Euro Car Parks & DCB Legal 'Letter Of Claim'

DoctorWho215

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your partner's Claim Form?

29th October

KeithP

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your partner's Claim Form?

DoctorWho215 said:

29th October

With a Claim Issue Date of 29th October, you have until Monday 18th November 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 2nd December 2024 to file a Defence.

That's four 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'.

Although I have used the words 'you' and 'your', everything must be done in the name of the named Defendant.

Coupon-mad

However, my partner is worried about this affecting her credit rating and receiving a CCJ.

She doesn't want to go through the stress and ordeal of having to defend herself at a hearing and the stress of a CCJ. 

But neither of those things happen from following our advice and defending a court claim filed by DCB Legal for a single PCN.

No CCJ.

No hearing.

Defending is soooo easy that it is in fact even easier than a POPLA appeal.  No risk.

DoctorWho215

Thanks for all the help! The Acknowledgment of Service has been confirmed and I'm going to get started on the defence tomorrow and get that done asap!

DoctorWho215

Am I correct in thinking I just need to edit paragraph 2&3 in the defence template?`

Here are the Particulars of Claim in the claim form and my first draft of paragraph 2&3 of my defence. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Particulars of Claim:

1. The Defendant (D) Is indebted to the Claimant (C) for a Parking Charge(s) issued to vehicle at Carlton Street Car Park Castleford.

2. The PCN(s) were issued on 22/07/2020

3. The defendant is pursued as the driver of the vehicle for breach of the terms on the signs (the contract). Reason:NO Valid Pay And Display/permit Was Purchased

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 £.04 until judgment or sooner payment.

3. Costs and court fees

Defence paragraphs 2&3:

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 registered keeper and driver.

3. The Defendant recalls that the vehicle was parked in the car park in question, though the specific reason for parking on that date cannot be fully recalled due to the passage of time. However, the Defendant does recall experiencing technical difficulties with the ticket machine, which delayed the purchase of a valid ticket. Despite these issues with a faulty and unintuitive machine, the Defendant was ultimately able to buy a valid Pay And Display/permit, which remains in the Defendant's possession as evidence of payment. Bank records also confirm this transaction. The Defendant therefore asserts that a valid ticket was purchased, fulfilling any obligation to pay for parking on that occasion.

DoctorWho215

Also forgot to ask the pay & display ticket we have saved all this time and bank record of purchase, does this need adding into the defence? 

Gr1pr

No, no exhibits are submitted with the defence, save the Exhibits for the Witness statement stage next year 

Coupon-mad

That defence looks fine.  You could add:

3.1.  The Defendant paid for their parking. The Claimant is put to strict proof that the vehicle significantly 'overstayed'. More likely is that the Claimant failed to allow a suitable consideration period on arrival, given this was a site requiring use of a faulty/slow pay and display machine.  All this takes time on arrival at a site and is not part of the 'parking period'. A reasonable period of minutes on arrival and also added upon leaving do not count and would fall within grace periods, especially in a car park where after finding a space, one must first read tariff boards, find coins (or download an app) and take time to pay.  Even more time is needed, when the machine doesn't work.

3.2.  The British Parking Association ('BPA'), the Court of Appeal and the relevant Government Department (now renamed the MHCLG) all agree with this point:

3.2.1.  In an official, published BPA news article by Kelvin Reynolds, BPA Director of Corporate Affairs, he states that there is a difference between 'grace' periods and 'observation' periods in parking and that good practice allows for this:
“An observation period is the time when an enforcement officer should be able to determine what the motorist intends to do once in the car park. Our guidance specifically says that there must be sufficient time for the motorist to park their car, observe the signs, decide whether they want to comply with the operator’s conditions and either drive away or pay for a ticket. No time limit is specified. This is because it might take one person 5 minutes, but another person 10 minutes depending on various factors, not limited to disability.”
https://www.britishparking.co.uk/News/good-car-parking-practice-includes-grace-periods

3.2.2.  In the Court of Appeal case of National Car Parks Limited vs The Commissioner for HMRC (2019) A3/2017/2435 Lord Justice Newey states that ‘the precise figure was settled when the customer inserted her pound coin and 50p piece into the machine and then elected to press the green button rather than cancelling the transaction. The best analysis would seem to be that the contract was brought into being when the green button was pressed.’

3.2.3.  This (consumer fairness) position is also reflected by the planned statutory regime which will flow from statute law already enacted, and which the new Government is now set to finalise in the coming months. Under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, the Secretary of State 'must' lay a statutory Code of Practice before Parliament and provide for a regulated regime of scrutiny to overcome the wholesale 'market failure' of the consumer-harming private parking industry. The draft statutory Code of Practice includes clauses that were not objected to by the parking industry's 2022 Judicial Review 'blocking tactics'. In the definitions, the DLUHC (now MHCLG) state at 2.24: - parking period:  the length of time that a vehicle has been parked, i.e. left stationary otherwise than in the course of driving, after any relevant consideration period has expired ... This is not the period between a vehicle being recorded as entering and departing controlled land."  

DoctorWho215

Update & outcome! On the mediation call we settled for £20. My partner was happy to pay that to the avoid the stress of court. Personally I’d have taken it all the way and paid nothing.

But I might have chance as this past weekend I’ve had a parking fine from a local sports club that has very unclear signage. I had parking included in a padel game I’d booked but apparently had to sign it in! So back to square one fighting another bogus PCN! They are truly scum of the earth.

Coupon-mad

Indeed they are. 

Well done on the £20, that is actually a WIN because it cost them £35 to file the claim.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!