Highview Parking

SotonC

Hi,

I got a parking ticket in 2015 from Highview Parking. 

The car park in question was also used by employees at my work.

The ticket was from my first day of employment there and my boss at the time said he would sort out getting the ticket squashed for me. I then never heard another word about it - no further letters in the two years I was there.

Now 6 years later I have received a claim form from the County Court Business Centre asking for payment of £300.28! Made up as follows:

Amount claimed - £225.28
Court fee - £25
Legal costs - £50

Is there any chance of avoiding the payment now or is this worth trying to defend?

The cost seems pretty excessive after all these years, just concerned as it looks like I have a deadline to pay.

DCB Legal are the company chasing me for the money.

Many Thanks

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

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

You have no deadline to pay. You owe nothing until a court rules that you do.

Redx

the basic advice is the same as in this one , apart from the counterclaim and identity issues

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6262974/dcbl-letter-of-claim-defence-to-be-filed/p1

email the SAR tonight to Highview, attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of I D

start working on the defence template by coupon mad, but give us the issue date from that claim form first , plus the date of the PCN in 2015, plus how many charges were there ? one or two or more ?

SotonC

The date on the County Court Claim Form is 23/04/21.

SotonC

I will look over the other thread. It was just one incident that's why I thought £300 seemed pretty harsh.

The PCN was issued 25/08/2015.

I will look for the defence template and e-mail Highview.

Thanks.

Redx

SotonC said:

I will look over the other thread. It was just one incident that's why I thought £300 seemed pretty harsh.

The PCN was issued 25/08/2015.

I will look for the defence template and e-mail Highview.

Thanks.

yes it is, the true figure is probably this

£85 for the pcn + £25 court fee + £50 filing fee = £160 in total

DCB LEGAL seem to have employed somebody who cannot add up but errs on overinflated charges !!!

we have seen this ridiculous totals in other recent threads, possibly an abuse of process and definitely not allowed, good reason to fight anyway

KeithP

SotonC said:

The date on the County Court Claim Form is 23/04/21.

With a Claim Issue Date of 23rd April, you have until Wednesday 12th May 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 in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 26th May 2021 to file your Defence.

That's over 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.

SotonC

Looking at the claim form it does say on the left hand side of the form that £155 is the total of the PCN and 'damages'. It also mentions interest at 8%

I'm guessing that is how they got to £225 for the amount claimed.

Redx

SotonC said:

Looking at the claim form it does say on the left hand side of the form that £155 is the total of the PCN and 'damages'. It also mentions interest at 8%

I'm guessing that is how they got to £225 for the amount claimed.

yes, because they probably added a spurious charge of £70 onto the £85 original pcn charge, charges that are being dismissed by judges in various courts, plus they wait nearly 6 years and add up the interest, instead of trying court after say 3 to 12 months !! for less interest

their greediness is their own downfall, as you will see in some posts about the judges in Bradford etc

do the AOS online tonight , plus the SAR, then concentrate on the 2 paragraphs you need to alter from the template, posting them below for critique

SotonC

Ok thank you both for your help. I will get on with the process and let you know how it goes 

Coupon-mad

You need to stick around and come back regularly; there is a process to follow and not just a defence. 

Why not read and bookmark the other Highview claims on the first few pages here?    Others are a few days ahead of your already so read those.

This is exactly the same and if you'd responded to the DCBL recovery letter and delayed them with a few questions or responded to the Letter before Claim you could probably have timed this out...so frustrating when people get claims they could have avoided.  The 6 years was nearly up, all you needed to do was delay them a bit by replying and asking questions.  

 It could have been appealed and killed with one email had you come here in 2015.  Highview are a cinch to beat at appeal, but you missed that chance and now it's more work.