Court Claim from DCB Legal - just double checking I'm doing everything correct

smartparkingapphater

I've received a court claim and am just filing my defence for the MCOL but wanted to check I'm doing everything correctly please. I have copied the 10 paragraph statement I found in the forum and am currently drafting paragraph 3 so some advice on my paragraph 3 would be greatly appreciated. Here are the details of my case:

Back in October 2020, (in between COVID-19 lockdowns) I overstayed the free 45 minutes at Angouleme Way Retail Park, Bury, by less than 15 minutes I think. I'm pretty sure the car park had only recently been taken over by Smart Parking and that you used to get a full hour previously. I didn't read all the info at the sign because lots of people were standing around trying to read it so I didn't want to be so close to that many people. I saw that it said smart parking so I downloaded the app. I was getting my hair cut and had an appointment but it overran so I tried to go onto the app and see if I had to pay for any extra time. On the app, it couldn't find the car park Angouleme Way so I couldn't pay for any extra time.

I then didn't receive the original letter(s) where they ask for the £40 (possibly because we were in full lockdown then). Instead I received a letter saying I had missed the deadline and had to pay an increased amount (£80 or even £170, I can't remember now). I tried to dispute this with Smart Parking and sent them screenshots of the problem I had with the app but they said since it was after the deadline I was too late and were very unhelpful with the whole thing. I then ignored a couple of follow up letters (as advised on this forum) and they then didn't get in touch with me for a few years.

I then received several letters from DCBL threatening to take me to court so I ignored those too and recently got a letter from HM Courts & Tribunals service.


I've filled in the MCOL to say that I am disputing the whole claim and am now drafting my defence. Please can someone read this that I will be putting into paragraph 3 to see if it sounds correct.

MY PARAGRAPH 3..........

3. Over 5 years ago now, in between the national lockdowns in 2020 I accidentally overstayed the free 45 minutes allowed. Before Smart Parking Ltd took over this car park it used to be 1 hour free. I didn't get chance to read the sign in full because lots of people were crowded around it and I didn't want to be that close to so many people, so I wasn't aware of the changed free time period. I downloaded the app and when I was delayed in the barbers, I tried to check on whether I needed to pay for any extra time in case I overran. In the app it wouldn't find the car park 'Angouleme Way retail park' so I couldn't do anything to pay for overstaying the 45 minutes. Further to this, I didn't receive the original letter asking for the £40 payment (possibly because we were in full lockdown then). I only received the letter saying I had missed the deadline and now had to pay the full amount (£80 I think). When I tried to speak to Smart Parking to resolve the matter they were very unhelpful and dismissive. I spent quite a long time trying to phone them and speak to them online without any joy so decided I wouldn't waste anymore of my time trying to resolve the matter.

Does this sound ok for paragraph 3? Any bits I should add or change? Any help would be very gratefully received, thanks.

smartparkingapphater

p.s. I think I overstayed the 45 minutes by 10 minutes or so, it was so long ago I can't remember and they haven't mentioned that in the recent letters.