UKPC & DCB Legal - please review this Defence (overstay at McDonalds in retail park)

parkthepark

Hi lovely PCN gurus, I'd be very grateful if you could review my proposed Defence. I am doing the paperwork on behalf of my 79 year old mother, who received a Court Claim Form after being told to ignore the tickets & letters by her friend. She is understandably a bit upset by the whole thing. She is fully prepared to attend any court hearing to defend herself (I'll attend as moral support!). 

I also wanted to know - is it too late for a SAR, or should she submit one anyway?

Claimant: UK Parking Control Limited
Solicitors: DCB Legal
Court Claim Issue Date: 29/12/2022
AoS filed online: 07/01/2023

Facts of the case
My mother and a friend drove to a nearby retail park, and parked outside the McDonalds there. She has been to the retail park before, and says that the parking at there was always free, and she has never had a problem with time limits. The McDonalds is at the farthest south west corner of the retails park, and divided from the other shops by roads on 2 sides. They went into the McDonalds, bought some coffees, and sat down for a very long chat. They bought a second round of food and drink, and were there for quite a while (as she has said). They then left the McDonalds to look at other shops in the retail park and go for a walk. They then returned to the car, and exited the car park.
The car park apparently has a maximum stay of 3 hours, and their visit exceeded this. ANPR cameras took photographs of the vehicle entering and exiting the car park. 

Draft Defence

IN THE COUNTY COURT

Claim No.:  xxxxx

Between

UK Parking Control Limited

(Claimant) 

- and -  

xxxx                     

 (Defendant)

_________________

DEFENCE

1. The parking charges referred to in this claim did not arise from any agreement of terms. The charge and the claim was an unexpected shock. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.  It is denied that any conduct by the driver was a breach of any prominent term and it is denied that this Claimant (understood to have a bare licence as managers) has standing to sue or form contracts in their own name. Liability is denied, whether or not the Claimant is claiming 'keeper liability', which is unclear from the Particulars.

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.

3. xxx Retail Park has many shops with free parking for 600-800 cars, situated mainly in the centre of the site. The Defendant had been to this retail park before, and parked in the main part of the site. The McDonalds is in the South-West corner of the site, and the Defendant did not see any signs that said this was a different car park, or that there was a strict time limit. It may also be noted that if the Defendant had been aware of any parking restrictions, they would have left the McDonalds car park within the allotted maximum time to avoid any parking ticket or penalties.

The Defendant was a visiting customer of McDonalds, and purchased 2 lots of food and drink whilst sitting inside in a very long social visit. 

The Defendant received a large number of increasingly threatening letters regarding the PCN. As the signatory and organisation kept changing, the Defendant thought that these letters were not legitimate. As a pensioner, the Defendant has been told to be wary of scams and phishing attempts, and so ignored what appeared to be any suspicious demands for money. It may be noted, that all the same, the Defendant has found the threatening tone of the debt recovery letters quite upsetting.

Umkomaas

She is fully prepared to attend any court hearing to defend herself (I'll attend as moral support!). 

You could attend as her Lay Representative or McKenzie Friend (check out the roles on Google to understand the scope and limitations of each). But, in all likelihood, it may not be necessary. Please have a read of this thread:

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

patient_dream

Hi, you have come to the right place

Others will be along shortly to assist in your defence so get your knuckle dusters ready

UKPC cases are usually a load of rubbish and it is the signs that matter. Can you go and take pictures of the entry sign which is the most important part..   UKPC signs are also rubbish

YES, send a SAR to UKPC, not DCBL

DCBL will have added a fake amount, no doubt calling them damages.
This is a scam and the courts do not like fakers, let alone scammers

You can try complaing to McD's but they would rather kill off someone with junk food and scammers, rather than have customers return. 

Where is this McD's so we can warn others

And a very good point ...
"As a pensioner, the Defendant has been told to be wary of scams and phishing attempts"

Your mum had no reason to think otherwise

Because in general UKPC CLAIMS are rubbish, you will be interested in this thread.

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

Give your mum a laugh and see how these money scammers work
MOST IN THIS THREAD ARE UKPC

KeithP

parkthepark said:

Claimant: UK Parking Control Limited
Solicitors: DCB Legal
Court Claim Issue Date: 29/12/2022
AoS filed online: 07/01/2023

With a Claim Issue Date of 29th December, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 31st January 2023 to file your Defence.

That's less than a week 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'.

Of course everywhere I have written 'you' or 'your' I mean the named Defendant.

Coupon-mad

Looks fine but all paragraphs need a number.

parkthepark

Many thanks for all the very helpful replies - we have now successfully filed the Defence, so onto the next stage.
The DCB Legal discontinuations thread was very useful in making my mum feel a lot better!

Thanks again