8 county court letters & may have further coming against me. Help me

vapey2016

Hi, I am really stressed and don’t know what to do.

I have made a big mistake not taking these private car park tickets seriously or not dealing with them before.

Last Saturday I received 8 county court letters for separate tickets which were issued (4 for my car, 2 for the company van & 2 for my dad’s car).

End of 2015 in December we opened a new shop in Woolwich (London) which had a car park behind the shop owned by secure a space. We were given a permit and a fob key for the gate with the lease to use the car park.

From end of 2015 till now end off 2018 (3 years) I have been given over 100 tickets on multiple cars (my car, my dad’s, my brothers and the company van). After paying the first few I started ignoring the rest. I called secure a space a few times highlighting I have a permit and am still getting a ticket to which, they said it wasn’t displayed. However, there was 1 ticket officer giving the tickets and I am sure he knew I had a permit but carried on giving the tickets. I have been working at the shop for the past 3 years 7 days a week, so out of 1000 days I have been given 100 tickets for not displaying my permit.

It was my fault for not taking these tickets seriously as I thought there is a highly unlikely chance of them taking me to court.

Now I have been served with 8 county court claims with a fear of more to come. I don’t want to pay them as they £250 each and neither do I want to pay for a solicitor as I don’t have the money. But if I don’t from what I read a CCJ will be put on my name for the next 6 years which is scaring me. I’m afraid if I pay these 8 they will send more as they will think I will pay the rest and if I fight these they might not send the rest?

I was thinking to take all 8 claims to court for a hearing hoping they don’t show up and the judge rules in my favour, but I don’t know what steps to follow and what things to include in my defence statement.

Can someone please give a breakdown of advice as right now I am really scared, stressed and worried.

Coupon-mad

They are trying to catch you napping just before Christmas, and it is disingenuous of them to file a separate claim for each PCN, especially the ones that are about the same car, as the facts are identical.

Now I have been served with 8 county court claims with a fear of more to come. I don’t want to pay them as they £250 each and neither do I want to pay for a solicitor as I don’t have the money. But if I don’t from what I read a CCJ will be put on my name for the next 6 years which is scaring me.

Don't pay, and don't pay a solicitor, and CERTAINLY don't throw wasted money at some company alleging they can do this for you (no...!).

You DO NOT get a CCJ if you defend the cases, not even if you lost (you would then have 30 days to pay). You need to include in your defence, a point listing ALL the claim numbers and asking for them to be merged and heard at one hearing, or for one to be used as a test case for the rest.

I was thinking to take all 8 claims to court for a hearing hoping they don’t show up and the judge rules in my favour, but I don’t know what steps to follow and what things to include in my defence statement.

Can someone please give a breakdown of advice as right now I am really scared, stressed and worried.

I already have. That's why post #2 of NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST exists.

Tell us when you've read it and that you've done the AOS acknowledgement for each and every claim, on MCOL. No filling in the bits of paper, please...

Then come and tell us the date of each claim (top right) and the particulars of claim (on the left) and whether they are using a solicitor, and who has signed the bottom of each claim, whose name?

vapey2016

Hi I apologise for replying so late, I didn't receive a notification email stating I have had a reply.

Since my last post I have sent the AOS service for all 8 county claims and I am now trying to write my defence.

There were 4 claims not in my name( 2 in my dads and 2 in the companies name) while filling out the AOS online I have wrote my name as the defendant and signed it myself, would that be okay and will I become the defendant now? As I don't want my dad dealing with this or have the hassle.

All the claims are for the same date 22nd November 2018, so how long do I have before I have to file my defence?

The particulars of claims are as follows:

The claimant's claim is for the sum of £100 being monies due from the defendant of the claimant in respect of a parking charge notice (PCN) issued on 04/08/2017 (issue date) at at Maritime House SE18 6HB woolwich SE18 6HB.
The PCN relates to Audi under registration XXXXXXX.
The terms of the PCN allowed the defendant 28 days from the issue date to pay the PCN, but the defendant failed to do so. Despite demand having been made, the defedant has failed to settle their outstanding liability.
The claim also includes statutory interest pursuant to section 69 of the county courts act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum a daily rate of 0.02 from 04/08/2017 to 21/11/2018 being an amount of £9.50.
The claimant also claims £60.00 contractual costs pursuant to PCN terms and conditions.

Signed: BW LEGAL services limited
(Claimant's legal representative)

Furthermore, I don't know how to start my defence or what to include, I can't find any examples of parking permit tickets defences against BW legal.

waamo

You cannot make yourself the defendant. If a claim has been issued against your father then he has to defend it.

On a practical level you can do all the work but he is the defendant.

Half_way

We were given a permit and a fob key for the gate with the lease to use the car park.[\quote]
What does this lease say?

KeithP

vapey2016 wrote: »

All the claims are for the same date 22nd November 2018, so how long do I have before I have to file my defence?

With a Claim Issue Date of 22nd November, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Thursday 27th December 2018 to file your Defence. A few extra days due to Christmas court closing dates.

That's nearly three 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 suggested here:

Print your Defence.
1. Sign it and date it.
   
2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
   
4. 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'.
   
5. Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive a copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to put you under pressure.
   
7. Wait for your DQ from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then re-read post #2 of [URL="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread[/URL] to find out exactly what to do with it.

Wherever I have said 'you' or 'your' I do of course mean the Defendant.


Who is the Claimant?
Hint: It's not BW Legal.

twhitehousescat

Half_way wrote: »

We were given a permit and a fob key for the gate with the lease to use the car park.[\quote]
What does this lease say?

yup , what is in the lease , have you contacted the land owner yet

secure a space are unlikely to be the owner of the site , they will have been hired by someone , WHO??

vapey2016

But I have put my name on the claim where it says 'if name is different to the defendant' would that be a issue?

Also I think you may be right, I don't think secure a space are the land owners as the lease I have for my dads shop is with another company. I will find the lease now and see what it says.

Also any tips on how I should draft my defence and what to include?

Thank you to everyone for your help

beamerguy

vapey2016 wrote: »

The claimant also claims £60.00 contractual costs pursuant to PCN terms and conditions.

BWLegal still on their extortion rubbish ?

PCN terms and conditions ???? The only contractual charge is the £100 as displayed on the signs ...... The PCN itself is only a speculative invoice ???

BWLegal are just trying to scam you on the £60. They call it many different things but it is a Fake charge

BWLEGAL ADD ON A FAKE £60 ?
In addition to the 'parking charge', the Claimant's legal representatives, BWLegal, have artificially inflated the value of the Claim by adding costs of £60 which has not actually been incurred by the Claimant, and which are artificially invented figures in an attempt to circumvent the Small Claims costs rules using double recovery. >>>> thanks to bargepole

Umkomaas

Also any tips on how I should draft my defence and what to include?

Have you read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post # 2 as advised by Coupon-mad? That will have far more comprehensive information in one place than any regular firing a few lines of 'tips'. That section of the sticky is your most valuable resource to help you defend these - and you need to read it thoroughly and probably a good number of times.

But please note, the forum is not a legal forum, it is one set up to fight private parking charges and would have given you very good advice if you had dealt with the tickets at the outset. It's going to take some miracle to get you, your father and the company off (up to) 100 tickets.

I'm afraid you're going to have to do a lot of legwork to get yourself up to speed with the issues involved - simply asking for 'any tips' won't do the job. Sorry.

vapey2016

I have checked the lease and it states the following:

“The right to park one private motor car in the parking space shown edged red on plan 2 annexed hereto.”

The landowner is Opecprime properties limited as far as I have read and own the building and the car park behind.

Would it be worth reaching out to the landowner as I am there tenant?