Parking Eye Letter Before County Court Claim

da_rule

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da_rule

The only difference in the your LBC and the one in LazyDaisys post is they've expanded on the first point. It is still not compliant with the Civil Procedure Rules.

I would send the suggested letter but perhaps add the following as a first paragraph:

"The Letter Before County Court Claim (LBCCC) was issued on the same day as another letter from yourselves which provided me with a POPLA Reference Number. It is my intention to appeal to POPLA. Therefore as I have not exhausted all of my routes of appeal the LBCCC is premature to say the least. I would therefore request that you formally withdraw the threat of court action until the result of my POPLA appeal. If you do not then I contend that this would be a breach of the Civil Procedure Rules, most notably the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct. Paragraph 8 of this Practice Direction sets out that court proceedings should not be commenced whilst a settlement is still being actively explored. Also, should you commence court proceedings at this premature stage then it will show that you are unwilling to reduce your costs and loss by using mediation. I have also reported this matter to the BPA as you are threatening me with legal action whilst I am still within the time limit to appeal to POPLA."

Don't know what others think but I think that adding this will show them the absurdity of what they've done. It may have actually been a genuine clerical error, but this gives them the opportunity to cancel it.

spacey2012

The ignoring of written appeals appears to be a new tactic they are using, lucky you have proof of postage.

da_rule

spacey2012 wrote: »

The ignoring of written appeals appears to be a new tactic they are using, lucky you have proof of postage.

That's the odd thing about this post. The OP has had 2 letters, posted by ParkingEye on the same day, one being a LBCC and the other being an appeal rejection (with a POPLA code) relating to the same parking incident.

Stroma

Get your popla appeal in before you send a letter to parking eye, that way they can hardly issue a claim if you are in the process of the parking industry ADR. But obviously respond to the lbc robustly with the fact that you have already appealed to popla.

4consumerrights

Looks as if Parking Eye are scraping the barrel and sinking to new bottom depths here - I am sure that Parking Prankster would like to hear about this case........

Stroma wrote: »

Get your popla appeal in before you send a letter to parking eye, that way they can hardly issue a claim if you are in the process of the parking industry ADR. But obviously respond to the lbc robustly with the fact that you have already appealed to popla.

Whilst this is a good idea - do not lose sight of the fact that you only have 14 days to formally acknowledge the letter before county court claim - otherwise don't be surprised if court papers arrive.


Do check to see that the POPLA code they supplied in this instance is even valid

http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/popla-code-checker/

Suggest you do a POPLA appeal really quickly and post up here asap before submitting.

At the same time compose the response to the LBCC letter in readiness - pointing out that this parking charge is still in the appeals process and:

include a paragraph regarding their breach of the code of practice and KADOE contract with the BPA and DVLA respectfully and suggest that as a result of their adminstrative oversight and to save further embarrassment that they cancel this parking charge without delay. State that complaints are being forwarded to the BPA and DVLA regarding this.


Also do make a formal complaint to the BPA and DVLA and make complaints to the landowner/retailer - insist they cancel this charge.

bluecatman9

Thanks 4consumerrights. Have sent message to Prankster. Will post what he says. I hope this isn't forum "bad manners". Thank you to everyone. TBH I'm already fed up this is taking up so much time (mine and you guys) but I will not give in!

da_rule

If you want to post your POPLA appeal and any other letters your thinking of sending for comment then feel free.

bluecatman9

I will do that da_rule. May not be for a couple of days though. Thanks.

bluecatman9

Here is my proposed response to the LBCCC. It is a combination of lazydaisys letter and the suggestion from da_rule. Comments will be gratefully received.

My address

ParkingEye Ltd
Legal Department
40 Eaton Avenue
Buckshaw Village
Chorley PR7 7NA
Date
Dear Sir/Madam
PARKINGEYE LTD v XXXXXXXXXX – PROPOSED LEGAL PROCEEDINGS – YOUR REF: XXXXXX/XXXXXX
Thank you for your Letter Before County Court Claim (LBCCC) dated XXXXXXXXXX Firstly, the alleged debt is disputed and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

Secondly, your LBCCC was issued on the same day as another letter from yourselves which provided me with a POPLA Appeal Reference Number relating to the same alleged parking infringement. I consider this to be a deliberate attempt on the part of ParkingEye Ltd to cause confusion.

It is my intention to appeal to POPLA, so as I have not exhausted all of my routes of appeal the LBCCC is premature to say the least. I would therefore request that you formally withdraw the threat of court action until the result of my POPLA appeal. If you do not then I contend that this would be a breach of the Civil Procedure Rules, most notably the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct. Paragraph 8 of this Practice Direction sets out that court proceedings should not be commenced whilst a settlement is still being actively explored.

Should you commence court proceedings at this premature stage then it will show that you are unwilling to reduce your costs and loss by using mediation. I have reported this matter to the BPA as you are threatening me with legal action whilst I am still within the time limit to appeal to POPLA

Despite the statement that your letter is “fully compliant with the Practice Direction On Pre-Action Conduct” it is far from compliant and appears to be another attempt to confuse and mislead. Should you decide to not withdraw the threat of court action, please provide a LBCCC which complies with the requirements of Annex A Para 2 of the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct: I confirm that, upon receipt of your compliant LBCCC letter, I shall seek advice and submit a formal response within 30 days of receipt, as required by the Practice Direction.

Please ensure that this letter is read and understood and that your response takes the sensible route, in these circumstances, of withdrawing your threat of legal action in advance of a POPLA adjudication. Otherwise, you should provide the specific information relating to the county court claim that you intend to make against myself as the defendant to the proposed legal proceedings. Please DO NOT send a generic template letter in reply as to do so does not meet the requirements of the Practice Direction and will take this matter no further forward.

Please note, a refusal to comply with the Practice Direction will result in an immediate referral to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for breach of the Principles contained in the SRA Handbook version 8, published on 1st October 2013. I trust this will not be necessary, and look forward to receiving a fully compliant LBCCC in due course.

Yours faithfully