HighView/DCBL parking county court claim form

[ron80]

Hi,

I've received the following letter from a county court in Northampton (Can't seem to upload attachments it says not authorised to make attachments) for a claim registered against me for unpaid parking dating back to August 2016.


Admittedly I did receive letters from DCBL previously which I ignored as they stated "This case is not subject to High court or bailiff action" and this seemed to be general advice on various forums. But the last letter that I received from them was a letter of claim from their legal team on 26th October and now the claim form from Northampton.

I've been reading through the Legal Beagles forum and have seen that I need to

1 ) Acknowledge and let the courts know I'll need 28 days to prepare my defence
2) Send out a CPR 31.14 Request
3) Send out a Subject Access Request Letter

What is not clear is who I should send them to and who to address them to? On the claim form it lists Highview as the claimant but then also lists DCBL as the address for sending documents and payments to.

Also in the CPR template there is this part

"To enable me to file my defence and/or counterclaim, I require inspection of documents you mention in your statement of case ahead of filing my defence onxx/xx/xxxx." What should I put as
my defence date?

Would appreciate some help on all this.


Thanks

[ostell]

SAR to Highview as they have the documents

CPR request to DCBL. You require the PCN and copies of the signs that allegedly created the contract.

Leave the date out.

Use an external hosting site such as imgur to upload your documents then put a link to the document on here.

Ack the claim on day 5 from the date of issue, or shortly after. This automatically ives you 33 days from the date of issue to get your defence to the court.

There is DCBL the debt collectors, who you ignore, and DCBL the solicitors who you don't ignore.

Post up the original PCN from Highview.

[echat11]

Hi RON80

2) Send out a CPR 31.14 Request - to the solicitors - DBCL

3) Send out a Subject Access Request Letter - to Highview - Parking Firm

Make sure you get Proof of Postage with everything you send / post.

ostell Can you please take a look and advise, many thanks.

[ostell]

echat11 Please read latest before you update

[echat11]

echat11 Please read latest before you update

Edited.

[ron80]

Thanks for the quick responses ostell and echat11

Here is the link of the county claim form (redacted). https://imgur.com/a/Itd1ZWg

Here is the link of the PCN that Highview sent me back in 2016 - https://imgur.com/7nUEkjO

[ostell]

What's the dates on the PCN?

They have failed to comply with the requirements of POFA

9 (2) (a) of period of parking
9 (2) (e) no invitation for the keeper to pay
9 (2) (f) no warning of keeper liability

The keeper cannot be held liable for the actions of the driver.

After such a long time the keeper cannot possibly remember who was driving on that uneventful day. The claimant is put to proof of the identity of the driver.

As the keeper the defendant cannot be held liable for more than the original PCN: £100. POFA 4 (5).

The additional charges are an abuse of process, as found in the case of Excel v Wilkinson a d are not recoverable.

The defendant objects to the amount of interest charged. This is caused by the claimant's unreasonable delay in bringing the claim

[ron80]

On the PCN the In date is 30/08/2016 and time 13:58 and the Out date is 30/08/2016 and time 15:24 with Duration of 01:26. There is also an image of the car entering and leaving which I had redacted because it showed my number plate. The location use to have barriers controlling entry and departure in years before 2016 but they had been removed and there was no longer any way to pay i.e. no machines.

So it seems like I will have some avenues for a defence? Should I wait for responses from the SAR and CPR before filing any defence?

[ostell]

You have photos of the car MOVING in front of cameras. PARKING is the car not moving

And the date the claim was issued?


You start writing your defence now, in readiness. I gave you some pointers on what should be included in your defence

[ron80]

The original contravention was on 30/08/2016. The letter of claim from DCBL legal department was sent on 26/10/ 2021 and now the Northampton claim form which had issue date of 06 Dec 2021.


ostell I really appreciate your help on this. Could you please direct me to any templates that are available for writing the defence and I will start including the points you've mentioned

[ostell]

What was the date the PCN was issued?

[ron80]

the PCN charge notice date was 08/09/2016

[ron80]

I got a reply back to my CPR request to DCBL


We note you have made a request for further evidence. The same has been requested from our Client and on receipt we will provide you with the same.

However, in any event, as there are active Court proceedings the Court will order both parties to disclose documents in which they intend to rely in due course.


Do I need to respond to this or just wait for them to supply the documents?

[ron80]

Hi ostell, could you please cast an eye on the defence listed below before I send it?


Parking defence


1) The Defendant received the claim xxxxxx from Northampton County Court on xxxxxx

2) Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this defence.

3) It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied.

4) Due to the length of time elapsed since the alleged parking contravention, the Defendant has no recollection of being the driver on the day in question or of the alleged parking contravention taking place, which are unremarkable.

5) It would not be reasonable to expect a registered keeper to be able to recall the potential driver(s) of the car some years later and in this particular instance, over five and a half years ago. In any case, there is no such obligation in law and this was confirmed in the POPLA Annual Report 2015 by parking expert barrister and Lead Adjudicator, Henry Greenslade, who also clarified the fact that registered keeper can only be held liable under the POFA Schedule 4 and not by presumption or any other legal argument


6) The Claimant has failed to comply with the strict ‘keeper liability’ requirements set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act (POFA) 2012 Schedule 4. As the Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle, these regulations (including Notice to Keeper stipulations) must be complied with in order to hold the registered keeper liable

7) The Claimant has failed to comply with the requirements of POFA

9 (2) (a) of period of parking
9 (2) (e) no invitation for the keeper to pay
9 (2) (f) no warning of keeper liability


8) As the keeper the defendant cannot be held liable for more than the original PCN: £100. POFA 4 (5).

9) The additional charges are an abuse of process, as found in the case of Excel v Wilkinson and are not recoverable.

10) The defendant objects to the amount of interest charged. This is caused by the claimant's unreasonable delay in bringing the claim

11) A request for evidence documents was sent to the Claimant under CPR 31.14 and a response received "The same has been requested from our Client and on receipt we will provide you with the same." The defendant believes it is unreasonable for the Claimant to bring court proceedings when they are awaiting evidence themselves.