Claim Form - County Court Business Centre

yl91

Hi guys, thanks for taking your time to read my thread. Hope everyone is well during this crazy time.

I work in Birmingham city centre and park at a private car park ran by eurocarparks. The parking fine is actually dated back to 2018. As I dont return home much(My mrs got pregnant and then all the covid madness happened) I didnt realise i had letters coming through the post by ECP. Anyways I ignored there letters which then got passed onto different debt companies. I ended up replying to SCS to try to solve the problem but they demanded the fee of £640 to be paid. I ignored there email(probably wasnt a good idea) and I wasnt in a place to pay that amount as we was out of work. 

Anyways, I received a letter through the post to my parents from County Court business Centre that was issued on the 17th August which I have just received this week when they came to visit me. I'm all over the place right now as its now come up to £770 including the court fee and legal representatives and its put me in a difficult situation. If there is no other option than to pay the full amount then I will but just seeing if anyone can give me some advice or if theres anyway for the fees to be reduced..

Thank you in advance for your time,

KB

KeithP

Why do we need a second thread on this?

I have already replied on your earlier thread.

yl91

KeithP said:

Why do we need a second thread on this?

I have already replied on your earlier thread.

Hey sorry, I dont know why the other thread was uploaded as I hadnt finished with the post yet.
In response to your reply, the claim form was issued on 17th august.

Thanks

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 17th August, you have until Monday 7th September to file an Acknowledgment of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an AoS, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 21st September 2020 to file your Defence.

That's two weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service instructions.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that for filing a Defence.

yl91

I have filed an AoS. I will write up my defence and follow the advice on the thread you have mentioned shortly, what is normally the outcome in these scenarios? 

Many thanks for your time and advice,

KeithP

Did you file an Acknowledgment of Service online on the MCOL website?
If not, I suggest you do it again - online this time. Post in large offices has a habit of getting lost or misdirected.

yl91

I have saved the template of the defence but yet to fill it in. Im just weighing out my options as I dont want to end up going to court and pay more than the £770 stated. Is it worth contacting eurocarparks and trying to reach an agreement? I still park at the private car park and i pay monthly aswell. Do you think they will reduce the cost as a good gesture? 

Thanks,

KeithP

yl91 said:

Do you think they will reduce the cost as a good gesture? 

No.

They will see any attempt by you to negotiate as a weakness and it will strengthen their resolve to push for the full amount.

Sorry to say... there are no shortcuts.

How is this £770 made up?

Coupon-mad

yl91 said:

I have filed an AoS. I will write up my defence and follow the advice on the thread you have mentioned shortly, what is normally the outcome in these scenarios? 

Please re-read the 2nd post of the NEWBIES THREAD. It's all about court, where it tells you we win 99% of the time, and how to do that.

yl91

KeithP said:

yl91 said:

Do you think they will reduce the cost as a good gesture? 

No.

They will see any attempt by you to negotiate as a weakness and it will strengthen their resolve to push for the full amount.

Sorry to say... there are no shortcuts.

How is this £770 made up?

Ahh, okay i understand.

I have 4 parking charges of £160 each, court fee £60 and £70 legal representative..

yl91

Coupon-mad said:

yl91 said:

I have filed an AoS. I will write up my defence and follow the advice on the thread you have mentioned shortly, what is normally the outcome in these scenarios? 

Please re-read the 2nd post of the NEWBIES THREAD. It's all about court, where it tells you we win 99% of the time, and how to do that.

I've had a good read a few times. Im prepared to fight this if it means to save me £770 as i feel like im being robbed for forgetting to pay the tariff which is a couple of £.

They use to have a barrier to get into the car park but now theyve removed the barriers and use cameras instead. My company had paid for my parking previously so i just got into the habit of driving off out of the carpark..

What is my actual defence in this scenario? Would it still be an "abuse of process"?

Thanks,