Worried about receiving a Parking Eye Court Claim form

johnjo569

Hi,

I received a Claim Form issued from Parking Eye in July regarding an unpaid parking fine and i'm really not sure what I should be doing next and I have to have this defence in by 7th August latest! I have looked through the Newbie section but I still don't know what I should be doing or how I should be compiling my defence, my main concern is I don't want a CCJ against my name at any cost, i'd rather pay the fine than have that.

A little background - I went to my local DW Sports and spent 55 minutes in there (well it was 55 minutes between entering the carpark and leaving) purchasing several items that I have a receipt for. I honestly never noticed the signage regarding time limits etc and was shocked when I got a parking ticket saying it was a 40 MINUTES MAX STAY CAR PARK!! I was genuinely trying trainers and running gear on while in there and chatting to the assistants, 40 minutes is not long at all.

Unfortunately I took the wrong advise and ignored all the letters from Parking Eye believing what others had told me that they couldn't enforce there claims and it would just go away... bad move that was!

Once I received the Claim form I went into DW Sports and they tried to get the ticket cancelled for me at the back end of July, sending Parking Eye an email request (They did warn me that due to it having gone to Claim Court proceedings they may not get anywhere with parking Eye). I also phoned Parking Eye and they told me they get lots of emails and it takes 10 working days for them to assess the appeal from DW Sports. Yesterday was the 10th working day so I phoned to see what was happening and was told they wouldn't let me know and would speak to DW Sports directly then today they told DW Sports that as it had gone to their 'Enforcement Team' it was out of their (Parking Eye's) hands and for me to submit my defence. They were telling DW Sports that they had to carry on with it as I had not responded to any of their letters and still hadn't put a defence in.

I really was hoping they would have cancelled it after DW Sports appealing on my behalf but no, it looks like they want to go all the way with this one.

I have until the 7th August to get my defence in, so any help would be much appreciated as I really don't know where to start or if the costs are going to spiral if it goes court etc.

Ps. My Acknowledgement of Service is included in the above date.

Thank you in advance for any advise/ help it is much appreciated.

John

The_Deep

Required reading

http://www.parking-prankster.com/court-claim.html

Quentin

You only get a CCJ if you lose in court, and you then have a month to pay before it will be registered for 6 years, (if you pay before the month is up it's completely removed from the register), so at this stage you have no fears about a CCJ "against your name"


Still time to send your initial defence - which can be a simple denial you owe the claimant any money at all - then set to and complete a defence you can send in if they proceed with the case.

Quentin

The_Deep wrote: »

Required reading.....

That link only takes you to an advert for a guide you must pay for.


It seems the "free Legal Arguments Guide" is not available!

JonnyRotten

johnjo569

I am in a similar position, ignored everything until the Form N1CPC from The County Court Business Centre Northampton.

So, don't panic.

Which Claim Form have you got? That is important as it will point you to the correct place in Newbies to start.

You should get:
1. A Parking Charge Notice to the Registered Keeper of the vehicle
about 10 days later
2. A Parking Charge Notice to the Registered Keeper of the vehicle Reminder
about another 24 days later
3. Outstanding Parking Charge Amount due
about another 15 days later
4. Letter Before County Court Claim

Then you get the NCCBC form about another 24 days later.

Here is a link to my page where you can get an idea of how to stumble into getting your act together
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5040759

If you are in the early stages you will be told on the reverse of the PCN the deadline to Appeals & Complaints Procedure, this is 28 days from the date of the first PCN.

It is vital that you do this if you still have time and appeal to be able to go to POPLA. The NEWBIES thread tells you what to do as does 'The Deep's' link to the Parking Prankster - the Guide may well be in the update process for the Beavis case.

It is worth the price of a couple of coffees for his paid guide, I have read it a fair few times.

There is a lot of reading to do and you need to understand what you are being told.

I believe that I am right in saying that all ParkingEye Ltd cases at POPLA are being stayed (held) until the decision of the Supreme Court case of PE v Beavis is known, this is the same for all court cases if you the defendant asks your Court to stay for that result.

This is all told to you in all the advice given on these websites.

You can read lots of cases and advice from different advisers on this site and others but your case may be different and therefore will need to be written as such and not just as a blanket set of defence points.

One of the experienced advisers will probably pick you up and keep a watchful eye to guide you. Don't give away too much about yourself as PE read these pages.

Good luck
Never as sad as a JonnyRotten sad thing!
Argue your case well and don't pay until the most senior court tells you to

johnjo569

Thanks for all your help with this I understand what's happening a little better now and how to move forward.

I have completed an initial defence which is very brief but highlights what I feel I need to defend. After being told that Parking Eye troll this and other websites i'm a little unsure if I should put my defence up on here, what do you think?

One question I have is that I feel the max stay on the carpark is too short for what I was doing (40 minutes in this case), Is this a legal argument I can contest or is it not a winnable argument?

Also do i need to produce any photographic evidence at this stage or can that wait for the full defence if it comes to a trial?

waamo

They get to see it and have plenty of time to respond to it so I see no harm in posting up a defence.

Half_way

Whos car park was this?

Stuartie31

I received a PCN from parking eye the other day for being 20 minutes over my ticket time from my holiday in Cornwall, I know up in Scotland where I'm from these are unenforceable but I was wondering if anyone knew, because it was issued in England can they take it further even though I live in Scotland or would it be wise to ignore it as is recommended up here? Any help would be great.

johnjo569

Half_way wrote: »

Whos car park was this?

DW Sports lease it from somebody. Its a standalone carpark with only DW Sports on it.

johnjo569

I have been chatting with DW Sports head office and they have said they agree the time limit is short that's why they ask Parking eye to cancel people who go over that time limit if they have a valid receipt of purchase which is the case in this instant. Parking Eye claim that because their letters were never replied to and its at 'Claim' stage they have no alternative but to carry on with proceedings.

DW have said they will help in any way they can and in this case have been told by Parking eye to tell me to email to their "enforcement team' the receipt plus the car reg and the reference no and they will see what can be done. They will take over 10 working days to reply and I personally think they were just trying to appease DW Sports on the phone.

I did tell DW Sports that I feel this matter is of grave concern to the people of this town and they need to be be warned about what can happen if you park there so if it comes to an actual case I will be speaking to my friends at the Warrington Guardian newspaper about writing an article on the matter and get it highlighted so nobody else has to go through this.