Unexpected County Court Claim

WallFlower

Hi,

I'm a complete novice at all of this...

I've had a quick read through the existing forums so have a rough idea of what to do but not sure if it is worth appealing against this / if there is anything that can be done in this instance.

County Court claim has been issued and no appeals have been sent.

My questions are:
1: If the parking period was overstayed is there any point in appealing?
2: And, is it too late to appeal? The fine is for a few hundred pounds which isn't ideal but the driver doesn't want to risk a CCJ against the keeper.

The driver of the car that received the parking ticket wasn't aware that a ticket had been issued several months ago (last year) - it was a camera, nothing on the windscreen.

The registered keeper has now received a County Court claim against the ticket. This came as a surprise as the keeper wasn't aware of any tickets registered against the car, and doesn't remember receiving anything in the post.

The claim states the date and time of the contravention but doesn't prove that the parking period was overstayed.

Trying to keep this post as anonymous as possible but happy to provide further information if helpful.

Thank you so much in advance.

bargepole

You need to read through the NEWBIES thread, and specifically the part which I have written, telling you how to deal with a Court Claim, everything from soup to nuts.

You also need to start using the correct terminology. There is no longer any 'appeal', the time for that has long gone.

What you have to do is Defend the claim.

WallFlower

Thank you so much for your reply Bargepole.

ok. Have read and digested a few of your posts.

My final questions is: we have worked it through between us and think the driver did overstay the parking time. Is there any point in even trying to defend? (I'm all for sticking it to these people but I would feel a bit of a fraud)

bargepole

Without knowing more details, it's difficult to comment.

Was the signage clear and legible?

Did the signage convey the contractual terms unambiguously?

Was the overstay within the mandatory grace period?

Was the Notice to Keeper sufficiently compliant with Schedule 4, Section 9, of POFA 2012 to transfer liability from driver to keeper?

Did the PPC have valid landowner authority to operate, and to pursue charges via litigation?

Did the times recorded by ANPR match up with the time actually parked?

Was the reason for the overstay something that was beyond the driver's control?

And so on ..

The_Slithy_Tove

WallFlower wrote: »

My final questions is: we have worked it through between us and think the driver did overstay the parking time. Is there any point in even trying to defend?

Of course there is. You haven't said how much they are claiming, or even which PPC. They all over-inflate their claims, CEL being one of the worst. So, even if you defended and lost, chances are you would end up owing less than they are claiming.

Umkomaas

The fine is for a few hundred pounds which isn't ideal but the driver doesn't want to risk a CCJ against the keeper.

It's not a 'fine'. It was a speculative invoice, which, although now too late, should have been dealt with at the time of issue. Not fatal though.

You only get a credit trashing CCJ if the case goes to court, you lose, the Judge awards costs against you, you ignore/refuse/forget to pay within the timescale dictated by the Judge (normally 1 month). It's not going to happen unless you cause it to happen.

Which parking company is involved here please?