UKPC / DCB Legal Claim Form

Jen19

Hello,

Hoping to get some help and advice please. In 2017, when a loved one was receiving lifesaving surgery at a hospital not local to us, I was provided with free accommodation which was located next to the hospital for the entirety of their stay to be with and help look after them. Most of my time was spent in the hospital and to say this whole period caused me unbearable stress and anxiety is an understatement.

I was provided with a keyfob to gain access to the carpark and a parking permit to display on the dashboard. A couple of days in, the permit slipped off the dashboard and I hadn’t realised. This was a day my loved one was in intensive care so I was incredibly stressed. When I returned to my car I found a parking charge. Staff at the accommodation helpdesk (which is located within the complex) told me to appeal with a picture of the permit and it would be cancelled. It all seemed very straight forward so I took their advice and appealed admitting I was the driver but I am not the keeper of the vehicle. Weeks later, I received a letter from UKPC advising the charge had been correctly issued and that I would have to pay.

I contacted the hospital who wrote me a letter confirming I was known to them and had every right to be parked there but that they could not get the charge cancelled, they advised me to get in touch with the housing assoociation who said there was nothing they could do, and that had I appealed with a picture of my permit quickly enough the charge would have been reduced to £15. I appealed the same day I received the charge along with an image of the permit so I’m quite confused as to why others in the same situation were given this opportunity but I wasn’t.

I received several threatening letters so I wrote a letter to UKPC along with a copy of the letter from the hospital and asked why I was never given the opportunity to pay the reduced fee the housing association mentioned. For several years the letters stopped so I assumed the matter was settled but after the Covid lockdowns, I started to receive a letter every month.

I continued to ignore the letters until last month when I received a letter of claim. I submitted a SAR request to UKPC (to which they responded) and sent an email to DCB Legal for the case to be put on hold and just over 30 days later I received the claim form.

Several years ago I contacted the governors, chairman and chief executive of the hospital who didn't reply. I contacted the hospital again last year and this time spoke to someone who advised me to ignore the letters as if they wanted to take me to court, they would have taken me to court by now. Obviously he was wrong. Last month I contacted my MP who said they would look in to it. The parking event occured outside their constituency but I was still hoping they could help but I didn't hear back.

The date on the claim form is 10/08/2022 and I want to complete the Acknowledgment of Service. I’ve ticked the “Defend all of this claim” box but do I also tick the Contest Jurisdiction box? I was also please hoping to get some help with my defence when I cobble something together as I only received the claim form today. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

KeithP

Jen19 said:

The date on the claim form is 10/08/2022 and I want to complete the Acknowledgment of Service. I’ve ticked the “Defend all of this claim” box but do I also tick the Contest Jurisdiction box?

With a Claim Issue Date of 10th August, you have until Tuesday 30th August to file an Acknowledgment of Service but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread. Part of that guidance is whether or not to tick the Contest Jurisdiction box.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 12th September 2022 to file your Defence.

That's over four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service instructions.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that 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'.

What a pity you didn't start a new thread earlier.
For others reading this, there is a lot of background information in several posts on the DCBL letters ..... forum group thread starting at a post on 26 June 2021 .

Fruitcake

Do not contest jurisdiction.

You won't be cobbling anything together. You have nearly a month to use the template defence, and amend paragraphs 2 and 3 to suit your case. Show us the parts of the template you have amended for the regulars to check before you submit it.

Who owns the place where you stayed and parked? Is it an NHS facility? If so, it will be covered by the government NHS parking principles.

NHS car parking guidance 2022 for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Whilst these principles were not in place five years ago, they are now, therefore they apply with regard to processing historic parking events.

I suggest you go round the complaints process again, but adding that a court claim has now been issued against you. Whoever owns the land and contracted UKPC is responsible for the actions of their agents. It is poor business practice if a landowner is unable to instruct a sub-contractor because they didn't pay attention to the wording of the parking contract.

I suggest you also contact the Secretary of State for Health, as well as local and national news media.

patient_dream

As Fruitcake says above and now you must follow the help you will get here.

UKPC have been digging out old tickets as a catch up to the money they lost during Covid.  From the claims we see from UKPC, THEY ARE GENERALLY RUBBISH.
Yet DCBL still play money monopoly with them, and as we see it is DCBL who end up with egg on their face as you can see here ...

DCB LEGAL RECORD OF PRIVATE PARKING COURT CLAIM DISCONTINUATIONS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations/p1

Given the circumstances in your case, I would imagine a judge will blast them out of court ... again.
Maybe they will disgrace themselves in court or maybe wise up to these stupid claims that they have to discontinue

You probably don't know but UKPC attempted fraud on motorists ...

Parking bosses will refund ALL tickets handed out by dodgy wardens who scammed motorists by changing the times on photos to fine legally parked cars <<<< UKPC

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

Jen19

Fruitcake said:

Do not contest jurisdiction.

Thank you.

Fruitcake said:

You won't be cobbling anything together. You have nearly a month to use the template defence, and amend paragraphs 2 and 3 to suit your case. Show us the parts of the template you have amended for the regulars to check before you submit it.

Great, I really appreciate it! I am working on the defence now and will post the sections I have added in the next few days.

Fruitcake said:

Who owns the place where you stayed and parked? Is it an NHS facility? If so, it will be covered by the government NHS parking principles.

NHS car parking guidance 2022 for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Whilst these principles were not in place five years ago, they are now, therefore they apply with regard to processing historic parking events.

I suggest you go round the complaints process again, but adding that a court claim has now been issued against you. Whoever owns the land and contracted UKPC is responsible for the actions of their agents. It is poor business practice if a landowner is unable to instruct a sub-contractor because they didn't pay attention to the wording of the parking contract.

I suggest you also contact the Secretary of State for Health, as well as local and national news media.

The actual accommodation is right next to the hospital on the same site and is used by hospital staff and medical students. This accommodation is also provided to family members of patients who will be staying for a longer period of time. It's run by Optivo (the housing association) who were unhelpful and ignored me after a while. They were the ones who claimed I hadn't appealed quickly enough as others in my situation had their fines reduced. Their response was simply "There's nothing we can do as UKPC are a separate company to us." They also said that from personal experience the fine will only increase the longer I leave paying it which shows they aren't likely to help anyone in a similar situation and seemed to suggest I pay up now before it increases.

The staff at the hospital were nice and even wrote me a letter to confirm I had a right to be there but said they couldn't get the charge cancelled.

I think what bothers me most about this situation is that it's incredibly heartless. I'm not trying to parade a sob story for sympathy as these companies couldn't care less but the lack of help and support I've had, has been truly shocking. I had a permit, it was an honest mistake. Shouldn't that be enough? If I was taking the parking spot away from someone who needed it, fair enough, but I had every right to be there.

I will dig out my previous correspondence to Optivo and contact the CEO. UKPC aren't "managing" the carpark, their focus is to catch people out to make money. The charge has now gone up to £317 and honestly £60 was extortionate as it was.

Jen19

patient_dream said:

Given the circumstances in your case, I would imagine a judge will blast them out of court ... again.
Maybe they will disgrace themselves in court or maybe wise up to these stupid claims that they have to discontinue

You probably don't know but UKPC attempted fraud on motorists ...

Parking bosses will refund ALL tickets handed out by dodgy wardens who scammed motorists by changing the times on photos to fine legally parked cars <<<< UKPC

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

I really hope so as the charge has increased to a ridiculous amount of £317!

I was aware of the attempted fraud and that link is what I sent to Optivo (the housing association) back in 2017 but they completely ignored this part of my email when they initially responded. After that it was tumbleweeds...

It's infuriating that even after a company pulls something like that, they're allowed to carry on!

patient_dream

Jen19 said:

patient_dream said:

Given the circumstances in your case, I would imagine a judge will blast them out of court ... again.
Maybe they will disgrace themselves in court or maybe wise up to these stupid claims that they have to discontinue

You probably don't know but UKPC attempted fraud on motorists ...

Parking bosses will refund ALL tickets handed out by dodgy wardens who scammed motorists by changing the times on photos to fine legally parked cars <<<< UKPC

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

I really hope so as the charge has increased to a ridiculous amount of £317!

It's infuriating that even after a company pulls something like that, they're allowed to carry on!

You don't owe £317 ..... it's a DCBL FAKE ... just a scam. One of their bods will sign as a statement of truth for this amount, on that basis they should feel the wrath of a judge and be held in contempt
Most judges understand the scam but there are few who are so outdated who don't live in 2022 and belong in the dark ages and probably should be burnt at the stake ?

The whole county court system must be brought up to date as it hurts people

We all agree that UKPC should be dust by now, the problem is that the BPA is so weak and now, they are seen as the scammers friend. Is this what government wants ?? ... 

Stick with us, I was thinking today, these dodgy legals should get themselves a proper job and not play around with mickey mouse money and certainly not scammers

Trainerman

Nail.....bang.....head @patient_dream.  I especially agree with sorting the whole court system out.

Trouble is, the current lot in charge would be hard put to get the 'Beano' in page order, never mind put the Courts in order

patient_dream

Trainerman said:

Nail.....bang.....head @patient_dream.  I especially agree with sorting the whole court system out.

Trouble is, the current lot in charge would be hard put to get the 'Beano' in page order, never mind put the Courts in order

Sadly the Ministry of Juctice have been fast asleep on the job and have not updated their copy of the Beano

It's mega vote time in 2 years and like all failures they will be sitting on the park bench wondering where they went wrong .... it's Peppa Pig time

The MoJ should cull dodgy legals and seriously look at THE workingS of the SRA

Jen19

Hello,

Would it be okay to get some feedback on the defence I have put together? Any advice on what to remove or amend would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the driver but not the registered keeper of the vehicle in question.

 

3. The Defendant was provided with free accommodation at The Square apartment complex in Basingstoke over 100 miles away from their home address whilst their father was undergoing lifesaving surgery at Basingstoke Hospital. The Square is a keyworker accommodation used by medical students and staff and is run by the housing association Optivo. The stay included a parking space which came with a permit to display on the dashboard which the Defendant still has in their possession.

 

3a. Entry to the parking area is by means of a key fob, of a type only issued to residents of The Square. Any vehicles parked therein are, therefore, de facto authorised to be there.

 

3b. On August 10th 2017, the Defendant did not notice when they had left the vehicle to tend to their father, that the parking permit on the passenger side dashboard had slipped off. The Defendant spoke to Optivo staff at The Square who advised to appeal to UKPC with a picture of the permit and the charge would be cancelled. However, a month later UKPC confirmed the charge had been correctly issued which went against what the staff at The Square had advised the Defendant.

 

3c. Written confirmation was received from the Manager for Peritoneal Malignancy Services at Basingstoke Hospital who confirmed the Defendant had a right to park at The Square. A copy of this letter was sent to UKPC in June 2018.

 

3d. The Defendant contacted the housing association Optivo and the Deputy Property Manager advised that others who had received a parking charge at The Square had their charge reduced to £15 if it had been appealed quickly enough. The Defendant had in fact appealed the same day the charge was received along with a picture of the permit; however, no offer of a reduced fee was received. The Defendant is unsure why others in similar situations had the opportunity to pay a reduced fee.

Coupon-mad

That's good.  I would re-number it all with normal numbering though, then re-number the template below it.

I'd just change this as it sounds too reasonable:

However, a month later UKPC confirmed the charge had been correctly issued which went against what the staff at The Square had advised the Defendant.

to

However, a month later the Claimant rejected the appeal out of hand and continued to demand the parking charge, which went against what the staff at The Square had advised the Defendant.