County Court Claim Options

[toony616]

I have recieved a claim form for parking in may 2017 in a sainsburys.
Particulars of claim:

Basic details of my reg and date and location....... thus uncurring a parking charge pcn. The driver of the vehicle agreed to pay the pcn within 28days of issue yet failed to do so (utter nonsense). Clainant claims the unpaid pcn from defendent asthe driver keeper of vehicle. Despite demands... not settled. 80 for pcn, 70 contractual costs and pcn terms and conditions, together with stat interest of 25.93 pursuant to s69 courts act 1984 at 8pc per annum.


What do i respond with? I wasnt driving. Do i file defence or just acknowledge?

Please advise.

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[Redivi]

First step is to follow the instructions to acknowledge service

You do not contest jurisdiction unless you live outside England and Wales
You dispute the entire debt
Do not put anything at all in the Defence box

That gives you 33 days from the date of issue to deliver your defence to the claim

Which parking company - the term "contractual costs" sounds like the Excel/VCS family ?
Are they pursuing you as the keeper or the driver ?

Did they serve a Notice to Keeper that met all the conditions of the Protection of Freedoms Act ?
Even if they did, they can only recover the £70 from the driver, not the keeper

[toony616]

It says the driver of the vehicle with reg.. parked in breach.

.......the driver of the vehicle agreed to pay the pcn.....

So i guess driver. Its horizons.

I have a NTK but not sure if it meets pofa. How do i know?

There is a picture of the car leaving this location. Very blurred but can make out a hand on the wheel.

[ostell]

Check the NTK against the requirements of POFA, especially 9(2) if no windscreen ticket

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9...edule/4/enacted

Post up the redacted PCN for others to see

[Jlc]

I have a NTK but not sure if it meets pofa. How do i know?

From memory Horizon do not. But use the checklist here.

(Or post a redacted scan)

The driver of the vehicle agreed to pay ... (utter nonsense).

That's a way of saying the driver accepted the contract on offer (the signs). I wouldn't say it was nonsense - they had the opportunity to leave if they didn't like the terms...

This post has been edited by Jlc: Wed, 7 Aug 2019 - 18:47

[toony616]

There was no windscreen ticket.

I did not place an appeal either.

I have a PCN. does not state NTK on it.

[Redivi]

Whether the driver accepted the contract or not, POFA says that the maximum sum that can be recovered is the amount that was owed the day before the NtK was issued

I have known a company try to argue that the extra £70 was owed on this date but discounted
Doubt that it would pass the duck test

It would in any case create a new problem for the Claimant
If the parking charge is, in effect, £170 it greatly exceeds the amount that the Code of Practice and the Supreme Court regard as reasonable

[toony616]

Here it is

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[ostell]

OK, there are so many POFA failures there should be no problem
No period of parking 9(2)(a) Moving in front of a camera cannot be parking
No invitation to keeper 9(2)(e)
Keeper liability warning 9(2)(f) Not in the correct format, in correct time
Creditor not identified 9(2)(h)

You've deleted the dates. Was it received within 14 days or issued within 12 days?

As you weren't driving can you provide proof of that?

[Redivi]

Horizon has made a massive typo

If within 28 days we have not received full payment we have the right to recover the parking charge amount that remains unpaid from the driver of the vehicle

It's supposed to say from the keeper

It's not just an omission of the 9(2)(f) keeper liability warning or the wrong format
It's a positive statement that any right of recovery is only against the driver

Cannot see how Horizon can possibly succeed with a claim against the non-driving keeper

This post has been edited by Redivi: Wed, 7 Aug 2019 - 20:40

[Jlc]

Horizon has made a massive typo

Not a typo - their PCN's just don't bother with PoFA...

Cannot see how Horizon can possibly succeed with a claim against the non-driving keeper

Indeed.

Was an appeal ever entered?

[toony616]

I didnt appeal. Does it matter?



I didnt appeal. Does it matter?



It was sent to me within 5 days. I cannot prove i was not driving

[Redivi]

I didnt appeal. Does it matter?

Not really

It was sent to me within 5 days. I cannot prove I was not driving

Your witness statement is evidence that you weren't driving

Is the hand in the photograph, or the sleeve clear enough to show it's not yours ?

If you weren't a passenger, think of evidence that you were somewhere else
The location record on your phone ?
Receipts from shops ?
Emails you sent ?

[toony616]

The picture is from a distance, it wont identify the driver. Not that it matters as it wasnt me.

It was over 2 years ago, i have no evidence in regard to my wherabouts.

The court summons says i have 28 days to respond. Do i just send the bit that acknowledges?

Will it definitely get to court or is my defence by post going to be enough to avoid a trip to the court?

Can i claim for travel and day off to attend if i win?

[Jlc]

If they take it to a hearing and you win then you can claim costs including lost earnings but these are limited (£75 off the top of my head).

This post has been edited by Jlc: Thu, 8 Aug 2019 - 09:13

[ostell]

You have 14 days to acknowledge the claim. Use the details and password on the form, noting in the defence, nothing. This gives you 33 days from the date of issue to get your defence to the court.

A good defence, as you believe you were not the driver on that day is all those POFA fails, especially the mangled 9 (2) (f), one about the driver being liable.

Unless they withdraw from the claim after they see your defence then it will be a trip to court, but it will be your local court. Wages claim is capped at £96 per half day I believe.

[toony616]

How do i get defence to court? Is that done online also? Can the judge or prosecution start asking me who was driving that day? Or is it more precedural than that? And they have no right to ask and its not relevant?

Why does it mention 28 dayscon the claim, not 33?

[ostell]

You send the defence either as a letter os vis email. I think the email address is on the form. You send it as an attachment, preferably PDF and signed.

The judge can ask you who was driving on that day but to be honest how can you be expected to remember an uneventful day 2 years ago. The is no prosecution, this is not criminal, it is the claimant. The can ask and they get the same answer.

Please read the form, and everything else, carefully. You have 28 days from the date of service and the date of service is 5 days from the date of issue. You have to acknowledge within 14 days from the date of service

[Sheffield Dave]

But bear in mid that everything you say in court must be truthful, and the judge is likely to take a dim view of your case if you come across as evasive

[toony616]

Ok, so i will fill in the acceptance form online. Will somebody on here create my defence? Or does that bit only come later if they dont drop the case? I have not a clue how to present the stuff mentioned above in a formal letter.

Thanks.