Summons to Magistrate's court

MadAboutFines

Hi,

I've received a summons to the Magistrate's court over 2 occasions on which my car was parked in a railway station carpark without a ticket on display. The TOC itself is taking me to court and there is no mention of any debt collectors or similar, although on searching through paperwork I have received 3 reminders about these occasions from 3 different companies (ZZP, Indigo) which I unfortunately did not play ping pong with in enough time. The occasions referred to in the summons are still within the 6 month deadline and the court date is in 3 weeks (!).

I have searched extensively and I may still have missed it, but apart from playing ping pong I cannot see any advice in the Newbies thread on what to do when you receive an actual summons. I'll ask a few questions and hope that I don't go over old questions although in a way I do - it feels like I am the first person this has happened to!

- The summons is for a court that is very far away from where I live. Do I get a say in where this takes place?
- The summons is for a date which I cannot make because I have a work engagement. Do I get a say in when this takes place?
- Apart from reminders of the 'fines' which were instantly raised to £100 each, I have not received any notice of an intention to prosecute or an opportunity to defend myself to the TOC (although I realise I should have asked the debt collectors questions). Have I missed a letter or is this step not necessary for a Magistrate's court?
- Does anyone have any advice on what to do next?

Thanks in advance,

Madaboutfines.

Redx

name the station and the TOC please

waamo

Did you reveal the name of the driver?

Coupon-mad

Please show us a redacted copy of the summons.

We've not seen one before (except Northern Rail etc.) and you will understand we need to see what it says and we need to know which station and which TOC.

And why was the car parked without a ticket on display, more than once?

BrownTrout

Yes please show before we can advise any further

MadAboutFines

Hi, the station is Royston Station in Hertfordshire and the TOC is Govia.

Coupon-mad

Please show the Summons (cover your name/address) and change the URL to hxxp instead of http so we can see what it says, plus some of the letters you got before would be helpful.

And why was the car parked without a ticket on display, more than once?

The_Deep

These train companies are I believe quite aggressive in pursuing fare dodgers. I would be inclined to try to settle this before it gets to court.

Umkomaas

You should email the DVLA and ask which organisations (when and for what reason) accessed the registered keeper's data from them between a range of dates which includes the date(s) of the parking incident(s). You need to provide the registered keeper's full name and address, the address on the V5C logbook and the Vehicle Registration Mark of the vehicle involved in the parking incident.

SubjectAccess.Requests@dvla.gov.uk

This service is free of charge.

Even though you email your request, the DVLA will respond via Royal Mail.

MadAboutFines

Hi,

I have uploaded the letter as per instructions in dropbox, but it won't let me upload the link because I am a new user....

I have not communicated at all with the TOC or the debt collectors so there has not been an opportunity to reveal the name of the driver.

The driver parks in this station car park 3-4 times a week so not quite enough to pay for a weekly subscription. Instead, the driver pays via the app (now run by Saba) on a daily basis from the train which works 99% of the time. On these two occasions, there were issues with the app (wouldn't let the driver log in on the first occasion and froze with an error message on the second occasion) and so the driver did not pay that day.

I have also found another set of letters for a similar occasion which happened more recently and now wonder whether this will also be taken to the magistrates court, on a separate day.

Thank you for any advice.

Coupon-mad

I have uploaded the letter as per instructions in dropbox, but it won't let me upload the link because I am a new user....

Please don't.

Read my reply above.