Claim Form received for parking in private allocated bay (One Parking Solution)

Perry86

Hi all, 

As per the discussion title, I have received a claim form from the County Court Business Centre, issue date  29th July 2021 for a single parking ticket dated 23rd April 2020. 

Amount claimed £169.48
Court fee £35.00
Legal ref fees £50.00
Total Fees: 254.48 

The claimant is One Parking Solution Ltd and DB Legal Ltd are acting on their behalf. 

On the 1st April 21 I moved in to an apartment that comes with allocated parking space. Access to the parking area is gated and fobbed. On the 23rd April the vehicle is ticketed for not displaying a valid parking permit. Unfortunately, because of the lockdown measures in place and quarantining at I did not discover the ticket until long after it was placed. It was beyond the point of paying at the reduced cost and admittedly, I didn't attempt to pay the full price or appeal the ticket and forgot about it. 

It didn't help the fact my vehicle is still registered to my old property so any legal letters they sent me went ignored. I did however, receive one legal letter to my actual residence last month  and then a claim form last week. 

There are some additional considerations that I should mention to get the full picture. After receiving the first PCN a further 3 PCNs were issued to the vehicle for not displaying a valid permit. However, I did display photocopy of one that was issued to me for use by the estate agents. I did attempt appeal on this basis but it was rejected. After a lot of back of forth with the agents and the landlord the PPC actually cancelled the 3 tickets, at the request of the client ( who I presume is the freeholder or managing agent). The vehicle was put on an exemption list until I received a valid parking permit. 

There is also a point of contention in the 'Particulars of claim' section of the claim form. 

Point 4.  The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not. 

This is factually incorrect. The driver has not been in contact with OPS or their representative, at any time, to discuss this claim at all. Is this not in itself grounds for dismissible?

Any help would be appreciated - should a defend against this claim or accept my losses and pay the amount due?  I am always accepting of faults and generally pay fines that are issued fairly. However, I feel, being ticketed in my own parking space during the midst of a full lockdown is completely unreasonable. 


Thanks

KeithP

Perry86 said:

As per the discussion title, I have received a claim form from the County Court Business Centre, issue date  29th July 2021...

With a Claim Issue Date of 29th July, you have until Tuesday 17th August 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 31st August 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.

Perry86 said:

There is also a point of contention in the 'Particulars of claim' section of the claim form. 

Point 4.  The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not. 

This is factually incorrect. The driver has not been in contact with OPS or their representative, at any time, to discuss this claim at all. Is this not in itself grounds for dismissible?

You are mistaken.
The allegation is that by parking the driver agreed to the terms of the contract.

Those contract terms are the terms on the signs.

Almost certainly there is a term on the signs stating something like "if the driver doesn't park in accordance with the rules then he agrees to pay £nn within 28 days...".

Umkomaas

Point 4.  The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not. 

This is factually incorrect. The driver has not been in contact with OPS or their representative, at any time, to discuss this claim at all. Is this not in itself grounds for dismissible?

The signage on site, the purported contract, will include this. They all use it. It's a non-issue, don't overly faze yourself with it. 

There is plenty of advice on defending a claim - the NEWBIES FAQ Announcement, second post, provides detailed guidance written by legally qualified and court savvy regulars. There is also a stand-alone 'Announcement' (one of the first five threads pinned to the top of this forum's thread index) which provides you a template defence with the only real work you need to undertake is for paras 2 and 3 where you describe the circumstances of your parking event. 

When you've completed the draft defence, just show us only the parts you've completed yourself (we don't need to see the whole nine yards) and you'll get some advice on it. 

In addition, forum regular @KeithP will also come along shortly to give you a timetable you will need to work to, and some advice on how to proceed in these early stages.

Perry86

@KeithP
@Umkomaas

Thank you for the prompt response and the information enclosed. I will report back after going through the motions. 


It seems I am unable to edit my original post so I will clarify here. I moved in to the property on 1st April 2020 (not 2021).

Thanks 

D_P_Dance

Firstly, they are claiming unlawful amounrs, read this

Excel v Wilkinson

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''.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/16qovzulab1szem/G4QZ465V Excel v Wilkinson.pdf?dl=0

Secondlyl, what does the lease/AST say about displaying a permit?  Read these,

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/11/residential-parking.html
https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/forum/residential-letting-questions/1053920-private-parking-companies

and complain to your MP.

Perry86

@D_P_Dance

Hi, thanks for this. 

I have checked the AST and it simply states not to park a boat or commercial vehicle without prior consent and only general maintenance allowed.

I'm assuming I cannot request a copy of the full lease from the landlord? 

D_P_Dance

I'm assuming I cannot request a copy of the full lease from the landlord? 

You can ask, tellhim/he why you nee it.

Coupon-mad

Is this a BHCC flat or private landlord and where in Sussex? Have you read other OPS threads to learn about those 'cowboys'? (The Sunday Times called them that).

Have you and your family all done the vital public Government Consultation and email to your MP that we are all discussing?

Please share on other forums, social media and certainly with your MP:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6286801/government-consultation-re-private-parking-charge-levels-august-2021-please-bookmark-this-thread/p1

We are calling for everyone to do a full and robust response by email to the MHCLG, attaching evidence of what happened to you and what you think is wrong about £100 charges and fake debt recovery ‘fees’ that no PPC actually incurs or pays.

We also need people to contact their MP to ask questions about why the MHCLG appear to have performed a U-turn on their March promise to cap parking charges, and why instead they propose to fund the race to court at £70 a time from victims

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78517562/#Comment_78517562

To anyone reading this: 
PLEASE DO THIS IF YOU WANT CONSUMER VOICES TO OUTWEIGH THE PARKING INDUSTRY’S GREED. WHICH SEES THEM TRY TO CLAIM MORE THAN THE LAW ALLOWS, FROM A REGISTERED KEEPER,

I just looked at the POFA Explanatory Notes (part of the legislation):

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/notes/division/5/1/3/3

221.Paragraph 4 provides that the creditor has a right to recover unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the relevant vehicle if the conditions set out in paragraphs 5, 6, 11 and 12 are satisfied. The creditor is not obliged to pursue unpaid parking charges through this scheme and may seek to do so through other means but they may not use the scheme provided for here to secure double recovery of unpaid parking charges (paragraph 4(6)), nor will they have the right to pursue the keeper, as opposed to the driver, of the vehicle where they have sufficient details of the driver’s identity. The right to reclaim unpaid parking charges from the vehicle keeper does not apply in cases where the vehicle has been stolen before it was parked, (paragraphs 4(2) to (3)), or in certain circumstances where the vehicle in question was a hire vehicle (paragraph 4(7)). The creditor may not make a claim against the keeper of a vehicle for more than the amount of the unpaid parking related charges as they stood when the notice to the driver was issued (paragraph 4(5)).

Fruitcake

Perry86 said:

@D_P_Dance

Hi, thanks for this. 

I have checked the AST and it simply states not to park a boat or commercial vehicle without prior consent and only general maintenance allowed.

I'm assuming I cannot request a copy of the full lease from the landlord? 

In other words, there is no requirement in your property rental agreement to display a permit, no mention of the site being infested by an unregulated private parking company, no requirement to pay a parking charge, and no mention of court claims for simply complying with the terms of your AST.

You can request any document that has a direct bearing on you and your living arrangements.

Your lease/AST/property rental agreement has primacy of contract over anything an unregulated parking company puts on their signs. Amending or removing your existing rights is a derogation of grant.

You should complain long and loud to your landlord, the landowner, the managing agent, and your MP, and please do complete the government parking consultation.

Perry86

Coupon-mad said:

Is this a BHCC flat or private landlord and where in Sussex? Have you read other OPS threads to learn about those 'cowboys'? (The Sunday Times called them that).

I'm not sure what BHCC flat is but I believe it is a private landlord, rented through a letting agent. The apartment is in a East London, Walthamstow. 

I'm going to request a copy of the landlords lease and explain why I need it. 

Coupon-mad

And let us know if you have any questions about the Government Consultation and MP email you have only 3 weeks to do.