unpaid PCN, court hearing letter - case CLOSED

Redx

What he said above ^^^^^^ , plus KeithP told you this 2 days ago !!

You have 2 paragraphs 2 & 3 to adapt and to show us from the template defence by coupon mad , the template is in one of the announcements at the top of the forum. So yes do the AOS midweek , but start doing your Defence draft from now on

You may not get your SAR reply by the defence deadline , because as you say , it should have been done a month ago , early November , that is your error , but still useful for later on , next year

kokolino23

AOS done today

I very much doubt they will respond to my SAR - by the way, I didn't give them the PCN reference number, only VRM

I need to think about my defence now, I'm not sure if should I mention the driver and his/her version.

I'm a field engineer and I wasn't the driver at the time. If I defend as a keeper, I can explain how much hassle I've had from the debt recovery, etc. If I'll start to talk about the driver and circumstances at the time, is a whole different story which might (or not) play in my favour, depends what the judge will think.

At the end of the day, the parking was free in that area (I can prove that) and the bay are not clearly marked, let alone the poor signage. Was a torential rain and the driver couldn't see the marking on the pavement, was also with 2 small children in the car so had to park close to the store. I'll bet their picture with the car is a grainy one but without having the PCN is difficult to prove. I'll doubt they will respond in time anyway, they know exactly how to play their cards.

The "offence" took place 4.5 years ago, how many of us can clearly remember what they did 1 year ago, let alone 4-5 years back ?!

Umkomaas

A SAR is probably more useful at Witness Statement stage, so no panic about not getting it before your Defence is due. Most of what you've written above (the mitigating circumstances) are more suitable at the WS stage. 

The Defence is all but written for you in the Defence template, you just need to fill in the details of your parking event in paras 2 and 3. 

Coupon-mad

Don't talk in a defence about debt recovery letters, that is not a defence.

Para 2 will be saying you were not driving and put the Claimant to strict proof of the basis of liability (if any exists, which is denied) against this Defendant.  Any breach of a 'relevant contract or relevant obligation' by the driver is also denied and the claim also fails due to inadequate notices (signage).

Then para 3 needs to say what you do know from the driver about the event and signs.

kokolino23

I've got the reply from UKPC now, their response to my SAR. They sent me the PCN along with 2 letters. One of them is a Notice to the keeper, the other one is a Notification Letter. After this, the matter was referred to a Debt Recovery company.

Not sure if is important but looks like they've only allowed 28 days for the payment, not 42 as required by the law I think?!

PCN dated 28/06/2017

In the first letter (notice to the keeper from 28/07/17), they do mention 42 days

If, after a period of 42 days, (beginning with the day after this Notice is given), the amount requested in this Notice has not been paid in full (or we have not been informed of the driver’s name and current address) you, the Registered Keeper under the terms  of,Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012,will be liable to pay the unpaid Parking Charge.

Then had a notification letter on the 29/08/17

Despite issuing a Parking Charge and writing to you previously we (UK Parking Control Ltd.) have not received payment. As 28 days have lapsed, you, the Registered Keeper of the vehicle can be made liable for the Parking Charge. If full payment is not made within 14 days, or if we are not provided the drivers details then the charge will be passed on to our debt recovery agency.
Following from this, and if necessary, we will commence County Court Proceedings against you for the amount outstanding, interest and court costs. If the Court orders Judgment against you, and payment of that Judgment is not made, this may affect your ability to borrow money or obtain credit in the future. A warrant may also be issued for the Court’s appointed bailiff to recover the payment. At this point you would also become liable for the additional fees of the enforcement agency.

The the following letter was from the Debt recovery company on 29/09/17

Many thanks for all your help

kokolino23

@Coupon-mad @Umkomaas @Redx   @D_P_Dance  @KeithP   @Le_Kirk

Thanks a lot for taking the time and explain me the steps to defend this. With the help from someone else as well (Georgina G - Many thanks to you once again in case you'll read this), I think I've got a very strong case here.

First of all, I think I should've had a final reminder after 42 days but they didn't send me anything like that.

Secondly, the pics provided to my SAR clearly shows less than 1 minute between the first and final one (45s to be more precisely). This time is a predatory tactic and didn't allow the driver to read the signs related to the parking rules in the area. By the time the driver went to read the signs and came back to the car, the PCN was already on the windscreen.

I will write my defence and send it over a couple of days before the limit.

Coupon-mad

Not sure if is important but looks like they've only allowed 28 days for the payment, not 42 as required by the law I think?!

Other way round!  Their NTK misstates the law.  Read other UKPC defence threads.

kokolino23

@Coupon-mad NTK states or misstates the law? Thanks

Redx

kokolino23 said:

@Coupon-mad NTK states or misstates the law? Thanks

Ntk mis-states the law , there is no 42 days , for anything ( just 14 , 28 and 56 )

POFA states the details , check a typical Parking Eye NTK for the correct wording

This only benefits a keeper who wasn't the driver

A driver gets no protection from POFA , meaning that POFA doesn't apply to the driver , so incorrect wording would not help a driver , but does help a keeper who was not the driver

Umkomaas

"42 days" don't exist in private parking cases, don't know where you've got that from?