PCN from Hounslow Vista Centre

TiredofPCN

Hi,

Been following your threads and helpful responses and looking forward to your advise on my issue.
I have received a letter form the County Court Business Centre, for an alleged parking violation back in January 2022. 
I recall having used the parking and paid for the service and left within the stipulated time, but had to return to drop off an additional document for my Visa application post 6:30 pm. The letter I got shows the original entry and the final exit - without any additional details.
I had received a few letters ad claims on the same, but now that I have the Claim from the County Court - looking for advise on how to respond on the same.
The total amount being claimed now is GBP 279.

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

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

Please confirm the Claimant is UK Car Park Management Ltd.

TiredofPCN

Issue Date is 11 Jul 2023 and yes the Claimant is UK Car Park Mgmt Ltd, being represented by Gladstones Solicitors Ltd.

KeithP

TiredofPCN said:

Issue Date is 11 Jul 2023...

With a Claim Issue Date of 11th July, you have until Monday 31st July to file an Acknowledgment of Service but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 14th August 2023 to file your Defence.

That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave the preparation of it to the last minute. However, you should leave the filing of it as late as possible. 

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that 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'.

TiredofPCN

The problem is I'm not sure if I have much in the form of a Defence, this event is from almost 18 months ago and I have no evidence to prove that I left the premises and had to return. Im sure their cameras would have captured the same - but don't think I can rely on them to share it. In this scenario - is there much merit in delaying what seems to be the inevitable?
Lastly, if the claim is lost, is the downside or payment going to go higher than the GBP 279 that is now being claimed?

KeithP

Oh... your opening post said...

TiredofPCN said:

...now that I have the Claim from the County Court - looking for advise on how to respond on the same.

Even if you were to lose a court case, it is highly likely that you would be ordered to pay less than that £279.00.

B789

TiredofPCN said:

The problem is I'm not sure if I have much in the form of a Defence, this event is from almost 18 months ago and I have no evidence to prove that I left the premises and had to return. Im sure their cameras would have captured the same - but don't think I can rely on them to share it. In this scenario - is there much merit in delaying what seems to be the inevitable?
Lastly, if the claim is lost, is the downside or payment going to go higher than the GBP 279 that is now being claimed?

Why are you being so defeatist? You have come to the right place for advice but you have already decided that you have no defence. We see claims like this almost daily. "Double dipping" is a known ANPR problem and one of the reasons councils don't allow ANPR in their car parks.

Your claim is fully defendable and you should do so. Just search for "double dip" "ANPR" and select Newest for sorting the results to find similar cases. Have a read of some of those cases, then have a read of the Newbies/FAQ thread, second post in particular, for how to deal with the claim. 

Your priority is to AoS the claim and get your defence in before the deadline. The template defence is already set out and you only have to add your own paras #2 and #3. If the PoC on the claim form are very sparse, you should add the extra paras as per the defence by johny86. An example of that defence template is shown here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5r7vbqttho3q948/2023 defence.pdf?dl=0

Have you tried Plan A yet? Complained to the landowner or their agent? Have you written to your MP to complain about the predatory behaviour of the PPC? It's never too late to try and get this claim withdrawn.

Coupon-mad

This is the Claimant's case to prove.

We win cases and there is no risk at all.

TiredofPCN

Thank you all for the advice, I filed an Acknowledgement of Service today - now on to preparing my defence. Going to raise a SAR - but given they have 30 days to respond, not sure if I will hear back within my 28 day deadline for defence.
Any other advise, tips on preparing the defence?

KeithP

The response to a SAR will be far more useful at Witness Statement time.

In fact it is probably best that you wait until after having filed a Defence before submitting a SAR. That way you can point out in your Defence how vague their Particulars are.

So the message is... don't rush to send a SAR, instead concentrate on your Defence.

B789

Your SAR is not required for your defence. It will come unhandy when the time comes to do your WS.

In your defence you are only answering whatever is woefully alleged in their PoC.