What can I do now?

poor_country_girl

Hi, the claimant is PCN (NW) LTD, payments to be sent to CSB Solicitors LTD and the claimants legal representative is Sonny Chall.

Coupon-mad

Interesting, can you show us the letters and the claim form? This is a rarer one.

poor_country_girl

Hi - I have scanned the claim form, but how do I show you this? I can't find a way to attach it...? Sorry, you can probably tell I don't use forums very much!

Thanks
Kath

Fruitcake

poor_country_girl wrote: »

Hi - I have scanned the claim form, but how do I show you this? I can't find a way to attach it...? Sorry, you can probably tell I don't use forums very much!

Thanks
Kath

Upload it to a web hosting site such as tinypic or photobucket, ensuring the account is not set up in your real name.

Post the URL of the redacted images here but change http to hxxp as you cannot post live links. Someone here will then change it to a live link.

poor_country_girl

Hi again

Right, I hope I have done all this correctly! here is the link hxxp://s1383.photobucket.com/user/theartbook/library/carpark

I have also included in the album the photos from the PCN web site that show that my note and the money to pay were there on the dash board. I hope all he information is there that you need, please let me knw if you need anything else or if I've done something wrong, this is all new to me! I really appreciate all your help with this!

Kath

Northlakes

http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/theartbook/library/carpark

The letters are a bit too light to read.

Coupon-mad

OK we can see all that, very useful even though the letters are a little pale I can see they tried to threaten you with over £200 'bailiff costs etc' on top of £160, to try to force you to pay up quickly the £160, which was already more than they could claim as the core sum!

It's MCOL claim form which gives you a password (you quite rightly covered that password). So, Acknowledge Service online now (LEAVE THE DEFENCE BOX BLANK) as explained in the link by bargepole that I have placed under 'Small Claim?' in the NEWBIES sticky thread. Read it!

Make a note of the reference you get as you will need it when you then submit online, a defence within 28 days of service of that court claim.

I assume you have admitted who was driving/parked, in that appeal in 2015? If so, then carry on in that mode and look at other defences here where the defendant admits to being the driver (try searching 'Gladstones defence admitted driver' or 'Excel defence admitted driver' even though yours is neither Excel nor Gladstones solicitors). The claim is very similar.

Your trump cards to give you a fighting chance at a hearing will be:

- the signs are not legible; the terms are not transparent (look for defences citing the Consumer Rights Act 2015 about 'transparency' of terms & notices).

- so, you cannot have agreed to pay £100 because nowhere is £100 legible. Presumably it's in that TINY small print in the wall sign, look here for what's wrong with hiding terms in small crowded print, on an outdoor notice:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71285691#Comment_71285691

^^^ That's too detailed for an initial defence BTW but tells you how an outdoor sign should look!

- in their evidence later on, the claimant might point to the machine where it says do not park if the machine is broken. Well, the answer to that is an order 'do not park' is prohibitive and offers no contract to park (in fact the opposite) and also the £100 is not stated, only a vague 'you will get a parking charge' (£5 then? £500 then?!).

- the signs do not state legibly (or anywhere) that £60 will be added - and why?! - or that £50 solicitor's fees will be added either. So, even if a Judge actually thinks the £100 was formed form a contract and is 'legible'(!) then the added costs are certainly not part of that contract, and appear to be made up out of thin air as an attempt at double recovery, which the small claims court cannot uphold.

So, major on SIGNS.

Set it out like you read in loads of other defence threads, with the usual points added below your first point (simply about the broken machine*) and your second point about the signs being woefully inadequate to form a £100 binding contract to park for that sum.

*Where you talk about the machine being broken, state in your defence that you had a 'reasonable expectation' that a note and the 'cash on the dash' was certainly OK because the principal, the club, acknowledged the machines were repeatedly faulty and in fact suggested notes on the dashboard were OK. That can be argued to be a matter of 'promissory estoppel' where you relied on a verbal agreement with the club - namely that when the machines were broken (2 or 3 times every week), it was OK to park and pay later before leaving the site. That goes into your defence bullet points.

Sounds complicated? OK, it's not, once you read other people's examples all over the forum.

First of all read other people's defences from searching, you will see there is a pattern to most points, such as the one about extra costs being added out of thin air. Try a search of this forum for 'thin air' and you should find that defence point in a recent example to plagiarise. Show us what you come up with, you have almost a month once you've done the AoS online and submitted it to buy you the full 28 days from 8.9.16.

Do not reply if any poster pm's (private messages) you offering 'help' of any description. Parking firms have been known to trawl these forums and you never know the agenda behind a newbie pm-ing you who seems friendly. You can be sure they do not have your best interests at heart because we don't do this by pm.

poor_country_girl

Hi - And thanks again for all your amazing replies.

I have been following all the links and searches you have recommended but I have yet to find a template or any examples of what people have submitted on their AoS/defense forms.

I feel like such a numpty! Can I check some details with you please?
1. Should I join the PePiPoo forum as advised in the Newbie thread?
2.the Claim form response pack states to only fill the form in if im admitting all of the claim and asking for time to pay, or admitting part of the claim, and if its the latter to send it to the issuing court with defence form N9B - I presume this is the bit I am doing and need to write out my defence for?

Thank
PCG

bargepole

poor_country_girl wrote: »

2.the Claim form response pack states to only fill the form in if im admitting all of the claim and asking for time to pay, or admitting part of the claim, and if its the latter to send it to the issuing court with defence form N9B - I presume this is the bit I am doing and need to write out my defence for?

No, that's wrong.

You should Acknowledge Service, ticking the box that says you intend to defend the claim in full. You don't put anything in the defence text box.

Then you have up to 28 days from date of service (which is the date on the claim form + 5 days) to submit your defence, which I recommend shoud be a separate document, sent to Northampton by registered post.

Umkomaas

poor_country_girl wrote: »

Hi - And thanks again for all your amazing replies.

I have been following all the links and searches you have recommended but I have yet to find a template or any examples of what people have submitted on their AoS/defense forms.

I feel like such a numpty! Can I check some details with you please?
1. Should I join the PePiPoo forum as advised in the Newbie thread?
2.the Claim form response pack states to only fill the form in if im admitting all of the claim and asking for time to pay, or admitting part of the claim, and if its the latter to send it to the issuing court with defence form N9B - I presume this is the bit I am doing and need to write out my defence for?

Thank
PCG

1. Why not? There are a number of 'legals' over there.
2. Have you read bargepole's input 'Small Claim?' as suggested by CM

It's MCOL claim form which gives you a password (you quite rightly covered that password). So, Acknowledge Service online now (LEAVE THE DEFENCE BOX BLANK) as explained in the link by bargepole that I have placed under 'Small Claim?' in the NEWBIES sticky thread. Read it!