UKPC Court Claim - Incorrectly parked in bay

kyle302

Good Evening,
I have received a court claim from DCB legal, and the evidence shows that I was incorrectly parked in the parking bay in a retail park (outside of the lines). I was at the time a customer of the retail park, of course.

When writing up my defence, does anyone have any pointers on what my areas of defence should be? Maybe someone has experienced fines for a similar situation? 

The PCN was given in 2016.

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.

Johnersh

On a scale of 1-10 where 10 is "I was a muppet and parked sideways across 2 bays" and 1 is "if you squint a mm of rubber may have crossed the line" how'd you park?

Umkomaas

The PCN was given in 2016.

On what date?

When writing up my defence, does anyone have any pointers on what my areas of defence should be?

Have you missed the Defence Template 'Announcement' where there is a ready-to-use Defence written for you use?

I have received a court claim from DCB legal

What is the Date of Issue shown on the claim form?

Have you acknowledged service of the claim?  If so, on what date?

Have you entered any correspondence with UKPC and/or DCB Legal?  If so, what?

kyle302

Thanks for the responses everyone

Issue date: 03/08/2022
AOS filed: 08/08/2022 (maybe I should have waited longer to file it)

I had a defence drafted already based on the template, however DCB Legal responsed today with the evidence which I requested, and previously I couldn’t recall what the “offence” was so the defence was generic. Figured that I would need to adjust my defence due to the bad parking situation.

I would give it an 8/10 in terms of parking stupidity, with a picture attached if it helps..

I’m aware i’ve cut it right to the last minute with the AOS, i just need to know whether to keep the defence generic or adjust it based on the circumstance

KeithP

kyle302 said:

Issue date: 03/08/2022
AOS filed: 08/08/2022 (maybe I should have waited longer to file it)

No, 8th August for AoS was just fine. It bought you the maximum time to file a Defence.

With a Claim Issue Date of 3rd August, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you had until 4pm on Monday 5th September 2022 to file your Defence.

Since 4pm on Monday 5th September the Claimant has been free to seek a Default Judgment against you.

If they seek and get that Judgment before you have filed a Defence, then they win the race - it's game over - you lose.

Check your MCOL Claim History to see if there is a Judgment against you. 
If there is, then you can ignore the rest of this post.

On the other hand if you file a Defence before the Claimant actually seeks that Default Judgment, then you win this heat and go through to the next round.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. From now on the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Coupon-mad

I'd stay generic in your defence...

Johnersh

If they seek that Judgment before you have filed a Defence, then they win the race - it's game over - you lose.

To be more specific, the issue isn't when C asks for it, but rather whether the court actually has received a defence by the point the court gets round to considering whether to make an order. That's why it's a race. 

Never say never, but if the car is blocking two bays and the line is clear (as appears to be the case) I do think that might be difficult. 

KeithP

Johnersh said:

If they seek that Judgment before you have filed a Defence, then they win the race - it's game over - you lose.

To be more specific, the issue isn't when C asks for it, but rather whether the court actually has received a defence by the point the court gets round to considering whether to make an order. That's why it's a race. 

Yes, I agree. I'll add a couple of words so that it reads...
"If they seek and get that Judgment before you have filed a Defence, then they win the race - it's game over - you lose".