Parking claim, SIP, Charles Street Car Park, Manchester

Coupon-mad

No, you will have to post it.  Why are you looking to respond to an LBC in a way that the LBC doesn't say is open to you?

purple_elk

Coupon-mad said:

No, you will have to post it.  Why are you looking to respond to an LBC in a way that the LBC doesn't say is open to you?

The newbie thread talks about sending emails. However, I take your point 

purple_elk

I have written to SIP to inform them that I intend to defend this.
Am I right in thinking that I do not need to tell them what my defence is at this stage, just that I will be defending the claim?

Le_Kirk

purple_elk said:

I have written to SIP to inform them that I intend to defend this.
Am I right in thinking that I do not need to tell them what my defence is at this stage, just that I will be defending the claim?

Correct, wait for the formal letter of claim (N1) from CCBC.

purple_elk

Hello all,
I have now received a County Court Claim Form. Interestingly, they have dropped the £60 which they added previously, presumably because they know they don't have a leg to stand on.
Any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. I haven't ruled out the possibility of just settling, so if people think that I don't have a great chance, please let me know as I'd rather only put in the time and effort if there's a good chance of a positive outcome
https://ibb.co/VJL195K
https://ibb.co/D7p6gxf
https://ibb.co/JHtW7CZ
https://ibb.co/QbHP4gR
https://ibb.co/yS9CWHV
https://ibb.co/Q6SM8cc
https://ibb.co/z4g0JYQ

Thanks in advance

Umkomaas

Deal with it as per the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, second post. 

Post the Date of Issue here, and, if you've done the Acknowledgment of Service, provide that date too. Once you've done that, @KeithP will be along during the day to give you your key actions and dates for dealing with this first stage. 

KeithP

As you haven't mentioned it, I am going to assume you have not yet filed an Acknowledgment of Service. If you have already done that then please tell us when.

With a Claim Issue Date of 18th February, you have until Tuesday 9th March 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 Tuesday 23rd March 2021 to file your Defence.

That's over three 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.

Coupon-mad

Don't use the template defence because SIP have not added any false costs...how interesting.   A claim for £125 like a ParkingEye one - and they've dropped the false costs - I wonder why?

Have a look instead at concise defences written in the past year or two by @bargepole, that don't talk about added debt recovery costs and concentrate more on unclear signs (if that is your main defence point?).  Remind us!

Are you (the Defendant named) an individual or a Ltd company that owns a van?

purple_elk

Date of Issue 18/2/21.
Acknowledgement of Service 1/3/21.
I am a sole trader who owns a van. 
Signage is ambiguous in that it says 'Vans /  Minibus / Motorhomes and Vehicles above M1 Classification'.
This was understood to mean, 'vans above M1 Classification [need to pay extra]'. It was thought that the van in question was below M1 Classification and could hence be parked for the same fee as a car. This fee was paid and evidence of this payment has been retained.
There were two signs visible. One mentions penalty fees, the other does not.

Johnersh

Errr you haven't listed what the sign says. It says
cars/motorcycles
1 hr 
2 hr
3 hr... 
24 hrs
motorhomes/vans/vehicles above n1:
0-24 hours - £15.00

If the o/p understood themselves to be driving a vehicle ordinarily within the definition of a van, then I'd take the view that the payment sign was pretty clear. I can envisage difficulty convincing the court that a Ford Transit or similar is either a car or a motorcycle. 

The payment sign posted earlier in this thread is presumably located near the payment machine.

What has not been posted on here is the parking contract sign. Those are usually repeated within the car park and/or also at entry. That's the one that it would be useful to see, setting out the £100 tariff for breach of parking terms (which is of course the entire basis of the claim).