Secure-A-Space/DCB Legal County Court Claim- Parked in residential parking

Marissoura17

Hello,

This is my first time posting in this forum and dealing with this type of situation so please bear with me. I am a university student and writing on behalf of my dad who received a county court claim letter. I have exams coming up and hence can’t spend all day on this but I have tried my best to study these forums and read the newbies thread thoroughly.

What happened: My dad received 2 PCNs from Secure A Space (SAS) due to his vehicle being parked outside of an allocated bay in our residential car park. The vehicle was not in a bay but was parked on the side, near a grassed area without causing obstruction or danger to anyone else. The reason for this is that another vehicle was parked in our allocated bay at the time (night) when the driver was returning from work and there was no available space on the nearby road for the vehicle to be parked.  This side road is busy and overcrowded so there is often trouble finding parking anywhere in the area. The driver, therefore, left the vehicle parked safely near the grassed area. They did this on 2 occasions, hence the 2 PCNs. Many drivers park here during the day and night since previous parking attendants have been lenient with this as long as a valid permit was displayed. A valid parking permit was displayed in the vehicle clearly at all times. We have been residents here for a long time and have permission in our lease to park outside our flat- will need to double-check the exact wording and get back to you with this. My dad ignored the PCNs and subsequent debt collector letters from DCB Legal (please do not tell me this was a bad idea, we have already reached that conclusion) and has therefore received a county court claim letter. The driver has never been identified to the PPC or anyone else. SAS use Gladstones from what I can see on their website. 

What we have done so far: 

Claim form issue date: 22/06/23

AOS submitted on 24/06/23 and received on 26/06/23. SAR to SAS has been sent as well as an email to Gladstones today.

I have viewed the template for writing a defence and am planning to begin writing this. I would appreciate any help, especially what I can say about signage-  we are very inexperienced with this but we hope this will not end up going to court- I’ve read about a nearly identical case on here with a different PPC which didn't even reach a court hearing so I'm hopeful. I plan on uploading some images here too but I believe since I am a new user I'm unable to do this just yet.

Thank you in advance for any help!

KeithP

Marissoura17 said:

Claim form issue date: 22/06/23

AOS submitted on 24/06/23 and received on 26/06/23.

Hello and welcome.

With a Claim Issue Date of 22nd June, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service on 26th June, you have until 4pm on Monday 24th July 2023 to file your Defence.

That's nearly four 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'.

Everywhere I have written 'you' or 'your' I do of course mean the named Defendant. Everything must be done in the name of the named Defendant.

Coupon-mad

They are not using Gladstones if the Claim says it's from DCBLegal.  This is a good thing as DCBLegal often drop claims when well defended.

Copy paragraphs 5-11 from this one:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79892838#Comment_79892838

and read some other residential defences for inspiration on what to put as paragraphs 3 and 4,

e.g. quote from the lease, like here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80051834#Comment_80051834

And the rest is the Template Defence, re-numbered to suit and NOT the template's para 4 as it's not really relevant for DCBLegal.

Should be fairly easy to put together.

Marissoura17

Coupon-mad said:

They are not using Gladstones if the Claim says it's from DCBLegal.  This is a good thing as DCBLegal often drop claims when well defended.

Copy paragraphs 5-11 from this one:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79892838#Comment_79892838

and read some other residential defences for inspiration on what to put as paragraphs 3 and 4,

e.g. quote from the lease, like here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80051834#Comment_80051834

And the rest is the Template Defence, re-numbered to suit and NOT the template's para 4 as it's not really relevant for DCBLegal.

Should be fairly easy to put together.

Indeed on the claim, it says the address for documents/payments is DCB Legal LTD, and the claim is signed by Yasmin Mia.
Should I be emailing DCB Legal to put the case on hold?
Thank you for the links and advice- I will get on with the defence and post a draft here as soon as I can.

KeithP

Marissoura17 said:

Should I be emailing DCB Legal to put the case on hold?

You cannot delay things now that a Claim has been issued.

Keep your eye on the dates and times in my earlier post.

Coupon-mad

Marissoura17 said:

Coupon-mad said:

They are not using Gladstones if the Claim says it's from DCBLegal.  This is a good thing as DCBLegal often drop claims when well defended.

Copy paragraphs 5-11 from this one:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79892838#Comment_79892838

and read some other residential defences for inspiration on what to put as paragraphs 3 and 4,

e.g. quote from the lease, like here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80051834#Comment_80051834

And the rest is the Template Defence, re-numbered to suit and NOT the template's para 4 as it's not really relevant for DCBLegal.

Should be fairly easy to put together.

Indeed on the claim, it says the address for documents/payments is DCB Legal LTD, and the claim is signed by Yasmin Mia.

Should I be emailing DCB Legal to put the case on hold?

No, you aren't at LBC stage!

Marissoura17

What do you think of the following as an initial defence? I still need to ask my parents to find their lease so I can add relevant quotes from it (as previously mentioned I am busy with exams at the moment)

The facts as known to the Defendant:

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

3. The defendant is a resident of the housing estate where the alleged contravention took place and possesses a valid permit as well as an allocated parking bay. Upon arrival late at night, the driver discovered another vehicle occupying the defendant's designated bay. Faced with no alternative, the driver parked in an unmarked space within the residential car park. It is worth noting that this particular area is frequently utilised by other residents of the building, without causing any obstruction to entrances, exits, or designated residential bays.

4.The terms and conditions set out by signage in the residential car park stated that ‘You should not park on yellow lines/hatched area, paved or landscaped areas’. The defendant’s vehicle was not parked in any of these areas. The driver was unable to park in the defendant’s allocated, marked bay as another vehicle was occupying it. Secure-a-Space failed their duty to keep the defendant’s space clear and have therefore frustrated any alleged contract the defendant may have entered into with them. 

5.The signage in the residential car park forms the alleged contract but cannot override, amend, or remove the defendant’s existing rights to park. Nevertheless, this is void for impossibility since the defendant was prevented from complying with the terms and conditions outlined on the signage due to another vehicle occupying their designated parking bay.

The rest would be the template as recommended by Coupon-mad. 

I am wondering whether we should state who the driver was, since if this were to reach a court hearing I imagine it would be difficult to continue withholding this information.

Marissoura17

Also, we received the SAR the day after request. They have taken images of the vehicle as well as an image of an empty bay that isn't ours (presumably to demonstrate what a 'marked bay' looks like?) One of the images of the signage was taken at night and is very blurry, the other is clearer which I have attached. Is there anything that can be said about this sign in addition to what I have mentioned in the defence?

Coupon-mad

I'd say the sign is vague because it says "should" not "must" (so there is no 'relevant obligation' as per the POFA 2012 Schedule 4) and the only prohibition is on parking on yellow/hatched lines, or paved or landscaped areas.

It was open to the Claimants to word their sign more clearly as an obligatory contractual instruction but they did not.  It was also open to them to simply mark all non-bay areas with yellow or hatched lines (if that's the landowner's intention) but they left some kerbs unmarked.

Therefore there is no breach; any terms about the unmarked areas are conspicuous by their absence.  Under the doctrine of contra proferentem now encompassed in the Consumer Rights Act 2015, it is reasonable to interpret that sign as allowing a resident to stop in unmarked areas, especially when they were confronted with another vehicle parked in their flat's allocated bay at night time.  The resident cannot just leave and there is no helpline or information on what to do in that foreseeable situation, which may even have been caused by the Claimant's ticketer deliberately or negligently blocking what they know is an allocated space (after all, they issued the PCN that night so were clearly lurking at the material time and when ticketers were seen on other occasions they never arrived on foot). The Claimant is put to strict proof of the ticketer's account.

The sign also does not state that drivers have to (or even should!) park 'ONLY' in a marked bay.  Many such signs do but this sign doesn't and it conveys, at best, an ambiguous message which 'must' (CRA 2015) be interpreted by the courts in the way that best favours the consumer. 

Add that to the defence.

I agree: admit to driving in 2 (the forum's Template Defence makes this clear about para 2, doesn't it?).

Is the site gated and only accessible to residents or visitors who gain access through a gate?

Marissoura17

Thank you so much for this.

The site is not gated- anyone can drive in. I have attached images from the SAR of where the vehicle was parked and the image taken of the 'marked bay' for further reference.

Coupon-mad

Looks like my suggested words work, then.