Is it too late to appeal a PCN once debt collector involved and court action threatened?

fisherjim

Note also that the claim cannot be £160, that includes the debt collectors fee who have failed to collect, and using their own words handed the file back to their client.


The scammers can only claim the original charge as noted on their paperwork not the no win no fee debt scammers add on who are in on the whole sorry con.

Dksav

Brilliant thanks for all of your speedy replies.

The issue date was 13th May.

And correct it did come from Northampton not Nottingham ha!

Thanks guys

HayleyD83

Just wanted to chime in here - sit tight and follow the advice of the regulars on here and you can't go wrong! Don't worry about CCJ's or risk to your credit that's exactly what the scammers want is to scare people into paying up. Speaking as someone who has recently been in your position, be prepared to spend lots of time researching for your defence and witness statements but don't be worried and DONT give in. The wonderful people on this forum will be here to advise you at every turn

Dksav

That's great to hear thank you for your reassurance

KeithP

Dksav wrote: »

The issue date was 13th May.

With a Claim Issue Date of 13th May, you have until Monday 3rd June 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 file linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread. About ten minutes work - no thinking required.

Having done the AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 17th June 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 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 "defence received". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to keep 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.

Dksav

Just a quick update about this case.

I attended the small claims court in Liverpool today and after the VCS representative making a fool of herself on numerous occasions, clearly winding the judge up, and after the judge ripping shreds out of their claim and evidence... I was eventually ordered to pay VCS £200! (100 parking charge, 25 court fees, 75 legal fees)!

Really surprised me at the end there. I had a valid argument for everything she said. I even used their own pictures against them as evidence of how poorly lit their signs are.

Then right at the end when he's summarising and making his decision, he makes his decision on 2 points - one being a sign on a fence that had not been brought up once in the proceedings, which had it been mentioned I had a clear picture of that fence that VCS took themselves on the night, showing that it is pitch black and blatantly cannot be seen without a flash or a torch.

The other point saying that I would have driven past that sign and several others on the road, so balance of probability being I would have seen them, although again, I performed a 3 point turn half way down the road, without actually going to the bottom past all these signs he's talking about, only the first 2, both of which I am disputing with good reason - but it feels as if none of these points were mentioned until right at the very end when he made his decision, and had they been mentioned during the proceedings I would have really fairly disputed them.

I'm really frustrated about the way it's gone, I feel like it was going really well even felt like he was in my favour until right at the very end, almost as if I've been ambushed on these two previously unmentioned points!

Can this be appealed in anyway? I'm furious, even more so than when I got the PCN in the first place :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Umkomaas

Dksav wrote: »

My only concern is that, if the courts were to rule in their favour, would this affect my credit rating even if I paid immediately?

I'm 29 and looking to get my first mortgage with my partner literally within the next 6 months. Having this affect my credit now would be pretty catastrophic, I'd take the flack on my credit score obviously which I can deal with, but I'd hate for it to affect her as well with us looking to buy so soon.

Dksav wrote: »

Just a quick update about this case.

I was eventually ordered to pay VCS £200! (100 parking charge, 25 court fees, 75 legal fees)!

Can this be appealed in anyway? I'm furious, even more so than when I got the PCN in the first place :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I’m really sorry you lost at court. Litigation can be notoriously unpredictable.

In terms of an appeal. Appeals in the main are about errors made in law by the Judge. Not happy with a decision is not a reason for appeal I’m afraid.

I’m conscious that you were concerned about having a credit-trashing CCJ against your name. Just to reiterate advice previously given - if you pay by the deadline given by the Judge, no affect on your credit rating.

While VCS should inform the court that the judgment has been paid, often PPCs don’t bother, so take a belt and braces approach and write to the court yourself, confirming that you’ve paid, with evidence (photo of cheque/screenshot of payment transaction if via online) attached.

Sorry again for your loss.

Dksav

Thanks for your reply Umkomaas.

I'm literally in shock at the judges decision. The signs are clearly not visable on any of the photos provided due to the street being in almost total darkness (this being especially evident on the pictures of my car taken on the night, to the extent that their representative clearly hadn't read the case properly and for the first 10 minutes was trying to dispute them, saying that they had been taken 'conveniently' so as to obscure the signage, before the judge reminded her that this was the evidence provided by VCS and not by me!), and one of them is even turned around facing away from the road, again, clearly evident in the photos provided by VCS and not by me.

I will be sure to pay the £200 in full within the next few days.

Do you think its worth writing to my MP to complain about this? Would it realistically achieve anything? I almost feel that given everything that's going on in the UK right now, my extortionate parking fine is gonna be quite low down on her list.

I'm just absolutely bemused, I work so hard for my relatively poor wages, doing 14 hour shifts as an A&E nurse, struggling to save for house deposit, wanting to start a family but struggling with barely having enough money to pay my rent / billls/ credit cards etc, now all of a sudden a judge declares that these low life scammers are somehow entitled to huge chunk of my hard earnt cash.

I'm at an absolute loss to be honest, I respect the courts, but today I've lost all faith in them.

The_Deep

Of course it is worth writing to your MP.

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.[/FONT] she pTE