Claim form received for PCN - tempted to pay.

Landlocked_Surfer

Hi All, I have received a Claim form from CCBC at Northampton from Parking and Property Management sent by Gladstones solicitors. Rightly or wrongly I have ignored all previous correspondence and binned the majority of it (yep, not done myself any favours) I have a copy of the original PCN which was left on my windscreen and the claim form. So far I have completed the MCOL process to buy a extra 14 days.

How I got the ticket: I was helping my niece move out of a block of flats where she was renting a room. Signage stated that you should have a permit to park, her flatmate had the permit and had already left with it in a rental vehicle driving 60 miles away. I received a PCN for "No permit"

The original ticket was for £100 reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.
The current claim is for £165.65 + £25 court fee+ £50 legal fee total of £240.65
Im pretty sure the signage was pretty clear about displaying a permit but having parked there several times in the past with no permit and no issues, I didnt give it a second thought. (I will endeavor to get a picture of signage)
Im not sure if theres much defence I can really claim to this, Ive had a read though on previous examples, but cant really see a similar one, would I be better off just paying to make it go away as fast as is decent?

Quentin

Asking in this forum whether you should pay will never get you any encouragement

Read up all the advice provided in the newbies FAQ thread (#2 covers Court claims right through to the hearing) and fight this

Even if you lose in court you won't be paying £250!!

Umkomaas

Google Jopson v Homeguard

fisherjim

Landlocked_Surfer wrote: »

Im pretty sure the signage was pretty clear about displaying a permit but having parked there several times in the past with no permit and no issues, I didnt give it a second thought.

Then it wasn't then was it?


Why would you pay a scam fee of £165.65 when the original invoice was for a max of £100?
You are being conned!

The_Deep

£240 is far more than the Law allows, the solicitors know this, but hope that people will be frightened into paying by threats of CCJs, etc.

In my opinion this is tantamount to fraud and I urge you to complain strongly to their regulatory body, the SRA.

http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Landlocked_Surfer

7th November 2018.

KeithP

Landlocked_Surfer wrote: »

7th November 2018.

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th November, you have until Monday 26th November 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 10th December 2018 to file your Defence.

That's almost four weeks away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but don't leave it to the very 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.

Landlocked_Surfer

AOS is done, will crack on with the rest and post in due course, thanks!.