PCN got court summons

Al5076

Hi all,

I have recently received a court notification regarding to a PCN over 4 years ago and just wanted some advice on whether to pursue it at court or just let it go now.

The situation is basically that the flat I used to live in had allocated parking and when we moved in it was a free for all. A couple of months after this Premier Park started running a permit scheme on behalf of the site operators. When this happened I got two PCNs in rapid succession. I then looked on this board appealed them at POPLA and won. Fast forward two months and I had lost my permit so asked my landlord (not the operator and he was also a Cannon of church if that helps with a witness statement?) if I could park my car without a permit whilst away over Christmas. He checked with the site operators and they said no problem.

Lo and behold when we returned we had a PCN so I rang up my landlord who discussed it with the site operator/housing association and they said ignore it we will cancel it. As soon as the 28 days to appeal with POPLA had ended the operators backed down and said nope you have to pay. Fast forward 4 years and many debt collector letters and responses telling them they had no grounds so take me to court etc. And pointing out two of the debt collection letters had the same signature for different names etc. And I receive a court summons.

Now my question is how to appeal, do I go on technicalities such as those I won the PoPLA appeals on, or on the actual argument that my landlord owns the land (assuming lease hold) and gave me permission to park?

Thanks for any help!

MonkeyRum

Of course you should fight it! What is the issue date on the claim form? And which court is it from?

Do you still have a copy of your lease/tenancy agreement?

Have a read of the newbies thread at the top of this forum and also give this a read. https://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/11/residential-parking.html?m=1

BrownTrout

It will be from the CCBC in northampton. They always are, CEL used to use Manchester but not any more

Redx

its not a summons , its a MONEYCLAIM

the pcn isnt a fine , nor has there been a summons either

what is the ISSUE DATE on the claim form ?

email a SAR to the DPO at PP to get all your data , attaching a copy of the claim form and a copy of the V5C or a redacted utility bill to show as ID under the GDPR

The_Deep

There are hundreds of cases of "own space" tickets on here, 99 out of a 100% are scams and, if properly defended, will fail in court.

Your lease almost certainly takes primacy over a scammer's self-serving "contract". What did your lease/AST say about showing a permit?

Nine times out of ten of these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra work.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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

Le_Kirk

If it comes to a small claim you can use the fact that you were told it was OK to park there as promissory estoppel (look it up) and ask for days when whoever told you will not be available to join you in court as you will be naming them as a witness.

Al5076

Thanks all for the responses. I will read up on all the links before asking anything else.

You have convinced me that I should take up the gauntlet still! And that I should use the technicalities as well as the fact I had right to park as resident, was not notified of changes and was told it was okay to park there.

Thanks again all the advice is much appreciated!

Al5076

Hi all,

So I have started my defence which I will post up shortly for review, but my landlord from when the pcn was issued has kindly said he would sign a letter illustrating his part in this. I take it this would be useful? If so do you think the following would Suffice?

Re: Parking Charge Notice at xxxxxx

Dear Sir/Madame,

I, xxxxx, am writing this letter as a witness statement for xxxxxx. Between July 20xx and May 20xx xxxxx was my tenant for xxxxx. During his first year in the property the site operators (Radian) changed the communal car park facilities management and brought in Premier Park Limited to conduct this management. At the time that this happened, I was not made aware of the change and nor was the tenant, there certainly was not a variation in the contract between the site operators and myself regarding permit parking, or the use of penalties for those failing to display permits. Due to this, there was also no change to the contract between the tenant and me.

Prior to the parking charge notice received by the tenant on xxxxxx 20xx, the tenant had called me to say that he had lost the permit, could I check with the operators (Radian) whether he could park in the car park without displaying the permit until a new one could be issued. I rang Radian and they stated that this was acceptable and to let them know if a Parking Charge Notice was issued and that they would ensure it was cancelled. I passed this information onto the tenant.

My tenant left their vehicle in the car park whilst away for a period, and upon arriving back at the flat has received a Parking charge Notice, he notified me, and I phoned Radian to get it cancelled. I assumed this was resolved until the tenant let me know they were still being chased for the fine several weeks later. I then chased up Radian a number of times and was repetitively told that the situation would be resolved.

A month after the incident I had to chase Radian again as they still had not cancelled the Parking Charge Notice through Premier Park Limited. This time I was told they would not cancel the ticket and that it needed paying. From my discussion with the tenant this notification came several days after he could have appealed the Parking Charge Notice with the Parking on Private Land Appeals service (POPLA), which has a cut off of 28 days. Given that I was only told that the fine would not be cancelled after the 28 day period had expired, I can only assume that both Radian and Premier Park Limited were ensuring my tenant could not appeal the Parking Charge Notice through POPLA, knowing that they had no grounds to issue the Parking Charge Notice for the reasons outlined in my first and second paragraphs above. This appears a case of professional misconduct by both Radian and Premier Park Limited.

I would also like to state that myself, and owner of xxxxx, suffered no financial loss due to my tenant parking in a space allocated to their flat. As such, I can only assume that Radian also did not.

I trust this letter aids the court in resolving this case.

Yours faithfully,

xxxx

Thanks in advance!

Al5076

I am going to tailor the defence to the facts that

A) no income was lost by my parking in a space assigned to my flat
I was misled by radian and premier park as to the pcn being cancelled and thereby b out given the opportunity to apply to popla
C) there was no contract as neither myself nor my landlord (the property owner) was made aware of a variation to our respective contracts
D) My wife actually received a pcn from the safe company and for the safe offence and appealed at Popla and won, demonstrating if I had been able to appeal it I would likely have also won

I’d our worth bringing up anything else, as in other examples, such as technicalities to do with retro reflective signage etc or should I stick to my primary points? Obviously this post is it my defence and is to just wnsire I don’t go too I’ve RB Parc with the defence

Thanks again all!

Coupon-mad

So I have started my defence which I will post up shortly for review, but my landlord from when the pcn was issued has kindly said he would sign a letter illustrating his part in this. I take it this would be useful? If so do you think the following would Suffice?

Yes, send a copy of it to the claimant telling them they have no cause of action against you because you have evidence that Radian offered and specifically accepted an alternative contract over the Christmas period - see attached witness statement that you will later be filing & serving - and if they failed to tell PP that they had decided to exempt you, then that is PP's internal operational problem, but proves that there was no contractual breach.

State that that you are defending the claim and will seek your full costs but you are offering them a 'drop hands' offer for seven days - you will not seek any costs if they discontinue by this time next week.

And press ahead with your defence. Have you done the AOS on MCOL yet?

No attachments go with a defence, so actually formally filing that WS for court, comes at a later stage - but email it now to the C anyway, once the landlord has signed it.

Al5076

Thanks Coupon mad, I’ll do that as soon as it’s signed. I have done the acknowledgement of service so it’s just waiting on my defence which I’ll put together this weekend/next week.