Parking ticket - retail car park

Wolly123

The keeper has now received a N1SDT claim form which the keeper is not to sure how to go about defending their self. The issue date is 10 December and says a response is needed within 14 days, allowing for 5 days for receipt of the claim form, so by 29 December. The keeper realises they need to respond by this date.

Please can anyone advise how to tackle this?

Also the keeper taken a quick look on the drop box link provided on the "**NEWBIES!! PRIVATE PARKING TICKET? OLD OR NEW? **READ THESE FAQS FIRST!** Thankyou!" page on money claim online - how to acknowledge -

Please can anyone summarise this and next steps?

Thanks in advance.

Fruitcake

Post 2 of the NEWBIES has a step by step guide to court. You need to do the AoS first but without putting anything in the defence box, and follow precisely the advice in the guide.

A quick read of the NEWBIES will do you no good at all. It's several brews and plate of biscuits job at the very least.

Make notes as you go.

Complain to the landowner, and to your MP about this unregulated scam.

nosferatu1001

No, because that info is in the newbies thread. Why ask us to repeat it, because you cant be bothered to read it other than a skim read?
Step back and understand how your post reads as "CBA".
If you do the acknowledgement you will have 33 days to get the defence in.

Have absolutely no possible advice as to exactly what to put in your defence, given we know absolutely nothing other than this was a Retail car park. WE dont even know which PPC!

The_Deep

Please can anyone summarise this and next steps

You need to take this seriously or it could trash your credit record. To this end you need to read and re-read the information we provide until you understand it, there is no "Parking fines for Dummies", you just have to put in the hours.

What you can usefully do today is complain to your MP.

It is the will of Parliament that these scammers be put out of business. Hopefully that will take place in the near future. The Bill has passed through the HOC without hitch, and goes to the Lords soon. In the meantime involve your MP, the poor dears are buckling under the weight of complaints about these scammers. Read this one which I wrote earlier

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially Smart}, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week), hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Third Reading in late November, and, with a fair wind, will become Law next year.

All three readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 6-7 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 10th December, you have until Monday 31st 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 the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

Having done the AoS, you then have until 4pm on Monday 14th January 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over 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 the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

Wolly123

Thanks for your responses - very helpful!

So, the keeper has re-read the NEWBIES thread and has now submitted the AOS. Have read further and understand the keeper now needs to submit a defence - by 4pm on 14 January.

Some more info:

The claimant is ES Parking Enforcement Ltd.

The solicitors are Gladstones.

Particulars of the claim:
The driver of the vehicle incurred the parking charge(s) on XX/08/2018 for breaching the terms of parking on the land at XXXXX Retail Park.
The defendant was driving the vehicle and/or is the keeper of the vehicle.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS £160 for Parking Charges / Damages and indemnity costs if applicable, together with interest of £2.53 pursuant to s69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at 8% pa, continuing to judgement at £0.04p per day.

The vehicle was parked between 7:30PM-10PM, overstaying the 90-minute limit by 60 minutes.

The PCN includes photos of the keeper's car entering and leaving the car park.

Parking date: XX/08/2018
PCN letter - 20 days later (£60 if paid within 14 days, £100 within 28 days)
Final demand - Early October (125)
Letter before claim - End October (160)
Claim Form - December (237)

The keeper's problem now is not knowing where to start in putting a defence together. Have read some of the NEWBIES defence links and struggling to understand which ones to use as a basis for this defence.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

The_Deep

At £237, Gladstones are demanding more than the Law allows for this sort of claim. These down market solicitors whom the PPCs engage know this, but, because they are solicitors, think that they can get away with it and know that a lot of people will pay up.

It is in fact double charging and non claimable debt collectors' bunce. Imo, this is fraud, or, at the very least, improper conduct.

Were this to get to court and they won, the judge would be unlikely to award the claimant more than £175 - £200.

I urge you to report this grubby law firm to their regulatory body, the SRA.

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code/content.page

as I am sure they do not condone this conduct.

Why not also complain to your MP?

It is the will of Parliament that these scammers be put out of business. Hopefully that will take place in the near future. The Bill has passed through the HOC without hitch, and goes to the Lords soon. In the meantime involve your MP, the poor dears are buckling under the weight of complaints about these scammers. Read this one which I wrote earlier

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially Smart}, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week), hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Third Reading in late November, and, with a fair wind, will become Law next year.

All three readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 6-7 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.