I won in small claims, what next?

SnowMonkey44

Hello,

And thank you for all your amazing information on this website and forum it helped me immensely with my PCN.


So here is the story:

I parked in my allocated parking spot at my home address, my parking pass flew out the window on the motorway and to my sadness,
that was the day the person in yellow gave me a PCN, 

I phoned up One Parking Solution (OPS) to avail them off the situation, sent them a copy of my drivers license to prove I lived at the address and that
I had been living at the place for over a year with a permit. They said, sorry you need to pay, I said I need a new permit. 

The next day, I get another ticket, I phoned them up and said, your aware of the issue can you stop issuing tickets as I'm waiting for a permit,

The third day I get a ticket, the forth also. .   on the fifth I left a note on my dashboard to tell the person in yellow, that it was a reported issue (no permit)
that I am waiting for one to arrive, if any issue to knock my door. I received no further ticket.

I appeal to One Parking Solution to which they said of course, we don't uphold your appeal, that's when I found this wonderful forum and contacted POPLA,

Upon filling out the form there is a handy guide, at no point it  said to fill out four separate forms, I of course fill out one form with all four PCN's, because
it is long and arduous, a decision I later regretted. 

POPLA replied, we have had your appeal upheld but only one, they took a bit of time to get back to me and it meant I timed out in appealing the other
three PCN's, I contacted them and their reply was that our appeals are made automatically, you should of looked at the FAQ and not just used the guide
as there it details to make four separate claims.

Anyway, OPS sent multiple letters asking for money, ever increasing the amount I owed them, this all started in the summer of 2021, in November 2022,
the small claims court asked for OPS to rewrite their claim as it did not make sense, it was then struck out but another Judge gave OPS a week to readdress
their claim, they did not reply and the claim by OPS was dismissed. This was instructed by the court by mail in January 2023, OPS waited a month to appeal
the decision and I was taken to smalls claim court as OPS solicitors said they never received the instruction from the court and appealed citing Dentons decision.


In the session with the Judge, the judge twice warned the solicitor's agent that the paper work filed was incomplete did not meet the threshold of Denton, 
that under the CPR, if the court sends a letter out by first class mail it is deemed received within two working days, the judge also noted that the information
requested in November was not answered at all, and even if the letter wasn't received in December they hadn't replied to that, that the judge now regretted
giving the claimant to redo the paperwork, to that end the judge said the claimant had two opportunities to raise a reasonable claim, and that even now at the
third time of asking the solicitors raised the proper paperwork to meet the threshold for a claim, it was noted that the basic requirement by the claimant to prove
the case was not met, that the case was highly prejudice. The judge was very unhappy with the solicitor for wasting the courts time and decided to strike the
case out of hand.


I know that this is a long story and if your still with me, thank you.  

My question, with all the hounding, with all the emotional stress I had to endure for almost two years to get resolution and possible pay £600 for three PCN's,
is there any recourse to claim compensation and if so, what is the route for that?


I thank you all for reading my story, I hope it has helped any readers, for example if appealing with POPLA to make an individual claim for each PCN,
I also thank to anyone that can help guide me with my question, I really do not think that parking operators be let off the hook with prejudice claims
against the average person and that if we can find a route to claim compensation they will think twice of taking a person all the way to small claims
court and uphold appeals way before it gets to that point.

Coupon-mad

I read it all - great suff!

Did you win at Brighton or Worthing court? Good Judges there.  OPS are the pariahs of Sussex, IMHO, and need to get lost.

Sadly you can't get compensation.  You could have asked for your costs at the hearing.  Did you not? Too late now.

SnowMonkey44

Southampton. 

Sadly the judge ended the call before I was able to do so.

B789

Short answer... no. However, if you have deep pockets and the fortitude to try, you could try and sue them in the small claims court but that is really beyond the scope of this forum. You should have asked the judge on the day of the hearing for your costs.

SnowMonkey44

Would reporting them to the financial ombudsman do anything, as the Judge was not happy it all got this far, 

Also the solicitor seemed a bit of a cowboy, repeatedly talking over the judge, until he was warned twice not to.

SnowMonkey44

Tis a shame, but thank you both for reading and replying,

I hope a success story helps others to persevere with their own cases and inspire them to take it all the way to 
small claims. These things can be won. 

Thank you and this forum. 

Snakes_Belly

You might not think like this at the moment but you will have gained from the experience. You will be better placed to deal with others who try to scam you and there are plenty about. 

Coupon-mad

SnowMonkey44 said:

Would reporting them to the financial ombudsman do anything, as the Judge was not happy it all got this far, 

No, because they don't report to the FCA or Financial Ombudsman.  They are unregulated, for a fee more months. New rules are coming and YOU can participate in securing them.  See below...

Was it DJ Grand or DJ Taylor?  There are some great anti-PPC Judges at Soton!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

ANYWAY:
DO NOT LEAVE US THIS SUMMER!

We need you - as a genuine PPC victim of aggression, sharp practice and an 'extortion' attempt to add £70 - to respond robustly to the Public Consultation on the level of parking charges and banning of the false added DRA 'fee' that too many honest motorists currently fall victim to.

It will need consumer input (powerful voices) but change is afoot. It's taken about 5 years to get to this stage:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6333036/breaking-news-government-has-announced-the-statutory-code-of-practice-and-enforcement-framework/p1

And then the industry threw victims' money at it and blocked and delayed it - explained here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79310609/#Comment_79310609

Please now Bookmark BOTH threads and set up email alerts on your posting profile, so that you get an email alert when we post there, as we will, once the Public Consultation opens...

...anticipated by July...!

We need people like you and your driving family & friends to respond in high numbers!  You have a personal story to tell about the culture of getting a roboclaim 'legal' firm to add a pointless £70 for their own profit, to be let loose to intimidate people.

I am sure you want your voice heard to stop this happening again.

SnowMonkey44

It is true, I have gained valuable experience from this process..  

@Coupon-mad Judge Taylor, they did not put up with any nonsense and pretty much ripped into the DGB Legals solicitor from ear to ear. 

I will defiantly be adding my voice to the public consultation, since there is no route for compensation and recourse unless I have deep pockets and fortitude then the best way to help the community with this is to add my voice, so others do not have to suffer or pay the extortionate fees that these cowboys ask.


I have deep gratitude to this forum and the help it others.

SnowMonkey44

offers.  xD

Le_Kirk

Well done on the win and against OPS, shame about the costs.

I contacted them and their reply was that our appeals are made automatically, you should of looked at the FAQ and not just used the guide as there it details to make four separate claims.

Did they really put that or are you paraphrasing?