C P Plus DCB Legal court claim

azukaorin

Hello. I firstly want to thank everyone on this forum in advance for their time and guidance.

I've received a Court "Claim Form" from DCB Legal for allegedly overstaying at a service station back in August 2022. I will soon be submitting my service acknowledgement using the MCOL guide in the forum, and drafting my defense using the template (both very helpful resources. THANK YOU ).

As someone who has never tackled this before, I mostly would like some feedback and sanity-checking before I go ahead, in case there's anything I've missed/overlooked.

I first learned of the issue in July 2023 when I received a Notice of Debt Recovery from their bailiff division. Admittedly, I had failed to update my vehicle registered address (was not in a good way at the time and simply forgot), and so can only assume PCNs went to old address.

Here is a timeline of events thus far:

August 2022: Alleged "offence" occurred
August/September 2022: PCNs supposedly sent to old address
July 2023: Notice of Debt Recovery received from DCBL bailiffs
August 2023: Rang DCBL (I've since learned this isn't advised. I asked what it was all about and admitted I'd not changed my address. I was careful to not admit liability. I stated I had no recollection of the alleged offence, stated my license plate could've been forged, and asked for evidence/PCNs. They refused and demanded payment, unsurprisingly. I refused and ended the call)
August 2023: I submitted a Subject Access Request to claimant (service station) for copies of PCNs
September 2023: Received copies of PCNs, dated 18-08-22 / 05-09-22 / 22-09-22 respectively.
September 2023: Sent a 'Cease Action' letter via mail to claimant (I stated they had failed to transfer liability to me as keeper in accordance with PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 in their PCNs/correspondences and I was under no legal obligation to share details of driver, and requested they call-off bailiffs)
December 2023: Letter Of Claim received from DCB Legal
December 2023: Replied via their online response form and via mail (to both DCB Legal & claimant) restating my position (I did NOT give any of my financial details to those blood suckers)
January 2024: Email received from DCB Legal in response to above letter (they stated that "their client does not comply with the PoFA 2012" and therefore my "points bear no relevance in this matter". They also stated "On the balance of probability, if you were not the Driver of the vehicle on the contravention date you would have nominated the Driver. As you have failed to do this you are presumed to be the Driver and therefore liable for the outstanding balance." and continued to demand payment).
January 2024: I responded to ask clarification of their nonsense and restated my position. They replied with nothing helpful and, again, demanded payment.
March 2024 (now): Court Claim received


Thank you. I'm keen to hear if there's anything I should be aware of before going ahead, from what I've described above. I'm also very happy to share any more details, if needed

Castle

Please post a copy of the POC here, (redacted as necessary).

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Have you filed an Acknowledgment of Service?
If so, upon what date did you do so?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

azukaorin

Thanks to both of you for you responses.

PoC:
1. The Defendant (D) is indebted to the Claimant (C) for a Parking Charge(s) issued to vehicle XXXXXX at MOTO Heston West.
2. The PCN(s) were issued on 18/08/2022
3. The defendant is pursued as the driver of the vehicle in breach of the terms on the signs (the contract). Reason:Remained On Site In Excess Of The Free 2 Hour Period Without Paying For Parking
4. In the alternative the defendant is pursued as the keeper pursuant to POFA 2012, Schedule 4
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
1. £170 being the total of the PCN(s) and damages.
2. Interest at a rate of 8^ per annum pursuant to s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 from the date hereof at a daily rate of £.02 until judgement or sooner payment.
3. Costs and court fees

Amount claimed: £191.44
Court fee: £35.00
Legal representative's costs: £50.00
Total amount: £276.44

The issue date for the Claim Form is 06 Mar 2024
I've not yet filed the acknowledgement of service, but will do shortly. I understand I have until 25/03 very latest to get this done.

KeithP

azukaorin said:

The issue date for the Claim Form is 06 Mar 2024
I've not yet filed the acknowledgement of service, but will do shortly. I understand I have until 25/03 very latest to get this done.

With a Claim Issue Date of 6th March, you have until Monday 25th March 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 Monday 8th April 2024 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'.

1505grandad

"August 2023: I submitted a Subject Access Request to claimant (service station) for copies of PCNs"

Who is the claimant?

Coupon-mad

Wow, they KNOW this isn't true:

"4. In the alternative the defendant is pursued as the keeper pursuant to POFA 2012, Schedule 4."

azukaorin

Very sorry for the delay responding to everyone's comments!

@KeithP thank you for kindly breaking things down for me. I've got reminders set for all key dates and will make sure I meet them. I'll start work on my defense right away using the guidance in this forum. I'll post my first draft here before I email it off. Feedback form all would be most appreciated!

@1505grandad the claimant is a company called CP Plus Ltd and I guess they control the parking for that service station. However, in the context of my SAR for copies of the PCNs- it was submitted to their parent company.

@Coupon-mad I know! It's bonkers, right?! I have it in black and white in an email from them, stating that CP Plus doesn't comply with it. If that can't be shown to a judge as proof of their absolute nonsense, then I don't know what can!

azukaorin

Update: I have just submitted my AoS via MCOL site - 18/03

Le_Kirk

azukaorin said:

Very sorry for the delay responding to everyone's comments!

@KeithP thank you for kindly breaking things down for me. I've got (1) reminders set for all key dates and will make sure I meet them. I'll start work on my defense (2) defence right away using the guidance in this forum. I'll (3) post my first draft here before I email it off. Feedback form from all would be most appreciated!

(1) Good idea! (2) Note correct spelling of defence. (3) When you do, just please post ONLY the paragraphs that you amend or add; we don't need to check the whole template!

azukaorin

Hello, all. I've been working on my defence, but I'm going in circles with my thinking and possibly over-thinking what I should or shouldn't say that might harm my case. I'm hoping someone might be kind enough to nudge me in the right direction?

My primary defence is that the claimant failed to ever transfer liability to me as keeper, as per POFA. The only time they have specified this is within the POC. Before this, nothing. The PCNs simply said:

Having checked the vehicle details with the DVLA, we are writing to you because either you were the registered keeper at the time of parking, or the registered keeper has named you as the driver at the date and time of the event [...] The driver of this vehicle is required to pay this parking charge in full within the time frame stipulated above. As we do not know the driver's name or current postal address, if you were not the driver at the time, you should provide us with the name and current postal address of the driver and pass this Charge to them".

Now, I never received them due to having failed to change my address. When I did, I wrote to them and said:

I note that the Parking Charge Notice of 18/08/22, addressed to me as the registered keeper, only requests the driver of the vehicle to pay the alleged outstanding charge. You have not invoked the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 to transfer liability to me as the registered keeper; nor does your notice give invitation to the keeper in the format prescribed by 9 (2) (e) of the same Act. As the registered keeper of the vehicle, I am under no legal obligation to either pass the notice to the driver, or to name them, and shall not be doing so.

As I explained before- they ignored me, and DCB Legal stated in an email that the claimant doesn't comply with POFA.

I was completely unaware of any alleged overstay. It was my error to not change my address, otherwise I would've found out about it a lot sooner. However, it was so long ago- I've no idea about it. Now, I'm unsure of how to structure my wording in my defence in terms of "driver" or "keeper"?

On a secondary note, WRT signage- I can see that there is one via Google maps upon entering the carpark, and very small ones dotted throughout (MOTO Heston West, if anyone fancied having a browse). However, the so-called image of the parking sign within their PCN is just a digital creation which in no way reflects the true presentation of the sign.

Apologies if this is a little rambly. Any advice is massively appreciated!