County Court Claim Left to Last Minute!

fivins

Hi guys,

I've left it all to the last minute.

i have a county court claim notice from Parkingeye dated 30 April.

I took no action at all until the county claim form came in.

I've completed the AOS on 14 May.

I've just completely forgotten about it since.

The claim is for overstaying at a Welcome Break M1 services. The driver overstayed but it was nighttime and never saw the signs. The driver is a bit annoyed, as they spent that time in their shops eating their food and drinking their coffee -- a legitimate paying customer.

Is there a defense? Too late to file a defense? May have only one or two days left!

Thanks all.

Browntoa

Have you read the newbies thread ?

The template letters you need are there

fivins

Hey Browntoa. Thanks for the quick response.

Yes, I've spent a load of time on the newbies thread and I've learned a lot.

I'm still very unsure about two major points:

1.) I must be very near my deadline. Or am I already too late for a defense?
2.) I don't see any obvious defenses that suit me. The driver DID overstay and there WERE signs in retrospect, but they weren't that clear at night and it never occurred to them that there would be a charge while spending money at someone's establishment.

If there is no real defense, then I'll just pay and move on. But I'd rather not pay if one of those links is suitable to my situation and is very likely to be a successful defense.

What do you think?

KeithP

As the issue date on your claim form is 30 April and you have done the AoS, your Defence must be served by 4pm on Monday 4tn june 2018.

It can be served as an email attachment, so you have all weekend to produce a Defence.

As an aside, how does anyone forget they have an impending court appearance?
Truly amazing.

fivins

Thanks Keith.

fivins

Regarding my original post:

Given my circumstances, do I even have a defense worth pursuing or should I just cut my losses and pay?

If I DO have some sort of defense worth mounting, could someone point me toward a link with a similar offense that I can adapt?

Thanks!

Le_Kirk

Click on Forum Search, Advanced Search, use "Welcome Break" without the apostrophes as your search term and change to posts not threads , select the parking tickets, fines and parking sub-forum and hit search now. You will find loads of people who have had the same issue.

System

Too late to file a defense? May have only one or two days left!

You have this weekend as the courts won't entertain a request for a default CCJ until Monday so prepare it; get it checked; email it; and phone on Monday morning to make sure the defence is logged.

[Deleted User]

Frankly given how poor most Particulars of Claim are, even a below average effort is better than none, since it'll prevent a default judgment.

You then need to make sure you put all future court dates in your diary to avoid this reoccurring and invest time in a bl**dy good witness statement, preferably supported by night time photos of poorly illuminated, illegible or absent signs.

Coupon-mad

I would base it on this recent one:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74254129#Comment_74254129

YOU (not us) must go through it and remove the really obvious irrelevant bits like the reference to NEW terms and conditions and changes in restrictions, because you are not arguing that. Much is it IS relevant though if you adapt it to concentrate more on unlit signs and nothing inside the premises to alert a tired driver to a need to make a small payment if they stayed on longer than 2 hours to rest.

Also change:

- 'Odeon' to 'Welcome Break' throughout,

- 'hidden iPad' to 'hidden tariff' or 'hidden payment method for drivers staying beyond 2 hours' or re-write those bits.

...and amend the point about signage to state that the signs were not visible because it was pitch black and they are unlit and minuscule compared to the bright signs of the actual service facilities offered, and no PDT machines are in the car park at all, nor a reminder 'have you paid and displayed if you stayed more than 2 hours?' as drivers leave, so nothing (and no staff) told you that Welcome Break was not a welcome place to rest on a night-time journey.

Also refer to this case somewhere (there is no known claim number):

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/aug/26/parking-eye-takes-on-top-barrister-85-fine

You need to refer to it in the defence as a case that was in all fours and in the public eye and your case is no different except you are not a barrister but hope the Court will see the situation is the same.

Show us the resulting draft over the weekend, shoudn't even take long.

fivins

Thank you for all of that. Incredibly kind of you.