Double Court Claim for residently Parking ( own space ) vs Moorside Legal

MThomas95

on 11/04/2022 I came down from my apartment to find that PCM had stuck a PCN on the windscreen of my car for parking in my own parking space.

I rent an apartment that has designated spaces both overground and underground, to which my space is overground. The landlord of my property setup parking control management in the area to monitor people parking in spaces that they shouldn't be. We were all given parking permits to display in our cars to show that we were in the right space. On the unfortunate day when i was given the PCN, the permit that i had displayed had fallen off the dashboard down the side the seat. 

Once the PCN was given, I instantly emailed them to write an appeal to tell them that i was the owner of the space, shown in my contract and that the permit had fallen off the dashboard. Unsurprisingly, their response was a rejection of the appeal and stated that i would need to pay the fee £60 within 14 days or it would increase to £100. 

From that response, i decided to ignore them as i feel that the PCN was not right and that it would go no further. 

As time passed, i then started to get letters from a debt recovery company explaining that i owed £170 for the PCN or i could potentially be taken to court. I explained to them the situation and that i will not be paying the fine, which unsurprisingly, they ignored. 

They have since sent me a final letter stating that i have 14 days to pay the fine or they will hand over the matter to PCM's solicitors who may commence legal action against me through the courts.

I cant tell you how much stress this has caused me receiving letter after letter threatening me for a fine that i feel is completely unreasonable.

I'd really appreciate some support and guidance on what i should do with this matter.  

KeithP

MThomas95 said:

They have since sent me a final letter stating that i have 14 days to pay the fine or they will hand over the matter to PCM's solicitors who may commence legal action against me through the courts.

Hello and welcome.

That's a debt collectors letter.
The fourth post of the NEWBIES thread explains exactly how to deal with debt collectors letters, but to summarise that post - ignore them.

Not_A_Hope

After ignoring any final, final final debt collectors letters you will eventually be sent a Letter Before Action threatening court and requiring a response within 30 days. You will of course defend their ludicrous claim.

In the meantime you should contact your landlord and ask them to get this PCN cancelled. You should also look to see what it says in your rental agreement. Does it require a permit to be displayed? If it doesn’t your agreement with your landlord takes primacy over any contract with a third party to manage parking. You win, they lose.

MThomas95

Thank you for your response.

I have actually contacted my landlord multiple times and they just say that there is nothing they can do "great help!". 

In my contract, the only thing it says about the matter is:

Schedule 2

1.5 to comply and observe any reasonable regulations which the Superior Landlord or the management company for the Estate may make from time to time to govern the use of the Estate.

Mouse007

Third vote to ignore the debt collectors, they are powerless and can not do anything. Wait for the solicitors to tool up (and ignore their initial letters). We had 9 of those before the Actual "Letter of claim" arrived.

When (if) you do get a Letter Before (or of) Claim (or Action) do come back here and follow the advice in the Newbies Thread re debt advice and a Subject Access Request.

We see a lot of these stupid residential (own space) parking charges here. Easy to defend when you know how and there will be plenty of help if you need it.

Not_A_Hope

Well that clause is not specific to parking and I doubt whether displaying a permit has been formally incorporated into any ‘reasonable regulations’ you have signed up to. You should have ‘quiet enjoyment’ of your tenancy. I see the lack of anything related to parking as a key defence.

Another one might be that the permit you displayed (out of courtesy only) was not fit for purpose. What is it made of? Can it be stuck to the windscreen? Was it a windy day and you displayed it but it blew off?

patient_dream

Welcome to the scam. The landard is not smart to employ PCM, rogue traders.

When you signed up for your permit, were you not asked for the Reg number of your car ?   or was it just a permit that anyone can use ?

To confirm, the debt collectors are a bunch of money scammers, they cannot do anything, they are complete idiots and you IGNORE them. Think what you flush down the loo ..... this is what debt collectors are in the parking industry

That fake £70 add-on is called the OSNER SCAM, a BPA SCAM to extort money.
BPA APPROVED BUT NOT BY GOVERNMENT .... the dodgy boys at the IAS/IPC copied this just like children do

PCM... A JOKE, their solicitors are Gladstones, another joker who set up a major scam called the IPC/IAS

Play this game with us and enjoy the ride ..... YOU HAVE A PERMIT which of course you would show to a judge ...... there was one judge who asked one PPC why their permits don't have adhesive tape

MThomas95

Thank you again for the support.

It puts my mind at ease to see that i am not alone and that I am really not in the wrong.

Quite right that there is no mention of displaying a permit in the contract as management system was brought in after i signed my tenancy agreement. 

I do not have adhesive on my permit as i used to share it with my girlfriend when she wanted to park in the space, my reg is not allocated to the space, but quite clearly on my tenancy agreement it stats what bay number i have the right to park in.

patient_dream

MThomas95 said:

Thank you again for the support.

It puts my mind at ease to see that i am not alone and that I am really not in the wrong.

Quite right that there is no mention of displaying a permit in the contract as management system was brought in after i signed my tenancy agreement. 

I do not have adhesive on my permit as i used to share it with my girlfriend when she wanted to park in the space, my reg is not allocated to the space, but quite clearly on my tenancy agreement it stats what bay number i have the right to park in.

We see this a lot where management are clueless but ... they are responsible for their agents and if you have a contract that makes no mention of a parking company, no mention of what reg number can park, but an allocated space ..... anyone can park in the space with your permission
Your GF has your permission from you

Your management team has a real problem on their hands which is normally from complete ignorance

Not_A_Hope

quite clearly on my tenancy agreement it stats what bay number i have the right to park in.

That definitely takes primacy over any subsequent contract your daft landlord took out with a 3rd party and any need to display a permit. Most judges will agree but that probably won’t stop the PPC harassment and threat of court action in order to try to scare you into paying up.

MThomas95

Hello, Following on from the previous threatening letters i received, I have now received a letter through the post today which is a claim form for County Court Business Centre. This states that i now owe £268 in fees for court fees, legal representative's cost and the claim amount. It is stating that i need to respond through www.moneyclaim.gov.uk with their claim number to pay the fee or fill in the form attached to the letter that and send it to the court within 14 days. I am confused as to why court fee's have been added to the payment as there was not court date sent to me for this ticket. I am also unsure as to what to do next from this as sending a letter of defence to the court in writing seems very archaic. Please any advice on this would be helpful, as i thought i was done with this scam, but apparently NOT!