Notice of Allocation to Small Claims Track - UPDATE: DISCONTINUED. yay

tinalee1

UPDATE 11/03: I have since received a Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track (Hearing)


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Would really appreciate any help. I've read through the newbies thread and found it a little overwhelming so sorry if I'm repeating anything here but wanted to ask for clarity.

-  I parked in McDonalds carpark with my friend after purchasing a takeout together, and we sat and chatted in the car for 2 hours 10 minutes while eating our purchases. The letter says the maximum stay time is 1 hour 30 minutes, which I didn't realise. We were legitimate customers, so I didn't think it'd be a problem and any signage wasn't made very obvious as neither of us saw it.

- My mother sadly recently passed, so subsequently I received the letters late after they went to my old address that I'd failed to update with HMRC. So it's since escalated without me realising from UKPC to now ZZPS.

- Tried resolving the issue with McDonalds, they said it's private land and they couldn't do anything.

- The balance of £170 due with ZZPS seems so unreasonable, especially as we were paying customers and there were plenty of other spaces available at that time of night.

- I emailed them with the following... 

I am writing to inform you that I am currently disputing the above Parking Charge Notice with UKPC. Due to a change of address and the recent passing of my mother, I only just received the relevant correspondence. As such, I request that you put the debt collection process on hold while this dispute is ongoing.

Please also note this specific clause, that the letters were mailed to the wrong address. Clause 23.1c - Before serving a Letter Before Claim and prior to the issue of proceedings, Operators must, if no responses have been received to the NTD/NTK/reminder letters, take reasonable endeavours to ensure that the person being written to is the correct party.

Thank you for your understanding."

- They have since responded with... 

"Thank you for your email.

Please be advised, the address the original PCN was issued to was provided by the official DVLA. We have fully reviewed this account and can see the letter was sent correctly on 09/04/2024 and a follow up reminder sent on 23/04/24.

Our client maintains the correct issuing and progression of this Charge and we are only instructed for payment at this stage. Please note, we are unable to assist with any appeals or disputes at this stage and the full balance of £170 remains outstanding.

We shall now place this matter on a 7 day hold to allow you time to arrange payment, in the absence of payment in this time, this matter will progress, and further charges may be applied."


Where can I go from here please? This is our only correspondence so far, other than them bombarding my mum's old address with threatening letters. I understand that it is my fault to have stayed in the carpark for 40 minutes longer, and I should have updated my address with HMRC immediately. However the £170 charge seems incredibly unreasonable and the threatening demands quite stressful during an already difficult time. I'd really appreciate any help on where to go from here. I keep seeing comments to just ignore, is that really a viable option?

KeithP

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

What is HMRC's involvement?

Coupon-mad

You must ignore ZZPS.

You will NEVER be paying them, or anyone, £170. Read the NEWBIES thread post 4.

tinalee1

Coupon-mad said:

You must ignore ZZPS.

You will NEVER be paying them, or anyone, £170. Read the NEWBIES thread post 4.

Okay thank you for clarifying, I'll go read that now.

tinalee1

KeithP said:

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

What is HMRC's involvement?

Thanks for your help! I'll read that now. Sorry I meant DVLA.

LDast

Meh! Ignore any and all debt collector demands. They are powerless to do anything. They are hoping you are low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree and will eventually poop your pants and pay into their scam. Ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore. Is there any bit of that last sentence you don't understand?

Eventually, they will issue a Letter of Claim (LoC) and after that, an N1SDT claim form through the CNBC. Nothing to worry about as they are still hoping you will capitulate. When you receive the LoC, usually issued through DCB Legal, you go back and re-read the second post of the Newbies/FAQ thread and follow the instructions there.

If you follow the advice, you can guarantee that, eventually, you will see your Username in lights in the following thread when the discontinue:

DCB LEGAL RECORD OF PRIVATE PARKING COURT CLAIM DISCONTINUATIONS

KeithP

Please keep all discussion about a single incident to a single thread.

From your newest thread...

tinalee1 said:

Hello all.. following on from my last thread in July I have received a County Court Claim from UK Parking Control Limited with an issue date of 2nd September. I was out of the country for work so only just received this.

They're now asking for a total of £274.58 to be paid. I'm wondering what my options are moving forward and how much hassle it will actually be to fight this ridiculous amount of money they're asking for - I don't know how they can justify this when they literally lost nothing of monetary value in the first place. Is it worth me challenging the claim, do you think I am likely to win my case? I was accidentally 40 minutes over the allotted time in the car park, after not seeing the signs, and a paying customer just enjoying my meal. So while I did make a mistake, it feels hugely unfair. 

I would really appreciate any advice or help, I'm really out of my depth with things like this. Thank you for reading.

With a Claim Issue Date of 2nd September, you have until Monday 23rd September 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 7th October 2024 to file a Defence.

That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

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'.

tinalee1

KeithP said:

Please keep all discussion about a single incident to a single thread.

From your newest thread...

tinalee1 said:

Hello all.. following on from my last thread in July I have received a County Court Claim from UK Parking Control Limited with an issue date of 2nd September. I was out of the country for work so only just received this.

They're now asking for a total of £274.58 to be paid. I'm wondering what my options are moving forward and how much hassle it will actually be to fight this ridiculous amount of money they're asking for - I don't know how they can justify this when they literally lost nothing of monetary value in the first place. Is it worth me challenging the claim, do you think I am likely to win my case? I was accidentally 40 minutes over the allotted time in the car park, after not seeing the signs, and a paying customer just enjoying my meal. So while I did make a mistake, it feels hugely unfair. 

I would really appreciate any advice or help, I'm really out of my depth with things like this. Thank you for reading.

With a Claim Issue Date of 2nd September, you have until Monday 23rd September 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 7th October 2024 to file a Defence.

That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

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'.

Thank you very much for your help and advice. Would you say I have a good chance of winning my defence? Or perhaps I'll just end up having to pay the original amount. I don't have experience with this kind of claim.

Coupon-mad

The situation and strength of defence is in fact irrelevant.

Everyone with a single PCN claim from DCB Legal sees it discontinued before hearings.  Look up!  Back on 16th July @LDast gave you the linked thread to prove it and he told you what will happen.  This is easy.

tinalee1

Coupon-mad said:

The situation and strength of defence is in fact irrelevant.

Everyone with a single PCN claim from DCB Legal sees it discontinued before hearings.  Look up!  Back on 16th July @LDast gave you the linked thread to prove it and he told you what will happen.  This is easy.

Thank you!

tinalee1

Thanks all for your help. I followed all the steps on the newbies thread, and submitted a Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, and received the following confirmation email on 22nd September...



I have now received this letter dated the 12th November saying that I "failed to file the directions for the directions questionnaire". 



Is this normal...? I don't understand what I've done wrong.