Worth fighting county court claim?

twhitehousescat

12 min overstay , probably not

did you have to enter your details on an ipad thing?

the cameras are on entry/exit , you are allowed 10 mins to park up (grace period) amd a further period AFTER parking finished to leave

PE have got your info (anpr) as you entered the site , and conveniently forgotten 10 mins or so to park and read signage

Saadia

KeithP wrote: »

What does that mean?

The Issue Date and Date of Service are two different things.

Please can you tell us the Issue Date on your Claim Form.

I’m sorry, the issue date (date at the top of the letter) is 7th January 2019.

According to instructions on the back, the date of service is 5 days from this date?

Le_Kirk

Saadia wrote: »

Forgive me for being so completely new to forums, I have no clue how to quote

There is a button marked QUOTE below your text but you may not see it if you are using the forum on a phone.

The_Deep

I have absolutely no idea how the process works, and I've read countless advise online (including the newbie post) and found myself even more confused

It is complicated, but it is not brain surgery and, if you do not want to pay the scammer, you have no alternative but to buckle down and learn the rules of the game you have joined. You did yourself no favours by ignoring the pcn and now have much more work to do.

As your overstay was within the grace period, you can probably beat this. but there is no silver bullet, you have a lot of work to do, and questions such as "where is the quote button", lead me to believe that you might be better offering them £60 - 80 to make it go away. Whatever you do, complain to your MP.

The whole industry is a scam, relying on threats of court, and the public's ignorance of the Law, A bill is currently before parliament which will regulate the scammers, many of whom are ex-clampers.

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 Second Reading in the Lords this month, and, with a fair wind, will l become Law later this year..

All five readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 7-8 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.

Yours is a very common event, and there are hundreds of similqr cases documented here, on pepipoo, legal beagles, parking cowboys, CAG, and the notomob.

KeithP

Saadia wrote: »

I’m sorry, the issue date (date at the top of the letter) is 7th January 2019.

According to instructions on the back, the date of service is 5 days from this date?

Yes, the date of service is five days after the date of issue.


With a Claim Issue Date of 7th January, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 11th February 2019 to file your Defence.

That's nearly two weeks away. Loads of time to produce a good 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.

Saadia

Guys, I spent a while writing up a defence and almost finished it but I am just not cut out for this! I have far too much stress to deal with at the moment and not in the mental state to be dealing with the anxiety of courts!

Sadly I’m going to have to drop this and pay up!

Does anybody know how I notify properly my change of mind and send the money?
Is there a proper process or can I just contact parking eye directly?

Thanks for the advice above, you guys are actually awesome! Had I been in a better mental state, I would have definitely gone ahead but I can’t handle it at this time.

Umkomaas

If you're resigned to paying this, make PE a 'Without Prejudice Save as to Costs' offer to settle before court. They are known to accept ~£60 to do so. Start a bit lower, then work up.

Just either write (with free Certificate of Posting from your PO counter) or email them. I think it's the 'enforcement@' email address. I think some have phoned and negotiated that way.

Saadia

Umkomaas wrote: »

If you're resigned to paying this, make PE a 'Without Prejudice Save as to Costs' offer to settle before court. They are known to accept ~£60 to do so. Start a bit lower, then work up.

Just either write (with free Certificate of Posting from your PO counter) or email them. I think it's the 'enforcement@' email address. I think some have phoned and negotiated that way.

I wrote offering £60 and they counter offered £150.
Should I stick my guns at £60 or reduce to £100?
And would it be sufficient to argue that £150 is not proportionate or fair in the light of denied liability and a genuine agreeable settlement ?

Just don’t want them to deny it at all in the end but not sure how far I can push as I know by some posts on here that parking eye have accepted £60 in the past!

Umkomaas

Should I stick my guns at £60 or reduce to £100?

Only you can make that call. I've never negotiated with PE.

And would it be sufficient to argue that £150 is not proportionate or fair in the light of denied liability and a genuine agreeable settlement ?

If you're making them an offer, I don't think they'll be swayed by an argument that wouldn't have even stood up in court - if you go there. Beavis killed this as a line.