DCB Legal/G24Ltd court claim form

Pocha

Hi, I have been reading through all the helpful posts on this and just wanted to make sure that I am doing this right.

My claim letter is identical to the one received by @Squish2307 for overstaying my parking at Meadowhall Retail Park (see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6603686/dcbl-fine-now-received-courts-and-tribunals-letter#latest).

I have submitted an AOS and copied the 30 paragraph defence statement but before I sent it off I wanted to check whether the following information helps in any way and should be included at any stage?

1. I was with a young child and disabled Mum so overstayed by 17mins, shouldn't this been seen as grace period? Note; My Mum has sadly since passed so would not be able to offer a witness statement. 
2. I appealed when I first received the debt recovery letter (5 months after the incident), which was the first I knew about it as they has sent letters to my previous address. My local MP also wrote to them. They never replied. 
3. Parking in Meadowhall Retail Park is free.  

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated, I'm very nervous about the whole process but want to fight the unfairness of it. Many thanks!

Gr1pr

I suggest that you post your proposed paragraphs 2 & 3 below,  for critique,  just to be safe whilst you have time 

1) no, or unlikely,  consideration period is between entry and acceptance of the parking contract,  grace period is a minimum of 10 minutes at the end of a parking period,  where the period is calculated from entry, so stay silent on it

2) you cannot appeal once the 28 days deadline has passed,  especially not to a debt collector,  so not relevant,  sorry

3) it still has rules,  free or otherwise,  places like that set maximum times on site 

Nothing to see in your queries,  so stick to the template 

Car1980

Well, there is no *genuine* appeals process in any shape or form. It's an invoice, not a penalty. There are "resolution" services you can use, but they won't accept new cases after 28 days.

You can dispute an invoice any time you like. The other side is no obligation to reply, but since it's gone to court you can always add in a paragraph about how unreasonable they are and how they refused to provide any information before court.

But, they have no intention of going to a hearing anyway. They have no information about 6 years ago. G24 never did court even when they had all the signage and contracts to hand.

So might even be best saving it for trying to get costs after the inevitable discontinuance.

Pocha

Many thanks!

This is what I've written for 2 and 3

2. The facts in this defence come from the Defendant's own knowledge and honest belief.  Conversely, the Claimant sets out a cut-and-paste incoherent and sparse statement of case. The POC appear to be in breach of CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7, and fail to "state all facts necessary for the purpose of formulating a complete cause of action". The Defendant is unable, on the basis of the POC, to understand with certainty what case, allegation(s) and what heads of cost are being pursued, making it difficult to respond. However, the vehicle is recognised and it is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver.

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 12/1/2020".  Whilst the Defendant is the registered keeper, paragraphs 3 and 4 are denied. 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 £100 on private land) and there were no damages incurred whatsoever. The Claimant is put to strict proof of all of their allegations.

1505grandad

"My claim letter is identical to the one received by Squish2307 ...."

The PoC in the above thread states "contravention" but you have posted:-

"Paragraph 2 is denied. No PCN was "issued on 12/1/2020". 

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Coupon-mad

Obviously you can't have this line:

"No PCN was "issued on 12/1/2020"

Search the forum for:

authorised incoherent

and read other G24 results only.

Pocha

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

The issue date is 24 April 2025, and I filed the AOS on 2 May 2025

Pocha

1505grandad said:

"My claim letter is identical to the one received by Squish2307 ...."

The PoC in the above thread states "contravention" but you have posted:-

"Paragraph 2 is denied. No PCN was "issued on 12/1/2020". 

Ok, so that makes that sentence invalid is that right? What should I be saying instead there? Sorry if it's obvious!

Gr1pr

Remove the part after denied

Pocha

Ok, so I've taken on board your feedback and done some searching on similar cases and my 2nd and 3rd paragraphs now read like this, hopefully I've got it right this time!

2. The facts in this defence come from the Defendant's own knowledge and honest belief.  Conversely, the Claimant sets out a cut-and-paste incoherent and sparse statement of case. The POC appear to be in breach of CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7, and fail to "state all facts necessary for the purpose of formulating a complete cause of action". The Defendant is unable, on the basis of the POC, to understand with certainty what case, allegation(s) and what heads of cost are being pursued, making it difficult to respond. However, the vehicle is recognised and it is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver.

3.     Referring to the POC: paragraph 1 is denied. The Defendant is not indebted to the Claimant. Paragraph 2 is denied. The Defendant does not accept that a contravention occurred on 12/01/20, as alleged. Whilst the Defendant is the registered keeper, paragraphs 3 and 4 are denied. 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 Claimant is put to strict proof of all of their allegations.

 Given it takes at least 5-10 minutes to find a space at Meadowhall, which is a large and busy car park, and given the longstanding industry minimum ten minutes grace period, it is clear that no allowance was made as a 'consideration period' on arrival. The 'period of parking' would have been no more than 180 minutes and the charge is unenforceable because a lack of consideration period is patently unfair under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Note They're getting me on "Reason: Exceeding the max duration of stay permitted at" in a free 3 hour car park, I allegedly overstayed by 17mins. 

Many thanks