UK PCL/DCB legal county court claim form

Potts_123

Back again to deny/defend another claim. I have left this one pretty late, am i right in thinking i have until Monday 11th Oct to submit my defence? the issue date was 08 Sept.
I have followed all the relevant steps as directed on the newbies thread and Im now ready to start my defence.
Once again I was not the driver, a family member was, and decided to ignore the PCN and every other reminder, NTK, debt recovery letter that was subsequently sent.
I have no details regarding the circumstances of this one, it was over 5 years ago, the family member can not remember either, all i know is that the car park was for a doctors surgery.

I am thinking that my defence will be pretty much identical to my last. Do UK Parking Control Limited tend to comply with POFA or will that form part of my defence?

Would the below defence be enough or do i need more?

2.       It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle but not the driver, who was a family member

3.    It is denied that the Claimant has complied with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 in terms of 'adequate notice' of the parking charge on plentiful and prominent signs, and in terms of the wording of their Notice to Keeper which fails to state the correct period and warning about liability.  The Claimant appears to be relying on presumption that the registered keeper was driving but on private land there is no such lawful presumption and the Defendant was not driving.

D_P_Dance

Have you complained to your MP?

Le_Kirk

Add to paragraph 2 "but liability is denied" and remove "who was a family member".  In paragraph 3, you need to explain that the PPC, having failed to comply with POFA, cannot hold you liable for the driver's actions.  You need to remove the "not" from the last sentence.

KeithP

Potts_123 said:

Back again to deny/defend another claim. I have left this one pretty late, am i right in thinking i have until Monday 11th Oct to submit my defence? the issue date was 08 Sept.

Yes you are right in thinking that, but only if you filed an Acknowledgment of Service sometime after 13th September and before 28th September. 

For the moment, I am going to assume that happened. Please confirm.

With a Claim Issue Date of 8th September, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 11th October 2021 to file your Defence.

That's just a few days away but plenty of time to produce a Defence.

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.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Potts_123

Should i add a paragraph where i explain that with this event being nearly 6 years ago i am finding it impossible to recall any of the details surrounding the issuing of this PCN?

D_P_Dance

Of course.

Potts_123

Hi. this case is due in court on the 24/06/22 so i am just preparing my defence. However, with this court date fully at the back of my mind for months i have ended up booking a family holiday for this date. what are the chances of the court letting me change the date of the hearing at this late stage? Also, if i submitted my witness statement and all supporting documentation but wasnt at court in person, would they rule against me anyway?

Coupon-mad

The court won't let you change the date but you can ask that it is a remote hearing by phone, due to being abroad on the date.  It's only an hour on the phone.

If you excuse yourself entirely you'll 99% likely lose the case.  A complete turnaround from our 99%win rate.  Sorry but almost everyone loses when they don't attend because you 'give the floor' entirely to whatever their legal rep wants to say and he/she is trained to lead Judges by the nose.

Even worse, if you don't tell the court and just fail to attend your hearing, that's unreasonable conduct and the legal rep will ask for their fee and travel on top (an extra £200-ish over and above them winning the entire case).

You did ask!

Don't pay.  Ask the local court by email, for a remote hearing by phone.

Potts_123

Coupon-mad said:

The court won't let you change the date but you can ask that it is a remote hearing by phone, due to being abroad on the date.  It's only an hour on the phone.

If you excuse yourself entirely you'll 99% likely lose the case.  A complete turnaround from our 99%win rate.  Sorry but almost everyone loses when they don't attend because you 'give the floor' entirely to whatever their legal rep wants to say and he/she is trained to lead Judges by the nose.

Even worse, if you don't tell the court and just fail to attend your hearing, that's unreasonable conduct and the legal rep will ask for their fee and travel on top (an extra £200-ish over and above them winning the entire case).

You did ask!

Don't pay.  Ask the local court by email, for a remote hearing by phone.

Should i ask for the remote hearing at the same time as sending my witness statement. Or should I send my witness statement off now and hope that they cancel the claim, and then if they don't, then request the remote hearing. I really don't believe they have much of a strong case, as their photographic evidence is pretty poor. In all of the photos that they provided me with, after the SAR, there isn't one where the wording on the signage can be clearly read, they are all pretty blurry. There are no photos of any signage upon entering the car park. 

Also, are you suppose to be given a grace period when in a residents bay without a valid permit? All photos of the car have a time stamp of 10:47 and the ticket was issued at 10.45. I was of the understanding that you should be given a minimum of 5 minutes grace period?

Coupon-mad

Yes you have to have sufficient time to read the signs and decide to leave or fetch a permit from indoors.  Two minutes is not enough.

As you have a hearing date, surely that order says whether the parties are required to attend in person, or whether it would be remote?

Up to you when you email to ask.

Potts_123

Coupon-mad said:

Yes you have to have sufficient time to read the signs and decide to leave or fetch a permit from indoors.  Two minutes is not enough.

As you have a hearing date, surely that order says whether the parties are required to attend in person, or whether it would be remote?

Up to you when you email to ask.

We are required to attend in person, but i will email to ask for a remote hearing.

How do i best approach this witness statement? I know a witness statement is basically a retelling of the events surrounding the PCN but i honestly have no idea, I know for sure that i was not the driver as i have never been to the car park, the car park was for a doctors surgery that all of my wifes family are registered with, but with the event being over 6 years ago now no one can seem to remember who used the car, or at least no one cares to admit driving the car at the time.