Private parking ticket issued on land not owned by the property!

Snakes_Belly

WesAslan said:

Snakes_Belly said:

Have any of the letters been a Letter before Claim (LBC)? If you do receive one you will need to respond. 

It does sound as if they are just sabre rattling however you need to be aware that they may instigate court action.  It would be a very bad move on their part. 

I received letters from some law firm and debt collection company (I didn't respond to any of them), it kept saying last chance... respond within 2 weeks or you will face court action or some crap in that manner, however nothing really happened and they kept sending the same rubbish. It's been a while now and I haven't received anything new. 

Look out for letter before claim.  It does sound as if they are just sabre rattling however if they are stupid enough to start court action you dont want to ignore it as it can be difficult and time consuming to unravel. 

Coupon-mad

And if you move house you must get the PPC to erase the old address, to be sure you don't miss a LBC or court claim.

WesAslan

@Snakes_Belly @Coupon-mad I think I received the LBC, it mentioned things such as pre-action protocol. It's been several months since this came though, I don't think I have the letter anymore, I automatically put the PPC letters in the bin.Since that letter no other letter or notification has arrived. 

May I ask why the LBC is important and what happens if you don't respond to it?

Thanks so much for the advice and help guys!

Snakes_Belly

The Letter before Claim LBC means that the PPC. is going to instigate court action. It is usual and recommended to reply with a robust rebuttal letter. This can in some circumstances see off the claim.

If you have not responded to the LBC it is not the end of the world however to ignore the correpondence that comes from the court in Northampton is much more serious.

Letters from Northampton means that the PPC has filed a claim with the court and the court process has started and you will need to follow this process firstly by acknowledging and then producing a defence.

It would have been advisable to keep those letters from the debt collectors but it is what it is. 

If you receive a letter from the court please come back onto the forum. What we would not want to see is that you end up with a CCJ which takes a lot of unravelling. 

You may feel that these PCN's that have been issued are unfair and that would seem the case but if the PPC takes court action you cannot ignore it and must follow the procedure.     

Fruitcake

I suggest you send an SAR as per the NEWBIES to the PPC. That should flush out all personal data they hold on you, including all letters and NTKs.
You should then file them in chronological order.

You will need to include proof of non-photo ID with your request such as a copy of the V5C or two redacted utility bills or bank/card statements.

Personally I think this is revenge/petty self ticketing by some sad person who thinks they own the road they drive down to get to their property, or wants to make some pocket money by littering.

Snakes_Belly

"Personally I think this is revenge/petty self ticketing by some sad person who thinks they own the road they drive down to get to their property, or wants to make some pocket money by littering."

I think so too but there is a possibilty that it could escalate. That would be a silly move on behalf of the PPC as this appears to be a claim without any merit.

VCS/Excel chased a claim whereby the driver had parked on the road. I can't remember whether they actually went through with the hearing or they pulled at the very last minute. It was Miller's Lane near where I received a PCN. 

Snakes_Belly

Further to my post above I remember a forum member called keepcalmandcarryon. She was ticketed on the same car park as myself and again on Miller's Lane.

She won the first case at Derby and then received another PCN relating to parking on Miller's Lane. The case was dismissed and she was awarded quite high costs. It was expensive for Excel/VCS as they took quite a hit.

If the OP does receive a claim it may be worth taking a look at Keep Calm's second hearing and on what basis it was dismissed and awarded costs. It may have been unreasonable behaviour. She was slick in the presentation of her case.

If a PPC is particularly litigious they will pursue claims through the courts even though they are based on the most spurious of reasons. 

Snakes_Belly

From keepcalm's court report. Expensive day for VCS. 

"I think she then asked me why I thought VCS’s behaviour had been unreasonable. I can’t remember what I said but I was confused by this point. At the end of whatever I said I asked her if I’d answered her question. She said no, and repeated it again. I then cottoned on and read out the first part of my skeleton which focussed on VCS failing to assess their own evidence to ensure their case could succeed. I said they had been unreasonable as they had a) issued a PCN to my car when it wasn’t in their car park, b) had sent many threatening letters to me asking for money when they weren’t entitled to, c) had started a case without examining the evidence which showed I wasn’t in their car park, d) had continued with the case and had produced evidence my car wasn’t in their car park as part of their witness statement."

WesAslan

@Snakes_Belly @Fruitcake Thanks a lot guys for all the info! Keepcalm's case is also very great, a lot of similarities with mine!

Will definitely keep you guys posted if I get a CCJ or any other correspondence from the PPC. 

Before the SAR I'll wait for the response from the Council and Highways England, it might be resolved then and there.

Currently we have information that the road is in fact public... the madam I spoke to at the council's parking department was very kind to be honest, the one that sent me the image of roads owned by the council, she was just not sure about Clare Court.

Might also go to the MP too depending on the outcome of the former.

🙏

Fruitcake

If you get a CCJ it will mean you have made a complete mess of things, lost in court, and failed to pay the court order within the prescribed timescales.
You really need to get your head around the terminology and understand what everything means.