UKPC + DCB Legal + Macclesfield Superbowl = Are at it again!

Mar3485

Hello!
I am after reassurance and someone to help hold my hand whilst I take on the car park cowboys UK Parking Control.

Just like similar threads, I am battling an unfair and unjust parking charge notification I received in March 2019 at Macclesfield Superbowl. I complied with all their silly Terms & Conditions and inputted my VRN into their precious non-working iPad and received a PCN six weeks later. I appealed and showed evidence of a bank statement that I was a paying customer on the day, but they still insisted on asking for money (£15), which I have refused to pay as I feel it is unreasonable. 

I am now in receipt of a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre (dated 24th May 2023) and I responded online (AOS via MCOL) on Wednesday 7th June stating I intend to defend all of this claim (Acknowledgment of Service). The next step is my defence, which I am planning on researching and penning this afternoon. 

I have also sent a SAR to UKPC and drafted a letter for their solicitor DCB Legal stating I am defending the claim and sent a SAR to UKPC. I am referring to the Newbies Thread, the County Court procedure post by Bargepole and the UK Parking Control Ltd - Unreasonable actions thread constantly, but I have NEVER done anything like this in my life and anxiety doesn't come close to how I feel right now! 

Defence questions:

• I have read the article by Bargepole and I am ready to structure my defence as per point three but is there anything else I need to know and what type of information should I be adding?
• The car I was driving at the time was leased, does this matter?
• The initial parking charge notification was received approximately six weeks after my vehicle was recorded at Macclesfield Superbowl, again, does this matter?

Thanks in advance.

Le_Kirk

Have you found and read the Template Defence thread, that is the place to start.

Mar3485

Yes, I found it as soon as I posted my comment. Thanks.

Do I need to use ALL of the defence template? For example, if references POFA and CRA breaches, and Parking Eye which aren't applicable to my defence. 

KeithP

Mar3485 said:

I am now in receipt of a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre (dated 24th May 2023) and I responded online (AOS via MCOL) on Wednesday 7th June stating I intend to defend all of this claim (Acknowledgment of Service).

With a Claim Issue Date of 24th May, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 26th June 2023 to file your Defence.

That's over two 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'.

KeithP

Mar3485 said:

Yes, I found it as soon as I posted my comment. Thanks.

Do I need to use ALL of the defence template? For example, if references POFA and CRA breaches, and Parking Eye which aren't applicable to my defence. 

Why do you think POFA isn't applicable?
You have a lease car. Did the parking company supply all the documentation as described in paragraphs 13 and 14 of Schedule 4 of POFA?

Why do you think the CRA is not applicable?
Perhaps paragraph 69 of the CRA applies.

Why do you not want to mention the landmark ParkingEye versus Beavis case?
The template defence is pointing out how your case differs from that Judgment.

Everything in the template Defence is applicable to your case.

Coupon-mad

Seconded.

Of course it's all relevant.  I'm constantly surprised that after reading it, some posters think that standard matters already set out and determined by statute and binding case law (that clearly support all parking defences) are not applicable to their case. 

Fruitcake

Did you reveal the driver's identity to UKPC when you appealed? For example, did you say, I parked or I drove, or anything similar?
Even if you didn't, but you were the driver, what will you do if a judge asks if you were driving?

This could and should have been won at PoPLA, but that can't now be helped.

Plan A is still a complaint to the landowner and your MP, and it's never too late to do so.

As for your defence, you paid, their machines were faulty, you are a witness to this fact, indeed you are the only witness to the fact that the machine was faulty. The machine failure caused a frustration of contract, no parking terms were breached or in the alternative, the contract was void for impossibility because it was impossible for you to comply with parking terms due to the faulty pay machine.
In addition, UKPC signs are inadequate and incapable for forming a contract because the charge on the signs is in tiny font and therefore not brought to the attention of the motorist. Lord Denning's "red hand rule" applies.

Get photos of the site and signage to back this up at the witness statement stage later in the court process.

Mar3485

Hello and thank you for your comments. They are extremely helpful!

I have additional questions:

1. What is the best way to submit my defence by email or post? I've read conflicting advice. One post recommends sending it via post because the online option breaks the formatting and makes it harder for the judge to read. 
2. Lease Car - In response to my SAR I can see that the lease company was contacted, however, the information that has been supplied as part of the SAR is very minimal. It only offers my home address details and contract start and end date. Will this have any relevance to my defence?
3. Did I reveal my identity as part of my appeal? I only mentioned that I 'registered' my car on the keypad whilst in attendance at Superbowl. What would I say to a judge if he asked me if I was driving, I would say 'yes' because I was. I do mention that I was the driver as part of my defence is this okay?
4. I have contacted Macclesfield Superbowl via email. They have confirmed that a considerable amount of customers were issued with a PCN. They have also advised that all signs have been removed and that the parking scheme is no longer in place because of the issues it caused. Should I include this in my defence? 
5. I will contact my local MP but I am not holding out for a response. 
6. In the SAR UKPC has pointed out that PDT data isn't stored. I am assuming this means that VRN from the keypad isn't saved. Does this then become a 'he said, she said' argument in court?
7. As mentioned above, all the signage at Macclesfield Superbowl has been removed. I can find images of the signage online, should this form part of my defence?
8. I have compiled my defence using the template supplied in this forum. If I remove personal details would anyone be able to sanity check it for me?

B789

Mar3485 said:

1. What is the best way to submit my defence by email or post? I've read conflicting advice. One post recommends sending it via post because the online option breaks the formatting and makes it harder for the judge to read. 
   

You certainly didn't get that advice from this forum so you may want to decide where your best advice is coming from. Why would emailing your defence as a pfd attachment break any formatting? Whoever is giving you that advice needs pointing to this forum telling to go get an education. Have you even read the second post in the Newbies/FAQ thread?

B789

Mar3485 said:

1. Lease Car - In response to my SAR I can see that the lease company was contacted, however, the information that has been supplied as part of the SAR is very minimal. It only offers my home address details and contract start and end date. Will this have any relevance to my defence?
2. Did I reveal my identity as part of my appeal? I only mentioned that I 'registered' my car on the keypad whilst in attendance at Superbowl. What would I say to a judge if he asked me if I was driving, I would say 'yes' because I was. I do mention that I was the driver as part of my defence is this okay?
3. I have contacted Macclesfield Superbowl via email. They have confirmed that a considerable amount of customers were issued with a PCN. They have also advised that all signs have been removed and that the parking scheme is no longer in place because of the issues it caused. Should I include this in my defence? 
4. I will contact my local MP but I am not holding out for a response. 
5. In the SAR UKPC has pointed out that PDT data isn't stored. I am assuming this means that VRN from the keypad isn't saved. Does this then become a 'he said, she said' argument in court?
6. As mentioned above, all the signage at Macclesfield Superbowl has been removed. I can find images of the signage online, should this form part of my defence?
7. I have compiled my defence using the template supplied in this forum. If I remove personal details would anyone be able to sanity check it for me?

Did you receive an NtH at any stage? You say your SAR revealed that the hire company had contacted the PPC, probably transferring liability to you, as the Hirer but did the PPC comply with the requirements of PoFA and include all the necessary document copies with the NtH? You are not being very clear about what you have received from the PPC which makes it difficult to assist you.

If the NtH fails PoFA compliance then, if you've given away the fact that you were the driver, you become liable. If you haven't, then they can't transfer liability.

Your defence is only in answer to the PoC on the claim and we know that they are woefully inadequate from DCB Legal. What the PPC mean about PDT data is that they are not obliged to give it to you as a SAR is only about your personal data.

Just post the paragraphs that you have changed/added from the template defence. You. shouldn't be removing any of the paragraphs that follow on from #4

Umkomaas

You don't forward your Defence via the MCOL online facility - that does break the formatting and could truncate your Defence well short of its conclusion. 

Email to the CCBC (address in the Template Defence Announcement) attached as a .pdf file.