One Parking Solution - Durrington station

markrg1965

Hi there, registered keeper was invoiced back in March 2019. There were no signs at the entrance to car park and laughable broken cardboard signs cable tied inside which had been modified with stickers (I kid you not). To cut a long story short after a few threatening letters which went a bit quiet during 2020 and lockdown, out of the blue and without a formal Letter before claim a summons was received. Now the problem here is the registered keeper and defendent was not the driver and does not want to fight what on paper appears to be a starightforward win. Can the driver come forward now and fight the inflated costs schedule and signage or does the defendent have to do this?

Fruitcake

Just a minor point, it's not a summons because it is not a criminal case.

I believe that once court proceedings have commenced, it is too late to transfer liability to the driver. There is nothing stopping someone else doing all the legwork in the keeper's name, with their permission of course, and they can even act for the defendant at the hearing, but the defendant must also appear.

The helper, (Lay Representative) could generate a throw away Gmail account in the keeper's name and do all the legwork up to the point of the hearing. As you have probably already realised, the keeper has protections in law that the driver does not.

markrg1965

Thanks for clarifying this about the summons, sorry used the wrong term here. Unfortuantely the defendent / registered keeper will not appear in person and would prefer to settle. It seems a shame to pay up on this one as it appears to be a very winnable situation. I thought it made more sense to never reveal the driver but in my case maybe that was not the case. can it be defended without revealing or appearing in person?

Fruitcake

The defendant must appear, although most hearings these days are by 'phone. Paying now will cost more than defending and losing. Paying would be daft just to avoid a chat with a couple of other people either in a room or on the end of a 'phone, especially if a Lay Rep is doing most if not all of the work, and the talking.

Paying the scammers funds them further so they scam more people.

Umkomaas

can it be defended without revealing or appearing in person?

Yes - 'on the papers', but we've never seen anyone win on this basis, only the PPC and their solicitors, who do this for a day job, and will be far better at putting together their case on paper than you. 

You mustn't let this drift, make a decision and a plan, then go with that. But to settle now the claimant will want the full pound of flesh as detailed in their claim. You could string this out as if you're going to fight them all the way in court, you make no reference to not wishing to appear in court, although these days most cases are conducted by telephone (think about that). Quite often they will offer a reduced amount to settle, some even discontinue at a late stage. Are you any good at poker?

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form?

markrg1965

Thanks, for the advice, I'm going to fight this because I think the case is strong enough for them to pull out or not appear. Will let you know how I get on.

markrg1965

Hi KeithP the issue date is 08/03/21

KeithP

markrg1965 said:

Hi KeithP the issue date is 08/03/21

With a Claim Issue Date of 8th March, you have until Monday 29th 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 12th April 2021 to file your Defence.

That's nearly 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.

Of course everywhere I have written 'you' or 'your' I mean the named Defendant.

The_Slithy_Tove

Is the station car park covered by Byelaws? Did the parking charge ever claim it was issued under Byelaws? A "yes" to either of those puts them in a difficult position.

Coupon-mad

I don't think OPS are in any actual station car parks in West Sussex.  Not sure this is the station car park as such, maybe 'next door to the station'?  Please take some photos and clarify what all the signs say, including any station one about byelaws. 

The Defendant cannot be changed to the driver now so hopefully they will realise that a bog standard telephone hearing ain't that scary!