Ignored PCN fine now have County Court Claim!!!

rogant36

Hi everyone! For the past 11 months I've been ignoring letters from PCN about a parking charge notice that I thought was unfair. After reading some advice on the internet, I decided to just ignore their demands for payment as it never usually results in going to court (or so I thought!).

I understand that I have the option on the CCC form to pay the fine in full (£245.17) or the matter will proceed to court? I can also offer a defence, but I'm not sure if this would be accepted or how to format it correctly. I've included my version of what happened below just in case anyone can help:

So on May 18 2015, my elderly (and not very mobile) grandmother asked me to pick her up from church. The church doesn't have it's own carpark and is surrounded by a private carpark (run by PCN) for the use of nearby residents. In order to get to the entrance of the church I had to drive through the carpark. I quickly stopped parked there to help my gran into the vehicle and within just 2 mins a traffic officer walked over and proceeded to issue me with a parking charge notice despite my protests. A nearby resident of the flats saw what happened and explained that the same thing had happened to one of her visiting relatives and to just ignore any demands for payment - so I did.

In addition to the fear of a County Count Judgement being issued against me, I'm also due to emigrate to Canada in 10 days! Is it likely that my defence will be rejected or should I just pay the fine and be done with the entire matter?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Tony

* I should add that I wasn't the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time of the incident (my dad was) if that helps.

HO87

You talk about a traffic officer but make reference to a county court claim. Can you clarify which company/organisation issued the ticket?

If you are about to emigrate and are not going to return for at least 6 years then where's the worry? This is only going to affect your UK credit file. If all the checks have been done and you are off I'm not too sure I would be concerning myself.

Any for goodness sake why pay a private company - if that is who issued the PCN?

The_Slithy_Tove

You haven't said who the PPC is. This is important, as some are easier than others to beat.

If you are about to leave the country for good, and so don't care about your credit record in the UK, you could simply let them get a default judgement and a CCJ against you. What would it matter to you in your new life in Canada? Credit records don't follow you across international boundaries. Not an approach I would normally recommend, but yours are peculiar circumstances.

rogant36

Thanks for your replies!

The parking charge notice was issued by PCN (NW) Ltd - so not a 'real' traffic officer for failing to display a valid parking permit.

I guess the only reason I was worrying about the CCJ was because I thought it might eventually lead to a warrant for my arrest or something (if not paid) and that I would be forced to return from abroad.

HO87

No civil debt - such as this - can lead to a warrant for arrest. You have been watching far too much carp Amerikan TV.

rogant36

HO87 wrote: »

No civil debt - such as this - can lead to a warrant for arrest. You have been watching far too much carp Amerikan TV.

Haha - I guess I'm just overly cautious!

rogant36

HO87 wrote: »

If you are about to emigrate and are not going to return for at least 6 years then where's the worry? This is only going to affect your UK credit file. If all the checks have been done and you are off I'm not too sure I would be concerning myself.

My concern is that I may decide to return and live in the UK before the six years are up!

Half_way

The mention of the word fine, suggests you need to read the sticky thread

HO87

rogant36 wrote: »

My concern is that I may decide to return and live in the UK before the six years are up!

I know that when you make that move you want to keep a foot in the "home" camp for a while - just in case. I would suggest that ultimately doing so will delay your settling down.

Like repeatedly converting prices to Sterling.
Kilometres to miles etc
You will find an artisan bread maker that satisfies your needs.
Don't spend too much time in Timmy Hortons.

Please note my location.

hoohoo

Is the claim against you or your dad?

If you have been ignoring the paperwork, it is presumably against your dad, in which case none of the previous applies.

Can you clarify this please, before we go further. Have you written to give the drivers name and address, or is the claim against the registered keeper.


Also, do you have any pictures of the signage?

A google maps link to the car park showing where you parked your car would also help

rogant36

Although the claim is against my dad who is the registered keeper, we both agreed to ignore each and every letter from PCN. Now that a County Court Claim has been issued, I think it's only right that I take the wrap for it - if possible!

As a new user I'm not allowed to post links but the carpark is located: East Cliff, Preston, PR13LB

I don't have any pictures of the signage to hand, but could upload some tomorrow if that helps?