SABA Railway Byelaws PN turned into PCN after being handed to Moorside Legal

airmemo

Hi,

Around end of September I've received a Penalty Notice from SABA for a vehicle for which I'm the registered keeper. The driver failed to obtain a valid ticket at a railway station. Reason for not having a valid ticket is that driver paid the wrong car park thanks to bad signs and being mislead by the RingGo app. Of course, they mention the usual Railway Byelaws breach, yada yada, same old. 

I appeal as the RK without saying who was driving but of course, as expected, nothing makes them cancel and there's no independent appeal offered. Now my focus is to wait for 6 months to pass (alleged offence was on 14/09/24).

I then move on with my life and the usual ZZPS threats starts coming into my letterbox. I ignore them all. Then I start receiving Moorside Legal letters. To my surprise, I would say, as I was expecting QDR. I kept ignoring them.

Then the other day (only about one month left before the PN becomes statute barred!) I receive a Letter of Claim from Moorside, where they basically shot themselves in the foot by stating that I owe £170 due to one or more unpaid Parking Charge Notice. They say I have until 19/03/25 to send them a reply (30 days from Feb 17th), and the 6 months for my PN expire on March 14th.

Now. They basically want me to fill a form where I declare if I owe the debt or if I don't, and to explain my reasons. 

The fact that they have misrepresented my PN (only enforceable through a Magistrates Court) into a PCN seems like a golden opportunity to have everything cancelled as they can't possibly change a PN into a PCN, but what would be the best way to do so?

I have uploaded all the redacted documents in a Google Drive, but I'm too new to post links apparently. Happy to provide a link to you guys if needed. I'll only upload the original PN and the first page of the Letter of Claim.

Thank you!

airmemo

Here are all the other pages in my Letter of Claim.

Gr1pr

Do not use their reply forms 

Email the template response to the LoC at the appropriate time,  with the 30 day hold included 

Also state that you have never received any Parking Charge Notice from SABA so they are mistaken 

Fruitcake

As above, but state that whilst you deny the debt you are seeking debt advice and require the case to be put on hold for 30 days as per court pre-action protocol.

Do this around day 25 from the date of the LoC to ensure a claim cannot be issued before the six month deadline for a bylaw breach.

Also as already mentioned, state that you deny ever having received a parking charge notice from SABA so they should refer the matter back to their client.

You should also complain to your MP. Please also sign the petition below and get all your friends and family to do the same.

Bring the Parking Code of Practice into law, as per the 2019 Act of Parliament. - Petitions

airmemo

Email the template response to the LoC at the appropriate time,  with the 30 day hold included 

Also state that you have never received any Parking Charge Notice from SABA so they are mistaken 

As above, but state that whilst you deny the debt you are seeking debt advice and require the case to be put on hold for 30 days as per court pre-action protocol.

Do this around day 25 from the date of the LoC to ensure a claim cannot be issued before the six month deadline for a bylaw breach.

Thank you to both of you. Now a question arises: how do I contact them? I can't find an email address for them and I don't want to send 2nd class untracked mail to the address stated on their website.

Should I also send them a copy of my original PN to show that I have never received any PCN?

LDast

Why on earth would you respond to an LoC for a civil debt claim where the original charge was for an alleged breach of statutory law? We already know that they are utterly incompetent at Moorside Legal but this eclipses anything we've seen so far.

If you want to waste time responding to their unlawful LoC, then point out that their conduct is unlawful and they should know better than to try and conflate a statutory penalty with a civil contract dispute.

I know I go on about it because SABA (and APCOA) are issuing fake Penalty Notices and therefore extorting money from motorists unlawfully. By playing their game and giving them tacit endorsement and lending credibility to their illegal operation you are simply perpetuating this illegal behaviour.

Attempting to collect a statutory penalty as a civil debt is a misrepresentation of legal position. Under Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, it is unlawful to harass a person about a debt that is not legally due.

This is undoubtedly an abuse of process and a potential fraudulent misrepresentation by Moorside Legal. As the original Penalty Notice was fake and issued unlawfully in a way that falsely suggested criminal liability, then this Letter of Claim (LoC) is not just a procedural error—it can only be part of an organised scam or an attempt to mislead the recipient into paying a non-existent or unenforceable charge.

Let the issue a civil claim for a Penalty Notice issued for breach of railway byelaws and then make a formal complaint to the SRA about their unlawful behaviour.

ChirpyChicken

Oh this is popcorn time!!
Another attempt to collect on a penalty charge in the wrong venue out of time
I would do a simple reply saying it is out of time as it's a magistrates only issue and therefore 6 months is the limit by statute 
In addition the county court is the wrong venue 
Definitely reply to the lbc but not the standard reply

I actually think moorside legal will see sense in this and close the file.
Where in the country is this as i would like to do the representation for you at this hearing (if it results in one) depending on where you are in the country

Do you concur @Coupon-mad

Fruitcake

airmemo said:

Email the template response to the LoC at the appropriate time,  with the 30 day hold included 

Also state that you have never received any Parking Charge Notice from SABA so they are mistaken 

As above, but state that whilst you deny the debt you are seeking debt advice and require the case to be put on hold for 30 days as per court pre-action protocol.

Do this around day 25 from the date of the LoC to ensure a claim cannot be issued before the six month deadline for a bylaw breach.

Thank you to both of you. Now a question arises: how do I contact them? I can't find an email address for them and I don't want to send 2nd class untracked mail to the address stated on their website.

Should I also send them a copy of my original PN to show that I have never received any PCN?

You could use the Enquire Now portal on their Contact web page to respond. Don't show the original PN. Do include the Our Ref number is on the Moorside letter.

Gr1pr

Moorside Legal email addresses have already been posted on here several times in the last 6 months,  just do a search for Moorside

If SABA are involved then I bet its a location down south,  with TfL etc involved,  the paperwork mentions Milton Keynes 

LDast

@ChirpyChicken, I think you know that it would never get as far as a hearing if the incompetents at Moorside Legal were to issue a claim because their PoC would not comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a) and thus be struck out at allocation.

My plan is to try and get a SABA and/or APCOA PN myself and se how far they dare push this illegal extortion.

airmemo

ChirpyChicken said:

Oh this is popcorn time!!
Another attempt to collect on a penalty charge in the wrong venue out of time
I would do a simple reply saying it is out of time as it's a magistrates only issue and therefore 6 months is the limit by statute 
In addition the county court is the wrong venue 
Definitely reply to the lbc but not the standard reply

I actually think moorside legal will see sense in this and close the file.
Where in the country is this as i would like to do the representation for you at this hearing (if it results in one) depending on where you are in the country

Do you concur @Coupon-mad

Thank you very much! Location is the one stated in the original PN. I just hope it's not needed though, as the situation is already ridiculous enough for me.