County court claim form by secure parking solutions ltd

smbx

On 30.05.24 I received a County court claim form by Secure parking solutions ltd, date of issue is 30.05.24. I have not sent acknowledgement of service yet.
Amount (£) claimed is 180.88, court fee 35, legal representative's costs of 50, total claimed is 265.88. Claimant is Secure Parking Solutions ltd.

The PCN was originated 2nd August 2023, at the Prince pub (239 Stafford St, Walsall WS2 8DF), which was and still is permanently closed. I never use such car park option but this time I did and had an issue with their RingGo system. I didn't think much of it and took the contact details. I phoned to no avail, and emailed them shortly after asking for option to pay knowing very well that they would have captured me on cctv. Secure parking solutions ltd then sent me the PCN for ''Minimum charge not paid/overstayed the maximum time paid''

I have read all the NEWBIE thread, respected deadlines, did all the suggested actions, appealed to POPLA.

I am not clear on what step to take next however.
I was thinking of intend to defend claim on ground that I cannot recall I was driving the vehicle and can they prove it was me driving it?

Looking forward to your input.

Coupon-mad

I was thinking of intend to defend claim on ground that I cannot recall I was driving the vehicle and can they prove it was me driving it?

Absolutely NOT if you've already been through POPLA and said something completely different!

Clearly you'll be using the Template Defence at the top of the forum and adding facts that match what you said to POPLA.

DCB Legal?

Please show us the POC, minus your VRM.

smbx

Thanks for this.

What is DCB and VRM (not in list of acronyms)?

Do you mean this template:

''Re PCN number:

I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. Since your PCN is a vague template, I require an explanation of the allegation and your evidence. You must include a close up actual photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date as well as your images of the vehicle.

If the allegation concerns a PDT machine, the data supplied in response to this appeal must include the record of payments made - showing partial VRNs - and an explanation of the reason for the PCN, because your Notice does not explain it.

If the allegation involves an alleged overstay of minutes, your evidence must include the actual grace period agreed by the landowner.''

But they have replied to all these (photos, detail of overstay, terms of use of car park, fees etc). I am not sure what I am supposed to add..

smbx

I thought I'd put all my evidence to POPLA. Running short of ideas now.

 

LDast

With an issue date of 30th May 2024, you have until Tuesday 18th June to file your Acknowledgement of Service (AoS). There is no reason to delay doing the AoS.

Carefully read the instructions in the Newbie/FAQ thread on how to file your AoS on the MCOL portal.

Once you have submitted your AoS, you then have until 4pm on Tuesday 2nd July to file your defence. Do NOT use the MCOL portal to submit your defence. You submit it as a PDF attachment to an email.

All the advice on how to do this are in the Newbies/FAQ thread so please follow those instructions.

What you have shown above is not a defence. That is only an initial appeal to the operator. You really must go back and re-read the Newbies/FAQ thread before you do anything else. The second post in that thread tajes you step by step through the process.

DCB is short for the Direct Collections Bailiffs band of scammers. DCB Legal is the firm of solicitors that will have filed the claim on behalf of the parking company. VRM is Vehicle Registration Mark or number plate.

smbx

POC poc poc

LDast

If the interest they've calculated is more than £5.98 then the statement of truth is anything but that. They are abusing the process by claiming interest on the original £100 charge from the 28th day after the issue date of the PCN to the date of filing the claim unless they've used the following calculation:

Due date of original £100 PCN was 31/08/2023 (28 days after the issue date of the NtK). The date of Issue of the claim is 30/05/2024 (they cannot calculate interest any later than the issue date of the claim). That's a total of 8 months and 30 days or 273 days or 0.7479 years.

£100 × 0.08 × 0.7479 ≈ £5.98

If their interest figure is greater than £5.98 then they have breached the following CPRs:

• CPR 1.1: The claimant's act of claiming an incorrect amount and signing a statement of truth undermines the fair and just resolution of the case, by breaching the overriding objective.
• CPR 16.2: The particulars of the claim must include the amount of money being claimed, and this amount must be accurate. Claiming an incorrect amount breaches this rule.
  
• CPR 22.4: If a party signs a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth, they may are committing a contempt of court.
  
• CPR 32.14: A person who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth is subject to proceedings for contempt of court.
  

This all amounts to an abuse of process. An abuse of process in the context of a claim when the court's procedures are used in a way that is unfair, oppressive, or improper. Claiming an incorrect amount and signing a statement of truth amounts to an abuse of process.

• CPR 3.4(2): The court may strike out a statement of case if it appears to the court:
  • That the statement of case discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the claim;
  • That the statement of case is an abuse of the court’s process or is otherwise likely to obstruct the just disposal of the proceedings;
  • That there has been a failure to comply with a rule, practice direction, or court order.

Claiming an incorrect amount should be seen as an abuse of process if it is done intentionally to mislead the court or the opposing party.

CPR Part 1 - The Overriding Objective

• CPR 1.1: The overriding objective is to enable the court to deal with cases justly and at proportionate cost. Abuse of process undermines this objective by preventing fair and efficient case resolution.

CPR Part 22 - Statements of Truth

• CPR 22.1 and 22.3: Submitting a document verified by a statement of truth that contains false information (e.g., an incorrect claim amount) can be considered an abuse of process.

CPR Part 44 - General Rules About Costs

• CPR 44.11: The court may disallow costs where it considers that a party or its legal representative has behaved unreasonably. Abusing the process by claiming incorrect amounts could be deemed unreasonable behavior, potentially leading to adverse cost orders.

This alone could lead to the following if argued properly:

The claim being struck out (CPR 3.4(2)).Adverse cost orders (CPR 44.11).Contempt of court proceedings (CPR 32.14)

Castle

There's a VRM showing on the POC.

Coupon-mad

smbx said:

Thanks for this.

What is DCB and VRM (not in list of acronyms)?

Do you mean this template:

''Re PCN number:

I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. Since your PCN is a vague template, I require an explanation of the allegation and your evidence. You must include a close up actual photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date as well as your images of the vehicle.

If the allegation concerns a PDT machine, the data supplied in response to this appeal must include the record of payments made - showing partial VRNs - and an explanation of the reason for the PCN, because your Notice does not explain it.

If the allegation involves an alleged overstay of minutes, your evidence must include the actual grace period agreed by the landowner.''

Absolutely not that. You are not at "appeal a PCN" stage. Please read the right part of the NEWBIES thread, not the first post re appeals.

Here's your POC, minus the VRM:



DCB Legal is (loosely, IMHO, because they are glorified debt chasers) a solicitor firm.  I was asking which solicitor firm filed the claim.

smbx

To Coupon-mad. You said: ''DCB Legal is (loosely, IMHO, because they are glorified debt chasers) a solicitor firm.  I was asking which solicitor firm filed the claim.''
I have (Removed by Forum Team) (claimant's legal rep) and DCB Legal Ltd, Direct house, Greenwood Drive, Runcorn.
Not sure if that is what you were asking. Where else can I find the 'solicitor firm that filed the claim'? is this not the right one?

Gr1pr

So

Parking company is Secure Parking Solutions ( First paragraph on the left of the claim form. )

Claim filed on their behalf by DCB Legal ( second paragraph on the left of the claim form. )

Issue date unknown , please tell us , the received date is largely irrelevant , which was 30/05/2024

The POC is ambiguous as usual