Abersoch Golf Course Parking Fine

Kanjepe

I have received a number of letters from Parking Eye since last August 2016 when I parked at Abersoch Golf Club car park near the beach. It has progressed to the stage where I have just received a county court judgment in default as I have ignored all correspondence from Parking Eye and didn't see the LBCCJ. I notice that the Judgment for the Claimant (in default) says that you can appeal to them for the judgment to be set aside... is there any mileage in this, at this stage? I am now thinking do I just pay to avoid the hassle! Apparently, it costs over £250 to appeal versus paying the £197 that the court have asked for. I have no experience in this type of thing but feel very annoyed at this on principle.

I have used this parking area many times over the last 5 years and luckily hadn't had a problem previously. On this occasion, the payment wouldn't process via text and finally after several attempts and no cash on me - I loaded the kids and dogs back in the car and left. I have been pursued since by Parking Eye following an appeal they wouldn't accept (obviously) also contacted Abersoch Golf Course who were very dismissive and obviously complicit in this scam.

My argument would really center around the evidence on my phone that I attempted to pay several times via text but it wouldn't accept the format, hence I don't see that I am in breach of contract. I finally received a text that informed me that my payment card had expired. I missed out on the POPLA appeal as I was out of the country for the whole of October last year. But I had already stated in my appeal to Parking Eye that I would bill them for wasting my time should it go any further.

Coupon-mad

You may want to join the caseHub group here:

http://casehub.com/cases/parking-eye-ccj-fines

and here are some similar threads:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5500993

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5525604

Paying £255 to the court (a certain process) to get it set aside, WIPES the CCJ from your record, but in fact (hat tip to IamEmanresu for this summary) there are two options at this stage:

Either:

Apply for a set aside "without consent"

1. Apply using the N244 form for a set aside hearing. This costs £255 but is repayable from the Claimant if you win at the re-hearing (not the set-aside hearing if one is needed, not always the case if you file a strong argument with the N244).

2. At the set-aside hearing you have to convince the judge of two issues:
(a) The first is that you did not receive the paperwork.
(b) The second is that on the balance of probabilities you have the potential to win your case. If convinced, he/she orders a re-hearing of the case and a date will be set 14 days or so later for a defence to be filed.

3. For the set-aside hearing, the parking company is likely to put in a letter outlining why you can't win and if they are persuasive, you'll be £255 down and no further forward. Many set-asides are successful though, and there's no reason why you can't attach your own persuasive Witness Statement to the N244 to try to get it set aside quickly.


OR

Apply for a set aside "with consent"

1. If you approach the parking company and tell them you'd like your CCJ set aside "with consent" they usually agree subject to certain conditions. These are usually that:
a) you pay their judgement and
b) you pay their costs.

2. You again use the N244 form but this time you pay £100 for a "with consent" application.

3. At the set-aside hearing, the judge should nod the case through to a re-hearing but the re-hearing doesn't happen in practice, so the CCJ is removed from your credit record.

But with this one, you won't get your chance to fight. Trouble is, ParkingEye tend to win most cases and as Abersoch is pay & display, if you didn't pay and were the driver than that only leaves signage as a possible argument. We do know the signs there are badly lit/in trees and are green against a verdant background but the P&D machine in the middle is fairly clear & obvious I think?

yotmon

"On this occasion, the payment wouldn't process via text and finally after several attempts and no cash on me - I loaded the kids and dogs back in the car and left".

How long did all this take - would it have been within the grace periods as set down by their governing body (BPA).

Kanjepe

Hi many thanks Coupon Mad for your extensive knowledge and advice. I want to try and get this boxed off tonight so will look at the consent issue, then take it up further with my local MP outside of this. I am wondering if I can make a claim against the Golf Club separately? I am more dismayed at Golf Courses attitude regarding this. I have read on another thread that the initial contract between Parking Eye and the Golf Club may not still be in existence as it was only signed for three years?

I've looked at the grace period advice on the BPA PDF Yotmon and cannot see anything about time but with three little ones under 6 and 2 dogs I know it would have been about 50 mins an hour by the time I got down onto the beach and then got them all off again!

thanks very much!

Kanjepe

Hi having attended court this week to see if I could get the judgment made in the default set aside. I actually managed to get it set aside by the court official. I have been told I will now be able to go to court to defend my argument. Parking Eye Ltd have put together a very hefty written submission to argue their case against me.

I am interested in making a counter claim against them given the disruption this has caused my life and the fact that we couldn't apply for a new mortgage or change bank accounts (the CCJ meant I couldn't get an overdraft with another lender) and I was too nervous to apply for a mortgage and get it refused!

I'm interested in their signage - the use of the wording 'failure to comply' doesn't seem to apply as I did 'comply' by trying to make payment via their text system... I wonder if this is worth investigating or time to pay for some real legal advice about this matter...

I assume I now need to send a letter asserting my counter claim if that's what I intend to do... wondering about other success stories as looking at their argument they have the usual stitched up!

thanks in advance for any advice on this!

Umkomaas

Are PE going to serve you with court papers again to pursue their initial charge? If so your first priority in that case is to defend it. You might want to consider a claim (or counterclaim if they are pursuing you again) for a breach of the DPA principles. But you need to do plenty of research first rather than knee-jerking at this.

First and foremost, please read thoroughly this extensive guidance put together by MSE poster Timothea. This will give you the background and conditions for you to consider and determine whether you might have a case to pursue.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5585388

Other Sources

http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/data-protection-act

Some apposite blogs from the Parking Prankster:

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/liverpool-business-park-motorist-wins.html

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/smart-parking-settle-out-of-court-for.html

Latter part of this blog:

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/heath-parade-graham-park-way-scam-site.html

On PePiPoo, regular contributor 'Lynnzer' seems to be taking a lead in pushing for the pursuit of DPA breaches by PPCs. He has written a number of well constructed Letters Before Claim requiring the PPC to pay the motorist between £250 and £750 as compensation for the stress they have been put under by the PPC, or risk the matter resulting in a formal claim at the Small Claims Court. .

Do a search there to get the hang of what this is all about and whether you might want to take this fight back to the PPC.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=60

LETTER BEFORE COUNTY COURT CLAIM

Drafted by Bargepole 05/02/2017

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=72049019&postcount=18

Coupon-mad

I would not counter claim, partly because it's hard enough to win v PE and will cost you court fees and you've already had to spend £255. Concentrate on winning this case first and reclaiming your costs (which is NOT a counterclaim, it's costs claimed at the hearing if you win, along with your travel and your lost leave or salary for the hearings to get that far).

Then, if you win, you have the best part of six years to think about and build a case if you decide to claim against them afterwards, which costs no more in fees than a counter claim. And a 'won' case in your favour would give you more ammo, plus you could take time to build up more evidence, such as complaining to the Information Commissioner if you feel your data should never have been obtained from the DVLA.

See what the Order says about the next steps required of the Claimant and you - or is a hearing to be set and a date sent out to you? The Court will set out what happens next but don't think it's just a hearing now, because although you have shown you had a reasonable prospect of defending this, as yet, you haven't filed a defence as such.