VCS & Court claim stage

Amk89

Afternoon all

Seeking advice and support in order to fight a claim made by VCS, issue date 18/07/19, 14 days to respond.

Have read many posts and alot of them add up to this scenario, i.e. £60 added to original fee.

Struggling to even begin writing a defence however. Main points;

-X2 claims recieved (unsure if there are more occurrences).
-Allegation is to have breached contract of parking within private land within a residential area.
-I have requested all evidence through their website 2 days ago (waiting for a response).
-This is my partners place and I have a valid permit from Jan 19-Dec 19.
-Unclear if this was on display or not - however will assume not in this case.
-No prior contact made to VCS in regards to both claims to deny or accept liability (unsure if I ever even recieved this however doubt that would hold up in court?).

Apologies if a new thread was not required, I have read section 2 of the newbies thread however still do not have a suitable response or know if I have a reasonable defence.

Thank you for any help

Amk

The_Slithy_Tove

You DO have a defence.

First things first. Go online and do the AoS. Don't put anything in the defence now, not even a space or a full stop. This will give you an additional 14 days to put together your defence.

And is it really 2 separate court claims? For the same ticket, or two different cases? Either way, they should combine them, and you will need to ask for that.

Loads of cases of "own space" tickets. Do a search on that. What exactly does your tenancy/lease say about parking?

And, yes, you were quite right to start a new thread.

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Did the Claim Form come from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton, or from somewhere else?

Have you received two County Court Claim Forms?

Amk89

I have x2 letters both from county court business centre in Northampton;

First letter is a breach of contract on the 15/02/19, issue date 18/07/19.

Second letter is a breach of contract on the 12/02/19, issue date 18/07/19.

Both letters have different claim no.

Contract between landlord and tenant have nothing stipulated around parking requirements, simply references general care of cars and damage to the ground. This however is in the tenants name (partner).

When you say combine them, are we simply saying ring the county court up and request them to join them? I assume I can ask if there is anything else in my name there as concerned I have more outstanding and have simply not seen the letters yet?

KeithP

Amk89 wrote: »

I have x2 letters both from county court business centre in Northampton;

First letter is a breach of contract on the 15/02/19, issue date 18/07/19.

Second letter is a breach of contract on the 12/02/19, issue date 18/07/19.

Both letters have different claim no.

At this stage treat both Claims separately.
When filing each Defence, mention the other claim in the covering email and suggest the claims be amalgamated.

It might also be a good idea to mention the other claim in each Defence.

Mention consolidation of these claims at every opportunity and eventually a Judge will see it and combine them.


With a Claim Issue Date of 18th July, you have until Tuesday 6th August 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 Tuesday 20th August 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over four weeks away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but please 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.

[Deleted User]

CPR 3.1(2)(g) and 3.1(2)(h) refer.

Two claims can be heard as one if same defendant same site. (Consolidated)

Even if different defendants/sites, if facts similar or it is expedient, the court can hear both at once and deal with them.(heard together)

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part03#3.1

Love ze rules!

Amk89

Hi

Just a small update, spoke to the criminals VCS and they state that the permit displayed was put of date, do I still have a case?

Thank you

KeithP

Amk89 wrote: »

Hi

Just a small update, spoke to the criminals VCS and they state that the permit displayed was put of date, do I still have a case?

Thank you

Of course you still have a case.

Read lots more residential parking cases and understand whether you even need a permit - let alone an 'in date' one.

The_Deep

Please read this.

https://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/11/residential-parking.html

What does your lease/AST say about parking? Does it mention the need for a permit? Does it stipulate that you have to pay a penalty to a third party if you do not display one? Do you have an allocated space? Are you familiar with "primacy of contract?

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.

Amk89

Thanks guys, I have sorted SAR, written to MP and completing AOS.

I have also confirmed with the court that the case can be changed to my area once progressed and will be able to amalgamate both claims.

Interesting the residential contract states nothing of parking, but the VCS agent continued to reference the contract being acknowledged when entering the car park!

KeithP

Amk89 wrote: »

Interesting the residential contract states nothing of parking, but the VCS agent continued to reference the contract being acknowledged when entering the car park!

Two different contracts here.

VCS are alleging that the driver entered into a contract with them when, having read the signs, he parked the car.