Migraine Attack at UKPC Ltd Lady Bay Retail Park in Nottingham

SherwoodSound

Hi all,

First of all, for my opening post here, I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed to this forum on their hard work in helping so many people through rather stressful and anxiety inducing situations. Situations created by parking firms that clearly abuse the legal system to scare many individuals into paying them an incredibly unfair fee for overstaying on premises that often do not have any means of paying for parking 'on-site'.

A few years ago, I parked in Lady Bay Retail Park in Nottingham to shop at their stores available. Not long after parking I was struck by a migraine with aura.

For those of you that don't know or understand what a real migraine is (some incorrectly use the term 'migraine' for a bad headache), aura symptoms usually begin by going partially blind with zig-zag patterns at the center of your vision. This is accompanied by numb hands, confusion, shaking, sensitivity to light and sound and nausea with or without vomiting. These symptoms can last up to 4 hours. During the later part of the aura period of the attack the headache will begin to set in, which can be moderate to intense and last for 6 to 10 hours but everyone is different and symptoms can change throughout life. The are mine. Most sufferers have after effects that last an additional 2 to 3 days. My most common is pain that can be felt in the head when bending over. Migraines are hereditary, I got mine from my mother, and can be considered a disability depending on severity, frequency and impact of the attacks.

Due to the symptoms listed above I could not drive out of the park within the 3 hours maximum stay and there was no means of paying via ticket machines as these are not installed.

Here is where I am at with UKPC Ltd...

• Received letters from UKPC's law firm DCB Legal Ltd (I kept forgetting to appeal. I'm a busy man!)
• Sent an email to DCB Legal Ltd stating my circumstances. They replied by letter confirming that my circumstances are valid grounds for appeal, asking for evidence to be emailed.
• Sent a photo of my (redacted) medical history, kindly provided by my registered NHS Surgery free of charge, clearly showing I was diagnosed with migraines since 2001. No reply was ever received after this.
• Received County Court Business Centre letter and replied online.
• Send my defence as requested by CCBC via MCOL. (Genuine ill health is stated in the Traffic Management Act 2004 as a legitimate mitigating circumstance for appeal.)
• Received an email from HM Courts & Tribunals Service of a mediation appointment, which I called back and cancelled because I don't recall agreeing to this or think it's appropriate under the circumstances.

Now, I know the persistent letters from DCB Legal Ltd are stressful and anxiety inducing enough but to be given NHS evidence of a genuine mitigating circumstance, that is clearly grounds for appeal as stated in the Traffic Management Act 2004, and then continue with the threat of a court action leads me to believe that UKPC, and DCB Legal Ltd, are abusing/misusing the legal system as a means to scare people into paying them to make a profit. This is after the UK government's new Code of Practice protecting drivers from parking firms doing this exact thing!

I am not here asking for help. I just wanted to update the community on my situation as it stands as of 24/10/2023. I work in the media industry and have friends in the BBC. Should this case actually go to court, we are looking into following it very closely as an ongoing news story with BBC Nottingham, with the aim to bring it to national attention with BBC News. This is the first time I have had dealings with a parking firm and I am absolutely disgusted by their abuse of the legal system to make a profit.

For me, it's not about the money. It's about creating a wider public awareness of the aggressive behaviour and abuse of UK court practices to scare people into paying parking firms an excessive amount of money out of fear.

Kind regards,
Martin

UncleThomasCobley

SherwoodSound said:

Received letters from UKPC's law firm DCB Legal Ltd (I kept forgetting to appeal. I'm a busy man!)

Welcome. You are in the middle of a scam. You can be sure that just because DCB have the word "Legal" in their name, they are nothing of the sort. They are a cabal of intellectually malnourished scammers. Their only raison d'être is to get as many gullible victims to pay for their owners multi-million pound lifestyle. They are utter vermin and only exist thanks to the equally despicable private parking companies who offer them a place at the pig-trough through their unregulated activities.

If you have had a read of the Newbies/FAQ thread, you will already see a couple of mistakes you have made, including filing your defence through the MCOL website. Had you bee fortunate enough to come here first, you would have seen the template defence which is 99.99% guaranteed to get these shysters off your back.

DCB Legal have a terrible track record. They rely almost exclusively on their victims not defending their inflated claims and getting judgment by default. We have a record on here of them discontinuing when the claim is defended robustly using the template defence. DCB LEGAL RECORD OF PRIVATE PARKING COURT CLAIM DISCONTINUATIONS

Also, there is a very recent appeal judgment that would have had this thrown out at allocation stage. Have a read of this because in the PoC of your claim they failed to comply with Civil Procedure Rule 16.4(1)(e) and Practice Direction Part 16.7.5. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xy54utt9djv55xitfp7lk/CEL-appeal-transcript.pdf?rlkey=304syf9czf5arl3i1u1ircjln&dl=0

SherwoodSound said:

Here is where I am at with UKPC Ltd...

• Received letters from UKPC's law firm DCB Legal Ltd (I kept forgetting to appeal. I'm a busy man!)
• Sent an email to DCB Legal Ltd stating my circumstances. They replied by letter confirming that my circumstances are valid grounds for appeal, asking for evidence to be emailed.
• Sent a photo of my (redacted) medical history, kindly provided by my registered NHS Surgery free of charge, clearly showing I was diagnosed with migraines since 2001. No reply was ever received after this.
• Received County Court Business Centre letter and replied online.
• Send my defence as requested by CCBC via MCOL. (Genuine ill health is stated in the Traffic Management Act 2004 as a legitimate mitigating circumstance for appeal.)
• Received an email from HM Courts & Tribunals Service of a mediation appointment, which I called back and cancelled because I don't recall agreeing to this or think it's appropriate under the circumstances.

Why did you send a letter to DCB Legal "stating" your circumstances? Was this a response to their LoC?

You then go on to state that "They replied by letter confirming that my circumstances are valid grounds for appeal, asking for evidence to be emailed.". Are you conflating two different entities here? Can you confirm that it was DCB Legal actually told you that you "have grounds for appeal"? That does not compute with our experience of the scammers. Do you mean that you tried to appeal to UKPC?

Sending a redacted photo of your medical history to DCB Legal is a big mistake. Also, regarding the Traffic Management Act 2004 is unlikely to make a difference to them. You are involved in a contractual issue of civil law. You received a speculative invoice from an unregulated private parking company for an alleged breach of contract.

Perhaps you could show us what you actually put in your defence on the MCOL so that you can get an appraisal.

Coupon-mad

You could have had this PCN cancelled by the retail park at any time.  You should have sent your evidence to them, not their ex-clamper money-grabbing agent.

I would send the managing agents named on the retail park's website (or on the entrance plinth on site)an email now setting out the planned BBC Nottingham piece and attaching your evidence that UKPC ignored, and politely as the retail park to step in and cancel this claim.

This is very late to try for the landowner cancellation which would gave seen it cancelled easily early on.   But if you word it well and mention the news programme I think they'll get UKPC to drop it like a hot potato.

The Traffic Management Act 2004 doesn't apply on private land.  Wish you'd come here earlier to use a stronger defence because mitigating circumstances is not necessarily going to convince a Judge unless your evidence about the Equality Act 2010 is put compellingly.

fisherjim

Stick this out, UKPC are using this new tactic to scare people by taking the threat of court up as far as possible in the process to scare people then discontinuing.

Using The Traffic Management Act 2004 as a 'yardstick' is fine but it won't wash in reality IMHO as you are dealing with contract law not the TMA.

SherwoodSound

Coupon-mad said:

Wish you'd come here earlier to use a stronger defence because mitigating circumstances is not necessarily going to convince a Judge unless your evidence about the Equality Act 2010 is put compellingly.

What stronger defence is there over the simple fact that I wasn't legally able to drive because I could not see or operate a car during a migraine attack?

SherwoodSound

UncleThomasCobley said:

If you have had a read of the Newbies/FAQ thread, you will already see a couple of mistakes you have made, including filing your defence through the MCOL website. Had you bee fortunate enough to come here first, you would have seen the template defence which is 99.99% guaranteed to get these shysters off your back.

Why did you send a letter to DCB Legal "stating" your circumstances? Was this a response to their LoC?

You then go on to state that "They replied by letter confirming that my circumstances are valid grounds for appeal, asking for evidence to be emailed.". Are you conflating two different entities here? Can you confirm that it was DCB Legal actually told you that you "have grounds for appeal"? That does not compute with our experience of the scammers. Do you mean that you tried to appeal to UKPC?

Sending a redacted photo of your medical history to DCB Legal is a big mistake. 

Perhaps you could show us what you actually put in your defence on the MCOL so that you can get an appraisal.

No. I'm not happy with the responses "if you came here first/had you read this or that/that was a mistake", etc. People who are going through this through no fault of their own should not have to trawl through a forum to do the correct things at the correct time using the correct wording when the whole system is unacceptable. Not everyone is as tech savvy as us and, as I've seen on other threads, finding things here isn't exactly easy or understandable for them. I had trouble finding the relevant information and I have years of experience with forums.

Incidentally, yes, I send DCB Legal notification of my circumstances, as anyone going into this with no knowledge of this forum would have done. I have attached their letter back where they identify me to be vulnerable, and while I may have jumped the gun saying "valid grounds" I do believe this is clear evidence that they acknowledge my ill health as a mitigating circumstance stated in the Parking Code of Practice and are ignoring it to try and make a profit.

Why on earth is sending the requested medical evidence a "big mistake"?

I imagine you guys deal with people going through this every day, but saying "you should have done this/that was a mistake" doesn't help anyone. Two responses in and I feel criticised for not knowing what you know. So please, try to respect and understand those that have no idea what exact things to to at exact times with exact wording and maybe help them in the moment they're in. It would really help people panic less.

fisherjim

".......stated in the Parking Code of Practice and are ignoring it to try and make a profit".

That was temporarily withdrawn in 2022, so they would ignore it and continue with their greed fuelled objective, you are dealing with nasty scammers unfortunately.

DCB have no authority in this whole process to consider appeals, they only want money, which they only get if you cave in.

The process is long winded and made complicated by the PPC's, Debt Collectors and BPA on purpose to wear you down, not the fault of this forum.

KeithP

This is what you need to do...

Coupon-mad said:

I would send the managing agents named on the retail park's website (or on the entrance plinth on site)an email now setting out the planned BBC Nottingham piece and attaching your evidence that UKPC ignored, and politely ask the retail park to step in and cancel this claim.

To help with that, here is a GSV image from the car park entrance...

[click on the image to go to GSV]

Umkomaas

KeithP said:

This is what you need to do...

Coupon-mad said:

I would send the managing agents named on the retail park's website (or on the entrance plinth on site)an email now setting out the planned BBC Nottingham piece and attaching your evidence that UKPC ignored, and politely ask the retail park to step in and cancel this claim.

To help with that, here is a GSV image from the car park entrance...

[click on the image to go to GSV]

JLL - Jones Lang LaSalle, who have been helpful in the past. No guarantees, but I'm sure they wouldn't be dismissive (as some MAs can be), especially given the possibility of adverse media coverage. 

Use everything at your disposal to get this killed off soonest. 

SherwoodSound

I just had a call with DCB Legal Ltd after they called me this morning. They AGAIN attempted to settle out of court (a payment from me) even though I cancelled the mediation appointment due to it being unsuitable.

Before you erupt and say that this was a mistake, I am not doing this for a win. We needed to record the call if we are to do an item with BBC Nottingham so we know what information they have for the case, why they are continuing with the case under the circumstances and make them aware the call is being recorded for our records.

After we asked our questions, informed them that I will not be paying and that we will be in touch with UKPC and JJL for comment, the agent had to put me on hold while he spoke to his manager. When he returned they said they will now review the case due to the situation. They actually seemed concerned!

Honestly, I'm hoping they continue this course of action so we can follow it, hopefully with live in-the-moment updates with BBC Nottingham should we have to go through the courts. I'm sure many people will be calling in with their stories in and around Nottingham and then perhaps a wider audience.

SherwoodSound

Shocking. 

Dear Martin,

WITHOUT PREJUDICE SAVE AS TO COSTS

We write further to your conversation with our telephone team earlier today.

Upon review, our Client is agreeable to discontinue their Claim on the basis that both parties bear their own costs.

If you are agreeable, please confirm the same within 7 days.

Should you not be agreeable, the Claim will be discontinued upon allocation.

Kind Regards,  

Morgan Falconer