County Court letter for unpaid UKPC parking tickets

woozlekeeper

We received 2 parking tickets from UK Parking Control Ltd (UKPC) over the last year for parking in a commercial parking lot after working hours, when the premises were empty and the car park was no longer being used by customers (e.g. 8pm-midnight). It was dark when we parked and we did not see any private parking notices - but had a ticket on the windscreen when we returned. We have since had several follow-up letters which we ignored (advice found online) and have now received an official County Court Claim Form for a large sum (in the high hundreds £££).

We have read the 'Newbies Thread' and have created a Government Gateway ID and an Acknowledgement of Service Form to activate the 14 day extension on the claim.

Unfortunately, we no longer have copies of the original letters that have been sent to us by UKPC. However, from memory - both photos were taken in the dark - and in the first letter the VRN was printed incorrectly.

The original letters were sent to an old address (that we still own but rent out) and UKPC seem to have used DVLA data to obtain our current address, because they then started sending the letters to our current location.

We would really appreciate some help in drafting an appropriate defence letter and advice with next steps. Thank you!

KeithP

You need to refer to post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

In there you will find all the guidance you need including several sample Defence texts.

What is the Date of Issue on your Claim Form?

Redx

that post #2 helps you construct a defence (not defence letter) which as you have done the AOS you now need to draft one from existing examples on here, adapt it, then post it for critique

until you post your proposed draft, you wont get the feedback needed

so the unwritten rule is one of D I Y

you draft the proposed defence

it is reviewed by anyone capable of helping

then you get critique so it is honed into a bespoke defence

also you drop a FREE SAR bomb under the new GDPR 2018 onto UKPC in order to obtain everything they have on this matter, pictures , documents etc , that way you WILL have those details that are no longer available to you

SO THAT IS 2 THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO DO

1) LOOK AT SAY A DOZEN OR MORE DRAFT DEFENCES FROM THIS YEAR ON HERE AND ADAPT ONE

2) DO the SAR under the GDPR on UKPC

and as asked above, what is the date of Issue on your MCOL form ?

The_Slithy_Tove

woozlekeeper wrote: »

We received 2 parking tickets from UK Parking Control Ltd (UKPC) over the last year for parking in a commercial parking lot after working hours, when the premises were empty and the car park was no longer being used by customers (e.g. 8pm-midnight).

Have you been back to check exactly what the signs actually say? Take photos and post them in this thread. If they forbid any parking at all after 8pm, then it's a matter of trespass only, as there is no offer of parking at that time, and only the landholder can pursue that.

Umkomaas

Are you being pursued as a company, or an individual?

The county court venue at which a company is to be pursued will be that convenient to the claimant. If it's an individual being pursued, the hearing will be at a court convenient to him/her.

The_Deep

Have you seen this?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-35253759

Were they to take you to court and win, the most they would be likely to be awarded should not exceed £400 so there might be some creative accounting here.

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 House of Commons recently

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

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

woozlekeeper

Thank you to everyone that replied - it's much appreciated.

The date the Claim Form was issued is the 27th of July - and on Sunday the 29th we submitted the Acknowledgement of Service Claim.

I will go and take photos of the signage that is up tomorrow and will post here and will then write my draft based on your advise.

Thank you kindly!

Umkomaas

Thank you to everyone that replied - it's much appreciated.

So why not answer what was asked in post #5? So as to save you looking, here it is again!

Are you being pursued as a company, or an individual?

KeithP

woozlekeeper wrote: »

The date the Claim Form was issued is the 27th of July - and on Sunday the 29th we submitted the Acknowledgement of Service Claim.

With a Claim Date of Issue of 27th July, and the AoS being done in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 29th August 2018 to file your Defence.

That's four weeks to create your Defence and hone it too perfection. Plenty of time but please don't leave it to the last minute.


When happy with the content, the Defence should be filed via email as described here:

1) Print the Defence.
2) Sign it and date it.
3) Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
4) Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5) Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
6) Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not, you son should chase the CCBC until it is.
7) Wait for the Directions Questionnaire and come back here.

woozlekeeper

Apologies - I realise I hadn't responded to your query. I am being pursued as an individual (I keep writing 'we' only because either my husband or I could have been driving my car, as genuinely don't know).

nosferatu1001

At this point entirely irrelevant who drove. The defendant is the keeper and defends as such.