DCB Legal on behalf of Highview Parking - Advice on Defence for Claim

Redman2186

D_P_Dance said:

Why do people send these things to law firms?  

See post above - I just notified them that I’d sent Group Nexus a SAR.

Coupon-mad

Ah OK, well wait a bit, no rush, then next week reply giving your details.

Redx

This is a live court claim , so the above wasn't needed and nothing will be placed on hold , it was unnecessary to contact dcbl or notify them , but it can be done if only to establish communication links

Redman2186

Response from DCB Legal - I'd asked them for a full and comprehensive breakdown of the claim amount. They still haven't given a breakdown of the £155 -
Should I ask them to clarify £155 and when they tell me £85 plus damages, ask them to clarify on damages? Or is that not required?

Good afternoon,

 

As a claim has been issued, we are unable to place the matter on hold.

Please see below for the breakdown of costs:

 

• Claimed Debt: £155.00
• Claimed Interest: £56.71
• Court issue fee: £25.00
• Costs on issue: £50.00

 

If you are not looking to make payment in full, we would recommend you respond to the Court documentation accordingly.

 

If you are unsure of your legal position, you may wish to seek your own independant legal advice.

 

 

 

Kind Regards,  

Redx

Yes , ask them , see what they come back with for that spurious £70 on top of the £85 PCN , even though you may never get a proper answer in reply , no harm in doing so as long as it comes from Mrs redman !!  😋😋😋

It would also be great if you could advise all these other current HIGHVIEW Court cases on here at the moment , due to your grasp of the issues , also useful for you as a lay rep to your good lady 😁

Redman2186

My response -
Will take a look at a couple of the other threads - I haven't quite mastered the search functionality, I seem to get a lot from 2017/18. If someone wants to tag me so I get a notification it would help.


Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your swift response, however, I think you have missed the point of my original question regarding breakdown.

On the claim form I am able to see the breakdown that you have re-provided below. This is not what I’m looking to understand.

What I am looking to understand is the figure of £155 that you have for “Claimed Debt”, please can you provide a full and comprehensive breakdown of this amount?

Yours faithfully,

Redx

The search function here is appalling and has been for over 14 months now , but checking court case threads on the first 3 pages of this forum would help , plus reading the ones under the KeithP username where you see him give the submission deadlines for the last month or two will show the court case threads , many of which are HIGHVIEW or CPP , both of which are group Nexus now

Coupon-mad

If a claim has already been issued why are you playing email tennis about stuff?  It's not the time.  LBC stage would be, but not once a claim is in play.

Redman2186

Finally got around to updating section 3 & 7 - 3 Quick questions

Also update comms with DCB Legal (email tennis) & SAR Request (post additional IDs) - Nothing from either follow up to SAR was on 7th May.

QUESTION 1. Nearly ready to go in full Defence statement for submission - are there any grammar or further updates required?

QUESTION 2. For Defence point 2). Is it even worth stating "The Defendant was not the only insured driver of the vehicle in question and ..." -  Is it better to just simplify by saying "The Defendant is unable to recall who was or was not driving on a random Sunday nearly 5 years ago?

QUESTION 3. Does anyone have a good template for letter/email to MP? - I forgot to do this last week.

________________________________________________________

The facts as known to the Defendant:

2). It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied. The identity of the driver at the material time is unknown to the Defendant. The Defendant was not the only insured driver of the vehicle in question and is unable to recall who was or was not driving on a random date nearly 5 years ago.

3). The Defendant was issued with a Claim Form by DCB Legal acting on behalf of the Claimant Highview Parking Limited for a Total amount of £286.71 (inclusive of £25 Court Fee & £50 Legal representative's costs). Through research the Defendant has come to understand that this relates to a PCN that was issued against the Defendant’s vehicle xxxx-yyy nearly 5 years ago on 2nd October 2016 at Waterfields Retail Park, Watford.

4). The Defendant as the registered keeper of the vehicle in question notes that they cannot be held liable due to the Claimant not complying with the ‘keeper liability’ requirements set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ('PoFA'), Schedule 4.

5). In the Particulars of Claim ('POC') it is stated that the Defendant is liable as the driver or keeper but the Claimant has failed to provide any evidence that Defendant was also the driver. The Defendant cannot be held liable for the charges as the keeper of the vehicle. The Claimant did not properly serve a compliant notice to keeper in strict accordance with Paragraph 9, sub-paragraphs 4 and 5 of the PoFA, which states that notice to keeper must be delivered within the relevant period. Where the relevant period is defined as the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.

6). Following on from [4] & [5], where it is noted that the Claimant has elected not to comply with the 'keeper liability' requirements set out in PoFA, Claimant has included a clear falsehood in their POC which were signed under a statement of truth by the Claimant's legal representative who should know (as the Claimant undoubtedly does) that it is untrue to state that the Defendant is 'liable as keeper'.  This can never be the case with a Highview Parking Limited claim because this parking firm, same as any Group Nexus company, have never used the POFA 2012 wording, of their own volition.  Not only does the POC include this misleading untruth, but the Claimant has also added an unidentified sum in false 'damages' to enhance the claims.  So sparse is their statement of case, that the Claimant has failed to even state any facts about the alleged breach or the amount of the parking charge that was on the signage, because it cannot have been over £100. Which then leads to the question, how does the Claimant arrive at the Amount Claimed for a Total of £211.71. The Defendant has excluded the £25 Court Fee & £50 Legal representative's costs from the Total amount for the purposes of this defence point. 

7). The Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) and Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) lead adjudicator and barrister, Henry Michael Greenslade, clarified that with regards to keeper liability, “There is no ‘reasonable presumption’ in law that the registered keeper of a vehicle is the driver and the operators should never suggest anything of the sort” (POPLA report 2015).

8). The Defendant does not recall receiving the original PCN. The Defendant upon receiving the Claim Form has subsequently requested a copy via Subject Access Request to Group Nexus (who through research the Defendant now understand own Highview Parking Limited).

9). The Defendant does recall receiving multiple "debt collection" letters over the years that can only be described as extremely threatening and harassing in nature from multiple different senders (there was always a different name/company). The letters all appeared to demand immediate action on the part of the Defendant and gave rise to the feeling that they must be part of some sort of scam. It felt like the Defendant was being harassed into hastily handing over money (with ever changing amounts) in order to avoid further costs down the line, court visits and an impending CCJ that would impact on the Defendant livelihood. The Defendant ignored these threatening “Debt Collection” type letters believing that they could be part of a scam.

Redx

1) on a skim read , nothing found

2) if you think it's better , do so

3) no , but there are examples of successful complaints in Announcements , and I have seen drafts and replies in numerous threads on here