Claim Form received by DCB Legal on behalf of Bank Parking Management

Chucky1234

Hi all,

My wife has received a Claim Form, I will be assisting her in putting a defence together and as much as possible through the court process.

The facts

We believe my wife was the driver (also the registered keeper) of a vehicle in October 2022 parked in a disabled bay in Merry Hill shopping centre. She is not disabled however we do have a young child. It is believed that the car was parked in a disabled bay inadvertently instead of a parent and child bay. We have revisited the location, and there is a whole row of parent and child bays with two disabled bays at the end. The only difference between the spaces is the outline of a wheelchair instead of a pram in the disabled bay. We believe my wife was searching the row for a space and came across this one believing it to be a parent and child bay.

Returned to find a PCN stuck to the windscreen asking for £90 (£50 if paid quickly). Have since received a NTK which appears to be compliant with POFA and then subsequently 4 debt collection letters for £150.

Then received a letter of claim from DCB Legal on 15 May 2023 and finally a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre on 16 June 2023.

Upon receipt of the claim form, we have now done the following;

1. Complained to Merry Hill customer service email address
2. Sent a SAR to Bank Parking Management on 26/06/23
3. Filed AOS on 26/06/23 - we believe this gives us until 19 July 2023 to file a defence.

Main arguments

Except for the template defences very helpfully provided in the template defence recommended, I think our main argument is the way the car park is laid out making it difficult to determine what is disabled and what is parent and child, and also the fact that the signage is very very poor and the £90 is contained within the small print which is VERY small and actually very difficult to read. I have attached a copy of the sign below.



Our defence

We are proposing to use the template defence recommended and have edited points 2 and 3 as suggested to the below.

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

3. The Defendant was visiting the retail park with their one-year old son. The Defendant had tried to park in a parent and child bay however inadvertently parked in a disabled bay. The layout of the car park is confusing and having visited the site again, the Defendant notes that there are rows of parent and child bays which suddenly change to disabled bays with the only marking being inside of the space which is difficult to identify in a busy car park

Our questions

1. Should we be using any other arguments in our defence or is the above OK?
2. I believe the NTK is compliant with POFA meaning they can hold the keeper liable. Is admitting who the driver therefore recommended as we can then speak with more certainty when it comes to witness statement stage?
3. Would I be able to attend the court with my wife and speak to the judge/claimant? My wife is not very clued up on things such as this at all whereas I feel a lot more confident with the process

Thanks in advance for everybody's help.

Coupon-mad

Remove the detail about knowing what the PCN is about (no mention of accessible bays in your defence).  The reason for this is that the claim POC fail to allege anything of the sort!

Instead, add in extra paragraphs 5-11 copied from the defence by @Johny86 (that's a link) which points out the woeful lack of allegations and specificity in the POC.

Then for your wife's para 3 and 4 put this:

3. The Defendant was visiting the retail park with their one-year old son. The Defendant has the honest belief that they parked properly in the row of parent and child bays, which were not clearly marked and had no visible signage at all.  Having subsequently returned to obtain evidence, the Defendant notes that there are still no signs at those bays and the signs elsewhere in the large/busy car park use such minuscule text as to be completely illegible.  No contract was agreed.

4.  Further and in the alternative, the Claimant will concede that no financial loss has arisen, and cases in other car parks with different facts and signage are not the same as the Supreme Court authority about a Chelmsford retail site.  The hugely inflated sum in this instance is unjustified, not contractual and the interest has also been incorrectly calculated to enhance the claim.  The charge - and the imaginary 'damages/admin fee' imposed - is a penalty, notwithstanding ParkingEye v Beavis, which is fully distinguished in all the circumstances.  Unlike Beavis, this claim is not supported by prominent signage and it is punitive in nature.  There was no breach of a 'relevant obligation', given that the Defendant will show evidence that the parking bays in that area lack any signage at all. Consumer notices must be fair (ref: s71 and other relevant sections of the Consumer Rights Act 2015) which includes for the first time in this legislation, a test of 'prominence' of terms and the notices themselves.

KeithP

Chucky1234 said:

Then received a letter of claim from DCB Legal on 15 May 2023 and finally a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre on 16 June 2023.

You tell us a Claim Form was received on 16th June.
Can you now please tell us the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form?

Chucky1234

KeithP said:

Chucky1234 said:

Then received a letter of claim from DCB Legal on 15 May 2023 and finally a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre on 16 June 2023.

You tell us a Claim Form was received on 16th June.
Can you now please tell us the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form?

Apologies, the issue date on the claim form was 16th June.

KeithP

Chucky1234 said:

KeithP said:

Chucky1234 said:

Then received a letter of claim from DCB Legal on 15 May 2023 and finally a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre on 16 June 2023.

You tell us a Claim Form was received on 16th June.
Can you now please tell us the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form?

Apologies, the issue date on the claim form was 16th June.

You are right with the Defence filing deadline, but there might be something useful here...

With a Claim Issue Date of 16th June, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, your wife has until 4pm on Wednesday 19th July 2023 to file her 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 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'.

Chucky1234 said:

1. Would I be able to attend the court with my wife and speak to the judge/claimant?

You can attend as a Lay Representative. This will allow you to answer all the questions directed at the Defendant, unless of course the Judge specifically asks for a response from the Defendant but that's unusual.
Have a read of The Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999.
It's a simple read - just one page. Take it with you and mention it to the usher when you arrive at court.

Chucky1234

KeithP said:

Chucky1234 said:

KeithP said:

Chucky1234 said:

Then received a letter of claim from DCB Legal on 15 May 2023 and finally a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre on 16 June 2023.

You tell us a Claim Form was received on 16th June.
Can you now please tell us the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form?

Apologies, the issue date on the claim form was 16th June.

You are right with the Defence filing deadline, but there might be something useful here...

With a Claim Issue Date of 16th June, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, your wife has until 4pm on Wednesday 19th July 2023 to file her 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 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'.

Chucky1234 said:

1. Would I be able to attend the court with my wife and speak to the judge/claimant?

You can attend as a Lay Representative. This will allow you to answer all the questions directed at the Defendant, unless of course the Judge specifically asks for a response from the Defendant but that's unusual.
Have a read of The Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999.
It's a simple read - just one page. Take it with you and mention it to the usher when you arrive at court.

Thanks for this, this is very helpful. Can you clarify what you meant by there might be something useful here please?

Chucky1234

Coupon-mad said:

Remove the detail about knowing what the PCN is about (no mention of accessible bays in your defence).  The reason for this is that the claim POC fail to allege anything of the sort!

Instead, add in extra paragraphs 5-11 copied from the defence by @Johny86 (that's a link) which points out the woeful lack of allegations and specificity in the POC.

Then for your wife's para 3 and 4 put this:

3. The Defendant was visiting the retail park with their one-year old son. The Defendant has the honest belief that they parked properly in the row of parent and child bays, which were not clearly marked and had no visible signage at all.  Having subsequently returned to obtain evidence, the Defendant notes that there are still no signs at those bays and the signs elsewhere in the large/busy car park use such minuscule text as to be completely illegible.  No contract was agreed.

4.  Further and in the alternative, the Claimant will concede that no financial loss has arisen, and cases in other car parks with different facts and signage are not the same as the Supreme Court authority about a Chelmsford retail site.  The hugely inflated sum in this instance is unjustified, not contractual and the interest has also been incorrectly calculated to enhance the claim.  The charge - and the imaginary 'damages/admin fee' imposed - is a penalty, notwithstanding ParkingEye v Beavis, which is fully distinguished in all the circumstances.  Unlike Beavis, this claim is not supported by prominent signage and it is punitive in nature.  There was no breach of a 'relevant obligation', given that the Defendant will show evidence that the parking bays in that area lack any signage at all. Consumer notices must be fair (ref: s71 and other relevant sections of the Consumer Rights Act 2015) which includes for the first time in this legislation, a test of 'prominence' of terms and the notices themselves.

Thanks - that is helpful and I have amended para 3 and 3 and also included paras 5-11 by Johny86.

Just to paint a further picture of the car park, please see two images below, one shows a row of parent and child spaces and one shows some disables spaces immediately next to the parent and child spaces (the golf in the picture is in a parent and child space). The disabled paintings are also old too so it is easy to see how somebody can accidentally park in the wrong bay.

Is it worth submitting my defence now or shall I hold off as I have a few weeks to see if anything else comes to light in that time?

KeithP

Chucky1234 said:

KeithP said:

Chucky1234 said:

KeithP said:

Chucky1234 said:

Then received a letter of claim from DCB Legal on 15 May 2023 and finally a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre on 16 June 2023.

You tell us a Claim Form was received on 16th June.
Can you now please tell us the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form?

Apologies, the issue date on the claim form was 16th June.

You are right with the Defence filing deadline, but there might be something useful here...

With a Claim Issue Date of 16th June, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, your wife has until 4pm on Wednesday 19th July 2023 to file her 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 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'.

Chucky1234 said:

1. Would I be able to attend the court with my wife and speak to the judge/claimant?

You can attend as a Lay Representative. This will allow you to answer all the questions directed at the Defendant, unless of course the Judge specifically asks for a response from the Defendant but that's unusual.
Have a read of The Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999.
It's a simple read - just one page. Take it with you and mention it to the usher when you arrive at court.

Can you clarify what you meant by there might be something useful here please?

Just that you had worked out your Defence filing deadline, which most people don't manage to do, so maybe you knew all the other stuff I wrote. Nothing more than that.

Coupon-mad

I'd get the defence in, as it's done.