CCBC - UKPC/DCB Legal - Defence help

wolfneo

Hi all,

i have read the newbies thread and been reading other cases but for peace of mind, i was hoping i could get some advice.

PCN received in 2018 - everything was ignored until LBC received in Jan 2023. SAR requested and email sent to DCB Legal as per Newbies thread. CCBC issue date is 23rd Feb 2023. i would appreciate Keith advising AOS deadlines?

Situation is:
My vehicle was parked in screwfix out of hours and PCN was issued on the grounds of "parking on site but not a customer of one of the retail units". Driver is Unknown.

Below is the following evidence provided and the CCBC details. i assume my defence is poor signage? their photo of the sign makes it look illuminated but you can see by the photo of my vehicle, this isn't the case.

Apologies in advance if i have provided too much information.

Fruitcake

What a shame this was ignored at the time. That advice has not been given here since the law changed in 2012, and it should have been killed off at PoPLA.

Inadequate signage will feature as one of your defence points because UKPC signs are always inadequate and unreadable, always failing to meet the BPA CoP's requirements.

Was the NTK PoFA compliant? If not then that is another defence point.

Another point will be putting the claimant to strict proof that the driver was not a customer or employee of one of the retail units on site. Approximately how many units are there, or was this a stand alone Screwfix site?

Coupon-mad

If this is UKPC using DCBLegal then copy & adapt the defence by @Johny86 by changing paragraph 3 to some fairly vague facts about a dark sign on a wall with no prominent or lit terms.

B789

wolfneo said:

Situation is:
My vehicle was parked in screwfix out of hours and PCN was issued on the grounds of "parking on site but not a customer of one of the retail units". Driver is Unknown.

That PCN appears to be POFA compliant, in which case it is irrelevant if the driver is unknown. They can transfer liability to the RK.

On the plus side, it is probably one of the old PCN alleged debts that DCB Legal have purchased or offered a no-win no-fee to the claimant which, if defended robustly following all the advice offered here and as advised in the Nerwbies thread, will end up being dicontinued.

Have a read:

DCB LEGAL RECORD OF PRIVATE PARKING COURT CLAIM DISCONTINUATIONS

Fruitcake

A complaint should be made to the BPA that the keeper was not offered a 14 day discount, assuming this was a CoP requirement in 2018.

wolfneo

@Fruitcake - thanks, ignored due to thinking they would just stop chasing which they did for a couple years. First letter received in the past 2years was LBC. i checked BPA CoP requirements in 2018 and they don't have to offer a 14day discount. Thank you for the suggestion though.

@Coupon-mad - thanks - I have read and will figure out how to word it as RK and post here. Would it be worth referring to in my defence BPA COP 28.2 where is states entrance signs are required? I've looked back on google maps from 2018 and the only sign is the one i have shown above. i also assume i should remove; point 4. from Johny86 referring to POFA compliance.

@B789 - thank you! it seems to be POFA compliant as all i can understand from it is the timing in which the paperwork was sent. NTK was sent 20/03/2018 and "notification letter" was sent 18/04/2018.

B789

You will of course put the claimant to strict proof that the keeper was not a customer of one of the retail outlets on the site. You don't have to prove anything as you may have just been window shopping. It's up to the claimant to provide proof. Do you think they have any? No need to answer.

wolfneo

Sorry i just wanted to add - i have tried to contact Screwfix but they were no help. i've just found out the land is managed by JLL, i think it's worth contacting them to have this dropped but as the vehicle was parked "out of hours" - how do i ask them to help drop this with no real argument? i am customer of screwfix but the events of the day in question is questionable. it could be that the driver was a customer but left the car there after the shop closed?

KeithP

wolfneo said:

CCBC issue date is 23rd Feb 2023. i would appreciate Keith advising AOS deadlines?

With a Claim Issue Date of 23rd February, you have until Tuesday 14th March 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.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 28th March 2023 to file your Defence.

That's over three 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 guidance.

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'.

B789

Could you have been placing an order with ScrewFix on your phone at the time you were there? The fact that they were "physically closed" may be irrelevant anyway as I don't see any reference to an actual time of contravention on the PCN apart from the possibly doctored time stamp on the grainy photos.

Also, that sign they have a picture of is illegible and in the wide angle shot, you need to really scrutinise that picture to even locate the sign.

Coupon-mad

@Coupon-mad - thanks - I have read and will figure out how to word it as RK and post here. Would it be worth referring to in my defence BPA COP 28.2 where is states entrance signs are required? I've looked back on google maps from 2018 and the only sign is the one i have shown above. i also assume i should remove; point 4. from Johny86 referring to POFA compliance.

Yes and yes.