Never, ever sign off a letter dealing with legalities or other business with "Best regards". You may as well sign it off with "Love and kisses". >:(Dear Sirs is my usual prefix. Thanks for the correction on the sign off, I should start adopting this standard.
Always address this type of correspondence with "Dear Sirs" and sign off with "Yours faithfully".
Back to the issue at hand... I have it on good authority from up on high after querying this:QuoteQ) Should the defendant write to DCB Legal and request that they file an N279 and serve it?
A) Nope. No need. Their letter is sufficient for the defendant.
N279 is not included.
I should probably send the below, or would you advice against it?
I am writing to request that you promptly file a Notice of Discontinuance (Form N279) with the court, as required under the Civil Procedure Rules.
Please ensure that a copy of the N279 Notice of Discontinuance is served on me no later than 7 days from the date of this email.
Should you fail to comply with this request within the specified timeframe, I will have no choice but to apply for a court order seeking a Default Judgement along with costs, including those associated with dealing with the current proceedings to date.
I trust that further court intervention will not be necessary and look forward to your prompt action in this matter.
Best regards.
Q) Should the defendant write to DCB Legal and request that they file an N279 and serve it?
A) Nope. No need. Their letter is sufficient for the defendant.
I thought the Claim is only allocated after the directions questionnaire.
Are claims considered as 'small claims' for the purpose of CPR 38.6(3) or otherwise if raised through MCOL?
Small Claims Track: Most claims under £10,000, excluding personal injury and housing disrepair.
Fast Track: Between £10,000 to £25,000
Multi Track: Claims for over £25,000, or for lesser money sums where the case involves complex points of law and/or evidence.
Check CPR 38.6(3):
“This rule does not apply to claims allocated to the small claims track.”
Unless the defendant can show unreasonable behaviour by the claimant or their solicitor, which is a fairly high bar to achieve.
38.6 Liability for costs.
(1) Unless the court orders otherwise, a claimant who discontinues1 is liable for the costs which a defendant against whom the claimant discontinues incurred on or before the date on which notice of discontinuance was served on the defendant.
1. Defendant's Defence and Claimant's Response:
The defendant has filed a defence, which means the case is now in a contested state.
The defence has been served on the claimant (or their solicitor) by the CNBC.
The claimants solicitor has sent a letter to the defendant stating they are "closing the file" and no further action will be taken by them.
2. Discontinuance of Claim:Discontinuance of a claim is a formal process under the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), specifically CPR Part 38.
To formally discontinue a claim, the claimant (or their solicitor) must file a Notice of Discontinuance (Form N279) with the court and serve a copy on the defendant.
The discontinuance takes effect when the notice is served on the defendant and there are implications for costs that may arise.
3. Implications of Not Filing a Notice of Discontinuance:If the claimant does not file an N279 Notice of Discontinuance, the claim remains active.
Simply stating in a letter that they are "closing the file" does not legally discontinue the claim.
The court may still consider the claim as ongoing unless a formal discontinuance notice is filed.
4. Acknowledging the Defence:The claimant is expected to respond to the defence. If they intend to withdraw or discontinue the claim, filing an N279 is the correct procedure.
If the claimant takes no further action after the defence is filed, the court may issue directions or strike out the claim due to inactivity.
In summary, the letter from DCB Legal stating they are "closing the file" is not equivalent to a formal discontinuance of the claim. The claimant must file and serve a Notice of Discontinuance (Form N279) to properly discontinue the claim. Until that is done, the claim remains active, and procedural consequences could follow if the claimant does not take the appropriate formal steps.
Did they ever notify you that they have received the defence and intend to continue? Did they not include a copy of the N279 Notice of Discontinuation? You must make sure that they provide you with a copy of that notice.
It seems that they took one look at that defence and the draft order and have run away with their fail between their legs.
Well done.
THE NEXT 6 STEPS:
1. Send your signed & dated pdf as an email attachment to ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk but you MUST get an acknowledgement email straight back or it is NOT submitted.
2. Just put the claim number (check it very carefully) and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'URGENT - CLAIM XXXXXXXX - Defence attached.
IMPORTANT - MAKE SURE YOU GET AN EMAIL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BACK FROM THE CNBC! After filing your Defence, there is more to do.
3. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire and the usual intimidating template letter saying they 'intend to proceed'. Nothing of interest there. Just file it. YOU MAY HAVE TO WAIT TWO MONTHS OR SO FOR THE NEXT STEP TO HAPPEN:
4. Wait for your own Directions Questionnaire from the CNBC and then complete it. Early telephone Mediation is now compulsory for any claims issued after 22nd May 2024.
5. Except in cases where you have filed a counterclaim (which are allocated to your local court quicker and the CNBC is no longer involved) the completed DQ should be returned by email to the CNBC to this address: DQ.CNBC@justice.gov.uk. Cc a copy of your completed DQ to the Claimant (or their solicitor if they are using one). Their postal address is on your Claim Form but you can find an email for them by searching. DO NOT USE RECORDED (OR SPECIAL) DELIVERY FOR ANYTHING TO A PARKING FIRM OR THEIR SOLICITOR. DO NOT EXPECT ROGUE FIRMS TO SIGN FOR YOUR LETTERS. IF THEY DON'T, ALL YOU HAVE IS PROOF OF NON-DELIVERY, WHICH IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU NEED! USE THE FREE PROOF OF POSTING CERTIFICATE FROM ANY POST OFFICE.
6. Will you have to attend a hearing? MAYBE yes - but often these claims are struck out or the PPC discontinues (very common with DCB Legal!). Will that hearing be at Northampton? NO! That's just a central starting point for claims. If you are an individual, you get to choose your local court. You do NOT want your case 'heard on the papers' (absolutely no). You want a hearing. You can claim your costs if you win, the hearing might never happen and you risk nothing (no CCJ, no huge costs) by defending, because if you were among the handful who report a loss you'd have 30 days to pay and it would be less than on the claim form (£185 - £212 total).
Just send the defence as advised. Make sure you use the correct email address and also send it to yourself. Make sure you get the auto-response from the CNBC.Agree. Thank you for your insights, I will draft one tonight and share it.
The sooner you do, the sooner this will be over. No point waiting for the SAR as they have up to 30 days to respond and may not achieve that. There will be nothing in the SAR that is going to assist you.
I am not sure there is a restriction on requesting registered keeper details twiceYou may not be sure, I am.
OP, if UKPC or DCB Legal hold an old address for you, you are at high risk of a CCJ by default instead of an easy win. Your very first action is to send a data rectification notice to the DPOs of both firms ordering them to rectify your data with your current address for service and for them to erase your old address.
Claim form was not sent to the correct address for the vehicle available with the DVLA on or around the date the claim form was issuedAs they are not permitted to access the DVLA database a second time (and the car could have been sold since obviously), this is incorrect. It was served at your last known address they could find, this is why any counterclaim is doomed to failure IMO, doubly so if the parking event was some time after you moved and it was your failure to update the address that caused them to use your old address.
However, the Claim form was served by DCBL through post to the incorrect (previous address)
A SAR is not really wanted at this stage, for obvious reasons, although it may be a bit late in this case.I think one can still make the salient points - the PoC either comply with the Civil Procedure Rules or they do not. If a defendant has been forced to submit a Subject Access Request to understand the nature of the case against him, that hardly suggests that the PoC contain sufficient detail (although it of course may undermine the claim that they are 'unable' to properly respond to them).
“Bearing in mind the contents of the defence I would strongly suggest that the judge makes the attached order in support of which I also attach transcripts of two cases which support the proposition that the judge should make the order I suggest”.
Have you spoken to said management who granted this permission and told them that UKPC are suing you? At a guess, what has happened here is someone from the management has not added your car's reg onto whatever 'whitelist' they have - UKPC being none the wiser have therefore issued a PCN, and upon receiving no response, escalated to court.It is possible that this is the case. However, in the absence of the General Manager for the property not coming back to me in time I was hoping to submit facts in my Defence and share the evidence I have of historical permission granted.
We can't offer any guarantees (past conduct not always being a reliable indicator of future conduct), but the good news is that if UKPC continue as they have been doing, if you defend the matter, you can expect them to discontinue without this progressing to a hearing. If you haven't already, acknowledge service online using the MCOL system. There is no immediate rush to submit a defence so for now just acknowledge service and leave the defence box blank.
Here is a pdf of the order:This URL is not working anymore. Could you or @b789 kindly help with a new link?
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zgyll28jotx8hx7xv9ln6/short-defence-order-copy.pdf?rlkey=fa6lj4510zf0xk3d8klcmqcnl&st=61n54qfi&dl=0
Only edit the defence with your name, the claimants name (UK Parking Control Ltd) and the claim number. Do not edit the order. The allocating judge will put the date in. Attach that as is.
You can simply type your name for the signature so no need to actually print it.
Here is a Word version of the defence:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7syvvf4oyzhhf8ivpm8l5/Short-defence.docx?rlkey=nt6872tcq0pru7t4y9ofef1x1&st=dp7w77hu&dl=0
Here is a pdf of the order:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zgyll28jotx8hx7xv9ln6/short-defence-order-copy.pdf?rlkey=fa6lj4510zf0xk3d8klcmqcnl&st=61n54qfi&dl=0
You mention that the driver parked in a disabled bay, and in some fashion had written authorisation to park, but the actual claim is that the driver overstayed. How do these three facts relate to each other?
Any real defence is going to have more substance than what you propose.
For now, acknowledge service, leave the defence box blank, and work up a proper defence draft with help from the forum.