At LBCCC stage (I think) - please advise!

fairleee

Hi all,

I received a PCN from UKCPS back in February, for parking in a private car park on a Saturday afternoon because I'd had to pull over to deal with a sick child. The car park, as far as I can tell, is a permit only one (no ticket machine), used by local businesses for parking. However, as it was a weekend afternoon, it was virtually empty.

I wrote a letter disputing the PCN on the basis that I was attending to an emergency (I know that mitigating circumstances aren't usually considered, but nevertheless), and arguing that given that the car park was empty, their demand failed to represent a genuine estimate of loss, but never received a response. I then received a letter from them claiming that the appeals period had expired, and a form to either name the driver, or make a payment. I then wrote a second letter, including a copy of my first, which again set out my argument for why I was not paying.

I have now received two letters; firstly, a response claiming that they aren't considering the appeal as the appeal was not received within the stipulated time (I did send the letter but unfortunately did not get proof of postage/delivery so have no way to prove this), and secondly, a LBCC ("We are writing to inform you that this is the final notice before court proceedings are instigated"), with a demand for £125. However, there is no bumf about Practice Direction or any other legal stuff, so I assume that this letter is non-compliant?

As a result, I think that the next stage for me is to send a standard letter like this:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your letter of [insert date].

First, the alleged debt is disputed and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

Secondly, your letter is woefully non-compliant with the Practice Direction and appears to be a deliberate attempt to mislead the recipient.

Please therefore provide a Letter Before Claim which complies with the requirements of Annex A Para 2 of the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct:


I confirm that I shall then seek advice and submit a formal Response within 30 days of receipt, as required by the Practice Direction.

Please ensure that someone does actually read and respond to this letter, providing the specific information relating to the county court claim that your client intends to make against myself as the defendant to the proposed legal proceedings. Please DO NOT send a generic FAQ 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 letter before claim in due course.

Yours faithfully


Does that look right? Advice gratefully received!

neil.net

How was the PCN issued, a window ticket or via the post? Did you receive a formal Notice to Keeper (NTK)?

fairleee

neil.net wrote: »

How was the PCN issued, a window ticket or via the post? Did you receive a formal Notice to Keeper (NTK)?

It was a window ticket; I believe I received the NTK but unfortunately I cannot find it; I think it may have inadvertently got thrown out which is really annoying. From what I recall, I received the NTK when they told me that I had missed the appeals date.

bod1467

You were in the car attending to a sick child and they affixed a ticket to your windscreen while you were there? Really?

If so, tell them to do one and you'll see them in court. And that you'll also raise this with the press - "Private Parking Company Persecutes Parent Attending To A Sick Child!".

fairleee

bod1467 wrote: »

You were in the car attending to a sick child and they affixed a ticket to your windscreen while you were there? Really?

If so, tell them to do one and you'll see them in court. And that you'll also raise this with the press - "Private Parking Company Persecutes Parent Attending To A Sick Child!".

Sorry, no, I wasn't clear - we had to get out of the car to deal with it; we went to a pub just across the road to use the toilet to clean him up, and then got him a drink and sat with him for a bit until he was feeling better. We were probably in there for about 40 minutes; never actually saw the attendant. I agree that if we had been there, then I would have already spoken to the press!

fairleee

Bumping this as I still need some help!

hoohoo

Practice directions changed in April
http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/pd_pre-action_conduct

There is no longer an Annex A para 2.

Instead you want to refer to point 3.

The MSE sticky is now out of date. Their LBC is still woefully inadequate though. The good news (not specifically for this case) is that Excel's claim that the BPA have a 'pre-court protocol' they can follow is now blown out of the water. Only protocols approved by the master of the rolls are allowable.

fairleee

Thanks for that advice; have updated the letter accordingly. I posted it today (made sure to get it recorded delivery as well), so will wait and see what they come back with.

ColliesCarer

fairleee wrote: »

Thanks for that advice; have updated the letter accordingly. I posted it today (made sure to get it recorded delivery as well), so will wait and see what they come back with.

The advice when send letters through the post is to send 1st class from the post office and ask for a free certificate of posting. The letter is then legally deemed to have arrived within 2 working days.

The PPC's will often not sign for mail so keep a check on whether it gets delivered and re-send using above method if it looks like they have refused to sign for it.

fairleee

ColliesCarer wrote: »

The advice when send letters through the post is to send 1st class from the post office and ask for a free certificate of posting. The letter is then legally deemed to have arrived within 2 working days.

The PPC's will often not sign for mail so keep a check on whether it gets delivered and re-send using above method if it looks like they have refused to sign for it.

Thanks for the advice; the main reason I did recorded delivery was because they failed to respond to my first letter at all, and so I want to ensure that it definitely does arrive! If there are any problems with it (e.g. if they do refuse to sign for it) then I might be able to use that later down the line as further evidence of their shoddy practices.

Either way, I'll see what happens. Probably just get another form letter.

bod1467

I don't think recorded delivery notes that the recipient refused to sign, so it's no better than sending 1st class with a certificate of posting. (The CoP means you can prove something was sent, and legal precedence says it is deemed "served" [delivered] within 2 days).