Paying county court claim

Ladyoftheflowers

Hi all!

Basically, I appealed a Parking Eye charge and lost and have now got a county court claim form. I do not want to go to court as have a young baby and don't have the time to dedicate to preparing a defence at the moment. Parking Eye are now asking for £175 however for court costs etc, instead of the original £100. Has anyone had any success getting the matter resolved by paying less than £175?

Thank you!

Coupon-mad

Yes, if you send an email to:

enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk

...and make a Without Prejudice offer of say £40 you might find they settle for £60 or so.

Even better if you can get the landowner or retailer to ask them to cancel/settle, to put pressure on them. Fling your mitigating circumstances at the Enforcement Team. Remember that section of PE will NOT have seen your appeal, they deal with litigation so spell it out to them why the PCN is unfair and why they should settle (not saying ''I've got a baby and I can't be @rsed/can't afford it).

Next time, come here first and make a better appeal effort. We rarely see any lost POPLA appeals.

Ladyoftheflowers

Thank you. So I basically send them a summary of my appeal and offer them a smaller amount?

I used this forum to compile my appeal and have won an appeal before and helped friends win theirs. I have also already spoken to the retailer prior to appealing and they said they have no power to help me.

I obviously included all the aspects mentioned in the forum (estimation of loss etc), however also mentioned the personal mitigating circumstance of having been held up feeding/changing my 3 week old baby in the mother and baby room of the store in question as I had little choice at the time. I was wary of doing this as know that they do not really consider personal circumstances, however felt this was pretty unavoidable and that mothers should not be penalised for such circumstances. Should I include this when emailing enforcement or is it best to leave it out?

Thank you

Half_way

of the retailer owns the car park, ie.a supermarket then they do have the power to cancel.
whos car park was this?

Ladyoftheflowers

It was a retail park car park so I spoke to M + S where I had proof of a purchase.

waamo

Which retail park? People on here know who owns some of these and can direct you to the person you need to contact.

Half_way

In a vast majority ( iff not all) of cases you can get parking tickets cancelled by the landowner if you are persistant enough, are polite, and use the right words. at the very least you should be able to get a "we do not support our agents pursuing you through the courts over this matter" letter/response or statement.
While this is a faff, its less effort than going through the whole POPLA process.

You said you used Genuine pre-estimate of loss (gpeol)
This is now pretty much a dead end, and should only be used at the end of any defence/appeal and then only and only if you can justifiably differentiate your case with that of Barry Beavis

One thing I've just noticed is you state this, which could be extremely useful to you getting your money back

also mentioned the personal mitigating circumstance of having been held up feeding/changing my 3 week old baby in the mother and baby room of the store in question

As far as a know young babies, and their primary carers ( ie mothers) are protected under the equality act (EA) which states that reasonable adjustments should be made, such as providing extra time.
ANPR systems for timed "free" car parks, in my opinion breach the EA as those who require extra time are either denied it, or have to jump through extra hoops that no one else has to ( ie registering at a customer desk)

With that in mind, there is a chance you could put a claim in for a breach of the EA against the ca park owner and the parking company as their systems have discriminated against you. The car park owner is jointly and severally liable for the actions of his/her/its agents , and its more likely that you would get a response from them as oppose to the PPC.
You should not claim over the odds, just the cost of the court judgement plus just about enough to cover any additional costs you may have built up. You may find the car park owner could very well pay this ( ie the costs of the court judgment) to avoid any publicity - or any awkward questions

Ladyoftheflowers

waamo wrote: »

Which retail park? People on here know who owns some of these and can direct you to the person you need to contact.

Oh I see, excellent!

It was Gallagher retail park in Longwell Green in Bristol.

Ladyoftheflowers

That is very helpful and interesting re the EA!! I will definately investigate that further! How would I claim against the owner? I know the claim form that I have can be returned to the court with a counter claim, but presumed that would be against Parking Eye?

Thank you

Umkomaas

You need to read up on the EA very carefully before issuing a counterclaim. It does provide some protection for breastfeeding mothers - but not at the same high level as for people with disabilities likely to last at least 12 months, and I've never seen a counterclaim from someone even falling into that category.

Best you use any pressure available from the EA to press the retailers (or the managing agents running the retail park).

Half_way

I appear to have jumped the gun somewhat, You have a county court claim form, but not a judgement against you, and this matter is still due in court, correct?

If so then your best option is to head this off at the pass, get in touch with the landowner ASAP and if you are covered by the EA (As you had a small child/baby) tell the car park owner that their agents are in breach of the EA and they could also be liable, ask them to stop the court proceeding with mediate effect, remind them that they are responsible for the actions of their agents ( again) and that as principal they can instruct their agents, parking eye to stop court proceedings right up to the point of judgement being made.

If they do not/will not play ball then it opens up the counter claim route.
If they do cancel then you should follow this up with a letter demanding that they take immediate action to ensure that this doesn't happen again. such as removing the non compliant ANPR system/disabling the cameras