G24/DCB Legal claim form received

Peahead96

Hi,

I have today received a claim form from the courts on behalf of DCB Legal who are acting on behalf of G24 Limited. They're asking for £339.20 (previously wanted £170) to settle a PCN received in 2019. I've read through the forum and I'm struggling to locate a similar situation to the one I'm in, plus all the jargon and comments are really confusing me.
For context, I received a PCN notice in June 2019 for overstaying in a free gym car park - they give 2 hours for free. I must've completely forgot to enter in my car reg, although I cannot remember the exact reason given this was nearly 6 years ago. There is no option to pay for any extended time, only a way to extend by an hour which I clearly didn't do. I appealed it at the time as this car park is exclusively for the gym, is enormous, and was practically empty on the day so no cost/damages were incurred by anyone by my overstay. My appeal was obviously rejected, and I ignored a couple more letters.

Fast forward to now, I never received a single letter or communication from G24 for over 5 years, and then suddenly at the start of this year I receive a letter from DCBL chasing £170. Those letters have subsequently been ignored and resulted in a DCB Legal letter, which has now turned into a Claim Form sent by HM Courts & Tribunals.

I'm honestly at a loss as to what to do next, the whole situation is confusing me. Surely as no cost was incurred by any party, nor is there any means to pay for any extended time, this slightly correlates with the 5 minute stay ruling from not long ago? Does the fact I've received no correspondence for over 5 years help my case? I thought there was a 6 year cut-off for a PCN to be chased?
If anyone can please help me and walk me through this process as though I'm a child I would be eternally grateful. I want to defend my case, but I don't know how or even where to start.

TIA

Gr1pr

Forget the past fipor now, stick to dealing with the court claim in the present 

Not receiving paperwork is no defence,  it went somewhere,  which is normally the address listed for the Registered Keeper on the DVLA database,  usually because people move and dont update their details promptly 

Post the issue date from the top right of the claim form 

Post a redacted picture of the POC on the lower left of the claim form after hiding the VRM details first,  dont post the rest of the firm

Study recent G24 , DCB Legal claims on here within the last 2 months 

Study the advice given in the 5th and 2nd posts in the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum,  plus study the defence template thread in announcements too

Peahead96

Thanks for the response. Please see below with info redacted.

Coupon-mad

Welcome!  The Template Defence does walk you through it easily. Just what you're after. You only have to add one paragraph. Easy.

I must've completely forgot to enter in my car reg, although I cannot remember the exact reason given this was nearly 6 years ago. There is no option to pay for any extended time, only a way to extend by an hour which I clearly didn't do. 

Nope. And you are NOT saying that in defence. Why on earth are you assuming you were to blame? Far more likely that there was a failure/buffering of the tablet or there may have been a typo.

Either way, the extra hour was offered by the gym (not G24) and I bet the sign next to the keypad was headed up by the gym, not G24?

Can you get photos of the keypad and sign - the one in the premises (might only be an A4 piece of paper or could be a massive banner)? It will help you later. No photos go with a defence though, so prioritise the defence. VERY EASY STAGE.

Does the sentence in the POC Para 3 really say 'Unauthorised parking At...' (nothing more??

Peahead96 said:

Thanks for the response. Please see below with info redacted.

Gr1pr

Follow the advice in the newbies sticky thread about logging into your government gateway account and going to MCOL,  complete the AOS online according to the Dropbox link and then logout again,  no filling in anything else 

Peahead96

Coupon-mad said:

Welcome!  The Template Defence does walk you through it easily. Just what you're after. You only have to add one paragraph. Easy.

I must've completely forgot to enter in my car reg, although I cannot remember the exact reason given this was nearly 6 years ago. There is no option to pay for any extended time, only a way to extend by an hour which I clearly didn't do. 

Nope. And you are NOT saying that in defence. Why on earth are you assuming you were to blame? Fat more likely that there was a failure/buffering of the tablet or there may have been a typo.

Either way, the extra hour was offered by the gym (not G24) and I bet the sign next to the keypad was headed up by the gym, not G24?

Can you get photos of the keypad and sign - the one in the premises (might only be an A4 piece of paper or could be a massive banner)? It will help you later. No photos go with a defence though, so prioritise the defence. VERY EASY STAGE.

I've gone through the acknowledgement of the claim on the Money Claim website so it looks like all I need is to do my defence, I've seen the template of that now!

I would not admit I was to blame in the defence. The sign next to the keypad was put there by the gym and not G24.
I'm no longer at that gym, haven't been for years and I no longer live in the area - although I'm pretty certain I remember a massive banner as you walked into the gym which probably doesn't help my case. Would it even help my case to go and get a photo of the banner and keypad? Given this was almost 6 years ago, they might not be the same banner, same keypad, or both not even kept in the same place as back then. I worry I've not really got much of a leg to stand one.

One thing I did notice from looking at Google Maps - there is a small poster on a lamppost as you drive in which simply states AUTHORISED PARKING ONLY and then underneath in smaller letters it states "Charges apply". This is not a pay and display car park, it's a time-limited car park, there are no means to pay - so should the words "Charges apply" even be there at the entrance?

Peahead96

Coupon-mad said:

Does the sentence in the POC Para 3 really say 'Unauthorised parking At...' (nothing more??

Yes that's literally all it says there.

Peahead96

I have also just noticed that on Maps, there is absolutely no signage down one long side of this car park, meaning you would not be confronted with any signage if you parked on that side - we're talking 30-40 spaces. Not sure if that would help at all? @Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad

Peahead96 said:

I'm pretty certain I remember a massive banner as you walked into the gym which probably doesn't help my case. Would it even help my case to go and get a photo of the banner and keypad? 

I have also just noticed that on Maps, there is absolutely no signage down one long side of this car park, meaning you would not be confronted with any signage if you parked on that side - we're talking 30-40 spaces. Not sure if that would help at all? @Coupon-mad

Yep re no signs (if you can get photos at some point).

As does the banner if you can get pics (but you have months to gather evidence, as that doesn't go at this stage).

The point is the extra hour (and how to claim it) is offered by Sports Direct. That offer of value ISN'T in G24's name so they can't sue for breach unless it was very well drafted on their signs outside in the car park. It won't be.

We've also seen these banners before from Puregym. With the Gym's name at the top! Not a contract with G24 then...

Peahead96 said:

Coupon-mad said:

Does the sentence in the POC Para 3 really say 'Unauthorised parking At...' (nothing more??

Yes that's literally all it says there.

Great! That gets added to the standard shahib paragraph 3 you'll see linked in the Template Defence.

Peahead96

Coupon-mad said:

Peahead96 said:

I'm pretty certain I remember a massive banner as you walked into the gym which probably doesn't help my case. Would it even help my case to go and get a photo of the banner and keypad? 

I have also just noticed that on Maps, there is absolutely no signage down one long side of this car park, meaning you would not be confronted with any signage if you parked on that side - we're talking 30-40 spaces. Not sure if that would help at all? @Coupon-mad

Yep re no signs (if you can get photos at some point).

As does the banner if you can get pics (but you have months to gather evidence, as that doesn't go at this stage).

The point is the extra hour (and how to claim it) is offered by Sports Direct. That offer of value ISN'T in G24's name so they can't sue for breach unless it was very well drafted on their signs outside in the car park. It won't be.

We've also seen these banners before from Puregym. With the Gym's name at the top! Not a contract with G24 then...

Peahead96 said:

Coupon-mad said:

Does the sentence in the POC Para 3 really say 'Unauthorised parking At...' (nothing more??

Yes that's literally all it says there.

Great! That gets added to the standard shahib paragraph 3 you'll see linked in the Template Defence.

Thank you for this @Coupon-mad. I have drafted a defence using the template and have included the following in paragraph 3: 

3. Referring to the POC: paragraph 1 is denied. The Defendant is not indebted to the Claimant. Paragraph 2 is denied. No PCN was "issued on 13/06/2019" (the date of the alleged visit).  Whilst the Defendant is the registered keeper, paragraphs 3 and 4 are denied. Paragraph 3 states the reason as “Unauthorised Parking At” which is a grossly insufficient reason against the Defendant. The Defendant is not liable and has seen no evidence of a breach of prominent terms.  The quantum is hugely exaggerated (no PCN can be £170 on private land) and there were no damages incurred whatsoever. The car park in question is free to use with no possibility of payment – it is merely time-limited. The option to extend the time-period in which one can stay in this car park is offered by the business in question: Sports Direct Fitness (Aintree) and not by the Claimant. The Claimant is put to strict proof of all of their allegations.

Is there anything I should take out? Should I add anything about the "charges apply" or the lack of signage on one side of the car park?

Coupon-mad

Yeah that's enough (within the whole template defence and as long as you HAVE NOT copied shahib's para 2 ending!) but change:

No PCN was "issued on 13/06/2019" (the date of the alleged visit).

to:

There was no contravention of any term offered by the Claimant, whose signage in the car park was sparse and there were no terms, relevant obligation or risk of charge in their name at the keypad indoors, where the gym (not this Claimant) offered extra parking time to patrons.