Claim Form Received

Coupon-mad

A reply delays it.

Guy_Incognito2025

Hi all, 

As an update, I responded to DCB's last email and explained that i never received a PCN, so had no idea on the circumstances for the letter of claim.

They responded and attached the original PCN sent to our previous address (so we now have the details we would have gained from an SAR) and set a new 30 day deadline for payment, stating that a claim form would be issued following this.

Should I now just sit tight and wait for the claim form to be issued?

Coupon-mad

Yes.      

Car1980

Impressive you got a reply. DCB Legal blank me 

Guy_Incognito2025

Hi all, latest update:

I have now received the claim form, with an issue date of 31st July.

I will complete the acknowledgement of service via MCOL after the 5th August and my defence before the 2nd September.

Have i understood the timeline correctly?

Having now received the original PCN that was sent to the wrong address, I have gone back through my calendar to try and understand my movements on the day. I have come to the conclusion that my partner was driving when the parking charge occured, so should i mention this within my defence?

Gr1pr

Yes, state that you are the Registered Keeper but not the driver,  paragraph 2 can be easily adapted at the end 

Guy_Incognito2025

Thanks. Also, hypothetically, if the mediation call were to be scheduled at a time when i was abroad, could it be rescheduled, or is it set in stone?
Is a mediation call typically scheduled a specific amount of time after the claim form is issued?

Coupon-mad

But why would it be when you are away?

They don't just pluck 'any date' out of thin air ... and Mediation doesn't matter anyway.

But you get to state your unavailable dates on your DQ as part of the steps shown in the Template Defence thread.

I have now received the claim form.

Please change your thread title and also remove the overused phrase 'next steps'.

Guy_Incognito2025

Hi all,

The personal section (paragraph 3) of my defence is below, please let me know what you think and if anything needs changing in the rest of the standard defence so there are no contradictions.(Eg. Should I delete the bit in paragraph 2 about having little recollection of events?)

"The first correspondence I received in relation to this was a threatening letter, dated XX January 2025, from DCB Ltd demanding £170. I never received a PCN or any other letters prior to this. I have since tried to retrace my whereabouts two years prior on XX February 2023 - the date of the alleged 'offence' - and can confirm that, although I am the vehicle's registered keeper, I was not the driver on that day. The car park used to belong to a Wickes and Halfords, and the parking terms allowed one hour free parking for customers. My partner, who has access to my vehicle, recalls parking in the car park to go to Wickes, only to find that the store had just closed down. Not realising new parking terms had been implemented, he left the car briefly to see if he could buy what he needed from the high street around the corner. According to the PCN which DCB finally sent me over email on XX May 2025, my partner drove into and out of the car park within the short period of 12 minutes 28 seconds. When new parking terms were put into place following the closures of Wickes and Halfords, they still allowed free parking for 10 minutes. This would mean my partner only overstayed the free period by a little over 2 minutes, which would surely be covered by a grace period. (NB - The terms have since changed, and there is no longer a free period, but there was at the time.)"

Thanks.

Gr1pr

Defences are not written in the first person   ( witness statements are  )  , so no I, etc

Just the defendant,  or the driver,  etc

Far too much detail,  save it for your WS bundle in several months time 

Stick to rebutting the POC 

Is it G24 via DCB Legal   ?