Defence Help For County Court Claim - UKPC/DCBL Legal

robtay2802

Hi all,

I have been reading through the newbies threads and this forum has been a great help basically I now need some help or guidance on my defence.

Basically & foolishly I ignored the letters originally from UKPC, so when I received a letter from DCBL legal stated letter before claim, I looked here to get some guidance. I requested the SAR which UKPC responded to and now I have received the county court claim form on 1st July and have submitted my AOS today.

Context of the day in question, I visited a retail park for a business meeting at Costa Coffee in July 2020, entering the retail park at 9.38am and leaving at 1.20pm, also visiting M&S before leaving. I received a parking charge notice for being "parked for longer than the maximum period permitted". During my stay I did not see clear signage to suggest there was a maximum stay, nor was I warned in Costa Coffee or invited to input my driver registration details into a tablet for longer stays that is usually quite common in some retail parks. So I had no idea that there were charges to come.. I shouldn't have ignored the letters but I did!

So here is my draft defence, I have used the most recent template and I would appreciate a critique, I have only amended parargraphs 2 & 3 and have posted those below. I have a limited number of words that I can include in this post as I am new to the forum (max 1302 characters) but can share the whole draft in parts if needed.

The facts as known to the Defendant:

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

3. The driver visited Costa Coffee at the Clocktower Retail Park for a business meeting. The driver entered the retail park at 9.38am on 20th July 2020, left Costa Coffee at 1pm before visiting Marks & Spencers and leaving the retail park at 1.20pm. After a significant amount of time the defendant received parking claims from UKPC for being parked for longer than the maximum period permitted. The defendant was unaware of these terms & conditions, signage at the Clocktower retail park was obscure and difficult to read. There was also no forewarning in Costa Coffee or a tablet within to input driver registrations into for longer stays.

Really appreciate any help or guidance that can be given on how best to respond.

Many Thanks,

Rob

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

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

Have you filed an Acknowledgment of Service?
If so, upon what date did you do so?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

robtay2802

Hi @KeithP, issue date was 1st July and yes I filed an AOS today

KeithP

robtay2802 said:

Hi @KeithP, issue date was 1st July and yes I filed an AOS today

With a Claim Issue Date of 1st July, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service on 5th July, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 2nd August 2022 to file your Defence.

That's four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence and it is good to see that you are not leaving it to the last minute.

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'.

Coupon-mad

That defence looks fine. Easy, wasn't it?! We don't need to see the rest of the template defence. Don't alter any paragraphs in it, no need.

Remember that defence is not your only job and that you will find the first 12 steps (including the first letters you get back) in the Template Defence thread so no asking us about the DQ, or the silly standard response letter from DCBLegal, please!

And IMPORTANT: please now bookmark this thread (below) and set up email alerts for bookmarked threads in your Profile:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6333989/mse-parking-ticket-appeals-guide-feedback#latest

Read the posts from this week and you will see why.

We need you not to disappear!  Your case will be in a lull for a few weeks after DQ but I'm certain that you will not want to miss out on being heard in the Public Consultation.