County Court claim form Britannia Parking

[TIGLET7]

In April 2019 I parked and paid cash in a private car park managed by Britannia. I input the registration number of the car but the machine failed to record it correctly so I was issued with a PCN. The PCN was issued to my daughter as the registered keeper but I have had all the correspondence relating to this as I appealed the fine and explained that I had paid but that the machine must be faulty as I did input the correct registration number. I have never confirmed who the driver of the vehicle was.

A week later, I parked a different car in the same car park and exactly the same thing happened. The machine failed to correctly record the registration number and another PCN was issued (to my husband). We have the original parking ticket for this second PCN and we also paid using a contactless card on the second occasion. We have had various letters over the last 2+ years and long periods of time when we heard nothing. Then today, out of the blue, we have both been issued with a county court claim form. We intend to defend as we both paid parking and we have proof that we did because Britannia have actually provided us with a list of the cars parked in the car parking on both days and we were not the only ones where the registration number did not correctly record. Can anyone give us any guidance as to how we should write a defence to the court and also whether we are in as strong a position as we believe we are?

[ostell]

The first thing you should be doing is acknowledging the claim using the details and password on the form. Do this on or shortly after day 5 from the date of issue and you have 33 days from the date of issue to get your defence to the court.

As you have the ticket that has errors on it then that should hold you in good stead. Are both events on the claim form and it is you that the claim form has been issued with.

How did you know the reg number did not correctly record?

[echat11]

Hi TIGLET7

ostell Can you please take a look and advise, many thanks.

[TIGLET7]

Hi ostell thank you very much for replying.

We have 2 summons from 2 separate incidents within a 2 week period in April 2019.

The first one, the original PCN was sent to my daughter but I disputed it and thereafter the final demand PCN and all subsequent information and correspondence between BW Legal/Britannia have been addressed to me. I have never admitted who the car was registered to and who the driver was. I do not have the ticket for this incident but I do have a print out that Britannia sent me acknowledging my cash payment but saying that the registration number was not entered correctly. I disputed this as I did enter it correctly but the machine failed to record it correctly.

The second PCN was issued to my husband and exactly the same thing happened. We have the ticket for this and it clearly shows that the registration number did not print correctly but we maintain that we did input it correctly. Why would we not? We paid for parking on both occasions and have a print out from britannia showing that we did pay but they are saying because the reg number is incomplete on both tickets that the PCNs have been issued for a contractual breach. Interestingly, although the two PCNs relate to two different vehicles, both reg numbers started with the letter L and that is all that was printed.

I have acknowledged the claims online as advised.

[ostell]

So are the defendants 2 different people are the same person?

The fact that it occured twice using the same machine raises the probability that the machine is defective

What do the signs say?

[TIGLET7]

ostell 2 different defendants but same location. Have a print out showing the parking ticket payments were made but the reg numbers did not record correctly. Britannia are saying our payment is not valid because our reg number was incorrectly entered. We dispute this. We entered the reg number correctly but the machine did not record it correctly.

Would need to go look at the signage again - it's been 2.5 years!

[ostell]

The signs would be handy, just to see what they require.

Did the listing only show the initial letter, the same as the ticket? Give us some idea what was recorded.

[TIGLET7]

Yes, the listing only showed the initial letter and so did the ticket for the second incident.

In the first incident, we have a print out that shows the initial letter only but no actual ticket.

One of the PCNs was sent to the registered keeper but was appealed by someone else and then the final demand was issued to the person who appealed the fine but at no point did that person admit to being the driver. How can Britannia/BW Legal presume that the person who appealed the fine is the driver?

[ostell]

They can assume any one is the driver. Can the alleged driver show they were not?

in both the company agree that payment was made so they are claiming because the incorrect number was registered. Ask the court to state that not having the full VRM is de minimus as the major parts of the contract were met, and the payment is agreed by the claimant