DCBL / UK Parking Control

Jcosh

A similar tale to others I suspect. I am now at stage where DCBL have emailed me to confirm. "Having reviewed the content of your defence, we write to inform you that our client intends to proceed with the claim".

This is as result of me submitting (just under 28 days ago) an online defence via moneyclaim.gov.uk  


Background to the case. 

In Jan 2019 I parked in Crawley Leisure Park, which is managed by UKPC. They issued a parking charge on my windscreen for not parking with the marked bays and supplied a web link with photo evidence. I checked the link and it was clear that I had parked across a white line in the parking bay, taking up my parking bay and part of the bay next to me. There are signs in the car park and one of their terms for parking there is, "all vehicles must be parked only within the marked bays". I ignored the parking charge and all subsequent letters from UK Parking Control. I then began to receive letters form DCBL with 'Intended Legal Action" and an increased charge of £160. These were also ignored, including another letter form DCBL which was headed as "Letter of Claim".   

On the 28th July 2021 I received a further correspondence, this time a Claim Form with a claim number and a court address (County Court Business Centre, Northampton). At this point I paid attention and submitted my defence online via moneyclaim.gov.uk. I had a letter from HM Courts & Tribunals Service soon after stating that a copy of my defence was being sent to the claimant and they had 28 days to respond. They contacted me today (day 27) via email to confirm they intend to proceed with the case. 

So I guess my question is, what should I do next? They appear to be offering an option to try to settle without going to court, with this offered in their email to me today...

"Without Prejudice to the above, in order to assist the Court in achieving its overriding objective, our client may be prepared to settle this case - in the event you wish to discuss settlement, please call us on 0203 434 0433 within 7 days and make immediate reference to this correspondence."

I should also add that within their summary on the claim form against me they have written, "The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not". I asked for evidence of this in my submitted defence as I do not recall agreeing to that, as I have ignored all previous correspondence. 

The original fine was £100 (reduced to £60 for early payment)
It increased to £160 when DCBL got involved 
On the recent claim form it now appears to be £260.91 (Amount Claimed £175.91, Court Fee £35.00, Legal Costs £50.00). I have no idea what these additional amounts relate to as they have had already added £60 to the original parking charge. 

I guess my error here is not acting sooner. I was determined not to pay a parking charge for simply parking across a white line in the next parking bay. 

Any support greatly appreciated. Many thanks. 

Redx

Typical template reply that everyone gets as a frightener

I hope you have emailed a SAR to the DPO at UKPC attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of I D under the GDPR law ? If not do so asap

Keep checking MCOL claim history to see when they have posted the N180 DQ to you , then download the pdf , fill it in and email it to the ccbcaq email address

After that you wait until your local nominated court writes to you

Post a reacted copy of your submitted defence below , for reference

Jcosh

Redx said:

Typical template reply that everyone gets as a frightener

I hope you have emailed a SAR to the DPO at UKPC attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of I D under the GDPR law ? If not do so asap

Keep checking MCOL claim history to see when they have posted the N180 DQ to you , then download the pdf , fill it in and email it to the ccbcaq email address

After that you wait until your local nominated court writes to you

Post a reacted copy of your submitted defence below , for reference

Is it now not too late to submit a SAR to the DPO? 

Le_Kirk

It's never too late to submit a SAR as the data will be more useful to you at witness statement stage.  Did you submit your defence by sending it as an e-mail attachment or did you fill in the defence box on MCOL?  I hope it was the former!

D_P_Dance

UKPC have form, read this and complain to your MP.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3229165/Is-PROOF-private-parking-firms-scamming-motorists-Drivers-say-timings-photos-doctored-legally-parked-cars-issued-fines.html

Jcosh

Le_Kirk said:

It's never too late to submit a SAR as the data will be more useful to you at witness statement stage.  Did you submit your defence by sending it as an e-mail attachment or did you fill in the defence box on MCOL?  I hope it was the former!

I submitted a defence via MCOL as that seemed like the only option offered. 

Why do hope it was the former, what difference does it make?

Jcosh

D_P_Dance said:

UKPC have form, read this and complain to your MP.

My case is different as it is not about parking beyond a given time, but parking across two parking bays. 

Jcosh

D_P_Dance said:

UKPC have form, read this and complain to your MP.

That article seems to be about evidence tampering and parking wardens changing the times on peoples tickets to present as different to the actual time parked. 

My case is different as it is not about parking beyond a given time, but parking across two parking bays. 

D_P_Dance

It is a stick with which to beat them  A judge may not be familiar with their nasty ways.

Le_Kirk

Jcosh said:

Le_Kirk said:

It's never too late to submit a SAR as the data will be more useful to you at witness statement stage.  Did you submit your defence by sending it as an e-mail attachment or did you fill in the defence box on MCOL?  I hope it was the former!

I submitted a defence via MCOL as that seemed like the only option offered. 

Why do hope it was the former, what difference does it make?

It makes a difference because the pathetic box given by MCOL allows you only 122 lines and destroys your formatting.  Check the template defence provided on first page of the forum and see if you could have got that it the MCOL box.  What did you actually put in your defence?  You might be able to recover it with a well crafted witness statement but you cannot change your defence now.

Coupon-mad

You do realise YOU get to choose your home court and hearings are usually now done by phone?  Someone just reported their outcome of a hearing done by MS Teams and they didn’t have to say a word, the Judge did it for them!

 I read a reply where you believed DCBL asking for the claimants home court - trying it on - that’s not how small claims against consumers work!  Don’t believe what you read from roboclaim solicitors.