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County Court Papers / Smart Parking

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Beechy74
Beechy74 Posts: 60 Forumite
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in Parking tickets, fines & parking
Good evening,
I'm actually posting for a friend as he's not great with computers but hes sat with me anyway.
County court papers have been received and i''l post as an attatchment. The actual 'breach' was on 19th October 2018 at the Royal Hull Hotel. The defendant is a Taxi driver who was doing a job there for a staff meeting/conference. He was there around 90mins - 2hours.

The registration was left with reception and this should have wavered the 'fine'. However, Smart Parking started sending their £100 'invoices' and they were binned, thinking the Hotel had dealt with it. Naive but thats how it is.

Anyway, on the 08/01/2020, County Court Claim forms were received. The Hotel has been contacted but they say its too later for them to cancel the ticket, which i guess was obvious really.

We've done the Ackowledgement of Service online and now are going to request a SAR. Although its probably a bit late for that.

As well as doing a lot of reading in the next week or so, is there any advice anyone can offer? It would really be appreciated.

I'll {hopefully} attach the claim form and a few Google images of the Hotel.
*edit* Not allowed to post images yet.

Thankyou, Graham.
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Comments

  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 37,641 Forumite
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    Beechy74 wrote: »
    Anyway, on the 08/01/2020, County Court Claim forms were received.

    We've done the Acknowledgment of Service online...
    You say the Claim Form was received on 8th January, but what is the Issue Date on that Claim Form?

    On what date was the Acknowledgment of Service filed? The MCOL claim history will give the definite answer.
  • Beechy74
    Beechy74 Posts: 60 Forumite
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    Sorry, the Issue date was 08/01/2020

    The AOS was done today, Jan 21st.
  • Redx
    Redx Posts: 38,084 Forumite
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    it must have been received later than that then, they dont come the same day

    now email the SAR to the DPO at the PPC

    then start to draft your defence and post it below , for critique
  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 37,641 Forumite
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    Beechy74 wrote: »
    Sorry, the Issue date was 08/01/2020

    The AOS was done today, Jan 21st.
    With a Claim Issue Date of 8th January, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 10th February 2020 to file your Defence.

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


    When you are happy with the content, your Defence could be filed via email as suggested here:
      Print your Defence.
    1. Sign it and date it.
    2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
    3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
    4. Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
    5. No need to do anything on MCOL, but do check it after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defence received". If not, chase the CCBC until it is.

    Having filed your Defence, there is more to do...
    1. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire. Nothing of interest there. Just file it.
    2. Wait for your own Directions Questionnaire from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then complete it as described by bargepole in his 'what happens when' post.
    3. The completed DQ should be returned by email to the CCBC to the same address and in the same way as your Defence was filed earlier.
    4. Send a copy of your completed DQ to the Claimant - to their address on your Claim Form.

    Of course everywhere I have written 'you' or 'your' I mean the named Defendant.
  • Beechy74
    Beechy74 Posts: 60 Forumite
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    Thankyou all, really appreciate it.
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 131,700 Forumite
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    The registration was left with reception and this should have wavered the 'fine'.
    Go back and get proof. They must have records.

    Also, do NOT defend as admitted driver. We assume the driver has not already been admitted in an earlier appeal?
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
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  • Beechy74
    Beechy74 Posts: 60 Forumite
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    No, all previous letters were binned, so they dont know who was driving still. The Hotel manageress actually recommended ringing Smart Parking lol but that wont be happening.
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 131,700 Forumite
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    edited 21 January 2020 at 9:48PM
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    The Hotel need to be asked for the proof of exemption and for an email to help the Defendant in court, yet NOT NAMING the driver.

    The Defendant should defend as registered keeper because Smart do not use the POFA. Maybe more than one driver uses that car as a cabbie, is it shared? That would help in the defence if the D can honestly say that they may not have been driving/are not the only cabbie driver.

    I can't stress enough they NEED evidence so no phone calls to the Hotel. An email chain is needed, to eke out a response that says from the Hotel Manageress:

    'We agree that we meant to exempt this taxi and the Hotel tried, and would have done, but the system Smart Parking created often broke down/didn't work and relied upon - what? (a written note of a VRN? inputting a VRN on a keypad that sometimes didn't work?). As such, we do not support the drivers or keeper of this taxi being sued and this was not the intention of the scheme and we would like the claim discontinued'.

    Feed them the right words by email and tell them you need this as evidence and the only other way forward is, you will add the Hotel as a party to the claim and will require the Manageress, or a Director of the Hotel Group, to attend in person...(you won't - but she doesn't know that. It should focus her mind).

    This evidence is not required to be filed at defence stage but is VITAL as evidence later.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
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  • Beechy74
    Beechy74 Posts: 60 Forumite
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    E-Mail sent to the Hotel and the reply was a bit vague ;- ''Due to the timescale you need to contest this with the parking company we do allow taxis to register their car to stop parking notices being issued however this has to be imputed manually and is not automatically exempt from this charge.''

    Not really what i asked, so going to email again or go in.
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 131,700 Forumite
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    Don't go in, you need an evidence trail.

    Reiterate that 'the driver' DID exempt the taxi, and you want their records from that day.

    Feed them the words you need back from them and ask for them to confirm that the VRN was given that day:
    'We agree that we meant to exempt this taxi and the Hotel tried, and would have done, but the system Smart Parking created often broke down/didn't work and relied upon - what? (a written note of a VRN? inputting a VRN on a keypad that sometimes didn't work?). As such, we do not support the drivers or keeper of this taxi being sued and this was not the intention of the scheme and we would like the claim discontinued'.

    Tell them you need this as evidence and the only other way forward is, you will add the Hotel as a party to the claim and will require the Manageress, or a Director of the Hotel Group, to attend in person...(you won't - but she doesn't know that. It should focus her mind).

    None of this is to be done in person or over the phone. You need an email trail.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
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