Help with a private parking charge and court

lostinspace00

Hi All, Im hoping for some help please. I recently received a court claim form from Northampton County Court. This is from UK Parking Control Limited and relates to a parking charge dated 24/12/2016. They asking for;-

Amount claimed £230.68 (ticket, damages and interest)
Court fee £35
Legal costs £50

TOTAL £315.68

I do not have the money to pay this amount.

I never received a copy of the actual ticket (in the yellow envelope). I did receive a follow up letter after this to which I replied to by post explaining why I disagreed with the charge (I have a copy of this letter). The reasons were - I was not parked on the road they said I was (it was around the corner but is a different road with a different name altogether), the parking signs were not clear, and no ticket was ever placed on the window. I never heard anything back from them after this and made the presumption that the ticket was cancelled. 

Since the pandemic I have not been living at my old address as it is my venerable and elderly mother house. In this time a number of letters arrived from a debt collection company asking for payment for the ticket. I recently visited her house for a birthday on the weekend where I found the debt collector letters and also a court letter dated 24/11/2021. 

I would be grateful if anyone could pint me in the right direction, advice or the law about how to challenge this. In particular the wrong address where the claim I was parked. 

Thanks for any help in advance.

lostinspace00

I should also add that I wasn't actually driving at the time. It was an ex partner who I don't have the details of any longer to provide.

Coupon-mad

What's the date of issue of the claim?

lostinspace00

Hi, its 24/11/2021

lostinspace00

The claim is from the Claim Form is from the Northampton County Court Business Centre and some of the flow in the newbies section don't appear to be an option here?

Le_Kirk

lostinspace00 said:

The claim is from the Claim Form is from the Northampton County Court Business Centre and some of the flow in the newbies section don't appear to be an option here?

Don't understand this bit!

Coupon-mad

You've (hopefully) already read a few other claim threads to understand about the template defence and if so, you'll know that @KeithP will be along in a minute, and what his reply will tell you.

The NEWBIES thread is about appeal stage.  Most people come here at appeal stage.  Then there is a section about LBC stage, because lots of people come here then, as they should.  I have to cover all bases there, I even have a post all about ignoring debt collectors.

You just read the section that is right for you - the part about what to do when you get a claim and how to do the AOS and defence.

KeithP

lostinspace00 said:

Hi, its 24/11/2021

With a Claim Issue Date of 24th November, you have until Monday 13th December 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 29th December 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.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

D_P_Dance

Amount claimed £230.68 (ticket, damages and interest)

They have added what appears to be an extra unlawful amount for debt collection. This amounts to double recover and some Judges have dismissed an entire claim because of this. Read this 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%20Excel%20v%20Wilkinson.pdf?dl=0

However, a VCS appealed this so it may not apply in all cases, read this

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ntksx9g7177ahyg/VCS v Percy v1 Amendments (2).pdf?dl=0Also read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6279348/witness-statements-2-transcripts-re-parking-firms-false-costs-recorder-cohen-qc-judgment-2021/p1

lostinspace00

Thanks all for your replies. I will do the MCO response today

lostinspace00

Are they able to claim more fees if the matter goes to a hearing? I was surprised there was even a legal fee address as I thought this could not be done through small claims? I don't want to be a in a position where I may lose and I end up with an even higher bill that I can't pay.