Help with Defence for Parking Charge Notice - Beckett Street Leeds

Godfather02

Hi guys, really helpful forum info so thanks for being here! 

I'm taking this on on behalf of my wife and are at the stage where we have a claim form (issue date of 2nd Sept, therefore date of service 7th Sept) and have acknowledged being served via MCOL site (done 17th Sept) and am forming a defence (to be submitted by 5th October) which we'll do via e-mails as per your advice. 

I've attached the Claim Form to i) to make sure I've got dates above mapped out correctly and ii) for you to see the PoC.

 
We are acknowledging that my wife is the registered keeper and driver and below is the only part of the defence that isn't from your template example. 

I would appreciate any general advice on the contents but would like to specifically ask about "Grace Periods" and " Vicissitude". Because there is no reference to specific timings in the PoC, I don't want to bring either up unnecessarily but am concerned if I don't make mention of either/both here that I can't use either defence if applicable later on. 

***********************

Paragraph 3.
The defendant did not receive a windscreen PCN and does not recall receiving any postal PCN’s or NTK’s. 

The defendants first knowledge of any PCN was through a formal Letter of Claim sent by DCB Legal Ltd on behalf of the Claimant dated 25th May 2024, stating £160 was due on a PCN issued on 24/10/2023. The letter stated that action needed to be taken within 30 days. 

26 days after the first Letter of Claim, a second Letter of Claim was received from DCB Legal Ltd on behalf of the Claimant dated 20th June 2024, stating that £320.00 was now due. A second PCN with issue date 04/10/2023 (an earlier date) had been added.

The defendant responded to DCB Legal Ltd via e-mail on 11th July 2024 confirming they believed no breaches had occurred and on all occasions a ticket had been purchased.

DCB Legal Ltd responded on the 17th July 2024 via e-mail acknowledging the defendants comments advising on all occasions the car park was used by the defendant parking was paid for and requesting evidence of this so they could review and action their files accordingly.

The defendant was unable to provide any given i) the length of time past since the alleged parking dates ii) they always paid in cash so had no credit/debit card statements to review iii) they did not keep the used tickets.

The defendant did utilise the claimants car park on numerous occasions from 11th September 2023 when the defendants mother was rushed into St James’ Hospital, Leeds (opposite the claimants car park) with a life threatening bowel condition.

The defendants mother was in St James’ Hospital for a total of 4 months and 5 days (coming out 19th January 2024) recovering from a bowel resection and ileostomy, spending time in intensive care, with considerable complications throughout her stay, requiring high levels of support from the defendant who was her next of kin and the only person in the family living locally to her.
 

The defendants mothers siblings being in Nottingham and France and her other daughter being in Southampton. The defendants mother and father are divorced and not on speaking terms.

***********************

Thank you in advance for any advice and guidance.

Coupon-mad

Easier to just save that full story for WS stage next year.

The defence para 3 could just state why the D was there and that they used the car park regularly during those months and always paid to park. It is denied that there was any breach and the Claimant is put to strict proof.

Gr1pr

As above, save the stories for the WS bundle next year 

Grace periods or consideration periods are never in the POC, you will find them in the appropriate CoP where they have always been ( BPA or IPC CoP. )

Castle

There's a Password still showing on the claim form.

KeithP

Godfather02 said:

...we have a claim form (issue date of 2nd Sept, therefore date of service 7th Sept) and have acknowledged being served via MCOL site (done 17th Sept) and am forming a defence (to be submitted by 5th October) which we'll do via e-mails as per your advice. 

A defence filing deadline will never be on a Saturday or Sunday, so you have a couple more days than you think.

With a Claim Issue Date of 2nd September, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 7th October 2024 to file a Defence.

That's just a week 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'.

Just a reminder that everything must be done it the name of the named Defendant, i.e. your wife.

Can I also point out that the poor masking of detail on that image you have shown us allows anyone to see your wife's full name and address and her MCOL password. You might want to hit the Report button below your post and ask that the MSE Forum Team remove that image from your post.

Coupon-mad

Castle said:

There's a Password still showing on the claim form.

Redacted version here:

Le_Kirk

A grace period is defined in the PPCs code of practice but generally it is the period after the parking period has expired and the vehicle passing through the ANPR camera on the way out, whereas a consideration period is the time allowed to consider the terms and conditions of parking and decide whether to stay or not.  A vicissitude is something like a flat battery, punctured tyre or any other similar occurrence.

Godfather02

Have reported the image and asked for it to be removed. Thanks again to coupon-mad for the properly redacted version and for all other guidance. Really helps.