Vehicle Control Services £500 claim form - for parking in my own space!

stetotheg

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to read. I have rented an apartment for my university term since September 2017. A parking permit was given to me by the landlord and I leave it displayed on my vehicle's dashboard.

In December of 2017, I returned to my car to find 5 private parking charges. My parking permit had slipped down the dashboard so that only part of it was visible - they've issued a claim against me for £500.00 (£100.00 per day the permit wasn't correctly displayed)! My vehicle has remained at the property since the beginning of my tenancy and it is most certainly the space allocated to my apartment number.

They have included in the particulars of clam that my parking notice was "not displayed correctly".

What kind of outcome should I expect here? Being only a student I'm scared that I'll have to pay their court fees too - but surely the court wouldn't expect me to pay this? Any advice is very much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Fruitcake

Start by complaining to your landlord, and get a copy of your lease if you haven't already got one.

Read the NEWBIES thread, especially post 2 that has a step by step guide on the court process from beginning to end.

You should also complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

Have you thought that a person or persons unknown might have bounced up and down on the car to deliberately dislodge the permit, then took a picture of it afterwards?

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?


You can correct the title of the thread by going into edit on you opening post. Then choose Go Advanced and type what you want in the Title box.

Umkomaas

Being only a student I'm scared that I'll have to pay their court fees too

The court fees if you lost (and there is information on the forum to help you win) would be little more than £100. So don't let your mind run away with thoughts of thousands. The small claims court has strict rules on costs maxima (unless the loser has acted unreasonably - you would really have to go some to be deemed 'unreasonable' in the process).

The_Slithy_Tove

Even if they had a right to charge you £100 for parking in your own space (which they don't), can they really make this a daily charge?

What EXACTLY do the signs in the car park say? Take a photo and post here (if you can, I guess you may no longer live there).

stetotheg

Fruitcake wrote: »

Start by complaining to your landlord, and get a copy of your lease if you haven't already got one.

Read the NEWBIES thread, especially post 2 that has a step by step guide on the court process from beginning to end.

You should also complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

Have you thought that a person or persons unknown might have bounced up and down on the car to deliberately dislodge the permit, then took a picture of it afterwards?

Thanks for the advice Fruitcake - the apartment is situated right at the waterfront, it can be very windy when I exit my car and the permit has been blown down a few times I've noticed since.

I'll find the best way to make a complaint to the MP, I've heard back from many other residents who are apparently having just as much trouble.

stetotheg

KeithP wrote: »

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?


You can correct the title of the thread by going into edit on you opening post. Then choose Go Advanced and type what you want in the Title box.

Hi KeithP thanks for the response! The issue date on the claim form is 29th November - it states I have 14 days to respond.

KeithP

stetotheg wrote: »

The issue date on the claim form is 29th November - it states I have 14 days to respond.

With a Claim Issue Date of 29th November, you have until Tuesday 18th December 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 [URL="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread[/URL].

Having done the AoS, you then have until 4pm on Wednesday 2nd January 2019 to file your Defence.

That's a month away 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.

Umkomaas

If you're still there and to avoid any further wind-assisted flipped permit, have a lump of blutack on the dashboard, or a peg to anchor it, or slip it into a completely empty CD jewel case, which won't be affected by wind.

But be careful as they can be quite slippery and it's not been unknown for parking gimps to shake a car to encourage the permit to slide off the dashboard, so a bit of blutack between the CD case and dashboard should make it pretty much gimp-proof!

Coupon-mad

I keep blutack in my glovebox expressly for this purpose. No permit is moving anywhere in my car, not that I often use permit/pay and display car parks.

Snakes_Belly

When you are writing up your defence just bear in mind that the man who runs this company owns a huge property and a yacht. He treats his employees like s--t so don't let him have any of your hard earned cash.