Letter before County court claim

[amiank]

Good evening,
i have received a letter before county court claim from ParkingEye today (pic attached).

I’m a private hire driver it have taken me longer up this hotel as a client whom I was collecting had a hire car. And apparently all the proceeding up on returning and queue at the desk was time consuming.

i appealed through their website and was rejected.
then just ignored all the letters.
what shall I do now? What are my chances in court?
thanks for any help

[charitynjw]

Re: Letter before County court claim

Hi & welcome to LB.

Is the vehicle (to which this letter is referring) registered to you? (Ie are you the registered keeper per the DVLA database)?

Did you ID who was driving in your appeal to P/E (Just answer yes or no....no need to say who it was).

& most important....have you tried contacting Holiday Inn to see if they will intercede?
(It's a bit late in the day, but still worth a go).

[amiank]

Re: Letter before County court claim

1. Yes i'm the registered keeper
2. i refereed to the person who was driving/picking up as "I"
3.i have asked at the reception and was simply washed off (is being there few days later i find out they put you reg in system and you might stay as long as it takes) never thought they will follow up to lbcc, is it worth to go there and ask for shift manager at this stage ?

[charitynjw]

Re: Letter before County court claim

Yes it is worth trying at Holiday Inn.
They might help, especially if you go there often.
& in any case, you won't know if you don't ask.

[amiank]

Re: Letter before County court claim

How much time do I have to respond to this letter and in what form?
email/filling up form provided/any letter acknowledging receiving lbcca

[charitynjw]

Re: Letter before County court claim

Per the new pre action protocol you should have 30 days to respond to an LBC.
I would do so towards the end of the 30 day period. (Make sure you get proof of sending the response....the Post Office will give you a free certificate of posting if you ask.)

Were there a number of documents enclosed?
If so, unless you want to admit liability, do not complete or return the income/expenditure form.

If it were me I'd use it as an opportunity to ask questions & force disclosure of evidence (ask for copies of landowner authority, a copy of the KADOE agreement with DVLA, & all documented evidence which they will rely on in court to support their alleged claim. Also ask for a detailed explanation of how the claimed sum is arrived at).

If nothing else, it should buy you some time.

[amiank]

Re: Letter before County court claim

hello, is this good for a reply.
thanks for your help

Dear Parking Eye
Re PCN: XXXXXXXXXX

I have just received your Letter Before Action dated XXXXX I deny any liability for what is an unlawful penalty.

In addition I require:
1. The name and address of the party who contracted with Parking Eye for the provision of their services
2. The name and address of the landowner if different from 1.
3. A copy of the contract authorising Parking Eye to offer and enter into contracts for parking, and pursue unpaid parking charges including through litigation.
4. An itemised breakdown of your losses as a result of this parking incident
5. An itemised breakdown of the landowner's losses as a result of this incident
6. An explanation of how the requirements of schedule 4 of POFA making the keeper liable have been satisfied. The creditor has not been identified as is required under para 9(2) h under POFA and hence the conditions to pursue the keeper under PoFa for the alleged debt have not been met.

Your letter before action fails to provide the above information which it should do as indicated in the Practice Direction. Your letter of action should also direct the defendant to the Practice Direction for reference prior to any legal proceedings, which it also fails to do.

I require a response to the above within a suitable time.

Alternatively you could simply cancel the charge.

Kind regards

[ostell]

Re: Letter before County court claim

for 3) add that a witness statement is insufficient. The reason being that quite often a signed witness statement is produced saying that a contract exists but there can be doubt about who actually signed the witness statement.