The summary of what originally happened is as follows:
In Oct 2014 I hired a Van to help move my stepdaughters possessions and some purchased goods into her first home. During that day the van was taken into an area controlled by Excel parking for loading purposes only (of a sofa and chairs) and was there for 16 minutes by the time the shop staff had verified the receipt (it was purchased a few days earlier), located the correct goods and carried them to the van. For REAL parking there is a free car park (free for 2 hours and always has many free spaces) directly across the road, this wasn't parking, at no time was the van left parked as the driver remained with the vehicle while the goods were located and loaded.
Around a month later I received a bill from the hire company and a copy of their Parking Charge Notice (addressed to the hire companies business address) but no official notice from excel. Over a month later A 'PCN' arrived at my home address. The delay between date of 'offence' and arrival of PCN at my address was 70 calendar days, the PCN contained no additional information to prove any form of link between keeper, hirer and driver of the vehicle. The PCN was their 'standard' first attempt at extorting monies, it carried a 'fine' of £100 that they would gracefully reduce to £60 if payment was received within 28 days.
Here's where I made a mistake, mainly due to concentrating on a sudden health issue which saw me in hospital seeing stroke clinics, Neurologists and Ophthalmologists over the period when the first PCN arrived. I assumed (having seen internet stories and TV programmes) that the 'ignore them and they cant prosecute' way of dealing with unnecessary PCN charges was the way forward. I guess should have googled harder (for parking stuff, not what Demyelination of the Brain was), but that's water under the bridge now.
After that a number of further letters and demands arrived, followed by letters and phone calls from 'Rossendales Collect' which eventually stopped sometime in the summer of 2015. Phew I thought.
Over June / July of this year I started to get letters from BW Legal with regards to the same PCN threatening courts, additional charges etc. and eventually at the end of August court papers duly arrived.
Unfortunately for me they arrived a few days before I was due to fly to the USA for a 16 day holiday and all I had chance to do was post on MSE (and promise to post here too) submit the Acknowledgment Of Service on the MCOL site and email a Part 18 request for info to BW Legal. The MCOL date of service is 30th Aug meaning I have to submit the Defence by 27th Sept. I will say that without the help of the members of the MSE forum I would be completely lost, they have been excellent help and have reassured me that all is not lost
The MSE thread contains a few more details but I have hopefully got the majority of the important info on this OP (or will update if I missed anything major!)
In hindsight (and looking through this forum there are different schools of thought) my Part 18 request may have been over long, the letter that they sent 'in response' to the part 18 mail simply re-worded the original scant claim details and didn't attempt to give any of the information I had asked for. How can I defend (properly) what they don't mention?
The basis of my defence is:
QUOTE
1) They have failed to prove WHO drove the vehicle (I hired it, there is no question of that)
2) If sufficient grace time to both enter and exit the location were allowed. Entry would allow time to park, read and understand ALL notices and contractual documents and if required pay the necessary fee. (The signage clearly states 10 minutes are allowed for that) Exiting at present is NOT documented and the COP clearly states the operators should allow such time. I say this was not given and have seen mention of a further 10 minutes in other threads. (is it documented anywhere?)
3) There is no provision for loading/unloading and the driver at no time PARKED, they were merely waiting for the goods (sofa and chairs) to be brought out of the business premises and loaded.
4) The first 'notice to keeper' may not have arrived 'in time' and did not have the correct accompanying documentation (as specified in the POF 2012 Schedule 4 parts 13/14)
5) They have failed to prove they have legal contracts to operate on that land etc. (All the missing info from the part 18 reply)
6) They are submitting badly researched roboclaims with no due diligence and are using the legal system to legitimise modern day highway robbery
2) If sufficient grace time to both enter and exit the location were allowed. Entry would allow time to park, read and understand ALL notices and contractual documents and if required pay the necessary fee. (The signage clearly states 10 minutes are allowed for that) Exiting at present is NOT documented and the COP clearly states the operators should allow such time. I say this was not given and have seen mention of a further 10 minutes in other threads. (is it documented anywhere?)
3) There is no provision for loading/unloading and the driver at no time PARKED, they were merely waiting for the goods (sofa and chairs) to be brought out of the business premises and loaded.
4) The first 'notice to keeper' may not have arrived 'in time' and did not have the correct accompanying documentation (as specified in the POF 2012 Schedule 4 parts 13/14)
5) They have failed to prove they have legal contracts to operate on that land etc. (All the missing info from the part 18 reply)
6) They are submitting badly researched roboclaims with no due diligence and are using the legal system to legitimise modern day highway robbery