Advice needed for DCB Legal - Letter of Claim

Castle

Have you checked with DVLA as too how many times your details were requested by MET?

Splendid_Lemon

I have not.

I suppose this would confirm if this is about the same PC I paid or a new one? 

Not sure it would matter at this stage would it? Either they didn't update the PC I paid or they didn't issue a PCN for the one they're claiming against me. Maybe ignorance is bliss? 

Gr1pr

Or they did issue and post one that you never saw  ?

If you do email a request to the DVLA,  giving a period to look between,  they will reply by post within 30 days 

Splendid_Lemon

Looking at the dates it would have been issued before the one I paid and I paid as soon as I received the PCN so if they did issue and post one it definitely never made it through my letter box.

If I contact the DVLA and they come back with 2 detail requests from MET then I worry it'll start to look like I knew about a second PC and ignored it.

How would knowing they'd looked me up twice help my defence. Unless I say I investigated further and can narrow down the error to a second PCN not being received. 

Coupon-mad

I don't think you should say any of that as your paragraph 3 because everything points to the paid one being a red herring.

Isn't your defence more about denying overstaying because gym goers get extended time?

Splendid_Lemon

Sorry I don't understand what you mean by the paid one being a red herring?

I have evidence of a payment having been made to MET and the process for paying involved going to their website, putting in the PCN reference and filling out my card details so it must have been genuine? 

Or perhaps I'm misunderstanding you?

I wasn't driving and don't have a membership to the gym (but the driver does) apparently theres a max of 4 hours. The ticket I paid was for an overstay of about 15mins if I recall but having never received any other PCN I wouldn't know what any other overstay is supposed to be. 

Gr1pr

Then that forms the basis of your defence 

Just deal with rebutting the POC,  as a non driving keeper,  no assumptions 

Coupon-mad

Splendid_Lemon said:

Sorry I don't understand what you mean by the paid one being a red herring?

I have evidence of a payment having been made to MET and the process for paying involved going to their website, putting in the PCN reference and filling out my card details so it must have been genuine? 

Or perhaps I'm misunderstanding you?

You have misunderstood me. I meant it is irrelevant to another PCN.

This is far better as your para 3 as long as you put it in the third person: 'the Defendant wasn't'

"I wasn't driving and don't have a membership to the gym (but the driver does) apparently theres a max of 4 hours. The ticket I paid was for an overstay of about 15mins if I recall but having never received any other PCN I wouldn't know what any other overstay is supposed to be."

Splendid_Lemon

Ah I see what you're saying.

The reason I believed it was relevant is that I genuinely believed I had paid and only since digging deeper has the possibility of a second ticket even come to light (which I still don't know for certain). So I assumed that the most authentic defence from me was "I either paid or didn't know". Which feels like their mistake rather than mine.

The 4th point in their POC "In the alternative the Defendant is pursued as the keeper pursuant to POFA 2012, Schedule 4." Makes it sound like they'll go after me even if I wasn't driving but i take it you're saying this is not true?


Thanks for your assistance so far and apologies if I'm misunderstanding or ask for clarification on certain points, the whole thing is incredibly confusing (deliberately so I suspect) but I'm aware you guys have done this enough to have some faith in what you say.

Coupon-mad

Makes it sound like they'll go after me even if I wasn't driving but i take it you're saying this is not true?

No. It is true...if MET used the right wording in the NTK you never saw!

But you seem to have missed that the Template Defence already covers the POFA 2012. You are asking about basics that the template already deals with.