Letter of Claim from DCB Legal on behalf of UKPC

Jammin1

Hello

All of this is new to me (usually I've just paid any PCNs straight away) and thanks for the work everyone's put into this forum.

Let me explain the situation. 6 months ago, I was picking a friend up from her flat, and I waited in what I believe was the residents car park for 18 minutes for her to come down. I was sat in the car the entire time and it was dark and wet and I didn't notice any signs. Never saw any traffic warden nor received any windscreen PCN. Yesterday, I received a 'Letter of Claim' from DCB Legal in respect of an unpaid PNC (of which I never received) asking for £170 within 30 days and threatening court action. 

So far I've read the Newbies thread and done what was suggested in there.

1. I wrote a strongly worded email to the accommodation provider complaining about being chased for £170 when I was just waiting for one of their tenants. (I am yet to receive a response)

2. I emailed the UKPC data DPO for an SAR. They responded by providing me with 4 photographs. The only things visible in the photographs are the vehicle registration and the camera date and time. The rest is just darkness. The remaining data they provided were two letters, one PCN/NTK (dated within 4 days of the incident) and one 'Final Notice' dated in December 2022. However, both of these letters were sent to the wrong address, and so I never received them. In August 2022, I had moved house and updated my driving licence with the DVLA and received a new licence which included my new address. However, I didn't realise that I also needed to change the address on the V5C, and so my old address remained on the V5C until this morning. So 3-4 months after I had updated my address on my driving licence, they sent the NTK and final notice to my old address. Yet, they sent the 'Letter of Claim' to my current address (not sure why this also wasn't sent to my old address like the other letters).

3. I emailed DCB Legal informing them that I deny any debt and am seeking debt advice, that the case must be put on hold for at least 30 days, that I have sent UKPC an SAR and confirming my current address. (I am yet to receive a reply)

So that's pretty much it. Any advice for what to do next would be greatly appreciated. My understanding from the Newbies thread is that a court claim is now likely and that I will need to prepare a defence. Should I just wait until I get the claim before dealing with MCOL and AOS, and preparing a defence? Do I have any grounds to invalidate the 'liability of keeper' because the NTK was sent to the wrong address? Is there anything else I should be doing?

Many thanks in advance

J

Fruitcake

The NTK was sent to the address held by the DVLA at the time of the alleged event. You can't claim that the NTK was not properly served because you failed to update your V5C. 

You must instruct the DPO of both UKPC and DCBLegal to erase your old data and replace it with your current address for service otherwise you risk the claim deliberately being sent to your old address.
Make sure to use the word I have highlighted. 

You can't do the AoS until you receive the claim.

Get photos of the site and signage in readiness, and look up Jopson v Homeguard, paras 19 and 20, where the judge states that loading unloading is not parking.

Jammin1

Thanks for this. Jopson v Homeguard looks very relevant. I received an email back from the accommodation provider saying that they would look into the matter for me, so I'll keep fingers crossed on that one. I've asked UKPC and DCB Legal to erase my old data and replace with my new address. 

Should I be sending anything else to UKPC or DCB Legal other than what I have sent already (deny any debt, seeking debt advice, case on hold for 30 days, and confirming address)? Should I try to explain the situation to either of the parties? Try to dispute the charge with them? Mount any defence to the charges to them? Or just await the court claim and go from there?

Thanks

Jammin1

Also, photos of the signage and site might be a bit tricky for me because it's more than 2 hours drive from my house. I was only in the area to visit a friend

B789

You could ask your friend to take photos for you.

For now, you should just wait and see if the landlord gets the PCN cancelled.

Did you wait until nearly 30 days were up since the LoC or did you just send the 30 day hold request as soon as you received the LoC? The whole point of the 30 day delay is to extend the already notified 30 days from the LoC. All you gain from rushing to send a 30 day hold is 30 days from when you send it. It is not in addition to the 30 days already notified in the LoC.

For now, do not contact UKPC or their bottom-dwelling solicitors, DCB Legal. Just wait and see if they send you a claim. If when they do, the PoC will be so dire that any heads-up you give them, will disadvantage you. For DCB Legal claims we normally advise not to SAR until after the claim has been issued.

A robustly defended claim from the Bottom-dwelling duo will eventually end up with a discontinuation before it gets to court if you use the template defence from this forum.

Jammin1

Thanks for this. I sent the 30 day hold request as soon as I received the LoC and I also immediately sent an SAR to UKPC. I tried to follow section 2 of the Newbie thread as best I could but didn't realise I should wait to do the 30 day hold or to do the SAR. But that's great, I'll get my friend to take photos of the signage and I'll await the court claim. Thanks again

patient_dream

Jammin1 said:

Thanks for this. I sent the 30 day hold request as soon as I received the LoC and I also immediately sent an SAR to UKPC. I tried to follow section 2 of the Newbie thread as best I could but didn't realise I should wait to do the 30 day hold or to do the SAR. But that's great, I'll get my friend to take photos of the signage and I'll await the court claim. Thanks again

DCBL are mug hunting.  By now they should understand that UKPC claims are rubbish and UKPC signs are utter rubbish. In their own little world, no doubt a claim will be issued and once they realise you are not a mug they discontinue

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

If you understand the game of chess, with the help of this forum, DCBL actually put themselves in CHECK MATE

That is after they waste the courts time

Jammin1

As an update, I received the following email from the accommodation provider whose car park I was in.

"Good morning,

I would advise for you to contact UK Parking Control, we do not monitor nor issue any fines.

This could have been caught by cameras I am unsure.

If a fine has been issued and you were not allowed to park you will have to pay the fine.

But as mentioned previously please do contact and find out more information.

Kind regards,"

Any advice on how to respond would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Jammin1

Hello, as an update I sent another email to the landowner asking to complain about UKPC issuing bogus PNCs and taking their customers to court, and I'm waiting to hear back from them.

Yesterday I received a Claim form and completed the AOS, and drafted the following defence with instructions from the Newbie thread. Any feedback would be greatly received:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle, but the Defendant was not the driver during the time the vehicle entered West Point Service Yard.

3. The driver was driving a passenger to a friend’s residence and needed to drop the friend off at her place of residence to collect some items on the way. As such, the driver dropped the passenger off in a car park and waited in the car for her to collect her items before exiting the car park. The driver remained in the vehicle throughout.

4. In Jopson v Homeguard, paragraphs 19 and 20, the court ruled that the concept of parking ‘is that of leaving a car for some duration of time beyond that needed for getting in or out of it, loading or unloading it, and perhaps coping with some vicissitude of short duration, such as changing a wheel in the event of a puncture.’ The Parking Charge Notice is based on the idea that the driver was parking, when in fact the driver had neither left the car, as per the concept of parking, nor had stayed beyond a during of time needed for the passenger to walk into the accommodation block, enter her residence, gather some items and return back to the car.

5. The driver entered the car park at 9.04pm in November when it was dark and pouring rain. In these conditions the signs were obscured and unlit and not seen clearly from the vantage point of the driver who never left the car.

In the meanwhile, I will ask my friend to take photographs of the car park. Could you help me with specific instructions of what she should be photographing in the car park. The time the driver entered the car park it was dark at night time and pouring rain. Should I be asking my friend to take photos at night time when it's dark?

Also, I read on another thread that judges expect the defendant to engage with the claimant. I haven't engaged with the claimant at all. As I mentioned before, the VC5 logbook was registered at a previous address, so the first I heard of any parking charge was when I received a 'Letter of Claim' from DCB legal. The only engagement I've had with UKPC has been a SAR and a data erasure request, and the only engagement with DCB Legal has been a data erasure request and requesting a 30 day hold. At this stage should I be doing anything else in respects of engagement?

Thanks

KeithP

Jammin1 said:

Yesterday I received a Claim form and completed the AOS...

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

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Coupon-mad

No need to engage with the Claimant and no need for photos yet.  That's for WS stage in a few months, when she can more easily take them in the dark (and closer to November) which is what's needed.

Good defence!

If it's a DCBLegal case, add in paras 4-11 copied from the defence by @Johny86 then re-number all the rest of the Template Defence (except remove the template para 4, not relevant).