Claim form for parking over 5 years ago

outsidechancex

I received a claim form yesterday for parking in an Excel parking car park over 5 years ago. 

Particulars of claim:

1. Defendant is indebted to the claimant for parking charges issued to vehicle XXXX at XXXX.
2. The PCN details are XXX
3. The PCN was issued on private land owned or managed by Excel parking services
4. The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not. D is liable as the driver or keeper. Despite requests, the PCN is outstanding. The contract entitles C to damages and the claimant claims
1. £160 being the total of the PCN and damages
2. Interest at a rate of 8% per annum pursuant to s.69 of the country courts act 1984 from the date hereof at a daily rate of £0.02 until judgement or sooner payment
3. Costs and court fees

Amount claimed £196.88
Court fee £35
Legal representatives costs £50
Total amount £281.88

What do I need to do? I have read the newbies forum, should I submit a SAR? What next?

Le_Kirk

What is the date of issue of the N1 claim form?  If you post that here, then @KeithP will be along to give you some deadlines.  Submitting a SAR is always a good idea, as it will give you useful info for your witness statement later in the process.  Check out the standard defence template one of the first five announcements on the first page of the forum and think about what you will put in the paragraphs 2 & 3.

Fruitcake

Was the claim form from a solicitors or from MCOL? If the latter, what is the issue date on the claim form?

Did you receive a PCN/NTK at the time, and if so, what did you do about it? 

It is never too late to make a landowner complaint if you haven't already done so.

Send an SAR as per the advice in the NEWBIES and include proof of ID. Do not send photo ID.

Start by reading the guide to court written by bargepole you will find in the second post of the NEWBIES. This is a step by step guide from LBC to the court hearing.

Where did the alleged event occur, and what was the reason for the PCN being issued in the first place? The site may have cropped up here before.
Use Google Streetview to see if there are any historical images that may be of use.

outsidechancex

Le_Kirk said:

What is the date of issue of the N1 claim form?  If you post that here, then @KeithP will be along to give you some deadlines.  Submitting a SAR is always a good idea, as it will give you useful info for your witness statement later in the process.  Check out the standard defence template one of the first five announcements on the first page of the forum and think about what you will put in the paragraphs 2 & 3.

13th August 2021

D_P_Dance

They have added what appears to be an extra unlawful amount for debt coolection. Judges have dismissed an entire claim because this. Read thus and complain to your MP.

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

outsidechancex

Fruitcake said:

Was the claim form from a solicitors or from MCOL? If the latter, what is the issue date on the claim form?

Did you receive a PCN/NTK at the time, and if so, what did you do about it? 

It is never too late to make a landowner complaint if you haven't already done so.

Send an SAR as per the advice in the NEWBIES and include proof of ID. Do not send photo ID.

Start by reading the guide to court written by bargepole you will find in the second post of the NEWBIES. This is a step by step guide from LBC to the court hearing.

Where did the alleged event occur, and what was the reason for the PCN being issued in the first place? The site may have cropped up here before.
Use Google Streetview to see if there are any historical images that may be of use.

The claim form has come from DCB Legal. Issue date 13th August 2021.

As it was so long ago I cannot remember whether I received a PCN/NTK, which is not very helpful. 

Is there a template for making a landowner complaint?

The event occurred in an excel car park on Lower Loveday Street, Birmingham. 

Redx

I would

Do the AOS online tomorrow of Friday , only the AOS , nothing else on MCOL

Email a SAR to the DPO at Excel today , attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of I D under the GDPR law , plus add copies of 2 recent redacted utility bills as well , but no photo I D

Start reading the newbies FAQ sticky thread , post two , understand the process , then start reading a dozen recent 2021 court claim threads to see how their defences developed , then drafting your own based on the template defence by coupon mad

Post the adapted paragraphs below for critique and advice , do not post the unchanged paragraphs , it's your homework being checked , nobody else

outsidechancex

Thanks all. I have emailed a SAR to the DPO at Excel. 

Can anyone advise as to whether there is a template to write an email to the solicitor to tell them about this please?

Redx

outsidechancex said:

Thanks all. I have emailed a SAR to the DPO at Excel. 

Can anyone advise as to whether there is a template to write an email to the solicitor to tell them about this please?

No need , that stage has departed , it's a live court claim , just do what I said above

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 13th August, you have until Wednesday 1st September 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 Wednesday 15th September 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.

outsidechancex

So I received some info back from the SAR request made. No photos of the car, but there was a picture of the PCN describing the car being parked with an expired ticket. I'm unsure what evidence they have of this since no photos were provided of the vehicle. The car park had a PDT machine that was cash only and I don't remember having to enter a car registration. It was £3 for 24 hours. It is believed that the ticket was issued after I put £3 into the PDT to renew the ticket and no ticket was dispensed. At the time excel/the number given on the sign was called and the person said not to worry as they will note it down as an issue with the PDT machine. In hindsight I should have recorded this call. I have tried to get a call history from my network provider, but unfortunately they cannot provide a log of outgoing calls from over 5 years ago. Any advice for the defence here please?

I also noted that the claim form says the PCN was issued 04/12/201X, but the picture of the PCN provided from the SAR shows that the PCN was dated 12/04/201X. Is this of use?

The claim form further says that the contact entitles the claimant to damages... unsure what the damages are?