Parking fine for parking on a disable spot. Received County Court letter

gidi19

Hi all.

First time posting anything so please be gentle.

I received a county court letter from DCB Legal LTD threatening court action for a PCN dated 04/11/2017
The claim is for £319.44

The PCN in question happened more then 5 years ago. My significant half had parked at a supermarket without realising they were parked in a disable bay. When I first received the fine I remember contesting it that it wasn't clear where they had parked was a disable spot. I had no further response from UKPC so we concluded the matter was over.

Now 5 years later I'm facing court action. I've read the post for newbies and have already applied for ASOC. I'm in the process of applying for a SAR. My understanding is I send an email to the DPO of UKPC asking for what evidence they hold. I should also send an email to the legal team dealing with the claim. They then have 30 days to reply.

Does that mean that I also have 30 days to submit my defense to Mcol?

The issue I'm having is I don't know what evidence they have for the PCN so I don't know how to start preparing my defense. And if they have 30 days to reply, will it not go over the time I have left to prepare my defense?

The incident itself is as described as above. What defense can I prepare for parking in a disable spot at a supermarket where parking is free anyway. 
Just to be clear, the person did not intentionally park on a disable spot, it just wasn't clear.

One other thing to clarify is that I was not the driver
I've tried searching for anyone with a similiar situation as mine on the forum but not had luck.
I'm reading alot of different advice but was hoping someone could tell me my best course of action.

Any help would be appreciated.

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

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

gidi19 said:

I've read the post for newbies and have already applied for ASOC.

ASOC?

Have you perhaps 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.

gidi19

KeithP said:

Hello and welcome.

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

gidi19 said:

I've read the post for newbies and have already applied for ASOC.

ASOC?

Have you perhaps 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.

Issue date on the County Court Claim Form was the 09th of Jan 2023

The Acknowledgment of Service was filed on the 

Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 26/01/2023 at 13:23:46

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 26/01/2023 at 14:05:09

Hope that helps

KeithP

gidi19 said:

KeithP said:

Hello and welcome.

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

gidi19 said:

I've read the post for newbies and have already applied for ASOC.

ASOC?

Have you perhaps 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.

Issue date on the County Court Claim Form was the 09th of Jan 2023

The Acknowledgment of Service was filed on the 

Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 26/01/2023 at 13:23:46

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 26/01/2023 at 14:05:09

With a Claim Issue Date of 9th January, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 13th February 2023 to file your Defence.

That's well over a week 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 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'.

gidi19

So I've received the evidence from UKPC.

In it is the original letter I had sent them in which I had refused to pay the fine to which they had apparently replied but I did not receive. Will it help build my defense if I post the letter here and someone can advise if I have a leg to stand on.

gidi19

Below is the original appeal letter that was sent to them.

04/11/2017

To UKPC

Dear Sir or Madam,

Ticket number: 139147308xxxx

Vehicle registration number: vxxx xxx

You issued me with a parking ticket on 04/11/2017 but I believe it was unfairly issued. I will not be paying your

demand for payment for the following

•There was insufficient signage

The car park in question did not have a clear disable sign printed on the road. It has severely deteriorated

over time and the wet floor which at the time of parking I believed that I had parked in a child and parent

space. This means no contract can be formed with the landowner and all tickets are issued illegally. Please

see attached the photo that has been taken from your parking attendant.

The amount you have charged is also not based upon any commercially justifiable loss to your company or

the landowner.

In my case, the £100 charge you are asking for far exceeds the cost to the landowner of free parking. I

therefore feel the charge you have asked for is excessive.

If you choose to pursue me please be aware that I will not enter into any correspondence and this will be the

only letter you will receive from me until you answer the specific points raised in my letter.

Yours faithfully,

gidi19

Below is the reply they had sent but I had never receieved.

Thank you for your recent correspondence in relation to the above Parking Charge.

We have investigated your appeal based on the information you have submitted and confirm that this

parking charge was correctly issued because there are sufficient signs at Belgrave Road Retail Park

advising drivers that disabled parking bays are reserved for Blue Badge holders only and that a valid

disabled badge must be clearly displayed at all times. We have a duty to ensure these bays are protected

for disabled people under the Equality Act 2010.

All of our signage is fully compliant with the guidelines set out within the BPA Code of Practice and we

reject the notion that it is in any way unclear or ambiguous.

The highest court in the UK, the Supreme Court, has unambiguously confirmed that parking charges issued

on private land are fully enforceable. In the case of ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67 their Lordships

stated that private parking charges were enforceable because they served a legitimate interest and were in

the interests of the public generally. The case confirmed that the amount of the charge does not have to

reflect any loss that might have been caused by breach of the terms and conditions of parking.

The Supreme Court decision is binding law on all other courts throughout the UK.

Our Appeals process is now concluded, you may now pick one of the following options:

1) Pay the parking charge detailed above at the reduced rate of £60 to UK Parking Control Ltd. PLEASE

REFER OVERLEAF FOR PAYMENT OPTIONS AND ADDRESS DETAILS.

2) Make an appeal to the independent adjudicator POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals) using the

verification code provided above. Please note that if you wish to appeal to POPLA, you will lose the right to

pay the discounted rate of £60, and should POPLA reject your appeal you will be required to pay the full

amount of £100. If you opt to pay the parking charge you will be unable to appeal with POPLA. Appeals to

POPLA must be made within twenty-eight days from the date of this letter. To appeal with POPLA, please

visit www.popla.co.uk. If you are unable to access the internet, you may appeal by post – this must be done

using a POPLA postal form which may be obtained by contacting POPLA by phone (0330 159 6126) or

post (PO Box 1270, Warrington, WA4 9RL).

By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org/)

provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal.

However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should

you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.

3) If you choose to do nothing the parking charge will automatically increase after thirty-five days from the

date of this letter to £100 and the matter will be passed to our debt recovery agent, at which point you will

be liable to pay an additional charge of £60, in accordance with the terms and conditions of parking, and

further charges will be claimed if court action is taken against you. Any unpaid court judgement may

adversely affect your credit rating.

Yours faithfully,

©

KeithP

...I believed that I had parked in a child and parent space.

It's unfortunate that you gave away the driver's identity when you appealed.

gidi19

Where does that leave me know?
Can I still fight it

KeithP

gidi19 said:

Where does that leave me know?
Can I still fight it

Yes of course.

Just create your Defence as indicated earlier. It just means that you cannot use the POFA to protect the keeper.

It also makes paragraph 2 of your Defence quite simple, leaving you just to create a paragraph 3.

Coupon-mad

Just add that the purported disabled bay was very poorly marked ...blah blah... and the Claimant knows this, because the Defendant appealed at the time about this specific issue but got a generic template 'rejection letter' back which considered nothing at all by way of facts.