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Claim Form Received / Highview Parking / DCB Legal

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Hi everyone. 

I have recently received a Claim Form, with the Claimant being Highview Parking Limited (HP), represented by DCB Legal Ltd (DCB).

I think this case is slightly different to others so I would appreciate if people could look at the detail and offer any advice on what to submit as my defence.

Summary
July 2018 - PCN sent by HP which I didn't receive. 
March and November 2020 - Notice of debt recovery and Final Reminder sent by DCB, the latter to a previous address.
December 2020 - Letter of Claim sent by DCB to previous address. Email proof from DVLA of address change before LOC sent.
January 2021 - I requested original PCN from DCB so I could review.
February 2021 - Original PCN received. Sent 16 days after the parking event. Amount requested was £95 or £55 if paid early.
I notified both HP and DCB that HP failed to notify me in the relevant period in relation to the PCN
April 2021 - I received a Claim Form for £277.21

Full Storyy
This is for a PCN dating back to July 2018 and I don't recall receiving the PCN at the time.

March 2020
Notice of Debt Recovery received. 

November 2020
Notice of Debt Recovery Final Reminder received. 

I changed my address with the DVLA before I received the Final Reminder so it was sent to a previous address.I have email confirmation from the DVLA of the address change. 

December 2020
Letter of Claim was sent to the previous address. My wife, who I have separated from handed me the unopened letter. 

The sum claimed for is £165.

From here, I contacted the landowner to request the PCN be cancelled.

January 2021
Email from Highview Parking to say, as a gesture, they would reduce the charge to £95, if paid within 14 days.
I also requested the original PCN so that I could see and review it for the first time as well as requests so that they comply with the Practice Direction. 
DCB said that they would put this case on hold. 

February 2021
Email from DCB Legal with PDFs of the PCN and reminder letters, as well as most of the answers to comply with the Practice Direction. They also said I had failed to make payment of the £95 within 14 days, even though they had said the case was on hold.

On review of the PCN, it was sent 16 days after the parking event was recorded. Highview Parking failed to notify me within the relevant period as stated in Paragraph 9 (5) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

I emailed Highview and cc'd DCB Legal with this and said that I believed I didn't have to pay. I requested they both respond and not just with automated replies. I received an automated response from Highview saying that the email was received and that my account had been put in hold. DCB Legal didn't reply. 

This brings us up to the Claim Form being received at the end of April, again to my previous address. 
Amount now claimed for with fees and costs, £277.21. 
If I received the original PCN, I could have appealed or even paid £55.

I intend to submit a defence.

As I didn't receive the original PCN but on review when I did receive it, it was sent out late - can I put forward that I don't owe this debt as Highview Parking failed to notify me within the relevant period as stated in Paragraph 9 (5) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012? 

I was told my case would be put on hold by DCB Legal in one email and then their next email, they had not only progressed the case but increased the sum from £95 to £165.

Are the above a strong enough defence?
Should I add them to the usual defence points put forward in the other threads on here?

Many thanks for your time and consideration with this.
«13456710

Comments

  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 43,370 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Can you point out where this is 'slightly different to others' please. I couldn't spot it from my skim-read?

    Please let us have the Date of Issue shown on the N1 claim form so that regular @KeithP can provide you with your key dates and actions. 
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

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  • deezee3k
    deezee3k Posts: 44 Forumite
    Second Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Hi Umkomaas. Thanks for your swift reply. 

    The difference I believe is that I didn't have the opportunity to appeal the original PCN from 2018 as I don't recall receiving it.

    And when DCB sent the PCN this year, it was sent 16 days after the parking event - so I believe that Highview missed their opportunity to send out the PCN.

    I'm wondering if that is a strong enough defence? As the PCN should never have been sent and from there, the Claim Form has resulted.

    The issue date is 28 April 2021.


    Kimd regards. 
  • beamerguy
    beamerguy Posts: 17,587 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Bottom line is that DCBL are feeding you with crap.

    They add fakes ... the £70 .... they call it damages which they cannot prove because there are no damages. Worst of all they have a legal who signs a statement of truth ... WHICH IS NOT TRUE

    Talk about contempt of court, DCBL walk a very thin wire.

    Read all about the DCBL fakery and it's the same for everyone

    DCBL letters ... forum group thread
    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6237177/dcbl-letters-forum-group-thread#latest
  • deezee3k
    deezee3k Posts: 44 Forumite
    Second Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Thanks @beamerguy @Umkomaas

    How can I defend against this claim?

    The original PCN from Highview was sent 16 days after the parking event.

    I didn't get a response from Highview (or DCB who were cc'd in the email) when I put this to them and told them I didn't believe I owed this money.

    The next letter I got was the Claim Form. @KeithP Issue date 28 April 2021 
  • deezee3k
    deezee3k Posts: 44 Forumite
    Second Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Half_way said:
    Without attempting to name the driver...

    why did the vehicle get issued with a parking charge notice?
    The vehicle was in the car park for 2hrs 11mins - max 2 hour stay. 


    Where was the vehicle parked? 
    Who's car park was it parked in?
    The vehicle was parked on a retail park in a standard bay. 

    and:
    What happened when you complained to the landowner?
    The landowner contacted Highview to get more information. 

    what did you say in the complaint?
    The complaint said that the original PCN was never received and now a worrying Letter of Claim had been received and that it did not provide a clear summary of the facts on which the claim was based. Requested they cancel. 

    what was the response??
    The response was the landowner would get in touch with Highview. 
    Further response was that Highview had reduced the amount from £165 to £95 as a goodwill gesture. 
    Responses in bold above. 
  • Fruitcake
    Fruitcake Posts: 59,463 Forumite
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    Go back to the landowner and complain, as high up the food chain as you can get (owner/CEO etcetera).

    Point out that they are jointly liable for the actions of their agents, Scamview, who failed to give a NTK within the time specified by the PoFA, an Act of Parliament, the law. Instead of cancelling they are pursuing the keeper even though they know the keeper cannot be held liable in law.
    I married my cousin. I had to...
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  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 151,891 Forumite
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    edited 3 May 2021 at 3:19PM
    I changed my address with the DVLA before I received the Final Reminder so it was sent to a previous address.I have email confirmation from the DVLA of the address change. 
    Forget that, it makes no difference.  Parking firms can't ask the DVLA twice.  You updating the DVLA changes nothing but at least you received the claim.

    Copy and adapt ANY other Highview thread defence. 

    We have had a batch, this is no different and Highview never use the POFA. It amazes me that people fixate on the dates (14 days as per para 9 of the POFA) which is true, but it's only half of it.  The NTK wording is non POFA, never mind the date!    The document is not capable of holding you liable as keeper because it is worded for driver liability only and is a non-POFA NTK.  Highview never have bothered to use the POFA 2012 para 9 'keeper liability' wording, nor do they care about the 14 days because victims are naive enough to cough up the driver when appealing, and others pay up.

    Anyway the wording to put in a HIghview defence about the Particulars of Claim containing an untruth about the keeper being liable (because the keeper is not liable due to the Claimant choosing not to use the applicable law, has been done to death during April and this is no different.  Copy any.
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