Court claim from DCB legal for parking in a disabled bay without displaying a disable badge in Hayes

dk007

Hello Experts,

I have received court claim from DCB legal dated 7th Nov 2024 (Claimant: UK  Parking Control ltd) for parking in a disabled parking bay without displaying a valid disabled badge in Uxbridge Retail Park , Hayes.  This is for 2 PCNs received. I went to pick up some stuff from Screwfix and they were heavy items and there was no other parking, it was for about 5-10 minutes, I did not know that could be a problem. I spoke to Screwfix staff to get them cancelled but they said , they can not help as it is a joint parking with other retailers.

I will be filing an AoS with Moneyclaim today but before doing that, I wanted to check couple of things with the experts here. Do i stand a chance to defend this being a disabled parking bay? 
The court claim has been sent to a different address that also belongs to me. This is not where I stay at the moment and updated at DVLA. Do I need to ask them to send it at the correct address or just file an AoS at the moment?

Please advise. Let me know if you want me to upload the court documents.

Thanks

Nellymoser

Yes you must inform all parties involved of your current address.
NEWBIES THREAD (4TH POST) THE DEBT COLLECTORS' STAGE Changed address? 

Email a Data Rectification Notice to Data Protection Officer (DPO) INSTRUCT them to ERASE your old address and replace it with your current address for service. (find DPO email in privacy policy on their website). 

Gr1pr

Being in a disabled bay without qualifying under the Equality Act 2010 is no defence to a charge of using a disabled bay because its convenient, so that aspect shouldn't be a feature in your actual paragraph 3 ( or possibly paragraph 5. ) in your defence draft 

Updating your current address to all parties is essential, CNBC, DCB Legal and UKPC too, a data rectification notice to each DPO department 

Definitely do your AOS online today, no waiting around or leaving it

Screwfix are or were tenants, your complaint should have been sent to the retail park management company and the landowner at the time, giving them your reasons for breaching the parking rules. They and their subsequent contractors have a legal duty to keep those marked bays clear for the use of people with protected characteristics ( like me for example. )

I am not being judgemental, but outlining what the law expected of those who provide the bays, so you understand 

KeithP

dk007 said:

I have received court claim from DCB legal dated 7th Nov 2024...

I am going to assume that says you have received a Claim Form with an Issue Date of 7th Nov 2024.

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th November, you have until Tuesday 26th 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 Tuesday 10th December 2024 to file a 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 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'.

dk007

Thank you all for the replies and advice. I have filed an AoS now, will email for change of address and will start working on defence now. Do I use same template defence for my case or it needs a different defence being a disabled bay?

Gr1pr

The template defence should suffice as your defence to the claim 

Its paragraph 3 that you might find difficult 

Fruitcake

I don't condone the misuse of accessible bays. However, UKPC signs are usually inadequate and incapable of forming a contract. You should therefore take photos of the site and signage to demonstrate this inadequacy. I would suggest that if a motorist were to stand a car/bay length from one of the signs, they would not be able to read the charge for breaching the parking terms.