UKPC - Court Claim

Ashman95

Hi All

I have received a County Court Claim after ignoring 7 UKPC PCNs. They are trying to claim; £1120 + £70 court fee + £80 legal representatives costs. A total of £1270 which i cannot afford to pay so I am here asking for some advice.

These charges range from December 2015 to March 2016.
They all come from the same address, my ex girlfriends home.
My ex girlfriend lives in a new build block of flats. Each flat has one car park space. There are no visitor spaces, and there is nowhere local to park.
A couple of months after moving in, UKPC where bought in and all residents had to display a permit.
I wrote to the land owners and requested a visitor permit. They said no.
I continued to use the car park, and parked in a spot where there was no markings (i.e yellow lines) and where i would cause any issues to other residents. UKPC signs are not lit.
The car park is for permit holders, is not used by any businesses and is not a 'pay to park' site so i fail to see how the landowners have lost out on any income here?

So at the time i did some brief reading around and found mixed opinions on whether to ignore or appeal. I stupidly thought ignoring was the right idea. Now I realise that was the wrong choice.

I have acknowledged the claim, and i have submitted a Part 18 request. I now know i need to write up a defence but have no idea where to start!

I hope that makes sense, i have tried to keep it simple. Any help is greatly appreciated!

System

What are the "offences" or the offence. Are all 7 the same?

Redx

you read all the recent court claim threads on here and pepipoo over the last 2 or 3 months and then start drafting your own holding defence from info gleaned in those other cases (dont read anything older than 7 months)

also read the parking pranksters court guide, plus read post #1 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread, court sub-section

Ashman95

The offence is for 'Not parking within the markings of a bay or space' All 7 are the same.

System

What did the lease or rental agreement say about the common areas. You may have been at liberty to park in the common areas i.e. outside the bay. The lease/rental agreement will shed light on this.

See if you can get that as your defence may be different from the templates on offer here.

Ashman95

That's going to be tricky to find out, I'm not exactly on speaking terms with my ex anymore.
Do the building owners or UKPC have to provide that info if I request it?

Coupon-mad

Not at this early stage, no. They will show you nothing of the sort until their hearing evidence.

So, you will have to run with what you do know and what you can suggest is valid as a defence (which is what most people here do). Search the forum and pepipoo forum for 'UKPC defence' and copy what you find, read at least a dozen examples:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=60

Go back at least 20 pages on pepipoo and read any defences, not just UKPC ones, but especially looking at permit/lease/residential 'peaceful enjoyment' defences.