Defending a Private PCN in County Court

bohomark

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of defending a PCN in Northampton County Court. I've never done this before, and after reading through a few other threads, I'd really appreciate some advice.

The PCN was issued in December 2020, by UK Parking Control Limited, and I am being pursued by DCB Legal. I was attending a course in Birmingham. The course was hosted by a company with a floor in an office block with a shared carpark. The carpark must have been managed by UK Parking Control Limited. At the time, they must have had a warden, who left a ticket on my car. I've been told that the carpark is now controlled by numberplate recognition cameras.

On the day of the PCN I was parked in a bay allocated to the company with which I was attending a course. I had permission to park there and a permit. To be honest I cannot remember where the permit was displayed, but I had probably put it on the dash, as I hate sticking things to my windows. It may seem deflective to say I can't remember where the permit was displayed, but It is almost three years ago and I am permanently on the road, with my work and park in similar carparks, across the country, on a daily basis.

When the DCB Legal got in touch, I explained all of the above, to which they responded that they had been in touch with their client and I had been parked illegally. They did not address any of my points but simply sent me a picture of my parked vehicle, as if I'd denied being there.

I have an email from the Global Head of Division at the company with which I was attending the course, confirming that I had permission to park there and that I had a permit.

Other than where on earth to start, I suppose my immediate questions are:

1. Is there anything that I need to be sure to include in my defence, that my not be immediately obvious to someone who has never done this before?
2. If the photo that they have of my car, does not show the permit, either because they have deliberately taken it from an angle from which it cannot be seen, or it is on the dash, not in the window, would this be in their favour? In other words, am I guilty until proven innocent, or is the burden on them to prove that there was no permit, as they assert?
3. Am I able to lodge a counter claim, for damages to my reputation and mental health after the bullying tactics, and threats to ruin my credit if I don't pay, despite the fact that I have explained the situation to them, on several occasions, including in writing, on their website?
4. If I do win, what costs can I claim?

Looking forward to getting some clarity, as the .gov website is totally unhelpful. 

Thanks,
M

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

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

Coupon-mad

Please answer Keith's question so we can give bespoke deadlines and signpost you to where to start.

You won't be paying anything and there won't be a hearing but you have to play the game!
 

Q - Is there anything that I need to be sure to include in my defence, that my not be immediately obvious to someone who has never done this before? 

A- Yes, as per the Template Defence sticky thread.  Tells you what to put.

And read any other DCBLegal / UKPC thread over the weekend (scroll down and read maybe half a dozen) and you'll soon spot that everyone is using the extra paragraphs by @Johny86 too.  Really easy!

Q - If the photo that they have of my car, does not show the permit, either because they have deliberately taken it from an angle from which it cannot be seen, or it is on the dash, not in the window, would this be in their favour? In other words, am I guilty until proven innocent, or is the burden on them to prove that there was no permit, as they assert?

A - The burden is absolutely on the Claimant and UKPC are disgraced ex-clampers who were banned twice in recent years by the DVLA, including for falsifying photo evidence:
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35253759.amp

Q - Am I able to lodge a counter claim, for damages to my reputation and mental health after the bullying tactics, and threats to ruin my credit if I don't pay, despite the fact that I have explained the situation to them, on several occasions, including in writing, on their website?

A- Counterclaims against these claims are generally weak (unsupported legally), not likely to win and we don't recommend it due to that, and because this will be discontinued anyway (no hearing) as long as you don't force it there with a counterclaim!


Q - If I do win, what costs can I claim?

A - Costs are already explained in NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST (its second post is all about court - some light reading for this weekend!).

bohomark

KeithP said:

Hello and welcome.

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

Hi,

Date of Issue 07 June. Date of Service 12 June. Deadline for the defence 10 July. If I've worked it all out correctly. 

bohomark

Coupon-mad said:

Please answer Keith's question so we can give bespoke deadlines and signpost you to where to start.
You won't be paying anything and there won't be a hearing but you have to play the game!
 

Q - Is there anything that I need to be sure to include in my defence, that my not be immediately obvious to someone who has never done this before? 

A- Yes, as per the Template Defence sticky thread.  Tells you what to put.

And read any other DCBLegal / UKPC thread over the weekend (scroll down and read maybe half a dozen) and you'll soon spot that everyone is using the extra paragraphs by @Johny86 too.  Really easy!

Q - If the photo that they have of my car, does not show the permit, either because they have deliberately taken it from an angle from which it cannot be seen, or it is on the dash, not in the window, would this be in their favour? In other words, am I guilty until proven innocent, or is the burden on them to prove that there was no permit, as they assert?

A - The burden is absolutely on the Claimant and UKPC are disgraced ex-clampers who were banned twice in recent years by the DVLA, including for falsifying photo evidence:

Q - Am I able to lodge a counter claim, for damages to my reputation and mental health after the bullying tactics, and threats to ruin my credit if I don't pay, despite the fact that I have explained the situation to them, on several occasions, including in writing, on their website?

A- Counterclaims against these claims are generally weak (unsupported legally), not likely to win and we don't recommend it due to that, and because this will be discontinued anyway (no hearing) as ling as you don't force it there with a counterclaim!


Q - If I do win, what costs can I claim?

A - Costs are already explained in NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST (its second post is all about court - some light reading for this weekend!).

Absolutely, fantastic advice. I will get all your recommended reading up to date over the weekend. Thanks again. 

KeithP

bohomark said:

KeithP said:

Hello and welcome.

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

Hi,

Date of Issue 07 June. Date of Service 12 June. Deadline for the defence 10 July. If I've worked it all out correctly. 

Yes, that's right, but only if you filed an Acknowledgment of Service sometime after 9th June and before 27th June.

Did you file an Acknowledgment of Service within that timescale?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

bohomark

Coupon-mad said:

Q - If I do win, what costs can I claim?

A - Costs are already explained in NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST (its second post is all about court - some light reading for this weekend!).

Apologies for being an annoying Newbie, but I'm very new to the forum. I've used the 'Search' function and tried to manually search for the NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST thread, but I'm not having much luck. Could you provide a link, or tell me where I should be looking.

Thanks.

bohomark

Found it. Thanks...

Coupon-mad

My signature (coloured writing below all my posts...) already tells everyone where the top link on the page is, and what It looks like!

The other hyperlink to hop you back to page one of the parking forum is staring at you in blue, right underneath the reply box...an inch below this...

Mouse007

bohomark said:

Looking forward to getting some clarity, as the .gov website is totally unhelpful. 

That line alone tells me you are not struggling to scale the left hand side of the bell curve, you have a functioning brain.

bohomark

KeithP said:

bohomark said:

KeithP said:

Hello and welcome.

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

Hi,

Date of Issue 07 June. Date of Service 12 June. Deadline for the defence 10 July. If I've worked it all out correctly. 

Yes, that's right, but only if you filed an Acknowledgment of Service sometime after 9th June and before 27th June.

Did you file an Acknowledgment of Service within that timescale?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Yes, I filled it out on 25th June.