Answering a Letter Before County Court Claim from Parkingeye

bigbadbaz123

Hi,
sorry to ask, and not be able to find the correct information, I have been reading for hours!

A family member has a letter before county court claim from Parking eye, no mention of which court on it. 30 days to reply.

We are actually innocent. They photographed the car driving onto a motorway service station southbound, where we drove down the motorway, picked up a family member, then drove back north, past the service station to drop them off at hospital.  Then drove home south exiting at the same service station, which is right by where we live.  So Parking eye has a photo of our entrance and exit, via the service road, despite the face that the car was never in the car park.  We can produce witnesses to the fact, the brother we dropped at hospital and his wife.  We have been trying, unsuccessfully so far, to get a photo of the car in the clean air zone in Birmingham near the hospital.

So we appealed and lost, and missed the POPLA deadline over Christmas, and now have this LBC.  I been reading how we answer it, and its a bit conflicting. I presume I just tick the 'I dispute the debt' box?  But I also read this

The exception is PARKINGEYE
If you get a LBCCC from ParkingEye, send a SAR using the form on their PRIVACY page if you are missing evidence/letters, but also email their litigation team to try to resolve the dispute:
enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk
Treat the ParkingEye email as your 'last gasp' chance to appeal, because ParkingEye can and will stop a case and revert to appeal stage, or they'll accept you naming the driver & postal address (and will reissue the PCN and start again with the driver being allowed to appeal).

So should we now email our defense to Parking-eye, and tell them the whole story?  The family member has actually had a liver transplant, its not a made up story!  Do I still need to send a SAR, seems irrelevant to our case, and how much of the LBC should I fill out?

Thanks in advance for any help.  

Coupon-mad

You don't fill in any boxes if you only have a LBCCC.

I am assuming you DO NOT mean you have a N1 court claim form from Northampton CCBC.

Do not touch the reply paperwork if this is merely a LBCCC (a letter from ParkingEye themselves).  The info you've quoted clearly tells you to email them.  Yes, tell them the whole story but the story is simply that this is a DOUBLE DIP (ANPR error, first in and last out images from different sides of the motorway on a journey southbound then northbound).

Tell them to cancel immediately and delate your data which was not obtained with any 'reasonable cause' otherwise you will report this to your MP, the BPA and the DVLA.

bigbadbaz123

You are correct, the letter only seems to come from parkingeye, I cannot find any other authority or address mentioned on it.

Thank you so much, I can't say how upsetting things like this are, its so good just to be able to speak with someone.  I will email them and tell the whole story.  We did not do this on appeal, as we knew we were using a service road to enter onto the motorway and didnt want to admit that.

Coupon-mad

You can admit to using a service road, no worries.

The fact remains this was a double visit and they failed to check for orphan images of the car leaving on the Southbound side, then later returning on the other side of the motorway later.  There was no single 'period of parking' and no terms were breached.

bigbadbaz123

Is this the sort of thing I should be emailing please?

I write in regards to a LBCCC received from you dated XXth February 2023. Your reference number XXXXXX

The photos you have of my car is simply a case of double dip as I used the service entrance to access the motorway and was at no time even in the car park. 

The first photo is timed at xxx as I joined the Mx southbound to pick up my brother and his wife from xxxxxx Close, in xxxxx.  My brother was in the process of a liver transplant, now successfully received, at xxxxxx hospital. After picking him up at 8, I drove North up the Mx to the hospital. I dropped my brother and his wife there for a 2 day assessment at around 9 and then drove back home down the Mx South and exited the motorway at xxxx Services leaving on the same service road timed on your second photo at xxx.

I presume you have cameras covering the entrance and exits from the motorway to xxxxx services and your ANPR should have picked up my car entering and leaving the motorway within a minute of xxxx and xxxx. My brother and his wife will both witness what I have said.

You should immediately cancel this charge and delete my data which was not obtained with any ‘reasonable cause’, otherwise I will report this to my MP, the BPA and the DVLA.

Thank you for your help.  

B789

Just for clarification... If you used the service road to join and exit the motorway and there is no ANPR coverage of the service road you used, then their pics should show the car "exiting" the services much earlier than their pictures of it "entering" the services, assuming they show the front as they enter the services and the rear as they leave.

For example, say their first picture at 8am shows your car exiting the services (no entry picture as you entered by a service road) and the second picture shows your car entering the services at 11am (no exit picture for service road) then they have just assumed that you entered at 8am and parked for nearly 3 hours before exiting but their pictures should be able to identify which one is an entrance and which one is and exit picture.

If you can evidence that their pictures are showing the wrong times for any parking event to have occurred then this should be an easy one to get cancelled.

bigbadbaz123

Hi, there is a camera on the service road, I went and checked this, as initially I thought as you did.  The pictures they have shows the front of the car entering via the service road, and the rear of the car leaving.

Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad said:

The fact remains this was a double visit and they failed to check for orphan images of the car leaving on the Southbound side, then later returning on the other side of the motorway later.  There was no single 'period of parking' and no terms were breached.

Use my words above about 'orphan images' which is a phrase PEye understand, and the phrase at the end which I chose for good reasons to make them see their case is hopeless!

bigbadbaz123

Thank you, I missed that bit, I'll put it in.  

bigbadbaz123

I emailed 'enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk' on 22 Feb, anyone know how long I might have to wait for an answer, if at all?  Am I still ok the just ignore the Letter Before County Court Claim?

KeithP

bigbadbaz123 said:

I emailed 'enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk' on 22 Feb, anyone know how long I might have to wait for an answer, if at all?  Am I still ok the just ignore the Letter Before County Court Claim?

But you haven't ignored the LBC.
You said yourself "I emailed 'enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk' on 22 Feb".