Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

[AnonymousHidden]

Hi all, I've got a parking fine which is getting me really down heartened at the moment and hope you guys can help me. I've seen this has been covered but I am finding real difficulty reading between the threads to workout what I need to do in my situation.

Basically I live in a block of flats in Bristol and have a valid parking permit for the car park which is policed by Link parking. This was back in October 2016 and my parking permit was on display yet they slapped a fine on my car anyway for not displaying it clearly enough. I contacted Link Parking and had no luck trying to dispute it myself so chose to ignore as per some of the advise I seen online.

Anyway, 9 months later I'm now receiving claim forms from 'Gladstones Solictors' and 'County Court Business Centre' for a claim of £410 which is much more than the original Link parking fine and it's getting a bit scary now! This was also accompanied by a 'dcbl' debt recovery letter and it's starting to stress me out and affect my day to day life now.

I wondered if you guys could help me with all your expertise as I am left clueless and don't have this sort of money to pay up.

Thanks in advance guys, hope you can help

[ostell]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

First of all acknowledge the claim online using the information on the claim form but do not put anything in the defence.. This gives you 33 days from the date of issue to submit a defence. Next read this from the Parking Prankster. Then get out your lease and see what it says about parking.

Your lease has primacy and if it gives you the right to park, especially if you have your own space, then the Link are trying yo offer you parking when you already had that right. Your lease will probably not require you to display a permit not pay a charge for not doing so.

DCBL letters can be ignored. Just file them. They are merely acting as debt collectors without any powers other than write scary letters.

[AnonymousHidden]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

Ostell - Thank you very much for your quick reply, that has set me at ease at least.

On the claim form it gives me an address for www.moneyclaim.gov.uk where I can submit a defence but this even costs £35, does merely registering and putting in the reference number count as me acknowledging the situation?

I'll check for the lease of my parking spot later but I am unsure I have any paperwork to accompany the parking permit. I inherited the parking permit from purchasing the property so I'll see what I can find this evening

Thanks for the head-ups on DCBL, that's good to know.

[AnonymousHidden]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

Hey Ostell/Anyone else that can help.

I've attached my lease as a PDF after requesting it. It doesn't say an awful lot to be honest? Does this give me a strong case?

I've also attached messaging placed through-out the parking from Link parking.

Hope you can help

[ostell]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

You shouldn't have to pay to go onto MCOL. Are you sure you entered the address correctly?

Schedule 3 (2) gives you the right to park in space 60.

To save time send a copy of that part of the lease and the map to Gladstones and invite them to withdraw as their client does not have a claim as there is a superior lease in place and there is no requirement within that lease for the display of a permit nor a payment if one is not displayed. Also state that you have no requirement for a contract with a third to provide parking as you already have one in your lease. Their client is also knowingly going against the requirements of the Data Protection Act by requesting your details from the DVLA and taking action when they know they do not have that right.

The signage is prohibiting. Parking is only permitted for vehicles displaying a permit. There is no offer of parking for vehicles without a permit therefore there can be no possible contract.

[Blinkin73]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

Hi Anon

My case is different but we are going through the same process, Im a little ways ahead of you though. Its been a steep learning curve.


The date of issue is on the MCOL claim form, your are given 5 days after that date for it to be "served' to you.

The first thing to establish is , did the claimant state on the MCOL claim form that they would issue the "particulars of claim within 14 days of service" or did they include anything headed "Particulars of claim", explaining the legal reason for the claim and breaking down the costs and having a statement of truth with a signature on it with the claim form?

The claimant in my case decided to forward the particulars of claim after the claim form. I didnt know what constituted a 'particulars of claim' and phoned MCOL who informed me he hadnt served them and that they should be with me within 14 days of the claim being served.

Its fine if you acknowledge the claim online (the address is on the paperwork with a password for you to use when signing in. You will need to have a Government Gateway registration which you can do online but it takes a few days to get your card) within 14 days, You will have 28 days to serve a defence from when you receive the "particulars of claim".

If you dont acknowldge the claim form within 14 days of service, you will only be given 14 days to serve your defence after you receive the claimants particulars of claim.


You cant submit a defence if you havent had the particulars of claim, how do you know what you are defending? Take the time given to you, although I understand you wanting to get it over and done with.

It doesnt cost to submit a defence. I could be wrong but I thought you couldnt add to the original debt with fines etc which it appears they may have done. There used to be a wonderful site for assistance with parking fines fightback forum/ pipepo.com. You have to put some effort in to learning they will really help you. I won a tribunal for some parking ticktets with their help. My tickets were blown from the dash a few times when I shut the door. Turns out the local traffic law said I had to adhere the ticket to my windscreen. I basically argued amongst other things that it was unreasonable to expect me travel around with a bucket of glue. The council even gave me a clear plastic pocket to display my tickets in. They go in to the detail of the law. Read a few relevant posts about court cases.

[AnonymousHidden]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

Thanks for all your input so far but this is still such a pain and I am lost with what to do.

I replied with my defence form to Gladstone within the window yet I've received a letter saying the court have made judgement against me like Gladstones ignored or binned my submission? What on earth can I do about this? In hindsight I really should of sent it recorded delivery but it's too late to dwell on that.

Like I said the court have made judgement against me now and if I don't pay the £434 they're now threatening with more bailiff actions from Direct Collection Bailiffs Limited?

This is really getting out of hand considering I had a valid parking permit on display, any help would be greatly appreciated. Would be good to know what I can do about the court judgement seeing as my defence was ignored.

[ostell]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

Where did you send your defence? You are meant to send it to the COURT as instructed on the form, not Gladstones. As the court didn't receive it Gladstones got judgement by default.

[AnonymousHidden]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

The court form actually suggested I sent it to Gladstones (photo attached)... luckily I took photos of the forms before sending

[charitynjw]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

If you need longer than 14 days to prepare yourdefence or to contest the court’s jurisdiction to trythe claim, complete the Acknowledgment of Serviceform and send it to the court within 14 days. Thiswill allow you 28 days from the date of service of theparticulars of claim to file your defence or make anapplication to contest the court’s jurisdiction. The courtwill tell the claimant that your Acknowledgment ofService has been received.

https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.j.../n001c-eng.pdf

‘filing’, in relation to a document, means delivering it, by post or otherwise, to the court office;

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...les/part02#2.2

[AnonymousHidden]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

My mistake, as shown above the court 'Claim form' states the address of Gladstones?

Do you have a suggestion on what I can do to attempt to file a defence again as it looks as if this form should gone back to the court despite stating Gladstones address

[charitynjw]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

Did you get any proof of postage re the copy of the defence sent to Gladstones?

[AnonymousHidden]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

Not proof of postage no.

The only proof I have is I took photographs of the forms before sending them off

[charitynjw]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

So all they (Gladstones) would have to say is "What defence? We didn't receive a defence!"

(& if you think that a solicitor would not do that, I can tell you categorically that yes, they most definitely would do so)

[AnonymousHidden]

Re: Link Parking - County Court Business Centre claim

True.

Is there anything I can do with Gladstones denying my paperwork? Is it too late to make another defence, would you recommend getting in contact with the court?