressed me out for almost a year and some money back would be nice!

@KeithP - the issue date was 19th April. The MCOL service was offline on Friday and the weekend but I sent an email on Saturday (24.04) and I received a response on the 26th so 7 days after it was issued! When is the deadline for filing the defence - is it only working days they count? I read the Newbies thread comments stating that it should be printed, signed and scanned back to be uploaded as an email instead of using the MCOL online service - is this still the case

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 19th April, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 24th May 2021 to file your Defence.

That's almost four weeks 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 at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

Maybelle

I also forgot to mention that in the Letter before claim I once more advised DCBL that I was not the keeper nor the driver and they came back stating that the DVLA had given 1st Parking my name and address and that I had admitted I was the driver in an appeal. I have already submitted an SAR request to 1st Parking which came around the same time as DCBL's stupid response and I've never said I was the driver and the DVLA details clearly state my father's name (whom I wrote the appeal on behalf of). 

This is the claim form - I don't know what to request in the CPR 31.14 as it's so vague - I already have the contract and PCN from the SAR request but should I request these again? Also any recommendations for what else I should be asking for?

https://ibb.co/5cXRdvf

KeithP

Why have you mentioned CPR 31.14?
That is not relevant.

Ah... St George Wharf. We saw that mentioned on here earlier today.

Coupon-mad

Have a look at the thread by @Nosy for what a counterclaim looks like. It is a lot of words, straight under the defence. I would..  You are the wrong person pursued!

You do not have to have mentioned it when doing the AOS.

Maybelle

Oh, apologies! I read on another forum that I should request a CPR 31.14 but I imagine this probably wouldn't be required with the Abuse of process defence the template relies on?

Ah has it been mentioned, hopefully they were able to win! I'm hoping I am able to win as it seems iron clad to me but I don't want to count my chickens before they've hatched I'll have a search and h

Coupon-mad

You MUST do a counterclaim IMHO.  Flipping heck, you are not the right person and they know.  They were hoping to catch you with a default CCJ.