SCS Law want £600

GreatWhite

Hi everyone, apologies in advance for starting a new thread but I've visited the newbies thread and my head is spinning.

So to give you guys my story, the driver was running late to work a few times during 2016 and decided to park behind their work building. Now I know the driver wasn't supposed to park there but he didn't have much of a choice otherwise he'd be late to work and his workplace is pretty strict when it comes to punctuality.

This happened 4 times in 2016, although one of the day was a bank holiday, so not sure if that makes much of a difference. The dates were 28/03/16, 14/10/16, 19/10/16 and 09/11/16.

On each occasion the keeper got a ticket and on the advice of his friends the keeper ignored them and chucked them away and did the same thing with the follow up letters which were posted to the keepers house.

Almost 2 years later the keeper has received a letter from SCS Law stating that they are acting on behalf of UK Parking Control Ltd and want to recover the charges for the 4 occasions the driver parked there. Each ticket is now £150 and the keeper now apparently owe them £600 because it was 4 times that the driver parked there.

The keeper doesn't really know what to do and has no idea what his options are right now, hoping you guys can help me out.

Redx

your first task is to edit your post and remove any hint of who was driving, these forums are monitored by parking companies so why hand a witness statement to them on a plate ?


what happened on the days in question happened to THE DRIVER

any subsequent paperwork has come in the post to THE KEEPER

only use those 2 terms, nothing else

so no "ME , MYSELF & I"

blabbing gets you nowhere , fast

GreatWhite

Done. Thanks.

Quentin

Everyone is politely asked to read up on the game you are caught up in in the newbies faq thread before starting a new thread


Go there now to get an understanding of why you can do nothing now you lost the chance to get popla appeals


You ignore everything now unless you get court correspondence or a lbcca.


Come back at that time to get advice on how to deal with it


(Maybe see if your friends who gave you bad advice will help out if this ends badly!)

Umkomaas

On each occasion the keeper got a ticket and on the advice of his friends the keeper ignored them and chucked them away and did the same thing with the follow up letters which were posted to the keepers house.

1. What have your friends got to say now?
2. Are they now rolling up their sleeves to help you get out of this mess?
3. Are they underwriting any costs you might become liable for should you lose at court, as a result of their erroneous advice?
4. Have you asked them?

GreatWhite

Quentin wrote: »

Everyone is politely asked to read up on the game you are caught up in in the newbies faq thread before starting a new thread


Go there now to get an understanding of why you can do nothing now you lost the chance to get popla appeals


You ignore everything now unless you get court correspondence or a lbcca.


Come back at that time to get advice on how to deal with it


(Maybe see if your friends who gave you bad advice will help out if this ends badly!)

What do you mean by court correspondence? So this letter that been received from SCS Law should be ignored?

Redx

yes, IGNORE it unless it conforms to the latest oct 2017 PaP guidelines for an LBC

if you receive an MCOL from Northampton CCBC (google it) in the next 6 years, come back for further advice , because that would be a real live court claim in civil court

these so called "friends" are morons

Coupon-mad

Almost 2 years later the keeper has received a letter from SCS Law stating that they are acting on behalf of UK Parking Control Ltd and want to recover the charges for the 4 occasions the driver parked there. Each ticket is now £150 and the keeper now apparently owe them £600 because it was 4 times that the driver parked there.

If it's a Letter Before Claim (a letter telling you their client will proceed to court), does it have specific Reply Forms attached, and how long does it tell you that you have, to reply? 14 days? 30 days?

If you have a LBC, then you can find responses written recently, by searching this forum for 'SCS immune'.

GreatWhite

Coupon-mad wrote: »

If it's a Letter Before Claim ( a letter telling you their client will proceed to court), does it have specific Reply Forms attached, and how long does it tell you that you have, to reply? 14 days? 30 days?

If you have a LBC, then you can find responses written recently, by searching this forum for 'SCS immune'.

Yes that's the one. It has reply forms attached to it and says I have 30 days to respond to it.

Coupon-mad

OK show us your adapted version of the letter you will find when you search for the 2 keywords I said.

GreatWhite

SCS LAW
Level 34
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ

...December 2017

Your ref:............

Dear Sirs,

I have received your Letter Before Claim dated...

Your letter lacks specificity and breaches both the requirements of the previously applicable Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct (paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c)) and the new Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (paragraphs 3.1(a)-(d), 5.1 and 5.2. Please treat this letter as a formal request for all of the documents / information that the protocol now requires your client to provide. Your client must not issue proceedings without complying with that protocol. I reserve the right to draw any failure of the Claimant to comply with the protocol to the attention of the court and to ask the court to stay the claim and order your client to comply with its pre-action obligations, and when costs come to be considered.

As solicitors you must surely be familiar with the requirements of both the Practice Direction applicable pre-1 October and the Protocol which applies thereafter (and your client, as a serial litigator of small claims, should likewise be aware of them). As you (and your client) must know, the Practice Direction and Protocol bind all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Its express purpose is to assist parties in understanding the claim and their respective positions in relation to it, to enable parties to take stock of their positions and to negotiate a settlement, or at least narrow the issues, without incurring the costs of court proceedings or using up valuable court time. It is astounding that a firm of Solicitors are sending a consumer a vague and unevidenced 'Letter before Claim' in complete ignorance of the pre-existing Practice Direction and the new Protocol.

Nobody, including your client, is immune from the requirements and obligations of the Practice Direction and now the Protocol.

I require your client to comply with its obligations by sending me the following information/documents:

1. an explanation of the cause of action
2. whether they are pursuing me as driver or keeper
3. whether they are relying on the provisions of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012
4. a copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim
5. a copy of any alleged contract with the driver
6. a plan showing where any signs were displayed
7. details of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed)
8. photographic evidence of the contraventions
9. what the details of the claim are; where it is claimed the vehicle was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated
10. Is the claim for a contractual breach? If so, what is the date of the agreement? The names of the parties to it and provide to me a copy of that contract.

If your client does not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) – Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13 ,15(b) and (c) and 16 of the Practice Direction, as referred to in paragraph 7.2 of the Protocol.

I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim until I am in receipt of the requested information/documentation. At this point it would be a waste of court time and costs for your client to issue proceedings. Should your client do so, then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.

Yours faithfully,

....................

What do you guys think?