UK Parking Control Limited - COUNTY COURT LETTER - LIMITED TIME :(

Harbmeister

Hello All,

I am reading the advice given under similar posts - but while I do I am posting here, mainly because Claim Form has an Issue Date of 23.02.22 and I mistakenly believed I had one month to consider my action. Actually it's 14 days from 23rd + 5 days which as of now is Monday 14th (two days away).

Particulars of the claim:
McDonald's in a part of Manchester (not local to me)
I ate breakfast there (can trace the transaction on my bank account)
Outstayed my welcome whilst working/waiting for my daughter to surface
I think the limit was two hours - I really didn't believe I would be done and yes then went through a long 'ignore' stage hoping it would go away

Amounts:
PCN £160
Interest £40.28
Court Fee £35
Legal Costs £50
Total: £285.28

I need to avoid at all costs a CCJ against me.

Advice on initial action to take urgently greatly received. I 'think' this is an AoS but is this only if I am going to defend my case? With 14days being up Monday (and it's Saturday) can this be done online?
Happy to go to court (however it's a 200mi hike) if needs be if I should contest my case.

PH

Trainerman

You will not go 200 miles to Court. It will either be Zoom or similar, telephone or in person at your local court. You need to read the Newbies to get an idea of process, and you do not have long. If you are going to defend, I would send SAR immediately, even though you have to write defence before that will come back.

Two questions I would raise are 1) how long is the alleged overstay. 2) Which PPC, is it actually UKCPC?

Generally, the more details we have, the more focused the advice. Have you tried to get it cancelled via McDonalds...... and does your daughter work there?

D_P_Dance

I mistakenly believed I had one month to consider my action. Actually it's 14 days from 23rd + 5 days which as of now is Monday 14th (two days away).

A genuine LBC allows 3i days, what you appear to have  is a debt collectors lettere posing as being from a solicitor.  Please read the newbies and complain to your MP> y daystt

They have also added what appears to be an extra unlawful amount of £60 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/

Umkomaas

A genuine LBC allows 3i days, what you appear to have is a debt collectors lettere posing as being from a solicitor. 

It's a county court claim form which needs urgent action to avoid a judgment in default. It's most certainly not a debt collection letter, not even an LBC. 

. 

Coupon-mad

However, only needs an AOS at first of course, buying time to do the defence.  Same as every other case, you do get a month really, if you follow our advice.  Easy to use the Template Defence.

KeithP

Harbmeister said:

Hello All,

I am reading the advice given under similar posts - but while I do I am posting here, mainly because Claim Form has an Issue Date of 23.02.22 and I mistakenly believed I had one month to consider my action. Actually it's 14 days from 23rd + 5 days which as of now is Monday 14th (two days away).

Advice on initial action to take urgently greatly received. I 'think' this is an AoS but is this only if I am going to defend my case? With 14days being up Monday (and it's Saturday) can this be done online?

With a Claim Issue Date of 23rd February, you have until 4pm on Monday 14th March to file an Acknowledgment of Service but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 28th March 2022 to file your Defence.

That's over two 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'.

Harbmeister

Coupon-mad said:

However, only needs an AOS at first of course, buying time to do the defence.  Same as every other case, you do get a month really, if you follow our advice.  Easy to use the Template Defence.

Hi, and thanks.
Does filing an AOS still give me the option to pay should I consider I might not win the case?
And, if I go to court and just “lose”, does that mean I have a CCJ against me?

Harbmeister

Two questions I would raise are 1) how long is the alleged overstay. 2) Which PPC, is it actually UKCPC?

Generally, the more details we have, the more focused the advice. Have you tried to get it cancelled via McDonalds...... and does your daughter work there?

Hi, and thanks.

I genuinely can’t remember the length of overstay. It’s not in the claim. It would be a total of 3 or 4 hours (against a limit of 2).
Yes it’s UKPCP.
No I never tried to get it cancelled - silly me I know - I assume it’s far too late for that?
No my daughter doesn’t/didn’t work there.
The claim stems from 24.04.2019.

Harbmeister

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.

Hi, and thanks.

Never been to court, and so in this case is it asked:
why didn’t you address the claim in almost three years?
did you overstay? “Yes”. Ok you need to pay!

1505grandad

"Which PPC, is it actually UKCPC?"

"Yes it’s UKPCP."

It really would be helpful if you stated the full name of the ppc.

Le_Kirk

Harbmeister said:

Coupon-mad said:

However, only needs an AOS at first of course, buying time to do the defence.  Same as every other case, you do get a month really, if you follow our advice.  Easy to use the Template Defence.

Hi, and thanks.
Does filing an AOS still give me the option to pay should I consider I might not win the case?
And, if I go to court and just “lose”, does that mean I have a CCJ against me?

If you go to court and lose, providing you pay what the judge states before the deadline the judge sets, then there will be no CCJ.   Yes, you can pay (we don't recommend it) at any time.  What is more important is that you do not miss the date for completing your AoS.  Remember @KeithP posted this: -

With a Claim Issue Date of 23rd February, you have until 4pm on Monday 14th March to file an Acknowledgment of Service but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it.