Parking Eye Court Case - Urgent Help Needed (N180)

Major_Tester

I’m in need of some urgent guidance regarding a parking fine issue that has now escalated to court.

Back in April, I parked in a car park in Bristol for the first time to visit the city, once we finishing shopping we returned to the carpark to pay for the parking but the payment machines weren’t accepting cash or cards. Unfortunately, I didn’t have Apple Pay or any other means to pay via the app. So I drove to the barrier and buzzed for assistance. The hotel operator (next door to the car park) told me that several people had experienced the same issue that day and kindly let me out of the car park free of charge.

However, a while later, my brother received a letter from the parking company stating that they were taking the matter to court due to non-payment. The car is registered in my brother’s name, but as he’s been travelling abroad extensively for work over the last several months he hasn’t had a chance to review his letters and inform me of the situation, and I’m now unsure whether we went through the appeal process properly, if at all. The situation has been a bit of a blur, and now I’ve received an N180 Directions Questionnaire form to fill out.

I’ve already submitted a defence explaining that my brother was away and wasn’t driving the car at the time and that infact i was responsible for the unpaid parking ticket and to write to me (included my home address), but it seems that the claimant has ignored this and the case is still progressing to court. I’m now trying to figure out my next steps. 

Should I:

• Fill out the N180 and proceed to court to fight this based on my attempts to pay and the circumstances that day and that ParkingEye have a duty of care to ensure the paying stations are correctly maintained

• Or, is it better to just pay the parking fine and the additional court fees now to avoid further escalation?

I have 14 days to respond back to the N180. I would really appreciate any advice or guidance on how to handle this situation and whether it’s worth fighting in court.

Coupon-mad

Wait.

Court claim addressed to your brother as the named Defendant?

Yet you defended? Surely not. You can't replace the Defendant with you.

Show us the claim form, redacted. 

Show us the defence. Whose name was that put in and signed by?

Major_Tester

yes the court claim is in my brothers name, my brother wrote the AOS defence response stating my brother (me) has admitted to driving the car that day and is responsible for the parking fine and that parking eye will need to take this up with him, his address and contact number are xxxx"

this was ignored by parking eye and they proceeded to issue my brother the N180, i will upload the claim for and detach all the detail shortly

Really appreciate your help here! 

Major_Tester

okay i can see the problem now, i've looked over the paper work and my brother accidently filled out the AOS form incorrectly as part of the defence, my brother stated that i was infact driving the car in the defence text box and wrote my name, address, contact number but when filling out the AOS he wrote his name down again as the defendant instead of mine...

Major_Tester

i presume the next step for my brother is to write to the courts and explain the mistake to them and ask them to re issue the n180 to my brother (me)?

Should he also notify the claimant? he's tried multiple times to get through to parking eye but their telephone system is impossible to navigate to actually speak to someone

I presume my brother doesn't fill out the N180 as isn't the defendant?

Any help would be much appreciated!

LDast

Oh dear... FUBAR or SNAFU come to mind.

The claim is against your brother. As ParkingEye are relying on PoFA, irrespective of who was driving, your brother can be held liable.

As a defence was submitted, it cannot simply be turned over to you. It's a real pity you didn't discover this forum before you or your brother blasted each others feet off.

You can complete the N180DQ as it is a standard stage in the small claims process where the court asks for preferences on how the case should proceed, such as the choice of court location, and other procedural aspects.

As far as getting anything else to save either of you from being trounced, you have a couple of options...

One is to try and get in touch with PE and see if they'll accept a reduced amount as a final settlement offer and they discontinue the claim or your brother can make an application to the court to amend his defence but that is going to cost.

If you do neither of those options, once the DQ is submitted, a mandatory mediation phone call is scheduled. At that stage PE will have to become directly involved and an offer to settle can be made at that time.

Major_Tester

LDast said:

Oh dear... FUBAR or SNAFU come to mind.

The claim is against your brother. As ParkingEye are relying on PoFA, irrespective of who was driving, your brother can be held liable.

As a defence was submitted, it cannot simply be turned over to you. It's a real pity you didn't discover this forum before you or your brother blasted each others feet off.

You can complete the N180DQ as it is a standard stage in the small claims process where the court asks for preferences on how the case should proceed, such as the choice of court location, and other procedural aspects.

As far as getting anything else to save either of you from being trounced, you have a couple of options...

One is to try and get in touch with PE and see if they'll accept a reduced amount as a final settlement offer and they discontinue the claim or your brother can make an application to the court to amend his defence but that is going to cost.

If you do neither of those options, once the DQ is submitted, a mandatory mediation phone call is scheduled. At that stage PE will have to become directly involved and an offer to settle can be made at that time.

oh no i was hoping there was still a way out of this - should i just pay the £210 (£125 claimed amount, £35 court fee and £50 Legal representatives cost) or is it even too late to do that now?

I read that only the actual defendant should fill out the N180, if my brother fills out the N180 does that mean he needs to attend the mediation hearing and should he include me as a witness?

It's impossible to get through to ParkingEye their phone system just asks for a parking ref and when i enter in the parking reference it states it doesn't recognise the number and then cuts off the call... any ideas here?

Coupon-mad

The best he can do is attend the Mediation call and make an offer because that will reduce the sum.  ParkingEye might settle for £60 for example.

UNLESS the PCN was 'non-POFA'.  But I assume he doesn't have the PCN (very first letter) any more?

Major_Tester

is there a way of knowing if its POFA or non POFA without having the original PCN? could i tell from looking at the car park tariff board in the car park?

Should my brother attend the mediation call, i feel unfair that he has to clean up my mess when it was me driving the car!

Also is there a risk of the fee being more than the £210 they want now? Can i attend the mediation call as my brother ?

Major_Tester

or on behalf of my brother considering i was theone driving?

Coupon-mad

Major_Tester said:

or on behalf of my brother considering i was theone driving?

I think there is a way for a Defendant to nominate someone to do the Mediation call for them.  Read the Mediation paperwork when that arrives (I've never seen the paperwork myself but another poster mentioned you can nominate someone to attend Mediation for you, I think).

Make an offer .  You will have to because your brother has offered no defence at all. Saying "I wasn't the driver" has not been a defence for 12 years v ParkingEye. Unless the PCN was non-POFA but there is no way of knowing because somebody ignored it and presumably binned it, which was a bad move.

is there a way of knowing if its POFA or non POFA without having the original PCN? could i tell from looking at the car park tariff board in the car park?

No.

It is a shame but had you/he come here before the court claim, you would have learned that he could have transferred liability to you at any point.  It is now too late to name you as the driver.  And it seems there is no defence in play.

And had you/he come here when the claim form arrived, we could have advised a decent defence.