County Court Claim Form Received from 2019

VickyL

Hi, Thanks for letting me in this group, I am not so good on this stuff, so please go gentle on me
I have read lots of great info, but some of it is quite complicated.

Basically....

I have just received a Claim Form from the County Court Issued 24th Feb 2022  for a PCN in 07/09/19

I did get the PCN back in 2019, and spoke/emailed them at the time and explained the car park signs were very small, very dirty, and the main signs blocked by parked trucks, there was a diversion in place at the time and the signs were small and quite high up the poles. After that initial contact, I haven't hear any more till this letter and because of the length of time have no longer got any photos of the video I took.

I did speak to kitchen shop we had an appointment with, they said if we brought the kitchen off them, they would pay the fee. We didn't buy from them because of this statement, it felt like we were being bullied. They did say, it happens a lot, weird giving they book you in for a 4hour appointment, but don't tell you parking is only 3 hours. There now is a small sign on their door as you enter their shop.An odd that you are encouraged to shop out of town, with lots of shops, but not enough time to visit them. I would have thought a ticket system would have worked much better.

The car park signage has now been slightly improved and new signs stuck over the old dirty ones.

This Claim, says I agreed to pay the fee within 28 days. I didn't agree to do this. The claim is now £289.84

My partner met me at the same car park, arrived slightly earlier than me in a separate car and has not received a ticket. I don't think the cameras etc work very well, because of all the parked cars and lorries.

So I have acknowledged it and asked for the extension at MCOL.

Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 01/03/2022 at 11:12:32
Your acknowledgment of service was received on 01/03/2022 at 12:05:46

And am now going to prepare my defense.

Submitting it by email as suggested by KeithP to the CCBCAQ email address, using the TEMPLATE DEFENCE - NEW FROM OCTOBER 2020 by Coupon-mad

My defense will be:-

Time elapsed
Signage
Landowner Authority

Just before I started, wanted to check I was doing it correctly and in the right order.
I can then post my defense letter here, before sending off.

Thanks guys... you rock.

Fruitcake

You are doing everything right at the moment except for this part below.

Forget this. 

"This Claim, says I agreed to pay the fee within 28 days. I didn't agree to do this."

You are incorrect. The driver agreed to abide by the parking contract displayed on the signs.

You should be following the step by step guide to court written by bargepole from the second post of the NEWBIES plus the template defence.

Use all of the template defence. Amend paragraphs 2 and 3 and show (only) them here. 
Para 3 should briefly describe the car park and the events. Include the poor signage at the time, and the entrapment (four hour appointment in a 3 hour car park). 
Note that everything needs to be written as claimant and defendant, not you, me, I, myself.

Get pics of the site and signage. Complain again to the kitchen company manage/CEO. Have a look on Google Streetview (GSV) to see if there are any historical images you could use.

Please tell use where the alleged event took place as it may have cropped up here before.

VickyL

Thanks....

The alleged event took place at Fountains Retail Park, Longfield Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3UY

Will get on the rest.

Groovy

D_P_Dance

 The claim is now £289.84

They have added what appears to be an extra unlawful amount for debt collection.

This amounts to double recovery and Judges all over the country are dismissing these spurious additions. Indeed some judges have dismissed entire claims because of this. Read this and complain to Trading Standards and 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

However, 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

Also this,

"Abuse of process – the quantum

13. In addition to the disputed Parking Charge Notice claim amount of £100, the Claimant has added a sum of £60 that is disingenuously described variously as 'debt collection costs', ‘additional charges levied to cover the cost of recovery’, ‘additional administration costs’, ‘debt recovery costs’, ‘initial legal costs’ and ‘recovery costs’. The added £60 constitutes double recovery and the court is invited to find the quantum claimed is false and an abuse of process as was found by District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) in Excel vs Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, a similar case in which £60 had been added to a parking charge, heard in July 2020 (the transcript of which is exhibit XX-04). The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'. Leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued."

Also consider complaining to The SRA about the solicitor, if one is involved They are fully aware of the unlawful nature of most of thse additions yet persist in adding them..

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/

1505grandad

Who is the claimant?

VickyL

wow...... "Complain again to the kitchen company manager /CEO"

Emailed the CEO this morning to explain as you suggested.

Just had a call back from the Customer Service Director, who assures me this should have been sorted, and she was going to deal with it.

Fantastic news.....

Thanks, will keep you posted......

KeithP

VickyL said:

Just had a call back from the Customer Service Director, who assures me this should have been sorted, and she was going to deal with it.

Fantastic news.....

Thanks, will keep you posted......

While you are waiting for this, do not lose sight of the fact that you have a County Court Claim to Defend.
Until you receive a Notice of Discontinuance you must defend yourself.

VickyL said:

I have just received a Claim Form from the County Court Issued 24th Feb 2022...

So I have acknowledged it and asked for the extension at MCOL.

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 01/03/2022 at 12:05:46

I hope you won't need it, but...

With a Claim Issue Date of 24th February, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 29th March 2022 to file your Defence.

That's nearly 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 at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline 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'.

And by the way, there is no letter 's' in Defence.  

Fruitcake

Good, but it is not over until the court says it is over. Continue with drafting your defence, and submit it before your filing deadline if it hasn't been cancelled by then.

A rough guide to determining the deadline is 33 days from the issue date, (five days for the claim to be served and 28 days for the defence to be submitted) assuming the AoS is done in a timely manner, which you have done.

Please confirm the identity of the claimant. I suspect it is UKPC.

Fruitcake

VickyL said:

Thanks....

The alleged event took place at Fountains Retail Park, Longfield Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3UY

Will get on the rest.

Groovy

That site has cropped up here before.

VickyL

Great advice...

I will still be preparing a defence, should it be needed.

Sorry in the excitement, I forgot that bit.

UK Parking Control Limited

thank you all.

Fruitcake

1505grandad said:

Who is the claimant?

Probably UKPC.