County Court Claim PCM

Garsantinos · 6 February 2016 at 6:28PM

Hello guys,

I'm not new to parking tickets or the forum but haven't had to deal with them for a whole year so I'm a little out of touch. I have not appealed these parking tickets to the POPLA. I have also got no experience in court or writing defenses. I have copied my defense as well so you can read how I 'obtained' these tickets in the first place.

I have recently received a county court claim (29/01/2016) from PCM claiming 'parking services and indemnity costs' of 5x£150 + £43.23 interest = £793.23 for parking on a private residential area on 5 occasions. These charges add up to £923.23 including legal fees. That is not a small charge, especially for a student like me.

Have a look at the particulars of claim section that I have copied exactly: (I have left the reg plate out)

-- DATE -- DESCRIPTION -- AMOUNT - DUE DATE
XX/XX/XX 'REGPLATE'/PMXXXXXXX £150 XX/XX/XX
XX/XX/XX 'REGPLATE'/PMXXXXXXX £150 XX/XX/XX
XX/XX/XX 'REGPLATE'/PMXXXXXXX £150 XX/XX/XX
XX/XX/XX 'REGPLATE'/PMXXXXXXX £150 XX/XX/XX
XX/XX/XX 'REGPLATE'/PMXXXXXXX £150 XX/XX/XX
Total due - £750
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
The Claimant claims the sum of £793.23 for Parking services and indemnity costs if applicable including £43.23 interest pursuant to S.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 Rate 8.00%pa from dates above to 28/01/16. Same rate to judgement or (sooner) payment. Daily rate to Judgment £0.16
Total debt and interest £793.23

There is no information on where I parked or such so I can only guess by tracing it through my text messages and logs.

My defence form so far: (please criticize or change as you wish since I have no experience)

In my defense I would like to state a couple of facts.

First of all, I have received no parking tickets on my car at the
time of the incident and have not received any letters that
indicate that I owe the claimant a legitimate sum of money. I do
not know, for sure, which car park this claim is made for exactly
but I will defend the claim to the very best of my knowledge. If
memory serves me correctly I know that the only PCM car park I
have parked at in the last year is at docklands (East London) in a
private residential estate. Each 'session' of parking has lasted
for less than 30 minutes.

The claimant is claiming a sum of £793.23 and £43.23 interest for
'parking services'. I'm assuming those 'parking charges' have been
made because I was parked at a non-commercial car park on 5
different occasions. Correct me if I'm wrong but I assume that
these charges are contractual charges.

As far as I know a contractual charge should not be allowed for
claimants to make any sort of profit, it exists to protect those
that are vulnerable and to claim financial loss, if applicable. In
this case, I see the claim as extortionate and a means to gain
profit. VAT must be paid on contractual charges, if PCM cannot
prove that they pay VAT on the charge then it means the charge can
only be breach of contract. In which case I argue that the charge
is excessive and an unlawful penalty.

No citizen should have to pay over £923.23 (including legal fees)
for parking at a non-commercial car park for 5 times. Most of the
charge is made up of random administrator charges. That sum is
equal to a whole months pay for part-time students. That sum can
allow a student to survive independently for 9 weeks.

I parked at the car park because I was dropping a friend off who
lived in the residential estate. As car parking spaces ran out I
had to stop on the side of the road to escort them into their
flat. On two occasions I parked there to access the grocery store.
There are a couple of free car parking spaces provided to those
that are visiting the small grocery store but they are always
taken so I had always made sure to park carefully out of the way
and finish as quickly as possible.

Could someone with experience and knowledge help me out please? It would be very much appreciated.

beamerguy · 6 February 2016 at 6:43PM

Garsantinos wrote: »

Hello guys,

I'm not new to parking tickets or the forum but haven't had to deal with them for a whole year so I'm a little out of touch. I have not appealed these parking tickets to the POPLA. I have also got no experience in court or writing defenses. I have copied my defense as well so you can read how I 'obtained' these tickets in the first place.

I have recently received a county court claim (29/01/2016) from UKPC claiming 'parking services and indemnity costs' of ?x£??? + £??? interest = £??? for parking on a private residential area on ? occasions. These charges add up to £? including legal fees. That is not a small charge, especially for a student like me.

Have a look at the particulars of claim section that I have copied exactly: (I have left the reg plate out)

-- DATE -- DESCRIPTION -- AMOUNT - DUE DATE
31/03/15 'REGPLATE'/ £150 28/04/15
03/04/15 'REGPLATE'/ £150 01/05/15
15/04/15 'REGPLATE'/ £150 13/05/15
20/04/15 'REGPLATE'/ £150 18/05/15
23/04/15 'REGPLATE'/ £150 21/05/15
Total due - £750
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
The Claimant claims the sum of £? for Parking services and indemnity costs if applicable including £? interest pursuant to S.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 Rate 8.00%pa from dates above to 28/01/16. Same rate to judgement or (sooner) payment. Daily rate to Judgment £?
Total debt and interest £?

There is no information on where I parked or such so I can only guess by tracing it through my text messages and logs.

My defence form so far: (please criticize or change as you wish since I have no experience)

In my defense I would like to state a couple of facts.

First of all, I have received no parking tickets on my car at the
time of the incident and have not received any letters that
indicate that I owe the claimant a legitimate sum of money. I do
not know, for sure, which car park this claim is made for exactly
but I will defend the claim to the very best of my knowledge. If
memory serves me correctly I know that the only UKPC car park I
have parked at in the last year is at docklands (East London) in a
private residential estate. Each 'session' of parking has lasted
for less than 30 minutes.

The claimant is claiming a sum of £? and £? interest for
'parking services'. I'm assuming those 'parking charges' have been
made because I was parked at a non-commercial car park on 5
different occasions. Correct me if I'm wrong but I assume that
these charges are contractual charges.

As far as I know a contractual charge should not be allowed for
claimants to make any sort of profit, it exists to protect those
that are vulnerable and to claim financial loss, if applicable. In
this case, I see the claim as extortionate and a means to gain
profit. VAT must be paid on contractual charges, if UKPC cannot
prove that they pay VAT on the charge then it means the charge can
only be breach of contract. In which case I argue that the charge
is excessive and an unlawful penalty.

No citizen should have to pay over £? (including legal fees)
for parking at a non-commercial car park for 5 times. Most of the
charge is made up of random administrator charges. That sum is
equal to a whole months pay for part-time students. That sum can
allow a student to survive independently for 9 weeks.

I parked at the car park because I was dropping a friend off who
lived in the residential estate. As car parking spaces ran out I
had to stop on the side of the road to escort them into their
flat. On two occasions I parked there to access the grocery store.
There are a couple of free car parking spaces provided to those
that are visiting the small grocery store but they are always
taken so I had always made sure to park carefully out of the way
and finish as quickly as possible.

Additionally, the UKPC website also states that parking charges by
private companies can be enforced due to the recent Beavis vs
Parking Eye case which was escalated to the supreme court and
concluded in Parking Eye's favor. I strongly dispute this because
the case discussed took part in a commercial car park and the
judges clearly explained that the charge Mr Beavis received was
small enough to be justified as a deterrent.

Could someone with experience and knowledge help me out please? It would be very much appreciated.

RIDICULOUS
Have a look at the Newbies thread first and someone will be along soon to assist

In the meantime be aware that UKPC are the BIGGEST FRAUDULENT PARKING SCAMMER AROUND.
Last year they were banned from the DVLA for doctoring photographs which is fraud.
Can it be found anywhere that fraud applies in your case

We know their web site quotes the Beavis case, these are just scare tactics and as UKPC are known for plain stupidity, this is stupid as well.

Coupon-mad, our Queen of destruction will be along soon

Can you please change the header from UPKC to UKPC, GO EDIT >> ADVANCED EDIT >>> SAVE
Cannot have them confused with Kentucky Chicken, even though they a bunch of turkeys

beamerguy · 6 February 2016 at 7:08PM

Garsantinos, thanks for changing the heading to UKPC

Garsantinos · 6 February 2016 at 7:10PM

beamerguy wrote: »

RIDICULOUS
Have a look at the Newbies thread first and someone will be along soon to assist

In the meantime be aware that UKPC are the BIGGEST FRAUDULENT PARKING SCAMMER AROUND.
Last year they were banned from the DVLA for doctoring photographs which is fraud.
Can it be found anywhere that fraud applies in your case

We know their web site quotes the Beavis case, these are just scare tactics and as UKPC are known for plain stupidity, this is stupid as well.

Coupon-mad, our Queen of destruction will be along soon

Can you please change the header from UPKC to UKPC, GO EDIT >> ADVANCED EDIT >>> SAVE
Cannot have them confused with Kentucky Chicken, even though they a bunch of turkeys

Okay, it has been corrected. I'm not sure if we can get them for fraud since I did receive letters about the parking tickets and debt recovery. I just wrote it wasn't a legitimate sum, since in the eyes of the law it shouldn't be. Most of those parking tickets have been thrown away unfortunately since the house belongs to my dad and he has a habit of binning rubbish. So I did receive letters but unfortunately they are now probably being recycled into packaging.

Thanks for the reply and I intend to fight this to the very end.

beamerguy · 6 February 2016 at 7:15PM

Garsantinos wrote: »

Okay, it has been corrected. I'm not sure if we can get them for fraud since I did receive letters about the parking tickets and debt recovery. I just wrote it wasn't a legitimate sum, since in the eyes of the law it shouldn't be. Most of those parking tickets have been thrown away unfortunately since the house belongs to my dad and he has a habit of binning rubbish. So I did receive letters but unfortunately they are now probably being recycled into packaging.

Thanks for the reply and I intend to fight this to the very end.

ok, well there are some very experienced people on this forum with sound advice, none of us want to see a student in this position.

hang loose ..... for the help and advice

Quentin · 6 February 2016 at 7:19PM

First of all, you need to send an "acknowledgement" of the claim into the court. (Assuming the claim is a real one and actually came from Court and not UKPC as you say in your OP)

This will be shown on the papers you have received from the court, and must be done within 14 days of the date of service - so time is running out!

Once you acknowledge the claim that gives you an extra 14 days (a total of 28 from date of service) to prepare your defence and submit it.

Read up in the newbies faq thread at the top of the forum for advice, and consider googling and buying the parking prankster's guide to dealing with court claims

Garsantinos · 6 February 2016 at 7:34PM

Yes, I have already filed an acknowledgement of service. Unfortunately, this claim is very real. I will try my best to collect more information before submitting the defence. I will update you guys on every step of the claim. Hopefully, other victims will be able to read this too.

Coupon-mad · 6 February 2016 at 7:46PM

There are several other similar threads already here and on pepipoo, like this one:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=103998&st=0

You need to learn from recent defences so search the forums (both here and pepipoo) for more.

Also read the NEWBIES thread section on small claims which is in the first post of that sticky thread. And this from the BMPA will help too:

https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/201413589-Defending-Court-Claim-First-Stages

http://www.bmpa.eu/static_claim_form.html

Plus look at Parking Prankster Blogs about small claims recently. Not anything older than November because that was when ParkingEye v Beavis was decided in the Supreme Court and you need to know about that case and not use old arguments.

I hope when acknowledging, you left the defence box completely blank for now?

beamerguy · 6 February 2016 at 7:46PM

Garsantinos wrote: »

Yes, I have already filed an acknowledgement of service. Unfortunately, this claim is very real. I will try my best to collect more information before submitting the defence. I will update you guys on every step of the claim. Hopefully, other victims will be able to read this too.

ok, just wait, might take a few hours

Garsantinos · 6 February 2016 at 7:50PM

Thanks for the reply and yes the defence form is completely blank. I'm reading up on the links you have sent at the moment.

Edit: Looks like my first step in the defence would be to send in a Part 18 form for information on the claim.

catfunt · 6 February 2016 at 7:55PM

Those dates and the "PM" numbers you have posted above - you may want to edit those out of your post in case they identify you. The scammers do read these forums....