Help Please! Parking Fine County Court Pack

pandorapandora

Hi all

I wondered if someone could please give me some advice?

Last winter I paid to park in a S.I.P private car park for three hours for Christmas shopping. After shopping we went for something to eat - the restaurant was heaving (Xmas!), food hadn't arrived yet and I only had half an hour left on my parking, so I rang up the above company (premium rate line - cost me more than the extra hour of parking!) to pay. The customer service lady wanted me to read out my card number - as I was surrounded by strangers, I asked if I could pay online instead. She gave me the website and the location number (I checked it twice with her!). I then went to the website, paid for the hour and then got back to the car and had a ticket! I just presumed they hadn't checked their computer system and had gone by the physical ticket on the windscreen which had expired 20 mins before, so wasn't too concerned. I then forgot all about it until (I think March/May) I got a letter. I rang up, couldn't get through to a human so I emailed them explaining the above and that I'd paid for the extra hour. I received an automated response but heard nothing back from a human, so thought they'd accepted my explanation.

Two months ago I received a letter from their solicitors asking me to pay a whopping fine or to send any defence, which I did. I got a copy of my phone bill showing the £4 call to them on the date (half an hour BEFORE the ticket expired), along with a copy of my bank statement showing the payment of £4-ish for the extra hour coming out of my account. The solicitor replied saying I have paid the wrong company - Manchester Parking NOT S.I.P! I rang S.I.P and was given the location number by S.I.P. - checked twice!

My colleague has advised me that the parking company's own customer services number probably routed through to a national call centre (Pay By Parking) as many of them do; so the woman has probably given me the wrong location code.

A week later I've now been sent a county court pack asking me whether I wish to pay £250, acknowledge or defend. I'm so annoyed because I've done nothing wrong for this but I'm very anxious about the prospect of a CCJ as this could affect my job.

Can anyone please advise? Do I get a solicitor? I've never had anything like this or so much as a speeding ticket before so this is giving me sleepless nights.

Thanks

nosferatu1001

NEWBIES thread
No solicitor
You MUST IMMEDIATELY GO ONLINE, click "acknowledge", defend in full, do not contest jurisdiction unless you live outside England and Wales.

Then go back and read newbies thread, post 2.

Redx

go through this SIP court thread too

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5649649

they won in court yesterday on signage issues

so if you read that one and try to do something simiular to what they have done , you will be better prepared seeing as it was a 2017 case from start to finish over several months

Umkomaas

I'm so annoyed because I've done nothing wrong for this but I'm very anxious about the prospect of a CCJ as this could affect my job.

Forget about a CCJ. You only get one of those that could have a negative impact (mainly on credit rating, but sometimes on jobs) if you lose at court, costs are awarded against you and you then fail or refuse to pay the costs awarded by the judge in the timescale he has given.

All completely within your own control.

Redx

as above

if it goes to court and you lose , PAY , IN FULL , within 28 days , no CCJ , no issues at work

its not paying the court order which causes the CCJ to be recorded, as its effectively contempt of court

RobinofLoxley

As above :

If it gets as far as court and the claim is upheld it would cost you less than the £250 they are asking for.
How have they bumped up a max £100 parking charge to a claim for £250?

Two months ago I received a letter from their solicitors asking me to pay a whopping fine or to send any defence, which I did. I got a copy of my phone bill showing the £4 call to them on the date (half an hour BEFORE the ticket expired), along with a copy of my bank statement showing the payment of £4-ish for the extra hour coming out of my account. The solicitor replied saying I have paid the wrong company - Manchester Parking NOT S.I.P! I rang S.I.P and was given the location number by S.I.P. - checked twice!

Who are the solicitors, Gladstones? Did you receive a 'Letter Before Claim' and when?

Also on your bank statement who does it say you paid the £4 too. AFAIK there isn't a PPC called Manchester Parking (perhaps someone can confirm this), although companies house do have records for a 'Manchester Parking Ltd' but they are listed as a non trading company. There isn't a company with that name who are an approved operator of either the BPA or IPC.

pandorapandora

Hi

In reply, yes it is with Gladstones.

On my bank statement it says 'MANCHESTER CC -PAR' at a cost of £3.10.

Thanks for clarifying about a CCJ - was stressing about that with work.

I did receive a letter a couple of weeks ago - not sure if it was a 'Letter Before Claim' - would need to check when I get home from work. Husband opened it as I had complete anxiety about it (I know their envelopes now) - it had gone up to £160 then.

The £245.14 on their claim form is £160 for Parking Charges/Damages and indemnity costs if applicable, £10.64 at 8% pa, £25 court fee, £50 legal representative cost.

I will go through all those suggested threads tonight.

Thanks so much

Loadsofchildren123

do your phone records show the actual number you called, and can you show that this is the advertised number for SIP (or the number on the P&D machines/signage for you to call). if so, not your problem, you complied with the T&Cs.


Don't panic, you seem to have a good defence


Don't be hurried into filing your AoS - you don't need to file it for 14 days. It's important to wait because you now need to read up and educate yourself to give yourself some much needed confidence. Knowledge is power. If you file the AoS early, that's 2 weeks less time for research/acquiring knowledge and preparing your actual defence.

KeithP

pandorapandora wrote: »

On my bank statement it says 'MANCHESTER CC -PAR' at a cost of £3.10.

That looks to me like an abbreviation for Manchester City Council - Parking.

pandorapandora

Hi Keith

I did at dinnertime because someone on here said to do it immediately.

I do have the phone records - they clearly show I rang SIP parking's telephone number at a premium rate for over 3 minutes - I also have a Google screenshot of that number belonging to SIP Parking.

As instructed by SIP's customer service rep I then went onto the pay by phone website. The website said my reg was registered with them but I did not remember my password for their website so had to request that - I have the text showing this password request dated/timed BEFORE THE TICKET EXPIRED too.

I paid for an hour using the location number provided BY SIP on their call and then that was that.

Gladstones said something along the lines of 'thanks for the evidence you KINDLY' provided - this clearly shows you did not pay my client'. I paid who SIP told me to pay!

Do I try and get a copy of the call recording?

Evidence wise I have:

Phone company statement screenshot sent to me by EE showing the call to SIP Parking
Google screenshot confirming that it was SIP that I called
Photos from Google streetmaps of the car park I parked in (not sure why I've done that but I have)
Bank statement showing the money coming out of my account
I can also go on the Pay by Parking website and that shows the car park payment too.

Loadsofchildren123

Right then the error is theirs, the number must take you to some central place that acts for other companies too. But that's not your fault. You did precisely what you were told to do.


Someone else had this recently (Hayles-something was the username) - although from memory she'd paid the pcn charge, not for the parking, but it's the same principle. The parking company claimed that they hadn't had payment and she could clearly demonstrate they had. Eventually they pulled their heads out of their a***s and worked out that she had indeed paid and then they withdrew (forgetting about her counterclaim).


You just defend as driver, saying you paid by way of a P&D display and then topped it up for an hour by phone, prior to the expiry of the P&D ticket. Therefore you complied with all contractual terms.


You have demonstrated to the C that you paid and are not responsible for any internal error which means they cannot marry up your payment to your car.


The charge was clearly wrongly made, and the proceedings have no basis.


Counterclaim for harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act and for a breach of your Data Protection Act rights. I think again Hayles's thread is a good place to look. You must tell them that you are going to counterclaim if they proceed. I'll look now for Hayles's thread and post a link here.


Then in your WS you provide all of this evidence you have and say you cannot explain why they cannot trace the payment, but there's clear evidence you made it.