DCB Legal & UK Parking Control - 5 year old letter of claim - private business park

DML1957

The 22 Feb 2018 incident took place on a private business park. When I arrived at my office, I wasn't able to park in my usual car parking space as there was a skip parked across all 3 of my office's car parking spaces. I parked up next to the skip and went to find the driver to ask them to move, they did so, but some 25 - 30 minutes later there's a PCN on my car.  I lease the office and which has been in place wth the business park landlord snce 2007.  The lease doesn't mention parking permitts, parking charges or any matters related, additionally the lease cannot be varied unilaterally.

As my vehicle was leased at the time, UKPC's initial letter was forwarded to me by the lease company, which they had received sometime in June 2018.  I appealed via POPLA which was rejected.  I requested a copy of their contract with the business park landlord, evidence of the incident plus other information.  UKPC declined to provide a copy of their contract, stating it was confidential, they ignored my request for additonal information, forwarded some very low quailty colour photos and simply stated I owed a debt them for the PCN.

After UKPC rejected by appeal and requests for additional information I then didn't bother replying to there numerous letters.  I recieved about 5 debt demands for payment, the usual threats, until the DCB Legal Letter of Claim that landed 15 December 2022.

The LOC was the usual template claim, no landlord contract, no cost breakdown, no explanation of costs.  The original charge was £ 100 reduced to £ 60 if paid within 14 days.  I  respnded a with SAR to UKPC and email letter to DCB Legal re:debt advice.  UKPC provided only a copy of the PCN with a set of on-site photos taken by their attendant on the day, plus a photo the nearest sign - some 15 meters away, high up on a wall and impossible to read as it was faded and the usual UKPC signage.

UKPC were removed from the site along with all their signage a few months after the incident.  There's nowhere to stop, park and hence read any signs as you enter the business park as its a narrow short road with railings either side plus its impossible to know where UKPC had their orginal signage if at all on the business park back in 2018.  The landlord has tried to find the contract and hasn't found anything only a witness statement in MS Word format not the orginal.

The Claim Form then arrived dated 13 February 2023.  They are now claiming a total of £ 316.44, comprising £ 231.44 (no details), plus £ 35 Court fees and £ 50 Legal representative's costs.

I have already filed the AOS, prepared the Defence and just wanted to know whether the following is ok prior to submitting : -

1.  The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.  It is denied that a contract was entered into - by conduct or otherwise - and it is denied that this Claimant (understood to have a bare licence as managers) has standing to sue, nor to form contracts in their own name at the location.

The facts as known to the Defendant:

2.  It is admitted that the Defendant was the driver of the vehicle in question at the time of the incident.  The Defendant was not the registered keeper nor owner of the vehicle.

3.  The Defendant entered into a lease in 2007 with the business park’s landlord for the property at XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. This is the location where the incident occurred.  The property is also known as XXXXXXXXXX in the lease.  The lease also covers management and service charges in respect to the wider business park.  The lease does not reference parking permit obligations, parking charges, nor any such related parking control matters, nor does it allow for the lease to be varied unilaterally.  The Claimant has declined to provide a copy of their signed agreement or contract that they allege was in place with the owner or occupier of the land at the time of the incident.  The business park’s landlord has been unable to find or provide the Defendant with a copy of any such signed contract or agreement between themselves and the Claimant.  The Defendant’s lease was still in place at the time and date of the incident.

4.  The office is located on a large business park, which is located immediately off the busy XXXXXXXXXXX and includes a number of industrial units plus 28 modern offices each with their own dedicated parking spaces.  There are no entry or exit barriers nor any methods of recording or controlling vehicle entry to and from the business park.  Each parking space is numbered and is associated specifically to an office property.  The Defendant’s office property has 3 parking spaces allocated immediately to the front, each numbered ‘5’.  The business park has no parking meters and there are no parking charges for vehicles that visit an office or business or enter or exit the business park.  Drivers entering the business park would be unable to stop to read any of the Claimant’s signage, if any as such were present at the time of the incident, as there is nowhere to park.  There is only 1 small road in and out of the business park.

5.  The closest parking control sign to where the Defendant’s vehicle was parked at the time of the incident and as confirmed by the Claimant’s photo evidence, was at a considerable height off the floor and some 15 meters away, causing extreme difficulty for the sign to be noticed, nevertheless read by a driver.  The small font size and excessive amount of text makes the signage difficult to read, particularly as the print had faded as confirmed by the Claimant’s photo evidence.  The Claimant has not provided nor identified the location(s) and placement(s) of any additional sign(s) that may have been present on the business park at the time of the incident.

6.  In March 2018, the DVLA suspended online access to the Claimant due to their nefarious activities in changing date and time information on photos relating to Parking Charge Notices (‘PCN’s) issued.  Subsequently, a number of months later, any and all Claimant signage was removed from the business park.

The rest of the Defence is as per the Defence template - wth a minor adjustment to highlight the primacy of contract legal point.

Any and all advice greatly appreciated

KeithP

DML1957 said:

The Claim Form then arrived dated 13 February 2023.

I have already filed the AOS...

Hello and welcome.

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.
For the moment I'll assume you filed an Acknowledgment of Service sometime after 17th February. Please confirm.

With a Claim Issue Date of 13th February, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service on 16th February in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Thursday 16th March 2023 Monday 20th March 2023 to file your Defence.

That's 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 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'.

DML1957

Thanks KeithP,

My AoS was submitted and shows as filed via MCOL on the 16 February - just keen to get things moving.

Thanks for the advice re: best avoiding the MCOL portal for submitting the various docs.  I'll use the email route with the email addresses as advised in previous posts.

I hoping that the above draft Defence  is ok for the initial sections - i.e. where the defendant explains their own circumstances surrounding the incident.

Mouse007

DML1957 said:

My AoS was submitted and shows as filed via MCOL on the 16 February - just keen to get things moving.

You were a bit too quick there, I'm sure KeithP will confirm but I think your deadline for filing your Defence is Thursday 16 March.

KeithP

Mouse007 said:

DML1957 said:

My AoS was submitted and shows as filed via MCOL on the 16 February - just keen to get things moving.

You were a bit too quick there, I'm sure KeithP will confirm but I think your deadline for filing your Defence is Thursday 16 March.

Yes, that's right.

I've edited my earlier post - just in case this correction gets forgotten.

DML1957

Thanks KeithP

DML1957

I've been working on the Defence as I'm away until 7 March and didn't want to face a mad rush to get the defence filed in good time.

Would the following in my Defence be of value re: unable to park in my allocated parking space -

3.  At the time of the incident, the Defendant had been forced to temporarily park for approximately 35 minutes immediately adjacent to their office’s marked parking spaces, as an unknown vehicle was blocking the Defendant’s allocated parking space.  In case a contract as claimed by the Claimant should exist, which the Defendant highly doubts, the Defendant claims frustration of contract, as the Claimant failed to keep the allocated parking space free and due to their failure, the Defendant was prevented from parking there.

And these paragraphs to cover the issue of there being no fair way for the driver to see, read or agree to any terms on any signage ...

6.  The business park comprises industrial units and modern offices, each with their own dedicated parking spaces.  There are no entry or exit barriers nor any methods of recording or controlling vehicle entry to and from the business park.  The Defendant’s office property has reserved parking spaces located immediately to the front.  The business park has no parking meters and there are no parking charges for vehicles that enter or exit.  The Defendant’s office is a drive of 73 meters from the business park’s only entrance.  The route between the entrance and the Defendant’s office has no areas that would allow for the Defendant to stop, read whatever signs may have been present, if at all and then, if readable, understand and agree to the Claimant’s terms.  The Claimant is put to strict proof that the contrary is true. 

7.  The Claimant has provided photo evidence that show only 1 parking control sign on the business park at the time of the incident.  This sign was at a considerable height off the floor and 13 meters away from where the Defendant’s vehicle was temporarily parked.  The sign is unreadable and faded.  The Claimant has not provided any evidence that identified the location(s) and placement(s) of any other sign(s) that may have been present on the business park at the time, and that would have afforded a fair opportunity for the Defendant to learn of the terms by which the Claimant states they would be bound.  On 22 March 2018, the DVLA suspended online access to the Claimant.  Subsequently, a number of months later, any and all Claimant signage was removed from the business park.

And do I provide a statement that the Landlord is unable to find a signed copy of the agreement between UKPC and themselves - I have this confirmed in writing from the landlord's business park estate manager.

Also, with UKPC being suspended between 22 March and 25 May 2018, and me receing the NtK in mid June via the vehicles lease company, are there any grounds to raise the matter of how UKPC accessed the vehicle information from DVLA?   I did write to UKPC asking that they provide all and any information showing dates of their application to the DVLA but they have simply ignored, similarly, the DVLA were unwilling to provide data as the lease compnay is the kepper and ower of the vehicle and they haven't or wont provided me with the authorty to access this information on their behalf.

Coupon-mad

Yes, include all of that, and question how UKPC got the rk data whilst DVLA banned, or around that time.

Change this:

 for approximately 35 minutes

to this:

 for a few minutes

DML1957

Thanks Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad said:

Yes, include all of that, and question how UKPC got the rk data whilst DVLA banned, or around that time.

Change this:

 for approximately 35 minutes

to this:

 for a few minutes

UKPC under the SAR provided photos at 13:22 and then at 13:45 in the car in same place.

Here's the photo they've sent across of the nearest and the only sign they've shown so far.

and here's their response to a letter I sent

Coupon-mad

But UKPC were caught (and admitted) doctoring time-stamps so don't believe their timings.  Be more vague 'a few minutes' in your defence.

DML1957

Of course they wouldn't do that would they, it was all a terrible misunderstanding - and the DVLA needs the cash - good point, Thanks....