So I'm going to court...

Jhpt

So looks like I'm one of the chosen few who make it all the way through to court..

Looking for any input please! I've read through the forums but would really appreciate any help anybody can offer.

To give you a timeline of events;

- Ticketed on 8/1/17 in my residents car park (2 spaces as part of my monthly rental agreement) as my pass had slipped from my dashboard
I stupidly believed they'd waive the ticket if presented with evidence of my right to park - I wrote to them (giving them my address.. DOH!) with a photocopy of my residents parking permit. Received a letter stating that I hadn't displayed my pass and was therefore not exempt from paying a fine (£60 rising to £100) I responded stating I would NOT be paying and any further correspondence was to be through my lawyer
- 20/2/17 first letter now stating I owed £100
- 5/4/17 letter from "Debt Recovery Plus Ltd (DRP)" stating a charge of £149.00 now owed (no reasoning for the 49 increase)
- 20/4/17 2nd letter from DRP re-iterating £149.00 owed "If you haven't paid in full or made arrangements to pay by 4/5/17 we'll pass your file to our client with a recommendation that they take court action against you"
- 05/5/17 3rd letter from DRP now stating a final settlement offer of £126.65 - no explanation of exactly how they've calculated this. "If you haven't paid the reduced amount by 19/5/17, our client will withdraw the offer. This means the amount due will go back to the full amount of £149.00.."
- 5/6/17 1st letter from Gladstones Solicitors claiming £149
- 25/7/17 2nd letter from Gladstones solicitors claiming £160 - no explanation included as to the rise of £11.
- 17/8/17 TODAY receive a letter from the court (dated 14/8/17) to let me know I was being taken to court for £241.53 (166.53 + 25 court fee + 50 legal representatives)

Now my reasons why I feel this ticket is unfair;
1) As part of my tenancy agreement I have a right to park in two parking spaces
2) The signage displayed states the parking company are a member of the BPA (They are NOT - they are IPC) - confusing myself as to whether they are a genuine company (my search of the BPA website showed nothing...) and of course confusing my decision of who to appeal the ticket too..
3) This is a residents car park, managed to my knowledge by the residents association - do THEY have the right to ticket on their behalf or do they need written permission from the land owner?
4) The way the fees have been increased 60-100-149-126.65-149-160 is confusing and has left me failing to understand the ongoing process
5) I communicated I would only discuss correspondence further through my solicitors - they have failed to do so.

Any advice here guys? Thanks so much in advance!

Redx

they are probably corporate members of the BPA and members of the IPC and IPC AOS

if you havent acknowledged the court papers it will have "timed out" by now

so without defending the court claim you have left the way open to a CCJ

post #2 of the NEWBIES sticky thread deals with MCOL court claims

Jhpt

Whoops my mistake I recived the court papers today 17/8/17! (Not 17/7!)

Can we start again?!

Thanks

Redx

in that case , read the help and advice in post #2 of the NEWBIES sticky thread

then acknowledge online , leaving the defence box blank

then start drafting your defence , which needs submitting within 28 days as a pdf by email , with reference number in the header

read maybe a dozen or more RECENT 2017 defences , so you get the idea

Jhpt

Thank you Redx - I will draft a defence immediately, and submit it on here for review (if that's OK!) before I send via PDF.

Determined not to pay this as in my mind it's completely unreasonable seeing as I pay for parking as part of my tenancy.

Thanks again!

safarmuk

Whilst researching your defence, have you:

1) Spoken to the RA and asked them if they appointed the PPC. If so ask for a copy of the contract and explain to them that you are extremely annoyed that in doing nothing wrong their agent is taking you to court. Ask them to get this stopped right now
2) Checked your lease / rental agreement (whatever you have) for references to parking and any need to display a permit or not and/or any mention of a £60 charge
3) Spoken to your neighbors to see if any of them have had similar problems

Also if you feel like fighting back later on, check out "Hairrays" thread where LOC123 (a solicitor) wrote some Letters Before Claim for him to the Management Agent, Landowner etc. and that got his tickets cancelled post haste.

First however as you are further down the line than Hairray you must start drafting your defence as that must be submitted on time, you can post the drafts here and people will review it for you.

Finally who is the PPC we are dealing with?

Jhpt

Thanks Safar!

1) I haven't yet spoken to the RA - underway, but these guys are notoriously bad at returning calls from tenants.
2) Reference to parking in the agreement yes, no mention to the £60 charge or displaying a permit
3) None of them have had any issue (Despite 2 others not displaying permits on the day of the incident).

I'll add that thread to my list, thank you for the recommendation.

I'm drafting my defence now thank you - will post ASAP.

PPC are UK Car Park Management

waamo

Don't ring the RA, calls are worth the paper they are written on. Email or write. Get something you can present in court if needed.

Jhpt

Great shout Waamo - will do, thank you.

Guys_Dad

The trump card is the lease, so see if you can get your landlord to copy the relevant sections of the lease relating to Parking and other lessee regulations.

The terms in the lease are the major points that win such cases.

Your tenancy agreement is another nail in their coffin for similar reasons, but a tenancy agreement can not give you any rights that your landlord does not have the power to give, nor can it release you from any restrictions that his lease contains.

If, for example, the flat is owned by a company set up by the leaseholders and they have brought in certain parking conditions that have been accepted by each leaseholder (they would need to show that), then you are bound by these t&c as well.

Hence need to dig a bit and get a copy of the lease your landlord has.

Jhpt

Hi Guys Dad,

Thanks for taking time to reply.

So do you suggest;
- I contact my landlord, and ask they make a copy of any section of the lease referring to parking?

Do I need to provide a copy of any "evidence" I refer to (i.e. tenancy agreement) in my defence, or just refer to it?