County Court for PCNs

[Deano101]

Hi guys

Very clueless but need some help.
I used to park near my work 3-4 times a week, using an app to pay for parking.

Foolishly over 2 years there were 6 instances where I forgot to pay. The daily ticket was £4 or so.
The problem stems from the fact I never had a ticket on my car so I was never even aware I had forgotten to pay. So fast forward, my car was registered at my old address so I never had any correspondence until I realised and promptly changed my address. This was when I received notice that the 6 tickets that I unbeknownst had missed, in total would have cost me £24, now would cost me over £1,000. So I did the foolish thing and ignored them. In a year of pandemic and worry for my business I just couldn't deal with the stress.

Fast forward, today I have a county court claim form that states I am in breach of the contract and I had agreed to pay within 28 days but defaulted (this is a clear lie as I didn't even know I had a ticket at this point.)

I understand that I was stupid to not get in contact before this point but I was just really worried. I don't have the old letters that were sent only the claim form. Any assistance from you wonderful ladies and gentlemen would be invaluable.

[ostell]

Edit so that the identity of the driver cannot be inferred.

So you acknowledge the claim on or shortly after day 5 after issue date using the details and password on the form. Nothing in the defence. This gives you 33 days from date of issue to get your defence to the court.

SAR to the Parking Company
CRP 31.14 request to the solicitor.

Template for both in the Shortcuts panel on this page.

[Deano101]

Thank you.

so acknowledge only after 5 days?

Then submit forms?

I need the most simplest of instructions.

Very much appreciated.

[Deano101]

I have filled in the forms as suggested to the best of my ability.

In regards to CRP.14, can I simply put a £1 coin in the envelope?

I am mailing these tomorrow when I acknowledge receipt of the claim.

I assume there is no method other than to post these?

I am concerned these could be ignored and I have no proof of sending. Is there something you would advise?

[ostell]

You acknowledge on line. 5 days to get the maximum time to prepare your defence

No money required for CPR

Anything you mail send first class and get a free certificate of posting from a post office

[Deano101]

Is there another way of accepting the claim?

I can't get into the government portal. I will attempt to call tomorrow, I am just concerned on running out of time.

[ostell]

Not being able to login is a frequent problem. Phone the court

You can return the form by post, online gives you the chance to follow the progress of the claim

[Deano101]

HI,

You have been a tremendous help.

I called the court and they accepted an e-mail.

All smooth by all accounts.

I have just received a letter back from the legal team. I followed the instructions to the letter.

Thank you for all the support so far.

[ostell]

Can you forward your original letter and that response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority and complain that they are not following CPR and defeating the overriding objective by not allowing the defendant to produce a defence. What action are the SRA going to take about this behaiviour.

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/

DCBL consistently refuse to supply details. You enter this refusal in you defence and ask the court to order the information and that the claimant meet the cost of submitting an amended defence

[Deano101]

Thank you for all assistance so far. You have been invaluable.

If not for you, I would probably have just accepted the fine at this point as they have frustrated the process as much as possible so far (which i am sure they do on purpose)

I am currently awaiting a response from the parking company, although I do not expect anything positive.

I have submitted the complaint along with evidence to SAR, though, the turnaround is 40-50 days pre-covid, so i am not holding much hope for any support there.

Should I wait for the response from the parking company before contacting the court with my defence?

[ostell]

You MUST get your defence to the court in the required time.

[Deano101]

Sure, but currently I am in the same position as I was initially.

My defence so far is, the claim that I had agreed to pay within 28 days but reneged on that agreement.. Total Lie, I only knew of the tickets a year after the issue of the tickets as they didn't have my address.

Alternatively I have the Shaggy card "it wasn't me!"

[Deano101]

Just an update on my message to the courts.

Hi,


I was advised that I would be able to request certain information to help with my defence.
I received a letter from DCB Legal advising only the court can request this information.

I believe it is only fair to be able to access the information held on myself so I can defend myself.

I would like you to put in an order for this information and the claimant meet the cost of submitting an amended defence.

Kind regards,

[Deano101]

I'm not sure why I'm posting as it is too late, but I will update so future members may find some form of help.

I used this forum as I have absolutely no idea of the law. I felt like an injustice was being committed and I am powerless to change it.

Now the facts are I parked somewhere 3 days a week for a year or so and I forgot to pay through the app 6 times. The ticket cost per day is £4. So that's £24 the company lost out on.

Now the reason I feel so strongly about this charge is that the increase to £1200+ is completely disproportionate. Also the company lied, they state I gave a commitment to pay and then defaulted. Also having provided images of my car through a GDPR request, a few images show a ticket on my car, the company actually doesn't give out tickets and these were never on my car.
So once again, this is a deceptive tactic that I'm not sure how they can get away with.

I understand that i am not paying for a service on here but I thought this site was designed for this kind of reason.

I submitted in my defence to the court a request to enforce the legal team to supply the information CRP31.14. I did not receive a response and then the time limit for my defence has seemed to pass.

So the claimant has won.

I appreciate there was some assistance at the beginning but I honestly feel i would have been better giving a detailed defence of the discrepancies. I was holding out, hoping there was going to be more support coming with a bit more detail of what i should put. I assume like others that use this site that I really needed the dummies guide.

This didn't happen, which is my fault, I have misjudged how this site works or maybe just expected too much. My advice to other people that get in this situation would be to either try and find legal advice where you may have to pay to get the advice needed or just go with your gut. I tried to face this head on, the right way and I am probably worse off for it. I lost the case as I didn't know what I was doing and kept on hoping for support. I hope someone else fares better.

I would also like to say, I appreciate any help that I received, the person sending advice clearly was a professional and didn't have the time to explain things. Thank you anyway.

[ostell]

You have to help yourself as well, you were told you needed to get a defence to the court in time. There are plenty of defences around to base your defence on

You also ignored advice given.

It was suggested you complain to the SRA about DCBL's behaviour. The court can do nothing a out it.

In your defence you complain about the lack of response.

Did you get out of this thread to look at other cases?