DCB Legal (UKPC) court claim for not being parked marked bay

0vertheline · 19 November at 11:12PM

Good evening

Have found this forum incredibly helpful resource in particular the information in the NEWBIES thread.

I'm hoping to obtain some guidance on wording for para 3 for the defence of my case which has reach claim stage. I have completed AOS via MCOL and have until 30/11/25 to submit my defence (bit last minute i know but i've been deliberating whether to just pay up as this whole process has been quite stressful to date!).

My case relates to an allegation of being "not parked correctly within the markings of the bay or space" for which photo evidence was provided showing vehicle was partly over the line. The alleged offence took place on a retail park offering free parking for customers (for up to 2 hours) on a bank holiday 15 minutes before stores closed when car park was practically empty. Due care an attention to parking within the marked bay was clearly not taken!

My primary argument of defence throughout is that i did not receive NTK within 14 days of the offence as the first letter was not received. First receipt of any correspondence was the final reminder dated 22 days after the alleged offence occurred. Due to timing of receipt of the letter coinciding with me going on leave, i did not properly look into the matter until my return by which time the opportunity to appeal via the portal had closed.

As per guidance on the forum i attempted to appeal to the retailer (in person) without success as they simply referred me to UKPC; and the landowner (via email) without success (no reply) and so I wrote an email to the complaints department at UKPC on 09/06/25 after receiving letters from UKPC regarding notice of debt recovery. In my email I used standard template text from NEWBIES appeal guidance and added that "As the PCN did not arrive within the stipulate period of 14 days, as specified within the POFA 2014, you have failed to meet the strict deadlines to transfer liability to the keeper.".

In UKPC's response received 32 days later they stated that " Your name and address were obtained from the DVLA, as you are the registered keeper of the vehicle. The parking charge notice was sent to you on 29th April 2025 and a final reminder was sent to you on 13th May 2025. Please see attached PDF copies of these notices. After no payment or appeal was received from you, the parking charge was passed to debt recovery for further action.

Please note that an appeal can still be submitted within 14 days of the date of the final reminder."

BUT they failed to attach copies of notices!

They went on to state that "The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 states that if after 29 days, the Parking Charge has not been paid in full, and the operator does not know both the name and current address of the driver, that they have the right to recover any unpaid part of the Parking Charge from the Registered Keeper. ".

Their response also sought to address the included complaints about signage prominence and their right to access personal data. Essentially it looked like a templated response with my relevant dates added as it also contained some irrelevant text stating "UKPC does not accept your invoice or claim for expenses.".

They concluded by advising "Please be advised that the case is no longer with UKPC. We therefore would advise that you contact ZZPS with any queries moving forward on 01932 918916 or by emailing customerservices@zzps.co.uk".

This is not the full email, just some extracts that i thought relevant.

22 days later they sent another email (this time with attachments that suddenly included the missing letter dated 29/04/25) in which they stated "We have a lawful basis to continue to process your data/ keep your data on file, this being for contract and legitimate interest purposes data as the parking charge remains outstanding.

Please note we do not require your consent to process your data. Our lawful basis for processing personal data are as follows:

Contract – Processing is necessary for the performance of the parking contract to which the driver entered into when entering and remaining in the car park.
Legitimate Interests – Processing is required to protect and enable the pursuit of legitimate interests in ensuring the car park is effectively managed, obtaining sums due and promoting the safety and security of the car park and helping the prevention and detection of crime.

Your personal data has been collected in relation to a vehicle being parked in breach of the terms and conditions of that specific parking site, and we have collected your personal details in order for us to recover the amount due for this breach. The terms and conditions of parking on the private land are clearly displayed on the signage on site. The signage further states that we may request your details from the DVLA in the event that the PCN remains outstanding.

As we have refused to comply with your request, we are obligated to notify of the following:

The reasons why we have decided not to comply with all or some of your request (please refer to the above reasoning)
You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office; and
You have the ability to seek to enforce your right to erasure of the data through judicial remedy and processes"

This email contained other content addressing some of the points about signage and reiterating the point about the POFA stated in their previous email. This all looked like standard templated text.

I ignored letters received from ZZPS received in July as i had received no evidence of the first letter.
I then received a letter of claim from DCB legal and then the claim form at which point i revisited the site here and followed the guidance in post 2 in the NEWBIES thread.

In the claim form received, the particulars of the claim do state the date of the contravention in point 2 but they do not mention the date of the PCN issue (which i had seen specifically mentioned in another post), it simply states "the date of the contravention is 21/04/2025 and the D was issued with a PC by the claimant".
I'm unsure if most claim forms contain the PCN issue date or if the wording in mine is normal.

I am now drafting my defence for submission and struggling to word section 3. Is my defence that the original PCN was not issued in time valid and is it worth mentioning the UKPC failed to provide a copy of this initial PCN until an email dated 23/07/25 and failed to provide any evidence of its dispatch?
Are there any other valid points of defence to include?

Offering thanking in advance for any guidance anyone is able to provide and happy to share any other details that may be needed to help clarify the details of the case.