UKPC Ltd - County Court Business Centre Claim

[Red Coral]

Hi All - in need of some urgent help if possible!

I received a letter through the post from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton informing me that UKPC is claiming against me.

I have £356.36 total from two parking fines from them - I have been receiving letters from UKPC and debt collection firms presumably working on their behalf over the past months. I ignored these hoping that they'd go away - my thought process was that the fines are so ridiculous that they wouldn't go through with it.

Essentially, the fines are for 'offences' at the block of flats I live in. There is a dedicated resident car park, with about 20 spaces, for which I have a valid permit. There is also a fair amount of space to park elsewhere on the building - i.e. people regularly park in front of garages and in front of the front doors.

The fines were issued on the grounds that the car was 'not parked correctly within the markings of a bay or space'. I know from a friend that all parks have to provide a ten minute grace period to allow motorists to decide whether or not they are staying or going, and I know that they wouldn't be able to prove the car was parked for longer than ten minute, even if it was.

The parking restrictions are explained via 2/3 small signs located around the car park - I can take photos of these if necessary.

I 'acknowledged' the claim online this AM, but haven't submitted my defence yet.

If anyone is able to give me advice on next steps from here I would be incredibly grateful.

RC

[Red Coral]

Hi All,

Any thoughts on this? At a bit of a loss as to what to do and time is running out.

RC

[R0b]

Hi,

Firstly, do you have a copy of the PCN they sent to you and make sure to redact any personal information, including your vehicle registration so we can see what they are alleging that caused a breach of contract. A photo of the sign would also help.

Some other initial points to note that could form your defence:

- Do you rent or own the flat? Check your tenancy agreement or lease/freehold to see whether there are any restrictions on parking and that parking is subject to obtaining a permit and complying with any relevant conditions of parking. If there's no restriction, then UKPC don't have authority to enforce tickets against you.

- You should be able to argue that they need to prove they have landowner authority to enforce parking. Sometimes parking companies will rely on the authority of the estate management company but if they don't own the land, they have to prove the authority goes all the way up the chain to the landowner who has given authority.

Once we have all the relevant information, we can then work out what goes into your defence. As you have acknowledged the claim form, you have 33 days from the date of the claim form to file a defence. Can you confirm the claim form date?

[charitynjw]

R0b

See attached

[Red Coral]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I don't have copies of the two PCNs, but they are for 'Parking outside of a dedicated space'. The claim form refers to 'Parking in breach of the terms on Cs signs (the contract), thus incurring the PCNs'. I have attached a photo of one of the signs to this post.

- I rent the property. There is no referencing to parking or parking restrictions within the tenancy agreement. The only mention of parking in my tenancy agreement is; '"The premises" will include any parts or all of the Premises that the tenant is entitled to use within this agreement, and curtilage of the same, together with the garden, garage and parking space (if any).'

- Understood.

The claim form was issued on 08/06/2023.

Thanks again,
RC

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[Red Coral]

charitynjw Thanks also for providing the above link!

[R0b]

Could you also post a copy of the particulars of claim on the claim form so we can see what is being alleged and what they are claiming?

Also, how were you told that you got a parking space as part of your tenancy? do you have this in writing anywhere and was there any conditions attached to it?

[Red Coral]

Rob,

1. The Defendant(D) is indebted to the Claimant(C) for a Parking charge(s) issued to vehicle ******* at (address).
2. The PCN details are (date), (PCN No.) x2
3. The PCN(s) was issued on private land owned or managed by C. The vehicle was parked in breach of the terms on Cs sign (the Contract), thus incurring the PCN(s).
4. The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not. D is liable as the driver or keeper. Despite requests, the PCN(s) is outstanding. The contract entitles C to damages.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
1. £340 being the total of the PCN(s) and damages.
2. Interest at a rate of 8% per annum pursuant to s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 from the date hereof at a daily rate of £0.04 until judgement or sooner payment
3. Costs and court fees

Obviously, point 4 is false - I have never agreed to pay anything to UKPC.

I was told verbally that the permit I was issued was valid for any space within the building car park. There were no conditions attached to it. I have a good relationship with my landlord, I would be able to get confirmation of this in writing if necessary.

Thanks,
RC

[Red Coral]

rob Sorry to be a nuisance - Do I need to get anything confirmed in writing? I believe the date I need to submit my defence by is 11/07 (33 days after 08/06), so I am keen to get as much preparation done as soon as I can.

[R0b]

As a starting point, your defence could be that there were no conditions or restrictions in your tenancy agreement in relation to parking in any of the spaces. Therefore the sign itself has no applicability to yourself because, the terms and conditions set out on the sign would be a variation t oyour tenancy agreement which you have not agreed to, plus UKPC is not a party to your tenancy agreement so they are unable to enforce any parking charges against you since there are no conditions or restrictions on parking. The onus is on them to prove that there is/was at the time of the alleged contravention.

In the meantime, if you are on friendly terms with your landlord, it would be helpful if you could obtain a copy of their lease or freehold to verify if there are any conditions around parking.

I have a template floating about but it doesn't quite cover your situation thought I have some examples that support your case in some other documents.I will try t dig them out over the weekend and you can have a look and tweak them to suit your current situation. You still have plenty of time to file your defence so a couple of days won't go amiss, so long as you don't leave it until last minute!

In the interim, you could fire off a subject access request to UKPC to obtain all information they hold about you including copies of the PCNs that you don't have. They have 30 days to supply that and there is a template on the right hand side of this forum in the shortcuts section if you are using a laptop or computer.

[charitynjw]

Rob,

1. The Defendant(D) is indebted to the Claimant(C) for a Parking charge(s) issued to vehicle ******* at (address).
2. The PCN details are (date), (PCN No.) x2
3. The PCN(s) was issued on private land owned or managed by C. The vehicle was parked in breach of the terms on Cs sign (the Contract), thus incurring the PCN(s).
4. The driver agreed to pay within 28 days but did not. D is liable as the driver or keeper. Despite requests, the PCN(s) is outstanding. The contract entitles C to damages.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
1. £340 being the total of the PCN(s) and damages.
2. Interest at a rate of 8% per annum pursuant to s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 from the date hereof at a daily rate of £0.04 until judgement or sooner payment
3. Costs and court fees

Obviously, point 4 is false - I have never agreed to pay anything to UKPC.

I was told verbally that the permit I was issued was valid for any space within the building car park. There were no conditions attached to it. I have a good relationship with my landlord, I would be able to get confirmation of this in writing if necessary.

Thanks,
RC

Is the tenancy an AST, a periodic tenancy, or something else?

[Red Coral]

charitynjw it's an AST

[Red Coral]

rob Thank you - are you aware if this has been tested in court or not? My landlord is in the process of sending me his freehold agreement, so I will have a good look through that once received.

Thanks for finding a template for me to tweak, hugely appreciated. Would you mind taking a look at it once I have tailored it to my case?

Good idea re. SAR request, I will get on that this PM.

Thanks again both.

RC

[Red Coral]

rob charitynjw

Update - I have found the letters sent by UKPC for both of the tickets I received. From there, I have found all images of the vehicle relating to the two notices.

06/10/2022 - This ticket is for when the vehicle was temporarily stopped outside the building. The photos are taken 31 seconds apart. A parking permit is visible in the front windscreen.

27/10/2022 - This ticket is for an occasion when the vehicle was parked in the building car park and the permit had fallen onto the floor of the vehicle without the driver noticing. The photos are taken 54 seconds apart.

Grateful for your thoughts.

RC

[Red Coral]

rob charitynjw

Apologies - another update!

My landlord has sent the below image excerpt from their leasehold agreement.

I have also found a scanned image of the permit with my signature next to it, sent from the estate agents.

Apologies for the bombardment this PM, thanks again for your help.

RC

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