Parking Ticket - Going to court

7up3

Hi all,

I have read through the newbies link and other links. 

Background: I parked in a retail park back in June 2019 - I overstayed (to the best of my knowledge) by 10-15 minutes. I received a ticket from UK Parking Control Limited. I received numerous letters to pay etc. I ignored them all. I have not contacted the landowner, a local MP or made any other attempt to squash this. I have not requested any information they have on me from the Parking Company either.

On Monday 4th April, UK Parking Control's legal team (DCB Legal LTD) issued a claim. I received this letter on Wednesday 6th April. I then submitted the Acknowledgement of Service the same day with the intent on defending all the claim.

The tricky bit here, I don't believe I can argue poor signage or any of the other examples people have used, what I am against is the sheer cost of the ticket and this is the point I would like to argue. Probably a losing battle! 

From a little bit of research, I believe that private parking companies cannot fine or penalise drivers who break their rules i.e. parking terms and conditions. However, they can charge for any lost income or other losses or damages. Perhaps this could be argued under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999?. (I have yet to verify and find this written in legislation specifically but believe this could be inferred from the regulation above).

I have a copy of the defence template - but just thinking of how to word my "case".

Any pointers?

Cheers.  

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Coupon-mad

I wish people wouldn't ignore private parking charges.  We haven't advised that (except in Scotland) for almost a decade.

You end up in a far more scary and time-consuming situation and could have killed it at appeal, had you come here then.  The retail park would have cancelled it within hours.

And no, it can't be argued under the UTCCRS.

That was tried in 2015 and failed (ParkingEye v Beavis).  Supreme Court, so it's binding case law.

Q:

The tricky bit here, I don't believe I can argue poor signage or any of the other examples people have used, what I am against is the sheer cost of the ticket and this is the point I would like to argue. 


A:
No, you wouldn't.  You really wouldn't. 

Please just rip up everything you thought you were going to write, read the NEWBIES thread second post and start again.

7up3

Hi KeithP,

Issue date was listed in original post, Monday 4th April 2022. Yes, AoS submitted via MCOL. 

7up3

Thanks for the response Coupon-Mad - I'll go through the steps from the second post. 

KeithP

7up3 said:

Hi KeithP,

Issue date was listed in original post, Monday 4th April 2022. Yes, AoS submitted via MCOL. 

Yes sorry I missed the Issue Date and I now see that you filed an Acknowledgment of Service on 6th April.

With a Claim Issue Date of 4th April, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service on 6th April, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 4th May 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'.

7up3

SAR requested and emailed the solicitor, Yasmin Mia. I guess now time to figure out what my defence is! 

Fruitcake

All the UKPC signs I have ever seen are a pile of pants with the charge for breaching Ts and Cs in small font.

Google Streetview may have historic images of the site.

Where did the alleged event occur? It may have cropped up here before. If you can revisit, the managing agents details may be on the signs. Alternatively they may be on the retail park's website.

If you spent money in any of the shops, then you should complain to their manager and/or CEOs.

7up3

Fruitcake said:

All the UKPC signs I have ever seen are a pile of pants with the charge for breaching Ts and Cs in small font.

Google Streetview may have historic images of the site.

Where did the alleged event occur? It may have cropped up here before. If you can revisit, the managing agents details may be on the signs. Alternatively they may be on the retail park's website.

If you spent money in any of the shops, then you should complain to their manager and/or CEOs.

Thankfully, Google Maps has a few pictures still. You are correct, the terms and conditions do appear to be very small in contrast to the sign below saying 2 HOURS FREE. 

This occurred at the Aylesbury Retail Park - looks like Aviva are the investors. I will contact them and some of the retail shops. I no doubt will need to get bank transactions to prove I purchased items. 

Thanks for the help, appreciate it. 

KeithP

7up3 said:

Fruitcake said:

All the UKPC signs I have ever seen are a pile of pants with the charge for breaching Ts and Cs in small font.

Google Streetview may have historic images of the site.

Where did the alleged event occur? It may have cropped up here before. If you can revisit, the managing agents details may be on the signs. Alternatively they may be on the retail park's website.

If you spent money in any of the shops, then you should complain to their manager and/or CEOs.

This occurred at the Aylesbury Retail Park...

Aylesbury Retail Park is mentioned in several other threads.

This thread by @bingbong1978 could be quite useful...
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5944536/advice-please-as-not-sure-re-appealing-and-personal-details

This more recent thread, from February this year, by @scumbagparking will also help...
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6333177/how-can-i-represent-my-dyslexic-mother
Just a shame that @scumbagparking didn't update us with the conclusion.

7up3

KeithP said:

7up3 said:

Fruitcake said:

All the UKPC signs I have ever seen are a pile of pants with the charge for breaching Ts and Cs in small font.

Google Streetview may have historic images of the site.

Where did the alleged event occur? It may have cropped up here before. If you can revisit, the managing agents details may be on the signs. Alternatively they may be on the retail park's website.

If you spent money in any of the shops, then you should complain to their manager and/or CEOs.

This occurred at the Aylesbury Retail Park...

Aylesbury Retail Park is mentioned in several other threads.

This thread by @bingbong1978 could be quite useful...
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5944536/advice-please-as-not-sure-re-appealing-and-personal-details

This more recent thread, from February this year, by @scumbagparking will also help...
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6333177/how-can-i-represent-my-dyslexic-mother
Just a shame that @scumbagparking didn't update us with the conclusion.

Thanks Keith, That is a great help. I have just emailed Aviva and now in dialog with their CEO. Fingers crossed!

To provide further info, I received all SAR info today - my PCN is because my ticket not being fully visible on the dash - bizarrely, my case is exactly the same as the lady in the first post from 2019!