Parking Eye LBA

Ironman2005

Seeking help here.

My wife as the registered keeper has received a Letter Before Action as part of the usual run of letters from Parking Eye.

Basically 'the driver' overstayed at Oxford Services on the M40. The driver was actually meeting a work colleague and they had food and drinks etc. (no receipts available as far as I know) and the meeting ran on much longer than anticipated.

We have successfully ignored PCNs fro APCOA in the past following advice on this sire (thanks) but this has got my wife really worried. She is terrified of having a CCJ if she goes to court.

A couple of questions:-

I have been reading about appeals - when should this be done? Is it too late? How does the process work? What is the success rate? What things need to be included in any appeal?

If it goes to court, what happens there? What is the process? What are the chances of winning? What is the best defence?

Sorry to appear a bit of a numpty but I really have no idea of how to proceed at this point.

Help please.

Ironman2005

Sorry, one more thing...what is Practice Direction?

Thanks...I'd appreciate any guidance.

antrobus

Ironman2005 wrote: »

Sorry, one more thing...what is Practice Direction?....

A set of rules governing how civil cases should proceed.
http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules

nigelbb

Here is a more digestible explanation of Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct & what a LBA should contain (your one from PE will almost certainly be defective in many regards) & what your respnse should be

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4705657

Ironman2005

OK thanks very much.

My wife picked up the LBA this morning from the Post Office so I will compare it when she gets home.

I'll post again once I have compared.

Ironman2005

HELP!

My wife has shown me the letter and it is a Letter Before County Court Claim, not a LBA.

How do I proceed?

Coupon-mad

"Letter before County Court Claim" has 3 or 4 threads already this past fortnight; they are trying to scare people into just paying (but do not ignore this). Here's one of those recent threads with a nice outcome, relevant to your case and should fire you up to get yours cancelled too by complaining to the services:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=4736170

See the response I suggested to send to PE as well as complaining (Plan A or Plan B as a response to that LBCCC) but do change the wording as we don't recommend exact template repeats of letters like this, especially as you are trying to avoid a small claim at this late stage. Or use zzzLazyDaisy's response she suggested, which is also in my post on that thread (and she is a retired solicitor, after all, so her advice here is sound).

Search the forum for the acronym LBCCC to find other threads like that. Use the 'search this forum' heading on the right, just above the new threads on page one:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...play.php?f=163

Change the default search to 'show posts' and you will see all the threads I just found.

Do post a reply here on your thread with what you are thinking of putting in your response so that zzzLazyDaisy can check it and comment if she comes online again in the next day or two.

AND DO COMPLAIN TO WHOEVER CONTRACTED PE THERE. NO THINKING 'OH BUT WE DID OVERSTAY' ...SO WHAT?! DOESN'T DESERVE THIS AGGRESSIVE TREATMENT OF PAYING CUSTOMERS!

THE TOP 2 SUCCESSFUL COMPLAINTS HERE ON THE LINK BELOW ARE BOTH CASES WHERE THE PERSON GOT A LBCCC LETTER LIKE YOURS, ONE IS THE SAME LINK AS ABOVE BUT THEN 'GUERNICA' ALSO GOT THEIRS CANCELLED TODAY BY A HOTEL:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...php?p=62837690

HTH, COMPLAIN FIRST!!!!!!

Ironman2005

Thanks CouponMad,

I have two or three main problems here.

The letter is dated 21st August but wasn't delivered here as it required a signature so went to the local Post Office. My wife only picked it up yesterday so we have already lost over a week of the time to reply.

Also, there was no LBA just the LBCCC so I am not sure whether this is really the same as the link you gave me.

Worse than this is that I go abroad on business this weekend for 11 days and can't be here to support my wife. I get back on 12th and we go on holiday on 17th for 2 weeks.

I am really stuck and at this stage am inclined to just pay (although this goes against the grain).

Is there anything really quick that I can do to stop this going to court?

Got to go to work now but will check in later.

Thanks in advance.

Coupon-mad

Ironman2005 wrote: »

Thanks CouponMad,

I have two or three main problems here.

The letter is dated 21st August but wasn't delivered here as it required a signature so went to the local Post Office. My wife only picked it up yesterday so we have already lost over a week of the time to reply.

Also, there was no LBA just the LBCCC so I am not sure whether this is really the same as the link you gave me.

Worse than this is that I go abroad on business this weekend for 11 days and can't be here to support my wife. I get back on 12th and we go on holiday on 17th for 2 weeks.

I am really stuck and at this stage am inclined to just pay (although this goes against the grain).

Is there anything really quick that I can do to stop this going to court?

Got to go to work now but will check in later.

Thanks in advance.

Yes that thread is headed up LBCCC. So are all the threads you will see with a very quick forum search for that acronym, as I suggested. Just copy what others have done and respond strongly with questions and a debunking of their case and their LBCCC; use a version you find on one of the LBCCC threads you find when you do that search. Several people on their LBCCC threads have typed out what their response is, and zzzLazyDaisy (a retired solicitor) has helped them. So you really do only need to do a quick search.

And the bit I typed in capitals above, with the last link, is the quick way to stop it going to court. COMPLAIN AND GET IT CANCELLED BY THE RETAIL PARK/STORE MANAGER/HOTELIER OR WHOEVER, LIKE THE TWO OTHER LBCCC THREADS ON THAT LAST LINK!

zzzLazyDaisy

The LBCCC is the same thing as the old 'LBA'. It is just dressed up a little more carefully to make you 'think' it complies with the Practice Direction (it doesn't).

I have updated the original Guidance Thread here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4705657

The wording of the LBA/LBCCC has changed - what you need to do about it has not. Just follow the advice. It is in your interests to keep your letters personalised as much as possible, and off the forums. But if you need help, just come back here and post on your own thread.

Daisy

zzzLazyDaisy

Just a 'heads up' there is now a new guidance thread dealing with PE's Letter Before County Court Claim (LBCCC) which is just an old fashioned LBA by another name. The thread is still under construction, but does take you step by step as far as sending your first letter to them.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4754020

Daisy