Parking - CST Law - MET Parking

[Thekind]

Hi there,

Would like some advice on a certain situation.

Keeper of a vehicle accumulated several Parking Charge Notices due to car being parked at a site where MET Parking is the operator there.

Based on, what I understand now is, outdated advice, their several letters which were sent either from MET Parking or Debt Recovery Plus etc were ignored.

More recently CST Law have been sending letters.

Yesterday Letters Before Claim from CST Law were received (see redacted version below).

In the reverse of the letter they are asking to pay Debt Recovery Plus (see image of the reverse of the letter).

They have also included Annex 1 Information sheet (Including Q&As, what to if you want seek debt advice, etc), a Reply Form and Annnex 2 Standard Financial Statement.

Can you please advise? Do you recommend SAR to claimant (MET Parking) and CPR 31.14 to CST Law?

The LBC is dated Nov 4th but it was only received Nov 12th.

If the advice above is correct can SAR and CPR 31.14 be sent by email or should it be posted?

As the PCN are several, there might be more of these coming. Should the same steps for each one of them be taken?

I have also seen advice (on other sites) re: going down the Common Law route and practically replying to them stating not consenting and not wanting to enter into contract with them (this however may have been valid if there had been an earlier response to the original claimant by MET Parking and not now, having reached this stage). What is your view on this?

Many thanks for all the help and assistance you offer.

[Thekind]

Uploading copies of LBC

[ostell]

This looks like a letter from DRP using CST's letter head but as it says it is a letter before claim then must take it seriously

Send SAR & CPR 31.14 as you suggest, email and first class mail with free certificate of posting from a post office

Do you have any of the PCNs that you can post up redacted, but leave dates

[Thekind]

Thanks for the quick response. I don't think I have the original PCN. Please find attached the letter I received afterwards (if it helps at all)

[Thekind]

Also looking at the CPR 31.14 Form I'm not sure i understand fully. I don't see any particulars of the claim in the LBC. Can you please advise further on this?

[Thekind]

Hi there. Any suggestions on the above please?

[ostell]

They have started the legal process so use the legal process to get information. You dont have to mention particulars of claim

What is the alleged breach? Was there a windscreen ticket?

[Thekind]

Yes there was a ticket on the windscreen. Alleged breach was that vehicle was parked on their managed premises but occupants left the premises.

[ostell]

So what control do you have over the occupants of the car? None at all. Only the driver could have created a contract. Can they show the driver lleft the premises?

[Thekind]

Thanks for your replies.

Obviously there is no County Court claim and no dates yet, so does the following letter look good to you (can you please also comment on the bit about being "... Responsible for your reasonable copying costs". Does this imply paying them for photocopying any potential evidence they might have?)

------ LETTER STARTS HERE (WILL OF COURSE INCLUDE DATE, ADDRESSES, ETC --------

On xx/xx/xxxx I received a Letter Before Claim from yourselves. To enable me to file any defence and/or counterclaim, I require inspection of documents you mention in your statement of case ahead of filing my defence.

In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of CLAIM. (I guess this bit also is not relevant as there is no claim issued through CCBC. If correct, should I remove this bit?)

I, as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you must produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.

------- LETTER ENDS HERE WITH APPROPRIATE SALUTATIONS ETC --------

Please let me know what you think.

Kind regards

[Thekind]

Any further suggestions to the above would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

[Thekind]

Any suggestions on this please?

[Thekind]

Any suggestions on this please?

[ostell]

No response = Nobody spotted any mistakes. You should have sent it

[Thekind]

I did send it. Emailed them and posted 1st class on Dec 4th. No replies so far. They did send me though 3 separate LBCs on 3 separate but very similar scenarios. Will follow the same route. Thank you