Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

[Dionis1]

Hi, and Greetings to my fellow legal beagles, as a brand new member,

I could do with some help on a Claim Form received today,

This is now escalating stupidly from 2 x fully valid £1.50 parking tickets via a wrong PCN which Gladstones are pushing to the County Court for £250.

I'm posting the details on the Court Claim section soon if you could help. Please.

I'd twice ignored (several years ago) similar PCNs until they disappeared, but on getting this today it does need attention.
(And this, the day after hearing the real tragedy of a close friend of my son's cancer of the brain returning).

Thanks, Dionis1

[Kati]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Hi [MENTION=107484]Dionis1[/MENTION] ... to LB

Why don't you post the details here and I'll tag [MENTION=5553]charitynjw[/MENTION] for you (who should be able to help) xx

[Dionis1]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Thanks Kati, for your prompt reply.
I've tried to post in full using the template court form but I keep getting the Message "The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 4 characters." - been at it for hours.
What am I doing wrong?
Tks

[Kati]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Thanks Kati, for your prompt reply.
I've tried to post in full using the template court form but I keep getting the Message "The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 4 characters." - been at it for hours.
What am I doing wrong?
Tks

I think it may be a niggle in the forum (we've recently had an update) ... as I suggested in post #2, just add all the details here and I'll sort it out/put it in the right place xx

[Dionis1]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Fine, Kati. Tx.
Particulars of Claim are :-
The driver of the vehicle XX99XXX (the ‘Vehicle’) incurred the parking charge(s) on 20/11/2016 for breaching the terms of parking on the land at Sxxxxx Street Manchester. The Defendant was driving the Vehicle and/or is the Keeper of the Vehicle.

AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
£160 for Parking Charges / Damages and indemnity costs if applicable, together with interest of £9.62 pursuant to s69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at 8% pa, continuing to judgement at £0.04 per day.

Any Other Information:-
I dispute completely the ‘debt’ of the Claim Form, issued by the County Court Business Centre, in Northampton for almost £250 now.

This relates to 90 minutes’ parking, value of £3. Our party had bought 2 x 1 hour parking tickets, each at £1.50, which periods overlapped and were both visible. The attendant issued the PCN in the middle of the 2^nd period. We had valid tickets from 13.44 until 15.26; the PCN was issued at 15.15.
I have both original parking tickets as proof of purchase.

[We had planned a 45 minute coffee meeting with our son which extended by a further 40 minutes, hence the 2^nd purchase.]

SIP Parking did not respond to my initial dispute letter dated 23^rd November.
Awaiting a response, I ignored their ‘NTK’ Dec, ‘Payment Overdue’ in Jan and ‘Final Reminder’ in Feb ’17.
In April, Gladstones Sols (Knutsford) sent an LBC which I replied to contesting and asking for a reply from SIP.
Gladstones wrote in August ‘with photo evidence’.
I replied in August refuting it all completely with my photo evidence (of the 2^nd ticket in the car). All of this has been ignored completely.
Help please! What can I do to stop this ridiculous claim escalating even further?

[Dionis1]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

And I think your ID/motto is just superb and spot on!
Great words to live by.

[charitynjw]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Hi Dionis1

Usual Gladstones rubbish Particulars of Claim.... vague to the point of being an abuse.

What is the court claim issue date?
Have you acknowledged the claim?

Do you have the original postal NtK?
Do you have pictures of site signage?
Do you have a copy of that November letter to SIP, & if sent by post, do you have proof of posting?

Was this via ANPR (or similar), or was there a windscreen ticket? (PCN).
Is the vehicle on hire/lease?

Have you ID'd the driver (at the relevant time) in any communications with SIP/Gladstones?

[Dionis1]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Thanks for your interest & help Charitynjw. (I tried to post the details on the Court Claim section, but there is a glitch on the App so it's not visible.)
My answers:
What is the court claim issue date? 22nd Sept, 17
Have you acknowledged the claim? Yes, so I have the 2 week extension for my Defence prep.

Do you have the original postal NtK? Yes. I have copies of ALL correspondence, incl. the original 2 x tickets proving my right to park was valid.
Do you have pictures of site signage? No. But I could take photos noe if necessary.
Do you have a copy of that November letter to SIP, & if sent by post, do you have proof of posting? Yes. Do you want me to scan and post it here? No Proof of posting.

Was this via ANPR (or similar), or was there a windscreen ticket? (PCN). A PCN on windscreen - I spoke to the attendant but he ignored my plea.
Is the vehicle on hire/lease? No. It's mine - as owner/keeper

Have you ID'd the driver (at the relevant time) in any communications with SIP/Gladstones? No. It could be one of 3 - none disclosed.
Obviously if you need to see any docs or words used , please just ask and I'll post here. Keen to get this dealt with.
To me it's clear:-
My party parked the car for 90 minutes, we bought two tickets; we were wrongly issued with a PCN.
And, it's now come to this cxxp!

[charitynjw]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Ok

25th October (latest) for defence. (28 days + 5 for deemed service of claim form).
Yes please re site signage.

& always get proof of posting for any correspondence. (A SAR might reveal it......?).

[Dionis1]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Cheers, Charity (?).
I have attached 3 images/photos of
a) SIP signage
b) Scan of Parking Tickets purchased (originals with me, still) and
c) photo of ticket in situ (blown onto seat because of flimsy/non-self-adhesive slip of paper)
My letters explained this, first to SIP, then to Gladstones, but neither of these seem to have been read/acknowledged, just the inevitable sequence of chasing letters before this Court Claim!
[I'll get proof of postage if this occurs again] Thanks for the tip!

[charitynjw]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Hi Dionis

'Fluttering ticket' is a well-known phenomenon to courts.
Eg http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=sticky

The site signage, imho, is certainly not up to 'Beavis' standard & could be distinguished on various points as regards clarity.
It certainly does not prohibit buying further consecutive tickets.
There doesn't seem to be any mention of IPC on it, either.

There is loads of time to formulate a defence.
If it were me I'd write to Gladstones (put Ref: [SIP] v [You] Court claim no XXXXXXXX).
"I refer you to my correspondence to your client/yourselves dated (November 2016 date, April 2017 date, August 2017 date).
Valid tickets were purchased & displayed.
I would therefore advise you to recommend to your client to discontinue their spurious claim, which is without merit.
In the event of you/them deciding to continue, please provide the following documents so that I can properly assess my legal position in this matter:
A copy of the relevant agreement between your client & the landowner (&/or any intermediary parties) for your client's right/authority to administer a parking scheme at the relevant site.
A copy of the KADOE agreement between your client & the DVLA.
A copy of the relevant Code of Practice issued by your client's trade body.
I agree to pay a reasonable fee for these per Civil Procedure Rules, & should you require an extension to the defence deadline, please advise in writing so that I may advise the court accordingly".

If Gladstones run true to form they will ignore it....if so you can use that as part of your defence.
I would send by land mail rather than email

Did I mention 'proof of postage, lol

[Dionis1]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Many thanks, Charity.
I will follow your suggestion exactly today.
But, were I not to, surely my defence of "At the time I was sanctioned, I had a valid ticket. I was therefore wrongly sanctioned as the operative must have only seen the first (of two) tickets purchased to park there." would win?
Or doesn't common sense prevail in such matters?
I admit my ignorance of this process!
Thanks, D

[charitynjw]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Many thanks, Charity.
I will follow your suggestion exactly today.
But, were I not to, surely my defence of "At the time I was sanctioned, I had a valid ticket. I was therefore wrongly sanctioned as the operative must have only seen the first (of two) tickets purchased to park there." would win?
Or doesn't common sense prevail in such matters?
I admit my ignorance of this process!
Thanks, D

Sure.
But if they proceed with their claim after having been informed of the lack of merit, & further, if they compound that by not disclosing reasonably requested documents at an early stage of litigation, it leaves the door open for you to claim costs further down the line.

[Dionis1]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Understood, thanks.
I can't believe how time consuming/long-winded the whole process is.
My wife has now suggested that whenever we have to park for a couple of hours, we should, after all of this palaver, now pay upfront for 4 hours minimum!

[Dionis1]

Re: Dionis1's County Court Claim SIP Parking via a Gladstones solicitor v me!

Sorry, Charity, one more thing.
When I send the letter tomorrow to Gladstones should I include copies of my three letters for them? And attachments/copy tickets/photos etc?
Or simply refer them to these docs that I have previously sent?