I missed n180 deadline, but so did claimant (UKPCL)

turtlemoose

thanks, I have sent it today so fingers crossed it's accepted, and also that the claimant doesn't bother with theirs

turtlemoose

Could I ask for some help with MCOL please?

When I try to log in to the "respond to a claim made against you" part, it won't accept the claim no and passsword supplied on the claim form. It worked the first time I used it, but now just says either the claim number or password is incorrect. I have double, triple, quadruple checked I am typing it in correctly. Does this matter? Do i even need to log in to this bit any more? If I do, how do I get a password reset? I tried ringing MCOL on 03001231057 but was on hold for over half an hour and nobody answered. 

Response history - when I click on this and go to recent transactions I can see a list like this:

• A claim was issued against you on 17/11/2022
• Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 20/11/2022 at 21:02:23
• Your acknowledgment of service was received on 21/11/2022 at 08:05:33
• Your defence was received on 20/12/2022
• Case Stay Lifted on 20/02/2023
• DQ sent to you on 20/02/2023
• General sanctions order was made on 27/04/2023

I got the general sanctions order in the post, but I did NOT receive a letter or email about the case stay or the DQ - should I have? Is this relevant? Should anything that comes up on here in future come to me via post or email?

thanks

Coupon-mad

Did you get an acknowledgement email back to the re-sent email?

If you have problems logging in to check the case status, there's no option but to ring the CCBC and stay on the line, sorry.  It can rake over an hour (DO NOT RING DURING LUNCHTIME) but you can at least also ask them this afternoon, to find your second email and log the form as received.

turtlemoose

I had an autoresponse on the 5th May (on the re-send), from both the court and the claimant's sols, but not a 'proper' response. I had a letter in the post from the claimant's solicitor with their N180, dated within the 7 days. 

turtlemoose

I now have a court date for the 5th Oct. I've read through the threads about preparing a witness statment and know I need to do this and submit before two weeks before the hearing - so I need to sort ASAP. I'm really overwhelmed by this whole thing tbh, and would really appreciate some help understanding what I need to do. I've read the WS by baz417 but it's 32 pages long and nothing like my situation so I'm struggling as to what I'm actually supposed to do.

I overstayed by 15 mins in a mcdonalds, during lockdown when only the drive thru was open. As this was the case, the drive thru queues were ridiculously long and took ages to be served. I didn't realise it was restricted parking until it was time to leave - a friend (also parked in same car park) mentioned it... I went back through the drive thru to ask staff about the parking/overstaying etc, chatted to someone, had to wait for them to get a supervisor, have the conversation all over again, for them to say there is nothing they can do about it. It is my understanding that they shouldn't count the time spent waiting in drive thru, and the only pics they have is my car entering and exiting the main car park - however it is possible i spent 15 mins in the drive thru queue when you add both times together, and they haven't deducted that time from my overall parking time. 

Is this a valid defence, do I even stand a chance? The Claimant has sent a big pack through the post including photos of the signage at the car park. 

Annoyingly it also includes a copy of the contract with McDonalds, where it says McDonalds DO have the right to request some parking fines to be cancelled - so I was incorrectly informed by staff. I also sent a formal complaint to mcdonalds but they never responded. I suppose if I lose at court I can follow that up with McDonalds. 

Le_Kirk

The WS by @baz417 is an exemplar to be used for style and format.  Of course your case is different so you slip the back-up to your defence along with your evidence into the one shown by our exemplar.  Your WS backs up and supports what you put in the defence.  You should also supply evidence (if any) at this time.  Yours doesn't have to be 32 pages long, simply long enough to tell the judge what happened on the day and you've stated most of it in your post above this one.  Make sure you add any case law that @baz417 quoted that is relevant to your defence.  Also read a few other threads as the situation is changing all the time and there are ideas to add to your WS especially if the original POC were incoherent, sparse and devoid of any detail.

Coupon-mad

Show us what you put together.

Obviously you are using only three of baz417's seven exhibits, plus your own exhibits.  That's standard stuff (you can easily see which three are to be used in all cases...it's simple).

All you are doing is replacing baz's story with your story and photos.

Plus go grab the words and templates of judgments shown on the thread by @xavian1234

You also already know from reading other UKPC Claim threads that if this is DCBLegal then you won't even have a hearing because they always discontinue.

Your WS needs to be good to prompt that!

turtlemoose

This is QDR, not DCB, sorry for not mentioning that.

I have started to write my WS, could I get some guidance on what I have so far please?

I begin with the template amended for my claim number and personal details etc. For the next part I have written:

Facts and Sequence of events

3. I attended McDonald’s and immediately joined an unusually long queue for the drive thru service. This was the only service possible as it was during a Covid-19 lockdown and the restaurant was not open to walk in to.

4. After queueing for some time, I was served my items and parked in a bay to consume them and to chat to a friend who was sat in a vehicle parked in the next parking space along. After consuming the items purchased, my friend advised that they thought there might be a parking time limit, as they knew there was one at another McDonald’s but they weren’t sure about this one, and left.

5. I immediately rejoined the drive thru queue and waited for a second time, and spoke to the staff and explained that I was unsure if I was over 90 minutes or not, and could it be checked and if that was the case for the few minutes over to be allowed in this instance.

6. The staff member did not know how to answer this query and asked me to wait in the drive thru while they fetched a supervisor. I repeated my query to the supervisor, and after some discussion the supervisor stated they had no way to check how long I had been there, and that the parking was nothing to do with them. I then left the site.

7. I recall receiving the correspondence from claimant however ignored them thinking that this is a scam letter for fake PCN charges as the claimant sent multiple letters from different names of companies (UKPCC, “ZZPS debt collection”, and five letters from “DCBL direct collection bailiffs ltd”). Each letter was addressed to “Mr Firstname Smith” – my name is Ms Firstname Jones. While I have previously married a Mr Smith (now divorced), I thought this combination of the wrong gendered title with my first name and my ex-husband’s surname was a result of an error from perhaps an attempted data theft, and I did not think the letters were genuine. 

THEN: the "exaggerated claim" and the "CRA breaches" bits remain in unchanged - is that correct?

I am then stuck on the part titled "The Beavis case is against this claim" - do I just delete this or do I need to work something out to put in here?

On to the observations of the claimant's WS, I have put:

 I have observed that Claimant has supplied photos of the signage in the carpark, with a date and time stamp of 18/08/2020 14:26. The signage is illegible in the photographs, the signs contain large amounts of small text and are positioned high up on posts. These photos are taken in bright daylight and still cannot be read clearly. The photograph of my car entering the car park is in dim lighting at 7:35PM in April, and completely dark when I left at 9:20PM. The signs are unclear in daylight they are even less visible in the dark.

For my defence I have written:

 It is my understanding that time waiting through the drive thru should not be considered as part of the parking time, and I believe that the time spent parked in a bay was in fact less than 90 minutes and therefore within the allowed time. The original drive thru queue time was excessively long due to the restaurant itself being closed due to the pandemic, and only drive thru orders being available. My second visit through the drive thru required me to have a conversation with staff, wait for a supervisor, and then repeat this conversation. Had I not had to queue for a long time in the drive thru queue on two separate occasions, the total time in the car park would have been within the 90 minute limit, and I do not believe my time spent parked in a bay exceeded 90 minutes.

The Claimant has only shown photographs of my car entering and leaving the car park, and no evidence of the length of time I spent parked in a bay. They have not proven that my total time in the car park minus time spent in the drive thru exceeds 90 minutes.

Should I then be leaving the conculsion as it is in the template?


I really appreciate the help provided on this board, especially when I have felt very overwhelmed by this whole process which has made it very difficult to engage with it fully. 

Grizebeck

As its QDR then you should fully expect it to go a hearing.

Coupon-mad

THEN: the "exaggerated claim" and the "CRA breaches" bits remain in unchanged - is that correct?

Yes...unless you used the Template Defence and already had all that wording.  Don't repeat verbatim what was already in your defence.

I am then stuck on the part titled "The Beavis case is against this claim" - do I just delete this?

Why on earth would you delete that fundamental point that distinguishes your case from the leading Supreme Court judgment where the consumer lost?