county Court Claim Form - VCS Limited parking fine

PrettyKittyKat

Hi All,

I have tried my best to read as much as I can but feel abit confused by all the information. I think the newbie post said to start your own thread once you got a form from the court so I hope I am asking for advice in the right way.

My partner received a fine from Vehicle Control Services back in December. The letter was sent to his limited company as it is his work van, although he is the only employee. He has no recollection of parking where they said. We responded with the template letter I found on here with no admission of being the driver but only responding as the keeper asking for evidence and more info etc. I must admit i did miss their 'appeal' deadline - I'm not sure if this matters?

They have since sent further letters threatening court action, increasing the amount, etc which we have ignored. I did send one more letter in April which I sent recorded and have the proof of, saying I had not received a response to my first letter and including it again.

We have now received the county court claim form to go to court, which I need to respond to. The issue date is 25th Sept so I believe I need to respond to it by Sunday (+14 days + 5 days).


We are trying to decide if we are in a position to defend it at this stage and this is where you advice would be most welcomed.

From the information I have read on the forum I believe there is a process where I need to confirm I am defending, then I get 14 days to send the defence.
Then there are questionnaires, statements etc to send in, and a court date is given.

Our main question regarding the court date is - does my partner need to attend on the day? Or can he submit everything on paper and let the hearing happen without him attending? As he is self employed it would cost him more to have a day off work and go to the hearing than to pay the amount.

If we say we are defending are we then able to liaise with the company to agree a reduced amount to avoid the court date?

Finally we are applying for a mortgage so the CCJ aspect is concerning. Am i right in thinking as long as we pay within 30 days nothing is entered?

If we tried to defend and lost would the amount be any higher than it currently is (£185)?

I'm sorry if it is answered in the posts, I tried my best to look but couldn't find it.

Thanks in advance for any advice

PrettyKittyKat

Also I have just realised that I have joined the MCOL website using his name rather than his company name which is what is listed as the defendant on the form, does this matter?

Redx

phone the CCBC and ask them about the registration (go direct, dont ask us, we dont work for them , lol)


I wouldnt worry about what happened at the initial appeal stage, you contacted them , end of

if the judge finds against the defendant, then the defendant should pay the judgment to the claimant IN FULL within one month to avoid the CCJ being "stuck" to their credit file for 6 years

so yes, if you lose , pay up, in full , promptly

(these queries are answered in that NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread too)

if you do the AOS in a timely manner, the period doubles from 14 days to 28 days , making 33 days from the ISSUE DATE

an out of court settlement can be entered into any time up until the people walk into the courtroom

the amount of £185 may go down but should not increase, which is why it is small claims court, which is capped

a hearing can be decided on papers, but we always recommend attending court

most of your questions seem to be about MCOL, not parking matters

but the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread near the top of this forum has the answers you seek, as does advice on the MCOL website

MCOL is not just for parking matters, it could be a sub-contractor suing you for missing wages, or a firm who invoiced you for goods or services wanting their money

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 25th September, you have until 14th October to do the Acknowledgement of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox link from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

Having done the AoS, you then have until 4pm on Monday 29th October 2018 to file your Defence.

That's more than two weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a top class Defence, but don't leave it until the last minute.


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

1) Print your 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 chase the CCBC until it is.
7) Wait for your Directions Questionnaire and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread to find out exactly what to do with it.



Can you please post the exact contents of the Particulars of Claim box on that Claim Form - hiding personal data of course.


Very important:

Do the Acknowledgement of Service this weekend at the latest.

PrettyKittyKat

Thank you for both your advice.

I have rang MCOL to query whether it should have been in the limited business name or in my husbands name (company director) as I have done so far. She said you can re-register if you want to but said she was not able to advise whether it should be in my husbands name or the business name under the register as an organisation option (as that is listed as the defendant) and said i should seek legal advice or call the CAB to check this. It seems so strange that they won't tell you how to register appropriately on their system!

I am going to try and call the CAB now and see if they can advise.

However, if anyone else has been in the situation where the defendant was the limited company I would appreciate knowing how you did things.

PrettyKittyKat

I have spoken to CAB who said they had not come across this query before and were not sure. She said it was strange, as I thought it was, as I was only asking for clarification on how to register on their site not for any legal advice. They recommended trying the court using the number on the claim from, then trying the open justice law clinic.

I rang the number on the claim form but this was actually MCOL again so I thought I would just ask another adviser and see what they said. I spoke to someone who was happy to assist and confirmed I should register as an organisation and put directors name as point of contact within the business. (I wanted to pop the update in here incase anyone else has the same query!)

I am going to re-register now and complete the acknowledgement of service using the guide on the newbies thread.

PrettyKittyKat

Sorry another update, as I have already put the claim number and password into MCOL when I registered as an individual (but did not go any further) I am not unable to use it again in the new account as it can only be used once. So MCOL have advised me to do everything via email, so i will get that sorted today.

PrettyKittyKat

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL LETTER I SENT TO VCS AT THE END OF JANUARY 2018 (personal details replaces by x's)


Parking Charge Notice Reference No: xxxxxxxxx
VRM: xxxxxxx

I refer to the above detailed Parking Charge Notice (“PCN”) dated 11th January 2018 issued by Vehicle Control Services Limited (“VCS”) to me as a Notice of Keeper (“NTK”) in respect of an alleged breach of Parking Terms and Conditions at xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Loughborough, Lxxxxxxx on 7th December 2017. This PCN states that a previous a previous NTK was issued on 13th December 2017, however this was never received, therefore the letter dated 11th January 2018 was the first time I have been aware of the situation. Please note that I am responding as the keeper of the vehicle and this contact contains no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn.

I confirm that I am the keeper of this vehicle for the purpose of the corresponding definition under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“POFA”) and I write to formally challenge this PCN, setting out below why the charge is not valid.
1. The signs are inadequate and do not form a contract. This can be illustrated by examining the photographs taken by VCS’s agent to support the issue of the PCN.
2. The amount (if it is found to form a contract) is unconscionable and extravagant (£100) and bears no relation to any fine issued by a statutory undertaking neither before nor after discounts apply.
3. The issuers VCS are not the landowners and have no authority to contract the motorist.
4. In order to be able to be able to invoke Keeper liability, VCS’s NTK had to comply with the strict requirements of POFA. However, there are a number of reasons why VCS’s TK did not comply. I suggest you read carefully through the details of Paragraph 8 of Schedule 4 of POFA to understand why.

This letter constitutes my formal appeal regarding the PCN. I intend to escalate the matter to Parking on Private Land Appeals (“POPLA”) if the above justification is not considered and resolve the PCN.
Should you fail to cancel this PCN immediately, I require the following information with your template rejection:

1. Does your charge represent damages for breach of contract? Answer yes or no.
2. Please provide dated photos of the signs that you say were on site, which you contend formed a contract.
3. Please provide all photographs taken of this vehicle.

Kind Regards


**** NAME ****
Keeper of the Vehicle

PrettyKittyKat

*** SECOND LETTER SENT FOLLOWING MORE LETTERS FROM VCS AND THEIR DEBT COLLECTOR DEPARTMENTS ***

10/04/2018

To: Vehicle Control Services Limited. PO BOX 4777, Sheffield, S9 9DJ.

Parking Charge Notice Reference No: XXXXXXXXX
VRM: xxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Sir/Madam,

I refer to my previous letter in regards to the above Parking Charge Notice, a copy of which is enclosed for reference.

I am yet to receive a satisfactory response to this letter.

Please note that I am contacting you as the keeper of the vehicle and this contact contains no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn.



Kind Regards


**** NAME ****
Keeper of the Vehicle

PrettyKittyKat

PARTICULARS OF CLAIM ON CLAIM FORM

The Claimant's claim is for the sum of £160 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant in respect of a Charge Notice (CN) for a contravention on 07/12/2017 at XXXXXXXXX (Loughborough). The CN relates to a XXXXXXXXXXXXXX under registration XXXXXXXXX. The terms of the CN allowed the Defendant 28 days from the issue date to pay the CN, but the Defendant failed to do so. Despite demand having been made the Defendant has failed to settle their outstanding liability.
The Claimant seeks the recovery of the CN and interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% at the same rate up to the date of Judgment or earlier payment.

PrettyKittyKat

I have been reading through alot of defence statements of others but notice that alot are about having a permit but still getting a ticket, or having paid and still getting a ticket.

I think our main defence is that there is no evidence provided by VCS that the vehicle was present or that a 'contravention' as they state took place - is this sufficient?

The person driving genuinely doesn't remember parking in this spot, he had no jobs in that area on that day. He said the only thing he can think is that he sometimes pulls over to eat his lunch. So I'm thinking the points in defence statements about signage wouldn't apply as we don't even know the place!