Court Claim CP Plus & DCB Legal Ltd

cheme7676

Hi all,

I have received 2 court claim letters from Country Court Business Centre in Northampton.

The claims are for 2 separate cars (in my name) overstaying in the same car park in August and September 2022. 

Admittedly, I (wrongly) did not appeal or engage with CP Plus at any part of the process.

Having looked at the newbie thread, I know what is needed but just had some questions:

1. I want to send a SAR to CP Plus. However, they have no existing email address online that I can find. They have some info/business enquiry addresses but have stated that they will not analyse parking-related queries via these emails. I’m happy to send a signed for letter but just wondering if they’re simply not able to discard this as there’s no record of what the item I sent says, if that makes sense?

2. I understand that I also need to send another email to DCB with some points. But I after reading a few threads, should I also send them a CPR 31.14 request?

3. Lastly, shall I acknowledge the service right away? I still haven’t done this but I’m still within the 2 week reply window.

Thank you all in advance

Coupon-mad

Don't send a SAR, that ship sailed.  Unimportant.  You are not at LBC stage.

2. I understand that I also need to send another email to DCB with some points.

EEK - no you don't!  You are not at LBC stage and MUST DEFEND THE CLAIMS.

What's the DATE OF ISSUE of the claims?

KeithP

cheme7676 said:

1. I want to send a SAR to CP Plus. However, they have no existing email address online that I can find.

The email address of their Data Protection Officer is in the Privacy Policy on their website.

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

cheme7676

Hi both, thanks for answering.

In terms of SAR, I also (wrongly) binned all the documents they used to send me in the post, I was hoping I’d be able to recover this information this way. 

Date of Issue is 22nd June

KeithP

cheme7676 said:

Date of Issue is 22nd June

With a Claim Issue Date of 22nd June, you have until Tuesday 11th July to file an Acknowledgment of Service but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 25th July 2023 to file your 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 again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that 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'.

Coupon-mad

cheme7676 said:

Hi both, thanks for answering.

In terms of SAR, I also (wrongly) binned all the documents they used to send me in the post, I was hoping I’d be able to recover this information this way. 

Date of Issue is 22nd June

You don't need it.  Not yet. Stop!

Search the forum for CP Plus unremarkable day defence and also go adapt the one by @Johny86 for each case.

Umkomaas

But I after reading a few threads, should I also send them a CPR 31.14 request?

Doesn't apply to a claim via the small claims track.  Doesn't stop you trying, but don't expect a response.  You should get the details later in the process via their Witness Statement and evidence bundle.

Scope of this Part

31.1

(1) This Part sets out rules about the disclosure and inspection of documents.

(2) This Part applies to all claims except a claim on the small claims track.

cheme7676

Thank you all. I’m currently abroad but flying back tomorrow night. I’ll have the weekend off so I know how I’ll be spending it. 

Once I’ve acknowledged service and formulated a defence, I will check back in

cheme7676

Hi All,

So I have whipped up a first draft for my defence. I pretty much followed the template which @Coupon-mad updated in March 2022 (thank you for this).

Please find my following defence:

1. The parking charges referred to in this claim did not arise from any agreement of terms. The charge and the claim was an unexpected shock. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.  It is denied that any conduct by the driver was a breach of any prominent term and it is denied that this Claimant (understood to have a bare licence as managers) has standing to sue or form contracts in their own name. Liability is denied, whether or not the Claimant is claiming 'keeper liability', which is unclear from the Particulars.
 
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 visited Morfa Shopping Park on the 6th of August 2022, specifically to visit B&Q in preparation for the purchase of a new house requiring renovations. It should be noted that the defendant has frequently parked in this particular car park on previous occasions without encountering any issues. However, upon revisiting the car park at a later date after the alleged incident, the defendant purposely located a sign within the car park and noticed that signs and text were small and difficult to notice. The signage mentioned a time limit of 90 minutes during "Match Days" at the nearby Liberty Stadium but failed to provide clear instructions on how to determine whether it was a match day, particularly for individuals who have no interest in sports. During the defendant's visit to Morfa Shopping Park on the day of the incident, there were no conspicuous signs indicating that it was a match day. Furthermore, there were no other noticeable indicators, such as unusually heavy traffic, to suggest the occurrence of a match day.

Unfortunately I didn't actually buy anything that day as I was mainly looking at materials I'd need. So I don't have receipts.

Just for context, this car park doesn't have time restrictions ever except for "Match Days". Also, regarding the defence for the second vehicle, I would imagine it's similar except that I would deny being the driver in that instance (as I wasn't).

A final question, should I update paragraph 6 as follows (look at strikethrough):

6.  This Claimant continues to pursue a disproportionate fixed sum (routinely added per PCN) despite knowing that this is now likely to be confirmed as banned by the Government this year. 

As this was updated in 2022?

I have also used the entire defence from Paragraph 4 to the very end (paragraph 27).

Thank you all in advance

Umkomaas

So I have whipped up a first draft for my defence. I pretty much followed the template which @Coupon-mad updated in March 2022 (thank you for this).

Is this the one by @Johny86, which was not around in 2022?  It's this one we now recommend using in any DCB Legal claim, because their Particulars of Claim (PoC) shown on the County Court claim form are non-specific and template in nature.

cheme7676

I see, no the one I drafted was using the one here.

I believe this is the one you are referring to? In which case I can use that template instead after modifying Paragraph 2, 3 & 4.

In terms of Paragraph 4 though, it says to remove it if the driver is being admitted. Does this refer to admitting within Paragraph 2 of the defence? Or does it refer to admitting who the driver was to the Claimant prior to court claims? Because prior to the court claims, I did not reveal any information to CP Plus