Newbie - county court (feeling clueless)

Bluecarrot

I have received a county court claim for 8 PCN that date back to may/June 2013

I have applied for the extra time to send in my defence but I have not got a clue where to start, have no idea on what to write without babbling on and making excuses .

The defendant received 8 PCNs at their place of work (shopping centre) after the centre manager agreed they were allowed to park there due to insufficient spaces in the staff car park. Was told by the centre to ignore all correspondence from the parking company and all letters eventually stopped. Fast forward 4 years and a county court claim arrives.

Could anyone please offer any help? Starting to panic a little as the cut off date is 27/09

Thank you in advance

Quentin

Get the shopping centre to intervene.

Otherwise take time to read up on Court defences in the Newbies faq thread and don't miss any Court deadlines.

Post your draft appeal here

Redx

you need to read post #2 of that NEWBIES thread and start preparing your defence

read other similar court case threads from this year ONLY to see what others have done with theirs, then do the same or similar

Bluecarrot

This is where I'm struggling, I don't understand what my rights are so have no idea where to start. Sorry if I come across a bit dumb but all the legal jargon completely baffles me. I have contacted the shopping centre twice with no luck so far, will try again tomorrow but in the meantime really want to get a start in my defence.
I'm at the point where it's causing me so much stress I'd rather just pay ��

Umkomaas

Which parking company?

How much are they demanding?

Frankly, if you're not able to handle it, then an Internet forum can't do this all for you. You will need to develop some real grit and determination as this is winnable, if you get stuck in.

Bluecarrot

UKPC
8 PCNs amounting to £1280
Court fee £70
Legal rep costs £80
Totalling £1430

I understand it won't be solved for me on a forum, due to my lack of knowledge would I be best seeking legal advice from a solicitor?

Redx

see if the BMPA will help

Umkomaas

would I be best seeking legal advice from a solicitor?

Do you have any form of home insurance that provides you with some free legal advice/assistance? Do you belong to a trade union who might offer similar?

In terms of fighting baseline parking charges Solicitors in general are way behind us in terms of knowledge of the technicalities. So we are always loathe to recommend paying for a solicitor. But you're defending potential large costs here and if you're so low on confidence you're in a very difficult spot.

A solicitor will likely cost you more in fees than you could ever hope to recover from UKPC even if you won (heavily capped legal costs at the small claims court). If you lose, you'll have your solicitor's full bill to pay, on top of whatever the judge tells you to pay UKPC.

Some Solicitors offer a half-hour free initial consultation, so you could use this and see what their thoughts are. But wait for more contributions from the forum to see what others say.

I can't believe you're leaving all this so late, just 6 days left, especially when you've had 33 days from the issue of the court papers. I think you're struggling quite frankly, but there may be more optimistic forum members to add advice.

As Redx has added - you could try the BMPA.

http://www.bmpa.eu/

[Deleted User]

Get. A. Witness. Statement.

You need a statement confirming that you were permitted to park there from your boss.

It needs to look a bit like this and be signed.
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/standard-directions/general/witness-statements

Do it. Now.

Your defence will be that you were permitted to park. Simple. But you need the statement first. I suggest you get a wiggle on if there has already been delay.....

Coupon-mad

In what way were the example defences linked in post #2 of the NEWBIES thread not helpful? Not being funny, this is so simple, jut copying and a bit of editing!

All you do is copy & adapt the most similar one then come back here over the weekend to show your adapted draft (so it makes sense and says you were authorised to park and that you will being a witness statement from your employer as evidence, should this predatory Claimant not discontinue the claim).

Post #2 of the NEWBIES thread, don't read it on a phone. Look at the linked defences, one by one. Pick the most similar circumstance, look for someone who was authorised to park at a workplace (I am sure there is one linked there like that?).

Astonished how so many posters can't write a defence or WS despite having examples to copy. Have a word with yourself and read the examples. They are NOT hard to understand, it's just words on a page.