Seeking advice - PCN matter going to court

rose_valley1

Hi everyone, any advice would be appreciated.

I received a parking charge notice of £60 for overstaying by 17 minutes in a retail park. 

I was there shopping and spend over £220 and just got carried away. 

I decided to appeal hoping for some lenience on their part.

I submitted my appeal within the qualifying period of 14 days where the PCN amount would remain at £60 until my appeal is decided.

If it was rejected my plan was to pay the £60 charge.

As soon as I logged my appeal I received an auto acknowledgement email stating that if I don’t hear within 28 days to check their online portal for an update. I did check on few occasions that month but nothing was mentioned about the appeal. I thought as the festive period was approaching, I may expect some delay.

The first time I heard back from them was from a company acting on their behalf 30 days after my appeal informing me that I now owe £160 and I can dispute the matter only in court.

I immediately emailed the company who issued the parking charge telling them that I never received a response to my appeal. They responded that they emailed me the appeal rejection notice 8 days after the appeal was submitted, they also attached the appeal decision notification to their email. 

I never received their email. I checked my mailbox thoroughly including junk emails folder and still nothing. 

I asked them to send me a proof of the email sent to me, but they haven’t responded to date although they did state they won’t respond to any follow-up communication but to liaise with the company who took over the claim. I didn’t contact the other company.

A month and a half later I received court papers.

I filed my defence with the same argument as above and I just completed the mediation process. 

During the mediation process they offered I pay them first £200 then they reduced to £175, I put forward a counter offer of £60 which was rejected. I then increased it to £85 which covers their court and solicitor fees hoping they’ll close the matter, also rejected. 

I told the mediator that I never received their rejection notice so, they  spoke with the claimant who advised them that they have sent the rejection letter by post to my home address and it is my responsibility to ensure I receive my mail. They also told the mediator that they don’t have any email communication from me on file.

I was confused about this inconsistency here - they did email me telling me they’ve emailed the rejection letter, not they’re saying they’ve sent it by post and also saying they don’t have any communication record from me on their file.

Thankfully, I keep all the email correspondence in my mailbox.

Until today, there’s nothing on the parking company portal against my PCN about my appeal or rejection notice as per their initial acknowledgement email.

My questions are:

1. Is my claim reasonable and any chance in your view of me succeeding in court.

2. In the Directions Questionnaire I submitted I requested the following:

The hearing to be held in my home town court and not in the claimant’s court across the country - how likely is that to be allowed?

3. There’s a discrepancy on the claimant’s statement as to how they’ve notified me about the appeal decision - I have an email from them advising me they’ve emailed me the decision. They’ve told the mediator they’ve sent a letter by post. Anything said during the mediation is without prejudice so I guess I cannot place great reliance on that if they state at the court they’ve emailed me. But I haven’t received such email (nor a letter) - anything here in my favour? 

4.Lastly, the mediator advised that if the matter goes to court and I loose, subsequent court fees and solicitor fees will be added for the hearing - is there any cap, what’s the maximum I’m looking to pay in total? 

I understand £175 is not a huge amount and I could’ve paid it and closed this chapter but for me it’s a matter of principle. I strongly believe they haven’t followed a procedure and I’ve been treated somewhat unfairly. 

Thank you for reading, any advise would be greatly appreciated!

Half_way

See the sticky thread and the above should eb covered.

 then get back here to continue.

A few things first, do not disclose or even guess as to the driver's identity - is the driver still unknown?

Name of parking company?

Name and location of retail park?

rose_valley1

Sorry I cannot find the sticky thread. It took me few hours to figure out how to post a new thread here.

I am the driver and have admitted so to the company.

I am a little hesitant posting the company names on here, although highly unlikely I have read that they do occasionally read these posts so not wanting to expose myself too much. 

Any advise on any of my questions would be appreciated. 

rose_valley1

Just to add I am not trying to avoid responsibility, I’m ok with paying the £60 fine, however, not too happy paying the increased charge since I never received a response to my appeal. 

Coupon-mad

rose_valley1 said:

Just to add I am not trying to avoid responsibility, I’m ok with paying the £60 fine, however, 

No you aren't and please stop thinking like that! Eek no.you don't pay these invoices. This isn't a 'fine'.

Had you come here at the time of the fake PCN, you'd have been told to complain to the retail park's property agents or a shop manager and having spent over £200 you'd have seen it cancelled in hours...

Wow I really hope you didn't say that - "happy to pay £60"  in your defence? Didn't make a partial admission (we hope you ticked to DEFEND IN FULL?).

You owe nothing. Yes you get your local court.

- Which parking firm?

- Show us the Claim Form with the same 4 things redacted that you see on all the other claim threads.

- Show us your defence (don't be shy, we're here to help you rescue this and stop you offering money for an invoice you should NEVER have resolved to pay).

We're glad you've posted here now.

Be confident. You CAN find page one of the forum in seconds, which is where the NEWBIES FAQS thread is and where other threads like yours are. Look... see my signature... read it & click top or bottom of this page on the breadcrumb trail (like when online shopping, click to go back a step).

Coupon-mad

rose_valley1 said:

the mediator advised that if the matter goes to court and I loose, subsequent court fees and solicitor fees will be added for the hearing - is there any cap, what’s the maximum I’m looking to pay in total?

You should complain about that mediator misleading you. The claim form already has the court filing fee and the capped £50 legal fees included on the right so they aren't added again! £50 is a cap.

if you lost, there would be a £25ish hearing fee but the Judge would likely disallow the fake £60 'debt recovery fee' so taking £60 off, you'd be looking at £210. It's less money risked than the £248 claim.

The mediator misled you. Complain.

Your defence isn't bad at all. You can build on that and provide evidence. This will go into your witness statement:

I told the mediator that I never received their rejection notice so, they  spoke with the claimant who advised them that they have sent the rejection letter by post to my home address and it is my responsibility to ensure I receive my mail. They also told the mediator that they don’t have any email communication from me on file.
I was confused about this inconsistency here - they did email me telling me they’ve emailed the rejection letter, not they’re saying they’ve sent it by post and also saying they don’t have any communication record from me on their file.
Thankfully, I keep all the email correspondence in my mailbox.
Until today, there’s nothing on the parking company portal against my PCN about my appeal or rejection notice as per their initial acknowledgement email.

See the NEWBIES thread second post: read the information under the RED capitals heading called IMPORTANT: KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN.

rose_valley1

@Coupon-mad Thank you so much, really appreciated! 

rose_valley1

My hearing date is approaching and it would be appreciated if anyone could have a look at my witness statement - any changes I should make? Some of the points I've included relate to 'Without Prejudice' conversations during mediation and offers to settle the case I received from the claimant. Perhaps not appropriate to mention those I should remove them. How can I upload either pdf or word document on here if at all allowed. 

Coupon-mad

Some of the points I've included relate to 'Without Prejudice' conversations during mediation and offers to settle the case I received from the claimant. Perhaps not appropriate to mention those I should remove them.

You'll have to remove those.

Two recent good WS examples that include the new Mazur case (that you also need!) are by

@mtrolley123

@maxim024

rose_valley1

Should I use the ones posted by @mtrolley123 and @maxim024 instead and make some changes where necessary to align with my case better? 

Coupon-mad

Yes I would. You need to remove everything about offers and mediation anyway.