Civil Enforcement LTD Court Papers

OTTNATH

Hello everybody, I have been trying to look for a case similar to mine but I’ve been unsuccessful. I read the Newbies Thread but it was all a bit bewildering to me. I got caught on an ANPR Camera on the 22/05/2018 in a pub carpark that had been free for years whilst pricing up a job for the landlady. They have a tablet in there whereby you’re supposed to put your numberplate into the system, which then issues you with a permit. I was unaware of this at the time, possibly because of unclear signage but massively because I often went to this pub and I always used to park there with no problem (I do actually know the guy who changed all the signs for her in the car park as they wasn’t sufficient, although I have no photo evidence of this) So a week or so later I received a letter with my full name on it and obviously they had my address but I read a few things online and decided I’d just ignore the letters and put them in the bin and just pray to god it went away. Well 3rd of July I received a letter from Civil Enforcement LTD saying that in accordance with Scedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 I am not liable to pay an amount of £100. Then the 3rd of August 2018, I received a “Final Reminder Before Legal Action”, followed by another letter from Civil Enforement LTD on the 5th of September now asking for £140. I then got a letter from ZZPS on the 9th of October 2018 headed “DEBT COLLECTION NOTICE - £170 - DEBT UNPAID” then another one like that on the 23rd of October. I then got a letter on the 7th of January 2019 from Civil Enforcement LTD saying that I owed £182 - then I heard nothing. In fact, just yesterday I was saying to the guy who I work with that the parking ticket seems to have finally gone away, thank god! Well today I received dreaded court papers from the “COUNTY COURT BUISNESS CENTRE” Claiment “CIVIL ENFORCEMENT LIMITED” - I could really do with some help and you guys are my only hope. I have a few things that may work out in my defence?
1) I installed new CCTV at the pub. I got the ticket whilst pricing up the job.
2) The lady who owns the pub would probably be willing to come to court with me or write a letter for me to take with me proving that I was there to look at the job.
3) The signage at the time was insufficient and I know the guy who changed over the signs in the carpark.
4) I no longer have the same numberplate

The work you guys do on here is fantastic by the way, I have been reading over some great success stories over the last 6 months. It’s a shame I didn’t appeal the ticket early on, I just assumed they would never take me to court over such a small amount. Turns out they have and now it’s not such a small amount, I really can’t afford to pay this right now. Thanks guys.

Redx

1) you were there on legitimate business with the landowners permission

2) get her to write a witness statement and sign and date it, for now

3) get that guy to write a WS as well, detailing the poor and inadequate signage, for now

4) irrelevant , you had it at the time


post the DATE OF ISSUE from that N1 form, below

email a SAR to the DPO at CEL to get all their data on you, tonight or this weekend, so asap, include a scan of the front of the N1 form as proof of who you are

then start to draft your defence, basing it on the concise defence by member BARGEPOLE , then post the draft below for critique

for now, all you need is included in that post #2 of the NEWBIES sticky thread

Egbert_Nobacon

The landlady engaged these scammers then didn’t warn you of the iPad registration.
She is the cause of your current predicament so you should approach her to instruct her contractors to discontinue.

You may be told that it is too late to cancel - don’t be fobbed off they can cancel any time prior to a court hearing.

You will need to be very firm, if she refuses to help warn her that you and your friends will not be coming back and trash the place on social media.

Pubs are closing on a weekly basis - not good business practice to p*** off genuine customers.

OTTNATH

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I’ve been away for work for the last couple of days, I’ll be home tomorrow night. @Redex, I’ll do exactly that. It’s probably just me being a fool but when I go on the NEWBIE page I can’t find post #2. Are you able to link it at all for me? Thanks again for the help, I’ll update my post as I go.

Le_Kirk

OTTNATH wrote: »

It’s probably just me being a fool but when I go on the NEWBIE page I can’t find post #2. Are you able to link it at all for me?

If you have found the NEWBIE page, it will have # 1 in the top right corner, that is post # 1. Just scroll down until you find post # 2. The pages are quite long.

Coupon-mad

OTTNATH wrote: »

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I’ve been away for work for the last couple of days, I’ll be home tomorrow night. @Redex, I’ll do exactly that. It’s probably just me being a fool but when I go on the NEWBIE page I can’t find post #2. Are you able to link it at all for me? Thanks again for the help, I’ll update my post as I go.

If you are on a phone come off it and look on a laptop.

Every post on every thread, has a number top right. Look, this is #6 on your thread.

OTTNATH

Thank you all so much! @Redex Massive thank you to you, I’m going to do everything you said in your post right now. I just haven’t had the time, I hope I’m not too late to do the SAR thing. I’m currently working nights and have just had no time to deal with this yet! What I have done so far, just to update you guys, is acknowledge the court and I have started my draft. My draft so far is: (I’ll continue to update this post so that I’m not constantly posting if that’s what the forum prefers?) Thanks again guys, honestly would be screwed without you.

In the County Court
Claim Number: *******

Between

CIVIL ENFORCEMENT LIMITED

v

*********

DEFENCE

BACKGROUND - The driver had the landowners permission to park in!
the carpark and was parked there for buisness.

1. The Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle in!
question. The Claim relates to an alleged debt arising from the!
driver's alleged breach of contract, which is denied. It is!
further denied that there was any agreement to pay the Claimant a!
punitive £100 'parking charge notice' (PCN) for the lawful conduct!
described below.

2. The allegation appears to be that the 'vehicle was not!
authorised to use the car park' based on images by their ANPR!
camera at the entrance and exit to the site. This is merely an!
image of the vehicle in transit and is no evidence of 'No!
Authorisation' or not being a patron of the facility.

3. The Defendant has already proved that patronage, and it is the!
Claimant's own failure, caused by their deliberately obscure terms!
and iPad that catches out far too many victims at this location,!
that has given rise to a PCN that was not properly issued from the!
outset.

Unclear terms - unconscionable penalty relying upon a keypad that!
the defendant was unaware of

4. At the time in which the defendant was captured by the ANPR!
camera, the signs were insufficient. Visitors were expected to!
know to input their Vehicle Registration Number (VRN). This was!
far from clearly signed and the purported keypad was inside the!
pub. The defendant was invited there to discuss buisness with the!
landowner.

4.1 After the defendants visit, the carpark had new signs erected.!
The signs prior to the defendant being issued with a fine for!
‘breaching terms and conditions’ was insufficient

OTTNATH

I’m unsure why it’s copied and pasted like that, I’ll get my laptop back soon and be able to post properly. Currently using my phone, my defence doesn’t actually have all those exclamation marks on it

The_Deep

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 become so widespread that MPs agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Hopefully, this will become law by Easter .

Le_Kirk

If you got to the NEWBIE section post # 2 and scroll down, you will come across some defences written concisely by Bargepole. One of those is about a hidden Ipad. Use that and adapt it to suit your circumstances. You really need to submit a SAR, unless of course you know exactly why the PPC are chasing you and have already received their POC and evidence, as you should with the LoC.

OTTNATH

Right RedX sorry for the late reply, the date I recieved the N1 form was 25th February 2019. I struggled to find an email address for the DPO at CEL. I’ve sent an email to appeals@ce-service.co.uk requesting a SAR. I will also definitely have a witness statement from the landowner, stating that I had full permission to be in her car park. I know the signs have been changed as well; I went there on Friday and took some pictures and I would say the signs are still not sufficient. There’s plenty of them but there’s one by the pay and display machine that is questionable but not sure if there’s any need for me to go down that route. I think I have good grounds to win at court with the fact that the signs were insufficient when I parked there (which I’m in the process of getting evidence of) and the fact that I have the landowners permission in writing stating that she was fine with me parking in her car park and that she didn’t make aware of the ANPR (it had been there around at week at the time of issue, prior to that it was a free car park after 5pm) - Would it be the end of the world if I didn’t receive the SAR? I’m so tied down with work at the moment I just haven’t had the time to do anything about this thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it more than anyone.