UKPC issued ticket, DCB Legal letter saying UKPC want to proceed to court

Banana66

Hi,

Just looking for some general advice.  A couple of years ago UKPC issued me with a parking ticket for parking in a disabled bay in a retail park and not displaying blue badge.  I was a care assistant at the time and with my disabled employer who had didn't have a badge with her but had very restricted mobility (as would have been seen on CCTV outside shop).  We were in the shop maybe 10 mins and came out to find a ticket.  Reading on many forums the general consensus was to ignore it as a bit of a scam.  Roll on 2 years and DCB legal have now got involved, I sent my defence a couple of weeks ago but they have come back saying ' Having reviewed the content of your Defence we are writing to inform you that our client intends to proceed with the claim.... the court will direct both parties to file directions questionnaires in due course..... Then next paragraph ' our client may be prepared to settle this case...call us on blah blah to discuss settlement.   

Looking for advice on how to proceed please...thank you. 

 Here is my defence

Defendant  Defence and Counterclaim
 How much of the claim do you dispute? I dispute the full amount claimed as shown on the claim form.
Do you dispute this claim because you have already paid it? No, for other reasons.
Defence Regarding the claim I contest all of it - On this day I was working as a carer for a registered disabled lady, with limited mobility, who wanted to visit the store. Please see CCTV footage clearly showing my employer's severe difficulty in walking and need for me to assist her. I understand there is no legal basis for this fine to be imposed as I was on private property; Disabled bays on private land have no authority in that any 'disabled' person can park there with or without a badge. As you are aware under the Equality Act 2010, providers of goods and services are legally bound to make reasonable adjustments for disabled users of their facilities with no charge imposed on the user whatsoever. The provision of disabled parking spaces is provided under this legal remit. However, the blue badge scheme has no legal relevance on private land and only has a legal standing for on-street parking, where in fact inspection to its validity and correct use can only be carried out by certain personnel, namely police officers and council civil enforcement officers (formerly called traffic wardens). Even these personnel have no powers of inspection and enforcement under current legislation on private land, so in essence your car parking management agents have no legal powers of inspection. By using various descriptors of different scenarios of parking at your Shopping complex, the parking company is beaching the Equality Act by discriminating directly, indirectly and discrimination by connection of a disability (using a blue badge is connected to disability). The centre as principal landowner are jointly responsible with any sub-contracted agent to ensure that legal obligations are fully met. As a valued and genuine customer of the centre, the driver therefore suggests that you instruct the car parking agents to cancel this charge and look forward to your written confirmation by return.
In addition may I also point out that in the 'Particulars of the Claim' on claim form received 23.2.22 point 4 states 'The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not - please provide evidence of this as I did not agree to this . 

Fruitcake

The advice to ignore a PCN has not been given on this forum for nearly ten years, so you were given old, out of date and incorrect advice. 
There is nothing you can do about that now, so it is what it is.

What happened when you complained to the landowner/centre manager/CEO? It is never to late to get a landowner cancellation.

Have you complained to your MP? I suggest you should also complain to the minister for health as well.

"In addition may I also point out that in the 'Particulars of the Claim' on claim form received 23.2.22 point 4 states 'The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not - please provide evidence of this as I did not agree to this ."

This is a non point. The contract was formed by signage and will have stated something like, by parking, you agree to these Ts and Cs and agree to pay £X if you breach them.

Your points about the disability and EA 2010 are very good, but did you put anything else in your defence such as inadequate signage and no landowner authority? I'm assuming the PPC has added a fake add on in the order of £60 - £70. Did you challenge this as the government has recently referred to this an attempt to extort money?

Banana66

Thanks Fruitcake, sounds like I'll have to go along with it then and go to court.
I'm not sure about the signage, can't remember looking at it at the time (duh!)  and it's over an hour away from where I now live. No landowner authority?  Will need to look into this but no, I didn't mention it - my full defence is written above..

Le_Kirk

Banana66 said:

Thanks Fruitcake, sounds like I'll have to go along with it then and go to court.
I'm not sure about the signage, can't remember looking at it at the time (duh!)  and it's over an hour away from where I now live. No landowner authority?  Will need to look into this but no, I didn't mention it - my full defence is written above..

Whilst your defence is not to the usual format, you have included your major point about a disabled person and the EA.  @Fruitcake has already mentioned the "driver agreed to pay" nonsense; have you submitted a SAR to the DPO of the PPC to find out what "they have on you"?  Acronyms are in the NEWBIE sticky.  Your defence will be backed up and supported by your witness statement where you can go to town on the EA with evidence of your passenger's mobility issues and with the requirements that landowners have to allow more time for disabled customers.

Fruitcake

Where did the alleged event occur? It may have cropped up here before. There may also be historic images available on Google Streetview. UKPC signs are normally pants, with the £100 charge in small print so a driver would need to be within a car length in order that they could reed them.

Plan A is still your best bet.

Banana66

Thanks Le_Kirk but what on earth is a SAR, DPO, PPC?  Ah, where's the NEWBIE sticky please?

Fruitcake

The NEWBIES is one of the Announcement threads "stuck" to the top of the forum, on the front page close to where you clicked on the Create Post button.

Acronyms and abbreviations common to this forum are in the fifth post of the aforementioned NEWBIES sticky Announcement.

If you are trying to access this site on a 'phone, don't. You will need to use at least a tablet and ideally a full sized PC otherwise some of the functions will not be visible or available.

Coupon-mad

Banana66 said:

Thanks Le_Kirk but what on earth is a SAR, DPO, PPC?  Ah, where's the NEWBIE sticky please?

See my signature.  You are 2 clicks away.

Le_Kirk

Banana66 said:

Thanks Le_Kirk but what on earth is a SAR, DPO, PPC?  Ah, where's the NEWBIE sticky please?

I did say that all acronyms are in the NEWBIE sticky.  This is one of the announcements on page one of the forum, the announcement that reads NEWBIES please read these first!

Banana66

I now have a 'Notice of Proposed Allocation to the Small Claims Track' asking if I agree to being referred to the Small Claims Mediation Service....any advice anyone, do I ignore it or agree to mediation?  Doesn't sound like they're going to give up chasing me..

Fruitcake

You should be following the template defence 12 step guide. This tells you not to agree to mediation. You must fill in the form and return it otherwise you will lose the case.


You might find this post useful.

UKPC Court Case - Page 3 — MoneySavingExpert Forum