early morning ticket

skaart

Hi All,

thanks so much for all the info here that ive been able to go through already.- incredibly useful.

My situation:
PCN received over 2 years ago. ignored. mistake learned.
I now have a claim form from the county court business centre Sheffield.
I missed my opportunity to ask for a SAR.
have responded online as per instructions.
So now i need to formulate a defence.

• I was not the driver. I was in Scotland at the time.
  
• I am being chased by Veh!cle contr0l servic3s Ltd. (deliberately misspelled)
  
• Company vehicle, anyone over 25 insured, so it will have presumably been one of my freelancers.
• Alleged contravention took place very early in the morning (pre 7am) on a Sunday.
• based on the above i assume it was from a CCTV, though hard to be sure.
• Also based on the above, i will assume the drive was popping into the hotel after work. Presumably they got the ticket when they left. So must have been there only a few mins as the job they would have been working on would not have finished until 5am ish i wouldnt have thought.
• Took place over 2 years ago.

Obviously not wanting to give too much info away, but if anyone has any suggestions i would be much obliged, or pointers towards similar cases and i'll read myself.

Many thanks :beer:

The_Deep

I missed my opportunity to ask for a SAR.

How so? MUI that there is no time bar on these. Have you read the stickies/FAQs?

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so complain to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, 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.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

Coupon-mad

You do realise a SAR can be emailed any time? LOADS of Defendants here do a SAR while working on their defence.

Email that TODAY.

I now have a claim form from the county court business centre Sheffield.

Sheffield, surely not?

What is the issued date of the claim? Is it in fact from the CCBC Northampton?

Company vehicle, anyone over 25 insured, so it will have presumably been one of my freelancers.

Is the named Defendant the company?

skaart

HI yes i realise i can do a SAR at any time but the judgement for the case is before the deadline by which they would have to return my info requested in the SAR , so i figured there's no way they would send me the info i want before my case if they didn't have to. Is this not correct? i have the SAR already typed out i can send it by post today, (you said email; is that preferable? perhaps i'll do both) . I'm just surprised there is any point as i wont get the info before my case due date,

Sorry; yes Northampton. It's VCS thats in Sheffield. Issued date near the end of may this year.

I personally am the defendant as the registered keeper of the vehicle. My company pays the insurance which is necessary for it to be used as a work vehicle.

Quentin

You are a long way off "judgement day" in court if it comes to that!


(Months not weeks!)

Coupon-mad

What exact issue date? We need that to advise you best.

but the judgement for the case is before the deadline

No it isn't. The 'judgment' (no middle 'e') is at a hearing sometime in the Autumn at your local court, after you do the other steps in between. All explained in the NEWBIES thread second post.

The defence deadline is only the start, and if your claim form was sent at the end of May then you certainly have 30 days to get the SAR.

They are likely to get it back to you during June, which is fine.

skaart

Ok thanks for the clarification; I had read through that post #2 but i had assumed that the Information returned by the SAR was necessary in order to help in the formulating and submitting of the defence, and not thereafter.

SAR Letter printed signed and on my way to the post office now. Copy sent by email already.

Issue date 17th May.

KeithP

skaart wrote: »

Issue date 17th May.

With a Claim Issue Date of 17th May, you have until Wednesday 5th 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 Wednesday 19th June 2019 to file your Defence.

That's nearly 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.

Coupon-mad

The SAR will help with your defence, if the results come back in a couple of weeks.

And if not, the info & photos helps you to see their hand, and assist with your later witness statement.

skaart

Thanks Keith yes I have done my AoS a week or so ago as per the instructions in that dropbox file and the 19th June has had a big red reminder in my diary since then! and another the week before.

I guess i just have no idea where to start on my defence. is it best just to start looking through other people's until i find one that bears similarities to my case? it was so long ago, is it even worth trying to figure out who was driving? At this point, is my defence hinging around the legitimacy of the original ticket, or the legitimacy of chasing it up in such draconian fashion?

Coupon-mad

I guess i just have no idea where to start on my defence. is it best just to start looking through other people's until i find one that bears similarities to my case?

Yes, and that's why the NEWBIES thread has quite a few examples, and most people who can't find a close match to copy from, use bargepole's concise defence examples and add their own facts.

is my defence hinging around the legitimacy of the original ticket, or the legitimacy of chasing it up in such draconian fashion?

The former, as that is the contract you are arguing you are not liable for.

I was not the driver. I was in Scotland at the time.
I am being chased by Veh!cle contr0l servic3s Ltd.

If it was a 'NOT A PARKING CHARGE' red card on the car first then use the VCS not a CN example defence, as seen in the NEWBIES thread links, there to be plagiarised. Use the POFA as well, as you were not driving and VCS do not use the right wording in their paper notices to comply with the POFA.