DCB LEGAL DEFENCE

Nylamummy

Good evening, 

I am creating my defence - due on 25th June - for a parking ticket apparently issued in 2023, and been brought to Court by DCB Legal - I have sent off my AOS, and have used the template defence on the Newbies thread (thank you!). 

In short the ticket was issued due to over-staying free parking time of 45 mins at our local Spar/Post Office.  I assume on that day I took my mother, who has a blue badge and is disabled - as I only tend to use the car when taking her - most of the time I walk, as it is within a couple of miles of my home address. 

This is what i have written so far - does anyone have any suggestions on improvement?

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 11/04/2023, 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.

3.1 Due to the length of time, the Defendant has no recollection of the day in question. The Defendant has parked in this car park many times whilst shopping or using the Post Office at The Spar, Crewe – sometimes visiting several times a day – potentially, causing a “double dipping” scenario.

 3.2 The Defendant often transported her disabled mother to the location to use The Post Office or as a rendezvous point for her mother to be collected by her brother. The Defendant’s mother has a blue disability badge, which was always on show.

3.3 The Defendant was unaware of parking restrictions in place. The Defendant had not noticed any ‘Prominent’ signage close to where the vehicle was parked, showing the terms and conditions for use. The small signage was not suitable to alert a motorist, leading to an unawareness of any parking restrictions.

 Many thanks in advance xx

Coupon-mad

Show us the claim form with the usual 4 things redacted (as seen in every DCB claim thread) and state who the Claimant is please. It isn't DCB Legal.

Nylamummy

My apologies - it is a company called Smart Parking Limited with a company address in Runcorn. 

Nylamummy

I went back to the Spar/post office today and photographed the signage where we tend to park (as it is closer to the door than the 2 x disability bays which are often full. From my window, attached is what I saw. There is a dirty sign above the disability bays, but anyone with a disability would have to walk around 5m to see the terms and conditions sign. 

Also one of the terms and conditions sign (closer to where we parked was hidden behind a grey guttering pipe - as shown in photos. …. 

To the right of the cash point is a sign stating it is private land and on the other side of the drain pipe is the terms and conditions. 

Nylamummy

Potentially, would this be suitable to include?

Equality Act 2010 – Reasonable Adjustments

The Equality Act 2010 requires service providers, including private car park operators, to make reasonable adjustments for disabled individuals. This includes allowing additional time for disabled persons to safely enter and exit the premises.

Given my mother’s condition, the extra time taken was not due to negligence or disregard for parking rules but was a necessary and reasonable accommodation due to her disability. The parking company, by failing to consider or accommodate this, may be in breach of their duty under the Act.

Car1980

Smart Parking going by the orange logo. And the fact I can only tell going by the flash of orange says it all.

There are 18+ signs littering the front of the store, and the parking T&Cs "happen" to be the furthest away from the entrance and nowhere near any parking spaces.

I'd make some tweaks and avoid mentioning you're a frequent visitor too much. Makes it sound like you should have seen the signage. Remember the onus is on them to make their claim, so probably leave possibles such as double dipping for now.

If you're going to go into the Equality Act though, let's make it certain that you were with your mother. I'd save it for the witness statement though, along with the signage details as we don't know how long the overstay was. Bearing in mind that this has a 99% chance of discontinuance before then.


3.1 The Claimant's inadequate particulars merely say "overstayed free time". No mention of the time permitted or the amount of time "overstayed" is stated. The onus is on the Claimant to state their claim, not for the Defendant to have to guess, especially as this was over 2 years ago.

3.2 The Defendant will have transported her disabled mother to the location on that day and parked in a disabled bay, entirely as permitted. The Defendant’s mother has a blue disability badge, which would have been always on show.

3.3 The Defendant has since revisited the site and the signage is in no way prominent. It is mixed amongst 18 other items of signage in front of the store and located at the furthest point, as far away from the store entrance and indeed the parking bays as possible. In no way could such inadequate signage be sufficient to form a valid contract between the Claimant and Defendant.

Nylamummy

@Car1980 - thank you so so much 🙏

Nylamummy

Hello, I have completed my defence which is due tomorrow.

I have typed it into a word document with the help of the template on the “Newbies” thread.

I am going to email it to the court from my outlook email - do I also have to email a copy to DCB Legal (claimants representative?)

 Thank you 

Gr1pr

Save it as a pdf and email it to the claim.responses email address shown in the 12 steps in the defence template thread,  only there,  then check your inbox and spam folders for their auto email response,  from the CNBC in Northampton,  no court is involved yet

So a pdf, not a word docx document 

Nothing to dcb legal