Highview Parking Court Claim - out of the blue

digitaljeff

Hi, I have received a Claim Form from DCB Legal representing Highview Parking Ltd for parking in a Silkbridge Retail Park on 09/09/2016 as the registered keeper. Five and a half years later, are they serious!?!?  I did get one or two debt collection letters but I would have thought this would have been dropped or forgotten about and I vaguely remember it, I'm in shock that it's come back to haunt me.

There was a 2 hour time limited and I think I was 2:20mins in total, I was told to wait for a fitting service from Halfords, in addition to this I visited one or two of the other retailers and in general didn't even take note of the time because I was genuinely using the retail park, I didn't even notice any time limits at the time. I don't have any proof from Halfords anymore as it was so long ago but I buy from them regularly so would this be enough to put down in my defence?  Or can anyone please recommend any standard defence wording I could use for sections #2 & #3 in addition to this.

How about: 

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied.

3. I first heard about this parking charge by post months if not years after the date given on the claim form and have genuinely felt harassed along with anxiety from the fear of the debt collectors demands and them knocking on my door. May I also note that the Defendant cannot be held liable due to the Claimant not complying with the ‘keeper liability’ requirements set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4.

Please note: I have submitted the Acknowledgement of service already and the deadline for my defence is 18 April, so appreciate a quick response if poss. 

Thanks guys

Le_Kirk

You need to write the defence in the third person, ergo no "I" but "the defendant".  The fact that you heard about it later is not a defence; what your defence should be based on is being a customer of the retail park and you were invited to park (and indeed "told" to wait by one of the retail units (Halfords)) for a fitting to the car.  If you are going to use POFA, are you sure that the PCN is not POFA compliant?  Since it is Highview just search the forum for other posters who have submitted their defence using a longer version (BUT not War & Peace) and includes the POFA point.
If you are going to claim not the driver, you need to change your story to explain WHO was waiting with the car for the fitting service, maybe it was the DRIVER but not you the KEEPER!
PS Is that quick enough?

Fruitcake

If the keeper was not the driver, then using the non-PoFA NTK route is fine, and you should state that you were not driving if that was the case.
If you can't remember who was driving, then you should say so, and say that a number of people had access/could have been driving, especially if there are several driver's named on the vehicle's insurance.
You need to be careful. If you say you were told to wait, then that implies that you were driving.
If The Driver was told to wait, then you would need to say so, and explain how you know unless you were an occupant of the car who witnessed the alleged event.

The main question you need to ask yourself is, what would you say if the judge asked if you were driving?

Coupon-mad

Just copy any one of the dozens of other 2016 Highview defences already written.

KeithP

digitaljeff said:

Please note: I have submitted the Acknowledgement of service already and the deadline for my defence is 18 April, so appreciate a quick response if poss. 

No it isn't.

A filing deadline will never be on a Bank Holiday.

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

digitaljeff

Thanks guys, I think I'm getting confused with things, the more I read the more confused I am as there is so much to go through before the deadline, I don't have enough time in general to do this properly.

The Issue date was 16 March 2022, but when I spoke to someone at the county court they said they got the AoS and he said I would have 28 days starting 5 days from the 16 March, being 18 April (He said you get 5 days from the issue date). I hope that's the case otherwise my deadline was today and I only found you guys recently after searching the internet.

Today I also went to Halfords and explained to the manager. He said if I can provide a receipt for that day, he would write to Highview to cancel the ticket. But of course I don't have.

KeithP

The back of your County Court Claim Form tells you:

Note the lasts sentence there - "The day of service is taken as 5 days after the issue date shown overleaf".

It goes on to say:

This is confirmed in the Money Claim Online (MCOL) - User Guide, which also explains that a Defence is never due on a non-working day.

On page 14 of that document it says:

How long does the defendant have to respond to my claim?

The court will send out a claim pack to each defendant once the claim has been issued and allows 5 calendar days from the date of issue for the service of the claim. Therefore the 'date of service' is the 5th calendar day after issue.

The defendant has 14 calendar days from the 'date of service' to file a response. If the last day for filing the response falls on a day that the court is not open (i.e. a weekend or public holiday), the court will allow the next full working day for a response. The defendant can extend the time to respond to 28 calendar days by filing an acknowledgment of service (AOS).

  You appear to have missed this question...

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

digitaljeff

Hi and thanks,
The AoS was first sent on 01/04/22 but without acknowledgement, I called the court on 05/04/22 to check and they hadn't received it so resent it whilst on the phone to them which they then acknowledged they received it. 

Coupon-mad

What date is it actually showing on MCOL?

From those dates, I think it might be late, in which case you are in danger of default judgment.

digitaljeff

Sorry, but I haven't used MCOL before or know anything about it???

digitaljeff

Sorry I'm new to all this (defence wording / jargon) and it's all going above my head now. I really appreciate all your time but I think I just have to pay it... They win!

I don't mind paying someone to beat these cowboys but I am struggling to do it myself.