Royal Holloway University - F1rst parking PCN

rocdoc

Hello all, 
I have read most of the Newbies thread and have tried to follow the guidance. One mistake was missing the opportunity to appeal to POPLA. 

Hopefully others will be able to help in this situation:

Car permit had expired by one day, and ANPR caught this. Permit was renewed the day after.
Date of event: Early October 2019
PCN/Important Notice to Keeper: issued 3 days later by post. £60, £30 if paid early. Appealed through F1rst parking website and as expected it was rejected (Early November 2019). Should have appealed to POPLA here. 
Early November spoke to postgraduate administration department who had experience dealing with these PCNs for visitors so offered to help this case. 
Mid December 2019 National Debt Collectors LTD: balance now £130
Late December 2019 National Debt Collectors LTD: £130
Late January 2020 DCBL letter: original £60 + £50 = new total = £120? 
No further contact for almost one year. Early January 2021 DCB Legal: £120
Early February 2021: Claim form county court: roughly £200 total amount claimed. 

Currently trying to reestablish contact with postgraduate admin department to see if this can be solved through the university. Possibly too late?
If not possible, next step is to follow small claim thread. Aware that there is a time frame on the claim form so need to act soon. 

Do others feel there is a case for defence? Although the permit should have been renewed, this feels unfair. Hoping to build a defence based on signage - as has been noticed from previous successful POPLA appeals. 

Any thoughts and recommendations are much appreciated. 
If there is too much detailed information here, this can be removed asap.

Le_Kirk

What is the date of issue of the claim form?  If you post that here @KeithP will be along to give you some deadlines and where to find advice and the standard defence template.

Redx

It was not caught by anpr , anpr checks Number Plates , not permits , hence the NP in anpr

Wardens or security staff check permits

Post the issue date below , email a SAR to the DPO at First Parking

Start drafting paragraphs 2 and 3 from the defence template

D_P_Dance

Are they claiming anything for debt collection?  If so you could probabkly get this thown out for abuse of process, read this.

At the Bradford County Court, District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) decided to hear a 'test case' a few months ago, where £60 had been added to a parking charge despite Judges up and down the country repeatedly disallowing that sum and warning parking firms not to waste court time with such spurious claims.   That case was Excel v Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, heard in July 2020 and leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued.  The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'.   This Judge - and others who have since copied her words and struck dozens of cases out in late 2020 and into 2021 - went into significant detail and concluded that parking operators (such as this Claimant) are seeking to circumvent CPR 27.14 as well as breaching the Consumer Rights Act 2015.   DJ Hickinbottom has recently struck more cases out in that court area, stating: ''I find that striking out this claim is the only appropriate manner in which the disapproval of the court can be shown''.

Is a solicitor involved?   If so complain to the SRA ,  it is time they put a stop to this deception by an officer of the court. .

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/instructing/your-right-to-complain/

nosferatu1001

Once you have done that, get back onto the landowner. They CAN ask that the Claimant cancels even now, you of course want that in writing. IF the claimant refuses, you have a key piece of evidence to show the claimant has no commercial justificaiton for th echarge. This means the charge is a penalty, and private companies cannotr levy penalties

rocdoc

Le_Kirk said:

What is the date of issue of the claim form?  If you post that here @KeithP will be along to give you some deadlines and where to find advice and the standard defence template.

Date of issue for claim form is: 10/02/2021

KeithP

rocdoc said:

Le_Kirk said:

What is the date of issue of the claim form?  If you post that here @KeithP will be along to give you some deadlines and where to find advice and the standard defence template.

Date of issue for claim form is: 10/02/2021

With a Claim Issue Date of 10th February, you have until Monday 1st 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 Monday 15th March 2021 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.

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.

rocdoc

D_P_Dance said:

Are they claiming anything for debt collection?  If so you could probabkly get this thown out for abuse of process, read this.

At the Bradford County Court, District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) decided to hear a 'test case' a few months ago, where £60 had been added to a parking charge despite Judges up and down the country repeatedly disallowing that sum and warning parking firms not to waste court time with such spurious claims.   That case was Excel v Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, heard in July 2020 and leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued.  The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'.   This Judge - and others who have since copied her words and struck dozens of cases out in late 2020 and into 2021 - went into significant detail and concluded that parking operators (such as this Claimant) are seeking to circumvent CPR 27.14 as well as breaching the Consumer Rights Act 2015.   DJ Hickinbottom has recently struck more cases out in that court area, stating: ''I find that striking out this claim is the only appropriate manner in which the disapproval of the court can be shown''.

Is a solicitor involved?   If so complain to the SRA ,  it is time they put a stop to this deception by an officer of the court. .

DCB Legal - civil and commercial litigation solicitors on behalf of F1rst parking. 

the link with 'your right to complain'  --- is this relevant as there is no solicitor involved for me?

rocdoc

nosferatu1001 said:

Once you have done that, get back onto the landowner. They CAN ask that the Claimant cancels even now, you of course want that in writing. IF the claimant refuses, you have a key piece of evidence to show the claimant has no commercial justificaiton for th echarge. This means the charge is a penalty, and private companies cannotr levy penalties

Tried phone contact today with postgraduate admin (following email last week) but no response. WFH and half-day Monday?? Will try again tomorrow. Best case is that can pursue through uni and get cancelled, but willing to defend if not. 

rocdoc

Redx said:

It was not caught by anpr , anpr checks Number Plates , not permits , hence the NP in anpr

Wardens or security staff check permits

Post the issue date below , email a SAR to the DPO at First Parking

Start drafting paragraphs 2 and 3 from the defence template

I believe the system is more sophisticated now and wardens/security do not check the cars. They never seem to do an awful lot in the 7 years I have been at this uni. 

Issue date for claim form is above. Will get on the SAR to DPO, and draft defence template this week.  

rocdoc

KeithP said:

rocdoc said:

Le_Kirk said:

What is the date of issue of the claim form?  If you post that here @KeithP will be along to give you some deadlines and where to find advice and the standard defence template.

Date of issue for claim form is: 10/02/2021

With a Claim Issue Date of 10th February, you have until Monday 1st 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 Monday 15th March 2021 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.

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.

In terms of defence..
Para 2: best to admit being keeper and driver in these circumstances?
Para 3: unsure on this one. Best to concentrate on wording in signage or PCN/NTK? What to acknowledge? See original PCN/NTK: