County Claim Form

Phiras

Hi all. Thank you for the fantastic work you do here. Just found this while searching online for ways to help myself and found the spectacular work you do for the community.

I received a County Court Claim Form dated 10/12/2018 for a parking charge dated 03/09/2017 for 'breaching the terms of parking on the land at ______'. Total amount claimed is £250. Breakdown as follows:

Amount claimed: 175.16
Court fee: 25
Legal representative's costs: 50
Total: 250.16

Admittedly, I completely ignored all correspondence till this moment. Is there a way to defend this?
I have done the AOS like the BARGEPOLE walk-through mentions.

Much appreciate your advice from here onward.

Le_Kirk

If you have done the AOS in time (seems like you have) then you have bought yourself some breathing space in which to compile your defence. KeithP will be along shortly to tell you your exact deadline for defence but I suspect it will be middle of January.

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 10th December and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 14th January 2019 to file your Defence.

That's 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.

Redx

£175.16 was never the original charge, so has been inflated, probably by debt collector fees

send the PPC a SAR to their DPO and get all they have on you

look at what the original charge was (its never more than £100 which was the giveaway) , see what the additional £75.16p is for and add this as part of your dispute in the defence

the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread post #2 helps you to formulate your defence

Phiras

Thank you both very much. I will have a look at the guidance you have all helped with. Is it ok to ask for your advice once I have the defence prior to submission? Thank you again.

Redx

yes, post the proposed draft defence in this thread, for critique


start by reading the ones by member BARGEPOLE

The_Deep

£240 is far more than the Law allows for this sort of claim. The down market solicitors whom the PPCs engage know this, but, because they are solicitors, 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.

Also get your MP involved.

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.

Phiras

The_Deep wrote: »

£240 is far more than the Law allows for this sort of claim. The down market solicitors whom the PPCs engage know this, but, because they are solicitors, 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.



as I am sure they do not condone this conduct.

Also get your MP involved.

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.

Thank you for this. I will report them both to the SRA and my MP using the aid of your reply (with your permission). It really is disgraceful behaviour and a cheap tactic of attempting to use the law for easy money. I can see why people pay up. I have no plans of doing so on principle and will fight it till the end. I again can only thank you all from the bottom of my heart as without your support and knowledge, I would be absolutely clueless on what to do (as do most people I presume).