UKPC Court Claim

cabbbbbiria

Hello,

Apologies if anything related to my post seems clueless or can be found in other threads, I'm suffering fatigue with a health condition and have barely any time to focus on daily tasks and am incredibly stressed out about this charge.

I have recieved a court claim from UKPC/DCB legal relating to a PCN issued to a driver a few years ago and I'm unsure how to proceed, I have submitted an Acknowledgment of Service as recommended here on the 29th April.

The PCN was originally sent to the vehicle keeper who contacted UKPC and told them that I was driving, I have made no contact with the company and cannot comment on whether this really was the case or not.

This claim was from a McDonalds car park on 11/12/2021. I have attached pictures of the earliest UKPC notice I can find but do not have any others, this one lists the date of incident as 11/12/21 and the parking charge date at 10/02/2022 apparently. (Though this may be due to the claim being sent to the registered keeper originally? I'm unsure).

The claim is for an overstay, the car park limit is 90 minutes. The vehicle is shown to have entered the car park and left exactly 100 minutes apart to the second (E.G. entered 18:01:05, exited 19:41:05)

I do not have pictures of the car park signage but could asksomeone go to take them if absolutely necessary though it's quite a journey.

Please help me figure this out, all help is appreciated.

Coupon-mad

In your para 2, admit to driving (where the Template Defence tells you to) because you were named as the driver, so don't muck about in this defence.  You don't need to!

In your paragraph 3 (using the Template Defence) deny the allegation of overstay because the BPA Code of Practice (CoP) sets a minimum ten minute grace period and it is apparent from the Notice that the minimum grace period was not allowed.  The Claimant is in breach of the BPA CoP and should never have obtained the keeper's data.  The keeper then named the Defendant as the driver but there was no reasonable cause to issue a PCN in the first place.

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

cabbbbbiria

Coupon-mad said:

In your para 2, admit to driving (where the Template Defence tells you to) because you were named as the driver, so don't muck about in this defence.  You don't need to!

In your paragraph 3 (using the Template Defence) deny the allegation of overstay because the BPA Code of Practice (CoP) sets a minimum ten minute grace period and it is apparent from the Notice that the minimum grace period was not allowed.  The Claimant is in breach of the BPA CoP and should never have obtained the keeper's data.  The keeper then named the Defendant as the driver but there was no reasonable cause to issue a PCN in the first place.

Thank you!! I will have a look at the template defence shortly

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

The issue date is 16 Apr

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 16th April, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 20th May 2024 to file your Defence.

That's over two 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'.

cabbbbbiria

Coupon-mad said:

In your para 2, admit to driving (where the Template Defence tells you to) because you were named as the driver, so don't muck about in this defence.  You don't need to!

In your paragraph 3 (using the Template Defence) deny the allegation of overstay because the BPA Code of Practice (CoP) sets a minimum ten minute grace period and it is apparent from the Notice that the minimum grace period was not allowed.  The Claimant is in breach of the BPA CoP and should never have obtained the keeper's data.  The keeper then named the Defendant as the driver but there was no reasonable cause to issue a PCN in the first place.

This is what I have edited, I have left the remainder of the claim form the same other than date, names, number and signature.

Is this okay or is further info required?

"The facts known to the Defendant:

2. The facts in this defence come from the Defendant's own knowledge and honest belief.  Conversely, the Claimant sets out a cut-and-paste incoherent and sparse statement of case. The POC appear to be in breach of CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7, and fail to "state all facts necessary for the purpose of formulating a complete cause of action". The Defendant is unable, on the basis of the POC, to understand with certainty what case, allegation(s) and what heads of cost are being pursued, making it difficult to respond. However, the vehicle is recognised and it is admitted that the Defendant was the driver.

3. The Defendant denies the Claimant’s allegation of overstay because the BPA Code of Practice (CoP) sets a minimum ten minute grace period and it is apparent from the Notice that the minimum grace period was not allowed.  The Claimant is in breach of the BPA CoP and should never have obtained the keeper's data.  The keeper then named the Defendant as the driver but there was no reasonable cause to issue a PCN in the first place."

Coupon-mad

Yes, if you remove the inverted commas and add the rest of the Template Defence with correct headers and signed/dated.

Bazarius

I’m not sure if this is already mentioned - the date of issue of the pcn is incorrect in the Claimant’s PoC .  It is fatal to their claim because the pcn doesn’t exist . 

Castle

Bazarius said:

I’m not sure if this is already mentioned - the date of issue of the pcn is incorrect in the Claimant’s PoC .  It is fatal to their claim because the pcn doesn’t exist . 

Unless it has been redacted in para 1 of the POC the date of the breach is missing.

Umkomaas

Keep working through all the phases, then find your case recorded in the following thread in a few months time. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations/p1

Coupon-mad

I think the time & date is likely in the redacted bit of point 1 but happy to be proved wrong.