Directions Questionnaire for County Court Claim £267 - 5 Mins at High Force Waterfalls

88888888

County Court Claim - PCN - Civil Enforcement Ltd / ZZPS / QDR Solicitors

I have received a County Court Claim (dated 25th Feb 19) relating to a PCN from May last year.

I have ignored all previous correspondence.

Yesterday (11/03/19), I completed the acknowledgement of service online and ticked "I intend to defend all of this claim" box.

PCN

The original PCN (dated 06/06/18) stated that the driver had parked at High Force Hotel, Alston Road, Forest-in-Teesdale, Barnard castle DL12 0XH.

It is alleged that the driver was parked from 18:19 to 18:33 on 31/05/18 (fourteen minutes).

The notice included two images of the car - one entering / one exiting a car park - neither with any time/date stamp.

An amount due of £100 (reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days) was requested.

I have highlighted High Force Hotel in red because 'High Force Hotel' is a pub situated to the left of the claimant's private car park. The High Force Hotel has about ten parking bays of it's own at the front - completely separate from the large ANPR monitored car park.

Does the inaccuracy / ambiguity offer any help with the defence?



Court Claim Form

Particulars of Claim
Claim for monies relating to a Parking Charge for parking in a private car park managed by the Claimant in breach of the terms + conditions (T+Cs). Drivers are allowed to park in accordance with T+Cs of use. ANPR cameras and/or manual patrols are used to monitor vehicles entering + exiting the site.
Debt + damages claimed the sum of 182.00
Violation date 31/05/2018
Time in: 18:19 Time out: 18:33
PCN ref: Ref**********
Car registration no: *******
Car park: High Force Waterfalls

Total due - 182.00
(Ref: ********** or Tel: 01158225020)
The Claimant claims the sum of 192.65 for monies relating to a parking charge per above including 10.65 interest pursuant to S.69 of the County Courts Act 1984
Rate 8.00% pa from dates above to- 22/02/19
Same rate to Judgment or (sooner) payment
Daily rate to Judgment- 0.04
Total debt and interest due- 192.65

Amount claimed 192.65
Court fee 25.00
Legal representative's costs 50.00
Total amount 267.65


Circumstances

The driver entered the main car park on Thursday 31st May 2018 after 6 pm, thinking it was Free.

Once out of the car, they put on their reading glasses to study the signage at the machine to confirm it was Free.

The car park was completely empty.

The driver was surprised to discover that charges applied 24/7 and since they had no coins available, they had to walk over to the High Force Hotel pub to get a ten pound note changed.

Initially, the driver had considered parking at the front of the pub, but the "Patrons Only" sign had put them off. Had they parked there from the very start, a PCN would not have been issued.

After walking back to the car with the change, the driver re-read the signage and noted the full terms & conditions, to which they objected.

The car was moved to one of the spaces at the front of the pub and a drink was purchased inside the pub (becoming a Patron allowed the use of their parking space for Free).

The car couldn't have been parked in the main car park for more than five minutes.

The driver and their daughter entered the walkway to High Force Waterfall at 18:35 (first digital photo taken) and left sometime after 18:59 (last digital photo taken) - demonstrating that the car was parked elsewhere (ie. the front of the pub) for the majority of their visit.

The time of this first photo also goes to prove that the vehicle MUST have left the main car park much earlier than the claimed time of 18:33, given that: -

The car had moved to in front of the pub, a drink purchased/consumed there and the visitors had crossed the road to the entrance of the waterfall by 18:35 (time of first photo) - impossible to do in just TWO minutes.

Interestingly, according to an article I've discovered printed in the Northern Echo, there used to be a ten minute grace period at the main car park which has recently been increased to a thirty minute grace period.

Another driver who fell foul of this is mentioned here:

thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/16338896.visit-to-high-force-waterfall-costs-man-100/


PLEASE HELP

I have spent a while looking at the stickies and newbie threads. I've also looked at many of the other posts.

It was suggested in the newbie thread that I should start a new thread detailing the claim.

I do hope that some kind souls can help me with preparing a proper defence for this claim.

The deadline is 4 pm on 25th March for filing the defence. *1st April - according to KeithP*

Thank you

KeithP

88888888 wrote: »

I have received a County Court Claim (dated 25th Feb 19)...

Yesterday (11/03/19), I completed the acknowledgement of service online and ticked "I intend to defend all of this claim" box.

The deadline is 4 pm on 25th March for filing the defence.

With a Claim Issue Date of 25th February, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 1st April 2019 to file your Defence.

A few days more than you thought.

That's nearly 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.

Post #2 of the NEWBIES thread (link above) has several examples of Defences that you may choose to base your Defence upon.

Take particular notice of those concise Defences by Bargepole.


I note in you opening post that you have revealed the identity of the driver. That's fine if you intend to defend as the driver, and in some cases it may be easier, but to give yourself more options I would suggest you edit your post.
Only refer to what the driver did, and what the keeper did.
It was the driver that parked the car and it was the keeper that received all the correspondence later.

88888888

I appreciate the prompt reply from KeithP, but I really do need more help.

Although I've carefully constructed and worded the circumstances on this forum (my attempt at a defence), I must convert this to a proper legal defence if I'm to have any hope at not being robbed by these cowboys.

Thanks

KeithP

88888888 wrote: »

I appreciate the prompt reply from KeithP, but I really do need more help.

Although I've carefully constructed and worded the circumstances on this forum (my attempt at a defence), I must convert this to a proper legal defence if I'm to have any hope at not being robbed by these cowboys.

Thanks

And that is exactly why I wrote this:

KeithP wrote: »

Post #2 of the NEWBIES thread (link above) has several examples of Defences that you may choose to base your Defence upon.

Take particular notice of those concise Defences by Bargepole.

heehaw23

Curious for an update. Same place, when they had the10mins grace period. That's all fine and well when there is only 1 ticket machine and we go on a summers day. But hey, I am interested to hear how you get on. We have received our county court claim form and are about to do our acknowledgement of service online.

Good Luck with your claim!

KeithP

heehaw23, we all hope that 88888888 has filed his Defence but no-one but him knows.

If you would like bespoke help with your claim then please start your own thread. It can only lead to confusion trying to progress two people's issues in one thread.

heehaw23

KeithP wrote: »

heehaw23, we all hope that 88888888 has filed his Defence but no-one but him knows.

If you would like bespoke help with your claim then please start your own thread. It can only lead to confusion trying to progress two people's issues in one thread.

No problem at all. Just curious on the progress.

88888888

Hi all

I submitted my defence on 28th March and this was processed and updated by the court on the following day (29/03).

It looked like the claim may be stayed as the claimant hadn't responded in time when I called the court on Friday 10th May. However the following Tuesday, I received a Notice of Proposed Allocation to the Small Claims Track and attached Directions Questionnaire - dated 11th May.

When I called the court to query this, they told me they'd had a 14 day backlog of claims to process and that the claimant had responded in in time. Whilst on the phone, I was informed that the claimant had indicated that they were happy to be referred to Small Claims Mediation Service.

So, I have a few questions for you all.

1. Should I agree to Mediation?

2. Do I agree that the Small Claims track is appropriate? I'm assuming yes.

3. Is it helpful to name the person that was with me during the alleged parking offence as a witness?

Thanks

Le_Kirk

1. NO to mediation
2. Yes
3. Only if that person is going to help you in your defence by stating truthfully that they:-
saw you buy a ticket and display it in the windscreen
saw you display your permit etc (depending upon what the alleged infringement is)
AND, they will attend court with you, otherwise any witness statement can be treated as hearsay.

Coupon-mad

This stage is already covered by bargepole in Court Procedures (a thread linked in the NEWBIES thread for everyone with a claim to read, to be better prepared for each stage).

88888888

Thanks to you both.

I've now found 'Court Claim Procedures' by bargepole.

Its here:

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5546325

for the benefit of anyone else reading this.