Court Claim - Parking Charge Notice

[HansZimmer1]

Hello all,

Firstly I hope everybody is well!

My partner (driving my car, is insured) received a PCN from Minster Baywatch in August for £100 or £60 if paid in 14 days. As many do I chose to not pay this and ignore the letters as I thought it was too expensive.

I've now received a Claim Form from the County Court Business Centre, so am hoping for some advise on how to go about this! Please see below:

Issue Date: 14/12/2020
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: Not yet
Total Amount Claimed : £230
Claimant’s Name: Minster Baywatch Ltd
Solicitors Firm: Gladstones Solicitors Ltd
Original Creditor:
Original Debt - £60
Particulars of Claim: The driver of the vehicle with my reg plate.
Is the debt Statute Barred: my partner emailed Minster Baywatch when we first received the notice late August to change the charge to her name, however communication ended for whatever reason.
List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ): N/A
Any Other Information or Background Details:
When she parked up in the car park she checked her phone to find her appointment had been cancelled so no longer needed to park. She then received a call which lasted around 30 minutes then she left the car park. Total time in the car park was around 53 minutes.

I believe I should get pictures of the signs in the car park is that right? Any advise would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

[MIKE770]

ostell

[ostell]

Post up a copy of the NTK you received and the signs. Use a hosting site such as imgur and post the link on this site.

Acknowledge the claim using the details and passwords on the form but nothing in the defence. This gives you 33 days to get your defence to the court.

though the identity of the driver is not too obvious edit so that the driver drove and parked and you the keeper received the notice and are handling

When the driver emailed to give their details did they give name and serviceable address?

Basically if MB were given the driver's details then the keeper has no liability as condition 5 (1) (b) of POFA is no longer true.

POFA - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga...dule/4/enacted

[HansZimmer1]

Thank you for the quick reply! I'll make sure to get pictures tomorrow.

My partner wants to pay the £230+ charges as she's worried about this court claim letter. I'm not too bothered about paying the original amount if they'll accept that - any advice on this?

Thank you,

[HansZimmer1]

Sorry I missed this part - "When the driver emailed to give their details did they give name and serviceable address?"

She didn't confirm her address when she contacted MB.

[ostell]

They won't accept it.

Have you got a copy of that email?

Your defence is that you were not the driver at the time, the driver contacted the company and identified themselves but the company ignored. Can you show you were elsewhere at the time? At work etc.

Have you still got the first letter? This is important.

That claim is far too high. The keeper is only liable for the original charge plus fixed court costs, £170 - £200

[HansZimmer1]

Yes she should have that email still. I can show I was at work at the time of the charge. I have the first letter saved also.

The charges are:
£100 charge
£57.69 additional charges
£25.00 Court fee
£50.00 legal representative's costs

[ostell]

Post up that first letter you received! There may be additional failures of POFA to include

Look through your paperwork, at any time are additional charges labelled as "initial legal costs" ?

I would suggest that you go forward with you were not the driver
the keeper was elsewhere
the driver identified themselves to the claimant and so no keeper liability

[HansZimmer1]

Hopefully this link works:
https://ibb.co/7JN76PX

The additional charges are labelled as "debt recovery charge"

so if my partner emailed Minster Baywatch to let them know it was her that was driving the car, is that good for us moving forward?

Thank you for your help so far!

[ostell]

It has already been done so MB were incorrect in continuing to chase you, though they could insist that they were not given a serviceable address.

But where is the original letter that was received? Let's see if they failed anything else to hold the keeper liable, and please edit as requested

[HansZimmer1]

Hello,

I attached a link to the original letter received in August. Should I send the rear of the letter too?

I've spoken with my partner just now and she's forwarded me an email trail from August/September. She confirmed her name to MB in August and asked for them to change the charge to her name, and she confirmed her address on 24/09/20 - so MB have had her name and address since 24/09.

I'll send over pictures of the signage in the carpark at lunchtime today.

Thank you again,

[HansZimmer1]

Here are better images of the front and back of the first letter received:
https://ibb.co/6WGWJwC
https://ibb.co/N7rQ98M
https://ibb.co/5WtzH8K
https://ibb.co/CQm9PCj

[ostell]

That email is great, they knew the name of the driver and yet continued against the keeper.

The NTK does not give the invitation to Keeper in the required format, 9 (2) (e)
There is no period of parking

Was any money paid or was it something like free for one hour?

Start writing your defence

• You are the keeper but not the driver.
• The driver notified the claimant by email on xxxxxx of their identity and serviceable address
• The claimant can no longer claim from the keeper as condition (5) (1) (b) has not been met
• The claimant is taking action against the wrong person
• Even if that condition were met the claimant has also incorrectly stated the requirements of the invitation to keeper in the format prescribed by 9 (2) (e)
• There is also no period of parking required by 9 (2) (a). Moving in front of a camera cannot by definition be parking.

That's for starters.

[HansZimmer1]

That's great thank you. No money was paid at the time and it's £1 for 1 hour stay (all this over £1!)

I noticed that the clock starts ticking as soon as you pass the camera on the way in, and as its a small car park in a busy city centre, it can take a while to get parked and leave your car. There's a lot of bad reviews for this car park online!

Will get pictures over of the signage in the car park ASAP.

Thank again

[HansZimmer1]

Just a quick one - does a claim form from the county court business centre mean it's definitely going to court, or is it a threat in the hope you'll pay the full amount?

If I email my defence letter to the solicitors are they likely to back off?