County Court Claim Form from UKPC

TKNDWN

Hello all,

I'm posting on behalf of my brother who has received a County Cour Claim Form from UKPC. Admittedly, and regrettably, we had followed the advice of 'ignore' not knowing that this advice hasn't been relevant since 2012. I will attempt to cover every part of this so that fewer questions are asked. I've read the Newbies Thread and I'm currently at the point where it says to start a thread urgently so that you lovely folk may assist.

UKPC are claiming for £1,120 (total of £1,270 with court fees and legal representative costs - SCS Law) for 7 invoices received by my brother in a residential car park managed by UKPC. According to UKPC, the car park requires a permit, and the invoices are for 'Parking in a residents' parking area without clearly displaying a valid residents' parking permit' There is only one sign within the car park currently and it's the typical NO UNAUTHORISED PARKING UKPC sign as seen everywhere else (£100 parking charge, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days) My brother has managed to retain all 7 invoices but is unable to locate the original NTK letters sent to him (it's in the household somewhere). It is also worth noting that we've yet to receive a PoC and that the claim has already been acknowledged via MCOL.

I have images of the signage but I'm unable to post due to being a new user.

As the claim has been acknowledged, I'm wondering on how to build my skeleton defence to send off to the court, what points to make and cover hence why I am here. Is anyone able to assist?

I appreciate all of the work done on MSE and the help received. Thank you in advance!

TKNDWN

Edit: Forgot to mention that we've had zero correspondence with UKPC, they are not aware of who the driver is whatsoever. We have not called them, emailed them, spoken to them etc. Please let me know if you require any more information if I have missed out anything.

beamerguy

'Parking in a residents' parking area without clearly displaying a valid residents' parking permit'

Does he have a permit ???

Have you spoken to the landowner/agent ???

Residential parking is not the flavour of the month with
the courts, especially where UKPC are concerned

Some reading
UKPC lose residential case. Charge not a genuine pre-estimate of loss
http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2017/01/ukpc-lose-residential-case-charge-not.html

UKPC lose residential case
http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2017/03/ukpc-lose-residential-case.html

UKPC cancel £1500 of residential charges
http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2017/01/ukpc-cancel-1500-of-residential-charges.html

TKNDWN

Good morning Beamerguy,

My brother does not have a permit from UKPC, no. It's worth mentioning though that his car has been broken down for months and we believe UKPC took advantage of this. Reasons as to why he had not sought to resolve the issue are personal, however the car has been unable to be moved for quite some time now. We haven't spoken to the landowner / agent.

What do you mean by residential parking not being the flavour of the month with the courts?

Thanks for the links! I'll give them a thorough read immediately.

beamerguy

TKNDWN wrote: »

Good morning Beamerguy,

My brother does not have a permit from UKPC, no. It's worth mentioning though that his car has been broken down for months and we believe UKPC took advantage of this. Reasons as to why he had not sought to resolve the issue are personal, however the car has been unable to be moved for quite some time now. We haven't spoken to the landowner / agent.

What do you mean by residential parking not being the flavour of the month with the courts?

Thanks for the links! I'll give them a thorough read immediately.

Not a permit with UKPC but has any permission been
given as I assume he is a resident

What do you mean by residential parking not being the flavour of the month with the courts?

It means the courts do not approve and a resident
should have unfettered rights to park.

Let's face it, it's a cash cow for UKPC

TKNDWN

beamerguy wrote: »

Not a permit with UKPC but has any permission been
given as I assume he is a resident

What do you mean by residential parking not being the flavour of the month with the courts?

It means the courts do not approve and a resident
should have unfettered rights to park.

Let's face it, it's a cash cow for UKPC

Reading the tennancy agreement, there's no mention of parking at all within the entire agreement. Lord knows why he parked there. Although we are a resident within our estate, as our neighbours make use of the car park albeit with UKPC's permit, we do not have a permit.

I agree about the cash cow. +£1,000 for a few invoices seems a bit much. Also, regarding one of the links you've sent me...isn't the GPEOL argument null and void, killed by ParkingEye v Beavis in 2015?

What do you reckon should be my next steps from here?

Thanks a lot for the replies!

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

TKNDWN

The_Deep wrote: »

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

link

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

Having looked through a lot of posts on this forum in relation to this thread, I came across this posted on other threads. Extremely interesting!

beamerguy

TKNDWN wrote: »

Reading the tennancy agreement, there's no mention of parking at all within the entire agreement. Lord knows why he parked there. Although we are a resident within our estate, as our neighbours make use of the car park albeit with UKPC's permit, we do not have a permit.

I agree about the cash cow. +£1,000 for a few invoices seems a bit much. Also, regarding one of the links you've sent me...isn't the GPEOL argument null and void, killed by ParkingEye v Beavis in 2015?

What do you reckon should be my next steps from here?

Thanks a lot for the replies!

If there is no mention of parking in the agreement,
you need to find out who has given UKPC permission
to ticket cars

Parking Eye v Beavis has no bearing on this.

Beavis went to the Supreme Court about the fairness
of the charge for an overstay. That was in a retail park

TKNDWN

Thanks for the reply beamerguy.

I believe it is Wech (a resident controlled housing association in Westminster) that has given UKPC permission to ticket vehicles. Wech leave A4 papers on windscreens of vehicles without a permit claiming that if the car is not moved, they'll pass the registration onto UKPC.

Ah, excellent. Good to know regarding Parking Eve v Beavis!

The_Deep

If the HA is a registered charity complain to The Charity Commissioners that they are joining in with the PPC in actions not in the best interests of their tenants.

TKNDWN

The_Deep wrote: »

If the HA is a registered charity complain to The Charity Commissioners that they are joining in with the PPC in actions not in the best interests of their tenants.

I've just done a quick charity search and it would appear the the HA in question isn't a registered charity.

I'm not sure what my next steps are now. I'm still continuing to search the forum. Is there any other bits of information I need to include here?