Defense/witness statement advice for DCBL hearing in May

Mightymariner11

Hi there, I am new to the forum having only just found it, possibly too late. However, I am currently writing my defense statement for a court hearing in May (DCBL) which they have paid the court fee and therefore I assume they wish to pursue 2 x PCN’s totaling around £600, the circumstances appear abnormal to what I can find within the forum and any advice or angles of defense would be very much appreciated.

In 2020 I was working abroad in the middle east, (I have returned home now) after been stuck there for 9 months I came back to my house to find my ex-partner wanted to go separate ways, I was allowed no access to my house for any possessions including my vehicle documents ect so therefore unable to change the address on the V5 document and my ex-partner refused to give me my car back. 3 months later in August my vehicle had been caught on ANPR cameras using an Europarcs carpark for 10 minutes on 2 separate occasions. I had no access to the house and have never received the initial PCN’s. On one of these occurrences I wasn’t even in the country, this can be proven with flight bookings and stamps on my passport.

Over a year and a half after the PCN’s where issued I won a CCJ in the small claims court ruling against my ex partner that the vehicle was indeed my vehicle and that she was liable for the value of the car and any loan payments that I had paid towards it in the time that she had the vehicle. Which included the period that the PCN’s where originally issued. Therefore in my eyes proving to the court I wasn’t in control of the car.

Later that year I purchased a car and I assume that’s how DCBL was able to contact me demanding £450 they obviously have me as the registered keeper of the vehicle and have pursued me ever since. I am now at the point of writing my defense and while I feel it’s a completely ridiculous situation to be in and to be expected to pay any charges for, I’m unsure which avenue of defense to go down, I was thousands of miles away. If anyone is aware of any similar cases that would be of help here that would also be appreciated.

I have not named my ex partner as the person driving, however I have stated that she was in possession of the car against my will. I just don’t see what I could have done to not have been put in this position. It’s all been completely out of my hands. I'm just a little bit at a loss with it all at the moment.

Thanks in advance

MM11

Gr1pr

Too late for a defence statement,  you submitted that months ago to the CNBC in Northampton  !

You are at the Witness statement plus Exhibits bundle stage,  to be sent to your local civil court and to the lawyers  ( or claimant if no lawyers   ), sn not DCBL, debt collectors,  but to DCB Legal   ( lawyers   )

Name the parking company involved,  and the deadline for WS bundle submission,  usually a few weeks before the hearing 

Study the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum,  second post,  which gives you examples of other recent useful Witness Statements by other victims 

The only real method of holding you to liability is if the claimant complied with POFA 2012, if you were NOT the driver 

Coupon-mad

Show us the defence you put in, verbatim.

Mightymariner11

Coupon-mad said:

Show us the defence you put in, verbatim.

I will try to get it later as I'm currently at work but it in essence, was written as my post above, that i wasn't driving, had no access to the vehicle, stating the CCJ that proves I wasn't in controll of the vehicle at that time as well as stating about flight tickets proving I wasnt in the country either. It was written as what happened sequencially rather than a real defence as per the forum. Which i know realise may have been a mistake. I wish if found you earlier. It unfortunately didn't show up on searches from the middle east.

It stated that I never recieved the original PCNs.

With regards to POFA 2012 I've previously asked for copies of the original PCNs. They haven't ever gotten back to me with those. So it's hard to argue POFA 2012 when I haven't seen the documents.

Cheers

Car1980

Are you prepared to name you ex-partner, because it will be an uphill struggle otherwise.
The judge will be able to find out from your previous claim against her anyway.

Mightymariner11

Car1980 said:

Are you prepared to name you ex-partner, because it will be an uphill struggle otherwise.
The judge will be able to find out from your previous claim against her anyway.

Yeh im happy to name her, it should be her going through this not me. I just haven't said its her. I meen I can prove she had the car. I doubt i can prove she was the driver, even though it's glaringly obvious she would have been. The only reason I haven't said she was the driver is most advise out there says not to give names out. I realise this is a slightly different case in that way

Coupon-mad

But it's too late to name the ex-partner.

I think you could effectively argue in your WS that to all intents & purposes the vehicle was stolen from you. Prove that your car was 'taken without consent' (that's what the Police acronym TWOC means ... and it fits your case) and provide evidence as numbered exhibits (don't use the acronym 'CCJ' as it's confusing in this context).. 

And in the alternative, no Notice to Keeper was ever served so there's no keeper liability possible and you can prove you were abroad (append more exhibits) so you cannot have been the driver either.

Mightymariner11

Coupon-mad said:

But it's too late to name the ex-partner.

I think you could effectively argue in your WS that to all intents & purposes the vehicle was stolen from you. Prove that your car was 'taken without consent' (that's what the Police acronym TWOC means ... and it fits your case) and provide evidence as numbered exhibits (don't use the acronym 'CCJ' as it's confusing in this context).. 

And in the alternative, no Notice to Keeper was ever served so there's no keeper liability possible and you can prove you were abroad (append more exhibits) so you cannot have been the driver either.

So i did state the CCJ with the case number within my statement so as Carl1980 says I've effectively already named her without stating her actual name. 

And thank you for those two angles, they where in my defence so i could use those 2 arguments effectively.

Coupon-mad

Please do show us the defence though.

Mightymariner11

I cannot access my witness statement on the portal which is irritating! I have recieved the WS from DCB Legal. Could any one look at the original PCN and see whether it meets the POFA 2012. I'm not sure whether it does.

Gr1pr

I didn't see an invitation to the keeper to pay the NTK PCN,  timescales look ok to me as does the POFA warning

I assume that you mean Defence,  not Witness Statement,  on that portal   ( presumably you meant MCOL  portal  ?  Clarity is key here   )

If you have received their WS then yours must be due