County Court Claim

[TOOCQQL]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I received a county court claim yesterday for a parking ticket from premier parking at my old job in 2015. It wasn't a pay and display but instead we would write a hand written permit for cars (I was actually the guy who would give these out lol) any way I got the usual letters demanding money which I ignored.

I now have the county court letter. I will acknowledge this officially and dispute the claim on these grounds - premier parking where meant to come and see us and ask for permission to ticket a vehicle before just slapping tickets on - this didnt happen. I also have a letter from the land owner and the company that I worked for / hired premier parking stating this and stating that they do not wish premier parking or any company working on their behalf to take any legal action against me and to cease all legal action immediately.

Is this enough? With the land owner stating they wish no leagal action against me? I've read that this will stop everything as premier parking were employed by my employer and acting on my employers behalf. My employer has now said to stop all legal action...

Is this enough if I send the letter in as my defence, I've given phone numbers as well so they can phone to check this at the site of the issued ticket etc

And I also have my permit still which states I can park anywhere at any time for any amount of time which I was going to also send in.

So is this enough or do I need to say a bunch of legal stuff about not entering into a contract and how 263 pounds is ridiculous as it was a free car park so there were no losses incurred for either party etc.

Many thanks for you help and keep up the good work you guy are the hero's!

[ostell]

OK acknowledge NOW using the details and password on the form. Nothing in the defence, nothing. This gives you 33 days from date of issue to get your defence to the court.

If you can get a copy of that contract between your employer and Premier.

[TOOCQQL]

Thanks for the reply, why not send my defence in at the same time though? Surly an officially headed letter along with contact details from the landowner stated to cease any and all legal proceedings against me would be sufficient? Premier Park act on behalf of the Land owner and the landowener is saying they don't want any action taken agaist me. How could this make it to court when the landowener is saying they want no action taken?

Many thanks

[TOOCQQL]

Could I also ask you guys, if I put in a defence and the court denies it and says I have to pay the full amount.. If I then pay the full amount will that be the end of it or will I get a ccj?

Apologies for my lack of knowledge

Many thanks

[TOOCQQL]

I found this


In virtually all cases the parking company are there acting for and on behalf of the landowner as agents of the landowner, with the landowner being principal.
the Principal can call off the court proceedings at any time right up to the commencement of the proceedings and even during the proceedings.
If the principal can/will cancel then you will have saved yourself a lot of work and effort and saved the courts valuable time.
At the very least you should try and get a letter from the principal stating they do not wish this matter to proceed to court, and after that if the parking company will not cancel then you can use this in defence stating that the parking company are being unreasonable in pursuing this matter to court against the will of their principal, the landowner.

[ostell]

You are correct but give yourself the maxmum time to develop your defence before you send. Once you submit your defence you cannot change it unless you pay Ł255. So you cannot add additional items later in the process

As a member of the BPA I believe that their Code of Practise requires that they have to have permission of the landowner to take legal action. So they are in breach of their own CoP

If you lose, and you shouldn't, I believe, then if you pay within a month then a ccj will not be marked against your name

[TOOCQQL]

Thanks again for the reply

I will submit the acknowledgement and work on the defence a little more, although I feel having the original permit stating I can park there and the letter from the landowner /company that employed premier parking saying they do not wish premier parking to take any action against me and to cease immediately should hopefully be sufficient and stop it reaching a hearing.

Will keep you updated

Thanks once again

[ostell]

That letter will do well in the defence but you need more than one thing in your defence

[TOOCQQL]

What else could I use? I assumed the letter woudd be enough? Is the fact that it's a free car park with no maximum stay and a Ł263 charge is unreasonable as there was no loss of earnings for either side a defence?

Can I dispute I ever entered a contract with premier park? And that my contract was with the land owner/employer

Also as I received no service from Premier park why can they invoice me for an amount.

Any help would be good, I can't say lack of signs or anything as I worked there for 7 years, even though there were no signs at the entrance and only once you eare in the car park can you see the signs.

Many thanks

[ostell]

Yes, you can say that you already had a contract to oark with your employer and had no need for another contract with Premier

[TOOCQQL]

Hello again. Is this a valid defence to reply with?


Premier Park

Vs

Xxxxxxxx





Claim number - F8xxxxxx

Date of alleged offence -xxxxx

Claimant - Premier Park

Defendant - xxxxxx

Dear sir /madam




I am hopeful that the attached letter from xxxx (landowner) will be enough to settle this matter but I have wrote a short account of the events should it not suffice



I am disputing this claim as I was an employee for xxxxx at xxxx at the time and place of the issued ticket. There was an agreement in place that Premier Park would not issue any tickets before speaking to us – (please see attached letter from U
Landowner confirming this) this did not happen and they ticketed my vehicle without consent from xxxxxx (the land owner), therefore breaching their end of the agreement.


Defence


Statment of truth



The allegation appears to be that the Defendants vehicle (registration xxxx) was not authorised to use the car park.





1. The Defendant is the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle in question. The Claim relates to an alleged debt arising from the driver's alleged breach of contract, when parking at xxx xxx car park on xxxx5. Any breach is denied, and it is further denied that there was any agreement to pay the Claimant's parking charge notice for the lawful conduct described below.



2. As stated in the included letter from xxxxxs (the landowener of xxxxxt) do not wish for any legal proceedings to be taken against the Defendant and for the Claimant to cease all legal action against the Defendant with immediate effect.



2.1. The Claimant premier park pursuing any legal action against the Defendant would be acting against the will of their principal and the landowner.



3. The Defendant was employed by xxxxx and had a permit to park at any xxxxxxs site and for any amount of time, including xxxxxx. The Defendant still has the permit which is attached.



3.1. It is questionable that this permit was not on display somewhere in the vehicle at the time of the ticket being issued, had the parking warden looked closely. None the less this vehicle and the Defendant had a valid permit.



4. The Defendant had a contract with the landowner / xxxx and disputes entering into another separate contract with Premier Park. The landowener / xxxxx permitted the Defendant to park at xxxxx as part of employment.



5. This ticket is unjustified and unnecessary and would never have been issued had the Claimant followed their instructions to seek permission to ticket vehicles at xxxxxxt, from the land owner and principal (see attached letter).



6. In addition to the original parking charge, for which liability is denied the Defendant avers that the added costs are an invented figure, which in no way represents any financial loss or service provided by the Claimant.



7. In order to issue and to pursue unpaid charges via litigation, the Claimant is required to have the written authority of the landowner, on whose behalf they are acting as an agent. Premier Park has taken no steps to provide evidence that such authority has been supplied by the Claimant



8. The reason for Premier Parks presence at xxxx court car park can only be for the sole purpose of deterring parking by uninvited persons, for the benefit of drivers authorised by the landowner. Instead the Claimant carries out a predatory operation on those very people whose interests they are purportedly there to uphold.



9. The Defendant denies the claim in its entirety voiding any liability to the Claimant for all amounts claimed. The Court is invited to dismiss the Claim, and to allow such Defendant's costs as are permissible under Civil Procedure Rule 27.14.










The defendant believes that the facts stated in this defence are true



Name..

Sign…

Is this any good?

As said I have letter from landowner stating to cease all leagal proceedings

My permit to allow me to park

A pay slip from employer

Many thanks

[TOOCQQL]

Do I send in the letter and parking permit now or bring to court?

Is the above defence acceptable? Anything I should take out or add?

Thanks

[TOOCQQL]

Anyone?

[ostell]

Evidence is presented later in the process, when the witness statements are sent, normally 14 days before the hearing.

[TOOCQQL]

Ah OK thanks, so to be clear I send the defence in as above but save the letter from the landowner, the permit and payslip untill a later date?

Thanks again for your help