PCN Court Papers Received - Advice requested.

Hopestable

In late 2014 my car was parked in a small town centre car park to the rear of a shop premises. After collecting some goods from the said shop and returning to the vehicle 15 mins later it was found that a PCN had been placed on the windscreen as the vehicle did not have a permit displayed.
We Were not familiar with this car park and had not used it previously.
The only signage at the car park entrance was a white sign approx. 15" x 15" with a large white `P` on a blue background identical to that on highway Parking signs. Upon later inspection it was noted that in very small lettering underneath this symbol were `Conditions Apply See Main Signs For Full Details`. I find this particularly misleading and inadequate.
A further check of the area revealed identical sized signs at the very back of the car park attached to the rear of shop premises indicating that there was a contractual land agreement with a £100 charge for vehicles not displaying a permit.
When the vehicle was parked in the car park it was believed that the car park was for the use of customers of the shop premises which border it. The car was parked there in that genuine belief, no clear signage being present at the entrance to indicate otherwise.
Following advice on this forum several letters have been sent to the PCN company challenging this PCN on a number of grounds (including inadequate/misleading signage, punitive/excessive penalty in relation to any loss incurred) and asking them for further information. No replies have been received.
Several letters were then received from a solicitor representing the PCN company. The first was replied to indicating that the PCN was being disputed.
Several months passed and now a Claim form has been received from County Court Business Centre for the sum of £300.
I wish to contest this matter and would welcome any genuine advice as to how to proceed.

peter_the_piper

Who is the PPC?
have you confirmed the "court papers" are genuine?

Herzlos

First check that it's valid - it'll be stamped and you should be able to phone the court mentioned (look up the number separately) to confirm the details.

Then you'll need to defend it as in the instructions, first thing to do is acknowledge it and tell them you wish to defend, then start working on a defence.

Have you got photos of the signage & car park in question?

The_Deep

This sounds like a shoo in at court. Poor signs, PCN not responding to letters, solicitor, (who, Miah or WH), demanding silly money. When you contact the PPC warn them that, if they pull out, or the judgement goes against them, you will be invoicing them for your time. Pound to a penny they will blink first..

beamerguy

Hopestable wrote: »

In late 2014 I parked my car in a small town centre car park to the rear of a shop premises. After collecting some goods from the said shop and returning to the vehicle 15 mins later it was found that a PCN had been placed on the windscreen as the vehicle did not have a permit displayed.
I was not familiar with this car park and had not used it previously.
The only signage at the car park entrance was a white sign approx. 15" x 15" with a large white `P` on a blue background identical to that on highway Parking signs. Upon later inspection it was noted that in very small lettering underneath this symbol were `Conditions Apply See Main Signs For Full Details`. I found this particularly misleading and inadequate.
A further check of the area revealed identical sized signs at the very back of the car park attached to the rear of shop premises indicating that there was a contractual land agreement with a £100 charge for vehicles not displaying a permit.
When the vehicle was parked in the car park it was believed that the car park was for the use of customers of the shop premises which border it. The car was parked there in that genuine belief, no clear signage being present at the entrance to indicate otherwise.
Following advice on this forum several letters have been sent to the PCN company challenging this PCN on a number of grounds (including inadequate/misleading signage, punitive/excessive penalty in relation to any loss incurred) and asking them for further information. No replies have been received.
Several letters were then received from a solicitor representing the PCN company. The first was replied to indicating that the PCN was being disputed.
Several months passed and now a Claim form has been received from County Court Business Centre for the sum of £300.
I wish to contest this matter and would welcome any genuine advice as to how to proceed.

Oh dear, this problem gets worse everyday with these vermin
Yes, make certain that it is a genuine summons, contact the court.

If you have placed this in dispute with the PPC and you have advised the solicitor the same, you must tell the court this and provide proof you have tried to get replies without answers. Once disputed to the court, the solicitor will be asked to provide proof of replying and answering your questions. At this point the solicitor cannot make anything up and he/she will be bound by "the truth"
Any solicitor behaving badly will be warned by the judge

Who is the PPC and who is the solicitor please ?

Hopestable

Thanks for your prompt replies. In answer to the questions raised so far:


The company is UKCPS


Their solicitors are Miah


I have taken photographs of the location and signage.


I am satisfied that the court papers are genuine.

beamerguy

Hopestable wrote: »

Thanks for your prompt replies. In answer to the questions raised so far:


The company is UKCPS


Their solicitors are Miah


I have taken photographs of the location and signage.


I am satisfied that the court papers are genuine.

Yup, we all guessed that.
UKCPS A well known parking cowboy
MIAH nobody is certain if they act as debt collectors or solicitors.
they don't want to give that information.
Check this forum
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5284070

Suggest you search the forums for Miah or The Miah Solicitors.

They are well known to the courts and I suspect the judges at county courts are fed up with the name MIAH

Do your homework via the net, do remember, they have NOT addressed your requests and the judge must be made aware of that.

If you and everyone are totally fed up with parking donkeys/cowboys and their associated solicitors, make your voice heard, sign the petition and tell all your friends, twitter, facebook, text, email etc. Thes cowboys must be stopped

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/111925

Hopestable

I've researched the threads and forums about UKCPS and Miah and this has not improved my opinion of them.

I have also signed the petition.

But the problem is I am faced with potential court proceedings and am grateful for any advice in how best to deal with this?

beamerguy

Hopestable wrote: »

I've researched the threads and forums about UKCPS and Miah and this has not improved my opinion of them.

I have also signed the petition.

But the problem is I am faced with potential court proceedings and am grateful for any advice in how best to deal with this?

Yes, I understand. Your defence to be returned to court must state that you have unanswered questions given to UKCPS which they ignored and without further reference they passed this to Miah.
You must provide copies of those letters. You can ask that the case be put aside until the questions are answered. At this point, nobody here can comment on what the court will say.

If you are convinced that your questions have been ignored or the points were not addressed, then it will be up to the judge to decide

Herzlos

You can rest fairly safe in the knowledge that if you defend it, Miah are pretty unlikely to actually turn up.

But you'll need to defend it or they'll get a default win. So you may as well defend it thoroughly and look good, so that you can get your expenses back when they pull out.

beamerguy

Herzlos wrote: »

You can rest fairly safe in the knowledge that if you defend it, Miah are pretty unlikely to actually turn up.

But you'll need to defend it or they'll get a default win. So you may as well defend it thoroughly and look good, so that you can get your expenses back when they pull out.

Makes you wonder what point Miah have in this world apart from harassing people