Defence Advice - DCB Legal - Not displaying blue badge

jinxy2301

Hi All, 

I will be posting my paragraphs for the template defence later on today and would be grateful for your feedback. 

Following my draft email above to DCBL, they came back with the following:-

"Dear XXXXX,

Thank you for your email. 

DCBL are unable to locate a case with the reference you have provided. Please provide the DCBL reference, as it appears on the correspondence you have received. 

For data protection please provide the following:

•             Your full name

•             Your first line of address

•             Your postcode"

Even though I did provide them with the Claim Number!

I just want to check I am ok to send over those personal details? I am not entirely sure why they have asked for them? Surely if I provide the other number on their letters (and the claim number again), that is sufficient rather than providing my family member's personal details? On the other hand, they will have seen the AOS so they already have their details anyway...

Just checking as I thought this was slightly odd!

Thanks

Coupon-mad

Of course you can supply stuff they already have.  And when you write to any solicitor, it's customary to quote their 'ref' from a letter.

jinxy2301

Hi again,

I have prepared the below from the defence on this link: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6108153/template-defence-to-adapt-for-all-parking-cases-where-they-add-false-admin-costs-edited-march-2022/p1 which I hope is correct?

I have only included the paragraphs I would need feedback on and will re-number etc. before submitting the defence for my family member. 

"The facts as known to the Defendant:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle.

3. The Defendant was parked in a disabled bay in XXXXX on 22 March 2022. Although the Defendant confirms a blue badge was not displayed whilst parked in a disabled bay, the Defendant confirms they are a blue badge holder due to having a disability.  

4. The Defendant suffers with a chronic long-term pain condition which affects the Defendant’s cognitive function. On 22 March 2022, as far as the Defendant is aware, the Defendant made a genuine mistake in forgetting to display their blue badge, due to their disability.

5. As the Defendant has a disability and is a blue badge holder, the Defendant has a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 (“the Act”). The Act has strict requirements and states that the Defendant is entitled to reasonable adjustments. The Claimant has failed to implement any reasonable adjustments for the Defendant which the Defendant believes is discrimination. 

6. The Claimant refers to the Contract in their Particulars of Claim. It is the Defendant’s understanding that their rights under the Act takes precedence over the Contract and the Defendant believes the Claimant is in breach of the Act. 

7. At the time of filing this Defence, the Defendant has made the Claimant aware of their disabled status and has requested the PCN to be cancelled. To date, the Defendant has not received confirmation of cancellation and therefore believes that if the Claimant is to continue this claim, it would constitute discrimination against the Defendant."

Not sure if what I have written is even correct, needs more detail, or I have completely missed some important information? I was also wondering what types of reasonable adjustments they should have made so I can maybe say that to make the position stronger? 

Any feedback is welcome

Thank you

Coupon-mad

 "Although the Defendant confirms a blue badge was not displayed whilst parked in a disabled bay,"

"On 22 March 2022, as far as the Defendant is aware, the Defendant made a genuine mistake in forgetting to display their blue badge, due to their disability."

Nonono!

Remove both admissions above.  Say you do not know why the Blue Badge was apparently not visible but it is not the only indicator of disability need.

And add in paras 5-11 from the defence by @Johny86 (re-number it all) and you are done!

Fruitcake

jinxy2301 said:

Hi again,

I have prepared the below from the defence on this link: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6108153/template-defence-to-adapt-for-all-parking-cases-where-they-add-false-admin-costs-edited-march-2022/p1 which I hope is correct?

I have only included the paragraphs I would need feedback on and will re-number etc. before submitting the defence for my family member. 

"The facts as known to the Defendant:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle.

3. The Defendant was parked in a disabled bay in XXXXX on 22 March 2022. Although the Defendant confirms a blue badge was not displayed whilst parked in a disabled bay, t  The Defendant confirms they are a blue badge holder due to having a disability.  

4. The Defendant suffers with a chronic long-term pain condition which affects the Defendant’s cognitive function. On 22 March 2022, as far as the Defendant is aware, the Defendant made a genuine mistake in forgetting to display their blue badge, due to their disability.

5. As the Defendant has a disability and is a blue badge holder, the Defendant has a protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 (“the Act”) and therefore has a right to park in an accessible parking bay. The Act has strict requirements and states that the Defendant is entitled to reasonable adjustments. The Claimant has failed to anticipate the needs of a disabled motorist and failed to implement any reasonable adjustments for the Defendant which the Defendant believes is indirect discrimination. 

6. 5. The Claimant refers to the Contract in their Particulars of Claim. It is t   The Defendant’s understanding that their rights under the Act takes precedence over the Contract and the Defendant believes therefore  the Claimant is in breach of the Act. 

7. At the time of filing this Defence, the Defendant has made the Claimant aware of their disabled status and has requested the PCN to be cancelled. To date, the Defendant has not received confirmation of cancellation and therefore believes that if the Claimant is to continue this claim, it would constitute direct  discrimination against the Defendant."

Not sure if what I have written is even correct, needs more detail, or I have completely missed some important information? I was also wondering what types of reasonable adjustments they should have made so I can maybe say that to make the position stronger? 

Any feedback is welcome

Thank you

A few suggestions. Add that the claimant has failed to prove a disabled badge was not on display, but in any case, a disabled badge is not the indicator of a disability.
If your medical condition has a name, then state it.

Add the other points mentioned by C-m then renumber and recheck everything.
Repost for a sanity check before you submit it, which should only be done during normal office hours (9 - 4) by email to the CCBC.

In your complaint to the landowner and your MP, did you mention your disability and that failing to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled person is a criminal offence for which both the PPC and the landowner/landholder who employed the PPC will be jointly liable?

jinxy2301

Thank you both for your feedback. Is this better?

"2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle.

3. The Defendant was parked in a disabled bay in XXXXX on 22 March 2022. The Defendant confirms they are a blue badge holder due to having a disability.  

4. The Defendant suffers with a chronic long-term pain condition which affects the Defendant’s cognitive function known as XXXX. As the Defendant has a disability and is a blue badge holder, the Defendant has protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 (“the Act”) and therefore has a right to park in an accessible parking bay. The Act has strict requirements and states that the Defendant is entitled to reasonable adjustments. The Claimant has failed to anticipate the needs of a disabled motorist and failed to implement any reasonable adjustments for the Defendant which is indirect discrimination. 

5. The Claimant refers to the Contract in their Particulars of Claim ("POC"). The Defendant’s rights under the Act takes precedence over the Contract and therefore the Claimant is in breach of the Act. At the time of filing this Defence, the Defendant has made the Claimant aware of their disabled status and has requested the PCN be cancelled. To date, the Defendant has not received confirmation of cancellation and therefore if the Claimant is to continue this claim, it would constitute direct discrimination against the Defendant.

6. The POC appear to be in breach of CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7, and fail to "state all facts necessary for the purpose of formulating a complete cause of action”. 

7. The Defendant is unable, on the basis of the POC, to understand with certainty what case is being pursued. 

8. The POC are entirely inadequate, in that they fail to particularise (a) the contractual term(s) relied upon; (b) the specifics of any alleged breach of contract; and (c) how the purported and unspecified 'damages' arose and the breakdown of the exaggerated quantum. 

9. The claim has been issued via Money Claims Online and, as a result, is subject to a character limit for the Particulars of Claim section of the Claim Form.  The fact that generic wording appears to have been applied has obstructed any semblance of clarity.  The Defendant trusts that the court will agree that a claim pleaded in such generic terms lacks the required details and requires proper particularisation in a detailed document within 14 days, per 16PD.3 

10. The guidance for completing Money Claims Online confirms this and clearly states: "If you do not have enough space to explain your claim online and you need to serve extra, more detailed particulars on the defendant, tick the box that appears after the statement 'you may also send detailed particulars direct to the defendant.'" 

11. No further particulars have been filed and to the Defendant's knowledge, no application asking the court service for more time to serve and/or relief from sanctions has been filed either. 

12. In view of it having been entirely within the Claimant's Solicitors' gift to properly plead the claim at the outset and the claim being for a sum, well within the small claims limit, such that the Defendant considers it disproportionate and at odds with the overriding objective (in the context of a failure by the Claimant to properly comply with rules and practice directions) for a Judge to throw the erring Claimant a lifeline by ordering further particulars (to which a further defence might be filed, followed by further referral to a Judge for directions and allocation) the court is respectfully invited to strike this claim out."

Just to confirm, are we now also meant to add paragraphs 4-27 of this template to be numbered 13, 14, 15 etc. to the above so the defence will be around 35 paragraphs in total? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6108153/template-defence-to-adapt-for-all-parking-cases-where-they-add-false-admin-costs-edited-march-2022/p1

Fruitcake said:

If your medical condition has a name, then state it.
We will add this in 

Add the other points mentioned by C-m then renumber and recheck everything.
Repost for a sanity check before you submit it, which should only be done during normal office hours (9 - 4) by email to the CCBC. Thanks we will aim to submit on Friday during those hours.

In your complaint to the landowner and your MP, did you mention your disability and that failing to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled person is a criminal offence for which both the PPC and the landowner/landholder who employed the PPC will be jointly liable? This is for my mother and I only found out about this matter when the Claim Form arrived so she did not appeal to the landowner at the time. I have however written to DCBL and I am waiting to hear from them. Shall I write to the MP as well? I can obviously do that after this has been submitted. 

Thank you all again so much for your help. You have no idea what this forum has done for us. 

Coupon-mad

Yes - except you don't really need para 4 from the template defence sticky thread, as it's not really right for DCBLegal.

KeithP

Just two very slight adjustments...

I think the opening sentence of your paragraph 4 would read better as...
4. The Defendant suffers with a chronic long-term pain condition known as XXXX which affects the Defendant’s cognitive function.

In paragraph 5, the sentence...
At the time of filing this Defence, the Defendant has made the Claimant aware of their disabled status and has requested the PCN be cancelled.
I suggest that the opening few words of that sentence be replaced by Before filing this Defence... if you did indeed send the email last week that you mentioned in your post of 7 June at 3:45PM.

jinxy2301

Thank you both. I have made those adjustments. 

My mother has asked me to ask a question prior to sending this Defence off. Does it matter if the sign in the car park said that people holding a blue badge should display it or, does that not matter? We ask as the template defence talks about vague/hidden terms but if it was on the sign, is it still acceptable to include this?

Thank you. 

Fruitcake

Making a disabled person do something that is not required (displaying a blue badge that does not apply on private land) is an unfair contract term. A blue badge is not the only indicator of a disability, but these unregulated parking companies would have people believe differently.
Making a disabled person do something that an able bodied person is not required to do is discrimination and a breach of the Equality Act 2010, which is a criminal offence.
Some people have cognitive disabilities that make them forget to display a blue badge, or they may have a physical disability that hinders mobility, or causes such pain that they forget things. They must not be penalised for having that disability.

The booklet that comes with a blue badge, the UK Government Website, and documents available to the public held in the House of Commons library all state that the blue badge does not apply on private land.

The landowner must be made aware that they are liable for the actions of their agents and therefore they are criminally liable for any breach of the EA 2010 caused by their agents.
This is why complaints should always be made to the landowner and the motorist's MP, even at this stage.