Gladstone's Solicitors / Horizon Parking / County Court Claim - help!

Gerin_Manolis

I really need some help and advice.

I have received a county court Claim Form dated 13 January 2020 (received on Saturday 18th January) with the claimant as Horizon Parking operated by Gladstones Solicitors Ltd. They are talking about four PCNS from 2018 all from a Sainsbury's car park. Each PCN is at £70 but with statutory interest of £59.10 and a further 12p per day.

Having looked at the forums I think that I was right to ignore all of the letters that have been sent but I also ignored the letter before claim which it would seem I should have replied to.

They have added on a court fee of £60 and 'legal representatives costs' of £70 with the final figure owing of over £700.

I suspect that I was in Sainsbury's car park on each of the dates in question - I am there most days as my gym which I attend most days shares the same car park. I may have overstayed the amount of time on these occasions but on the basis that I am always either shopping or at the gym I really feel that the parking tickets are unfair - although I suspect that is not a good enough line of defence.

I haven't filled out the claim form to appeal but am aware that time is ticking on and I'm at a loss to know what is the best line of defence and what I should do from here. I cannot afford to pay the fine or, if I do, then it puts my family's summer holiday in jeopardy which is obviously not something that I want to contemplate.

Any advice as what I should do now would be incredibly welcome - it's worth saying that I destroyed all of the previous correspondence which I'm not sure is good or bad. HELP!!

KeithP

Gerin_Manolis wrote: »

I have received a county court Claim Form dated 13 January 2020 (received on Saturday 18th January)...

With a Claim Issue Date of 13th January, you have until Monday 3rd February to file an Acknowledgment of Service, but 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 Monday 17th February 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.

Having filed your Defence, there is more to do...

1. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire. Nothing of interest there. Just file it.
   
2. Wait for your own Directions Questionnaire from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then complete it as described by bargepole in his 'what happens when' post.
3. The completed DQ should be returned by email to the CCBC to the same address and in the same way as your Defence was filed earlier.
4. Send a copy of your completed DQ to the Claimant - to their address on your Claim Form.

Fruitcake

Nothing should have been ignored except debt collectors.

Start by reading the guide to court written by bargepole you will find in post 2 of the NEWBIES,
Start by doing the AoS online but do not put anything in the defence box, absolutely nothing.

Also read the abuse of process thread by beamerguy ready for when you do your defence later on.

What happened when you complained to the landowner?

You should complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

Redx

Do the AOS online by following post #2 of the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum

Then email a SAR to the DPO at Horizon , attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of I D , to obtain all your data , documents , pictures etc

Unfair won't count , your opinion doesn't matter , what matters is their legal claim and your defence etc , I would have thought that the gym would have an iPad or similar for you to exempt your registration on each visit ?

Try and get proof from the gym and the backing of the management , as a written statement

Read recent defences and the 2 by Bargepole and then draft your own

You seem to have a problem with your new line button , no paragraphs
Edit your post to make it readable

Gerin_Manolis

I tried to complain to Sainsbury's but they said that it wasn't anything to do with them as they don't regulate the carpark. Should I have pursued this? The problem is that the PCNs were 18 months ago ....

Redx

Then you should find out who the landowner is

After doing what is said in the replies above

Coupon-mad

Gerin_Manolis wrote: »

I tried to complain to Sainsbury's but they said that it wasn't anything to do with them as they don't regulate the carpark. Should I have pursued this? The problem is that the PCNs were 18 months ago ....

They lied. I presume you asked some random person on the CS desk or a Duty manager with other thing on their mind.

Sainsburys signed a contract with Horizon relating to most of their car parks so it is probably their contract, not the gym's.

I suspect that I was in Sainsbury's car park on each of the dates in question - I am there most days as my gym which I attend most days shares the same car park.

But at claim stage you are best concentrating on a defence.

Are gym users able to exempt their cars by putting a VRN into a keypad?

Gerin_Manolis

Thanks for the tip - have now edited the post.

I have filed the AoS and will get on with the SAR to Horizon tomorrow and will look at the various posts for defence.

Gerin_Manolis

As this was in 2018 I'm afraid I can't remember what the rules were. I am pretty sure that the system has changed since then and I suspect that the signage in the car park is different.

However I think that you were entitled to 90 minutes free parking for either gym or Sainsbury's - where it becomes blurred is if you use the gym and then Sainsbury's or vice versa. You are supposed to be able to scan your gym membership card but I have tried this in the past and it never works!

Coupon-mad

So you say this in the facts near the start of your defence you are copying from another example:

2. The facts are that the Defendant was a member of the gym and the Defendant (and other family members/drivers of this car in 2018) often shopped in Sainsburys. Both the gym and the Supermarket are on the same site, so it is likely the driver was a genuine patron of one or the other, or both (after using the gym it was common for members to then do some shopping whilst there).

2.1. It is believed that the system may have changed since then, so any signage in the car park will be different, but the Defendant recalls some vague terms allowing 90 minutes free parking for gym patrons and for Sainsburys customers. However, where that parking licence or offer becomes blurred, was if a patron used the gym and then Sainsburys, or vice versa. The doctrine of contra proferentem - enshrined now in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the 'CRA 2015') - applies, and the interpretation of terms and/or consumer notices (signs) that most favours the consumer must be used - namely that if a Sainsburys shopper is allowed 90 minutes free parking, and a gym member is allowed 90 minutes free parking, then if a driver uses one facility followed by a visit to the other, going by the ambiguous terms on offer it is reasonable to conclude that 2 x 90 minutes parking (plus grace periods) was on offer.

2.2. Further, members of the gym were supposed to be able to scan their gym membership card but in the Defendant's experience in the past, this system never worked and again, this offends against the CRA 2015 Schedule 2. The defendant believes the terms and consumer notices are likely to have breached paragraphs 6, 10, 14 and 18 of that statutory 'grey list' of terms that are likely to be unfair in consumer contracts.

Gerin_Manolis

Hugely helpful, thank you.