Court Claim Shall i pay up or go to court?

Chas666

Hello im very worried regarding a County Court Claim Form relating to alleged PCN on the 15/10/2015 at the Excel Brewery Street Car Park, Chesterfield.
i purchased a ticket. The ticket machine rejected a ten pence coin of the £2 fee for all day parking and i did not notice only £1.90 had been payed and a ticket was dispensed.Subsequently received PCN

Since then received usual threat letters escalating the amount they want. Ignored these maybe on bad advice, not from here mind.

Now have court letter, have acknowledged this on MCOL

Now in 33 day defence prep period

1) If i go to court to defend this claim surely the judge will say can you prove you intended to pay the £2 parking fee but the machine only took £1.90. The answer is no i cant. And surely the judge will say it was my responsibility at the end of the day to check the ticket purchased. So i think although the judge would probably be sympathetic to me , his hands would be tied and i would lose the case.

2) If i lose the case will i have to pay more than the £185 claim, ie court costs etc.

Amount Claimed £160 by Excel
Court Fee £25

Whats your advice?

Thanks

Quentin

The £185 includes the court costs

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

The_Deep

The judge might be rather annoyed at having to hear a claim for what is in effect an underpayment of 10p. He might think that asking £100 + is a tad unreasonable.

Why not let the take you to court and find out. Judges are not fools they see dozens of these scam each week.

Also having your MP in the loop often helps as Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams.

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. .

Chas666

Thanks The Deep

I think i shall go to court as you say and attempt to get the amount reduced. It seems as if i don't really have anything to lose.

If i ignore i will have to pay £185
If i go and lose totally I will have to pay £185
]If i go and judge is sympathetic i might have to pay less

So ill go and make my views on these shysters known. And hopefully get a reduction.

Umkomaas

Chas666 wrote: »

Thanks The Deep

I think i shall go to court as you say and attempt to get the amount reduced. It seems as if i don't really have anything to lose.

If i ignore i will have to pay £185
If i go and lose totally I will have to pay £185
]If i go and judge is sympathetic i might have to pay less

So ill go and make my views on these shysters known. And hopefully get a reduction.

You will need to defend the claim fully and properly (see the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2 for the 'how to ...'), you just can't simply rock up at court and let fly, hoping the Judge will sympathise. Judgments aren't generally based on sympathy.

beamerguy

Chas666 wrote: »

Thanks The Deep

I think i shall go to court as you say and attempt to get the amount reduced. It seems as if i don't really have anything to lose.

If i ignore i will have to pay £185
If i go and lose totally I will have to pay £185
]If i go and judge is sympathetic i might have to pay less

So ill go and make my views on these shysters known. And hopefully get a reduction.

The point is, you do not owe £185, it's a scammers add-on of £60 and it seems another £25.

So, you have already paid an amount and one must assume that Excel stole your money

As The Deep says, a judge would consider the claim as a scam and as Excel constantly waste the courts time, such a stupid claim should be dismissed.

When you win, you can claim your costs from Excel, it's not a case of paying them, more a case of them paying you

Excel are scamming you, read this about ABUSE OF PROCESS
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

KeithP

You seem to have missed post #3 above.

Chas666

Hi Keith P

The issue date on claim form is 09/07/2019
Thanks for your help

KeithP

Chas666 wrote: »

Hi Keith P

The issue date on claim form is 09/07/2019
Thanks for your help

I am going to assume you did the Acknowledgement of Service before 29th July. Please confirm.

With a Claim Issue Date of 9th July, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 12th August 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over a week away. Loads of time to produce a 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.

Chas666

Hi KeithP

Yes i did the acknowledgement of the service the day after receiving the notice on MCOL

At the moment i'm preparing my defense. I shall then file it as you suggest.

Ill keep you posted,

thanks for your help, its really appreciated, helps calm the nerves
knowing there are people on my side.