PCN(s) UKPC - Court Claim Form (WON)

KnightRS

Hello all,


I am a newbie here. I hope you guys can help out or offer advice as I've got myself into a bit of a pickle.



So, I have received 4 private PCNs from a company by the name of UK Parking Control LTD. These are from 31/05/19 - 21/06/19. All 4 were received in the exact same location of my workplace (an industrial estate in Barking, Essex).

Unfortunately, the work carpark gets full and some end up having to park outside. There is a road just outside the office, there are sections with double yellow line (to prevent people from parking near the bus stop) and then a section without any double yellow lines or any lines for that matter, this is where I park. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a long distance if I were to park elsewhere and due to working unsociable and long hours and personal issues at home, I require to have the car as close as possible.


Now, I only noticed that there are signs on the opposite side of the road when I received the first PCN. I noticed that these are on large fencing which seperates the service road with the A road on the otherside. The signs are slightly obscured by bushes but in any case, you wouldn't ordinarily notice them when you park.



Eitherway, when I got the first two PCNs, I spoke to my colleagues. They told me they had also received several PCNs in the past and ignored them without any comeback. I read a couple of out-dated (my fault, I know) posts on here and chose to ignore the PCN. I then received a further two PCNs, until on the fifth occasion I saw the warden. I spoke to him that I was parking my car there as I was working in the building, he acknowledged this and didn't give me a ticket. Since then I have not received any further tickets and have still parked in the same location many times!


Anyway, I waited, they sent threatening letters, SCS law, etc, etc. On 4th November 2019 I received a "Letter before claim pursuant to the pre-action protocol for debt claims".

I saw this letter and they asked for £640 covering all 4 contraventions. Now I noticed, on the ticket I received - the offence was shown as "Parked in a roadway" - whereas on this letter, the offence is shown as "Parking outside of the designated parking spaces and obstructing a roadway". Clear inconsistancy which made me even more confused. Like the idiot I am, I still ignored it - I'm in huge amount on debt so panicked and just left it becuase I stupidly thought it would go away. Of course, it doesn't.



I don't respond within the 30 days and then receive the Court Claim Form on 12th DECEMBER 2019.

Particulars of the claim are listed as
"The claimant claims from the defendant the sum of £640 in respect of unpaid parking notices issued as ar esult of the defendant's breach of terms and conditions of parking at a site management by the claimant. I will provide the defendant with seperate detailed particulars within 14 days after service of the claim form".


Of course I don't have much time left and would like advice on what to do now. I know I've been stupid but hopefully there is still some hope.



I shall post censored pictures up in due time of PCN, Sign boards outside my work, Pre-action protocol letters and the claim form.



Sorry for the long thread!!!!

EDIT:
For anyone new, this case was won. I will highlight the important bits below so you can jump straight to them:
Court Report
Defence Statement and Defence Witness Statement
Claimant's WS
Further Defence WS

Redx

post the issue date on the claim form below

email a SAR to UKPC and get all your data, attaching a copy of the claim form and a copy of the V5C as proof of I D under the GDPR, do it tonight

read the newbies faq sticky thread , post #2

read the CEC16 court case thread

read the ABUSE OF PROCESS thread by Beamerguy as well

have a look at POFA and at the CRA laws too

KeithP

You tell us that you received the Court Claim Form on 12th DECEMBER 2019, but what is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

KnightRS

KeithP wrote: »

You tell us that you received the Court Claim Form on 12th DECEMBER 2019, but what is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Apologies, got this mixed up - the issue date is 12th december 2019.

KeithP

KnightRS wrote: »

the issue date is 12th december 2019.

With a Claim Issue Date of 12th December, you have until Tuesday 31st December to file an Acknowledgment of Service. If possible, do not file an AoS before 18th December, but otherwise there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To file an 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 filed an AoS, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 14th January 2020 to file your Defence.

That's four weeks away. Plenty 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 could 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. No need to do anything on MCOL, but do check it 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 trying to keep you under pressure. Just file it.
   
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.

KnightRS

Both,

Thank you for your swift responses. I shall start working on it now - and hopefully will post up a defence here end of the week prior to submission. Would appreciate if you could glance through it and see if it's any good.



Thank you again!

Coupon-mad

they asked for £640 covering all 4 contraventions.

It is shocking that some victims would pay that!

4 x £100 is £400 and (of course) even that sum is not to be paid, but the added £60 per PCN has been slapped down now and you can use the words of the Southampton and Warwick Judges to show your Judge why the claim should be summarily struck out.

KnightRS

Coupon-mad wrote: »

It is shocking that some victims would pay that!

4 x £100 is £400 and (of course) even that sum is not to be paid, but the added £60 per PCN has been slapped down now and you can use the words of the Southampton and Warwick Judges to show your Judge why the claim should be summarily struck out.

Tell me about it, and that's £770 with the court costs. Absolute joke - but either way hopefully I win. There is some extremely good content on here which I'm sure will get me through - plus all you wonderful people!

Coupon-mad

There are some good example defences in the NEWBIES thread and I think one of them was about UKPC ticketing on a roadway where there were no signs & lines except on the opposite side of the street.

Certainly we've worked on defences like this before.

KnightRS

So, got a bit busy lately and wasn't able to post on the forum. I've just sent off my defence to the e-mail address and will keep monitoring MCOL.

Basically it revolved around bad signage / contradiction between the signs, the PCN, Notice to keeper and particulars of claim / speaking to the ticket inspector (who I have a witness to) and ticket inspector allowing me to park there since and not receiving further tickets / abuse of process.


I would have loved for you guys to have a chance to read over it and give me pointers - it's not perfect but time was just running out. Worked on it over a number of days and just couldn't find the time to post on the forum.


So hopefully will start working on my WS very soon.

KnightRS

Apologies - further question;

I am in no doubt the judge will likely ask me why I ignored the PCNs - I was informed by my colleagues at work who also received PCNs to simply ignore it as they hadn't been sent any form of court claim. Would it be acceptable to say I received bad advice? or how else could I explain the failure to appeal the PCNs?