Letter before county court proceedings received from ParkingEye, chances of success in court?

Studmuffin96

Hi,

The basis of the parking fine is that I did not register my number plate at the counter in Costa, which would have entitled me to park past the a set time limit. I have proved that I was a genuine customer through bank statments, but my POPLA appeal was nevertheless rejected. I additonaly argued that the fine print on the signage (recently changed, registering at the counter was not previously necessary) was unclear in the dark, hence my reason for not registering my number plate at the counter. This much I felt was self evident, since as a genuine customer, I would have no reason to not register my numberplate apart from being unaware of the need, and therefore the signage was not sufficiently clear.

Regardless, to me it seems obvious to me that a parking charge received for not being a customer, while in fact I was a genuine customer, is unfair. Is there precident for this in court? What are my chances of success in court? What should I respond (if anything) to the letter from ParkingEye?

Thank you for your help.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

Plan A is a complaint tot he landowner and the Costa manager and/or CEO, and your MP. It is never too late to do this.

Your chances of winning in court are as long as the piece of string upon which you rely. In other words, nobody can predict the outcome.

Get photos of the site and signage in the dark to support your case.

If you need more time, respond to the LBCC around day 25 stating that you deny the debt but are seeking debt advice, therefore require the case to be put on hold for 30 days as per court pre-action protocol.

Then start to prepare for by reading the guide to court written by bargepole that you will find in the second post of the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES in conjunction with the Template Defence sticky Announcement that includes a twelve step guide to the process, then wait for the claim itself to arrive whilst simultaneously progressing your complaints.

Coupon-mad

Costa could have cancelled this for you easily, if you hadn't tried POPLA. Costa can still try but trying POPLA was a mistake (it cost PEye money and makes them dig their heels in).

You'd win in court and there's no risk as long as you follow our advice.  But see if Costa can help first.

Also respond to PEye and tell them you have complained to their client and will defend any litigation.