Hi

I've received a letter from a money claims court today for a parking charge I received back in November 2014, the claimant being MIL collections.

I am completely incensed about this because I got this ticket even though I was using the store the car park is for and have kept proof of purchase to show this.

This is Staples in Stevenage and I had spent about 20 minutes in the store looking at desks and chairs and then made my purchase. When I came out I found a ticket on my car, so as you can imagine I was totally ****ed off.

I called the parking company a few days later and they said their attendant had seen me leave the premises and wasn't using the car park for the purposes it was intended. I told them I had a receipt to prove otherwise and he basically said that makes no difference and I have to pay the fine!!

he got told what he could do and I hung the phone up and wisely thought I'd best make sure I keep hold of this receipt for future evidence.

Over the past year or so I've had various threatening letters like you do but due to the insolent nature when I first called them I chose to ignore all correspondence.

Now today I'm invited to court to pay a total cost of £199 for my perfectly legal parking!

What amazes me is the fact the date and time of the ticket issued shows as 14/11/2014 time 11.34 and my receipt shows the time of purchase as 11.53 so how the hell can they issue a ticket to me whilst I'm in the store shopping other than knowingly issue illegally and then try bully boy tactics to get me to pay!

My question is If I point the out to MIL collections advising them it's in their best interests to withdraw the court action are they likely to listen or should I let it go to court and present all my evidence so these cowboys can be further exposed for what they are? The only thing that worries me about the latter option is if it will end up costing me anything.

Thanks for any advice

Lisa

Do a counterclaim for your out of pocket expenses.

Submit a defence including copies of receipt. Also submit a counterclaim for expenses. It is important you do it ASAP so you don't lose by default.

If you have the evidence you claim, you shouldn't lose therefore it'll cost nothing.

If you lose you may have court costs on top of the 199

Who was the PPC that MIL ' bought ' the ' debt ' off?

what are the 'PARTICULARS OF CLAIM' (exact wording please).

Some reading for you;

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?425819-Llawnroc-Parking-Services-Ltd-2*-PCN-from-2014-MIL-claimform-help

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/mil-collections-fail-on-home-turf.html

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/mil-collections-lose-in-court.html

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/mil-collections-fail-in-court-champerty.html

MIL dont own the debt, even if one relly existed and every time they have gone to court they have lost big time.

As well as responding to the service of the claim write to MIL and ask for proof of debt and a copy of the assignment of that debt to them and a copy of the letter of assignment that was lawfully served on you (they dont exist). add the point that the claim is vex and that you will be seeking a full costs order including your time as litigant in person @£19 p/h (minimum of 5 hours for research, couple of hours court time plus travel, printing etc).

have a look at the previous cases that got to court on the parking parankster blog. All previous cases are in the public domain so you can get the full details to add to your defence bundle should it get that far..

as for the person seen leaving site-this was shot sown in VCS v Ibbotson so no such a breach of conditions can exist. We can offer plenty more reasons why the original debt doesnt exist but they are not within the powers of MIL to contest so get the AOS and the demand for sight of contract off first You can head the letter that it is discovery under CPR 31.15 and give them 14 days to respond. Copy letter to the court address with claim number on so it is added to the file.

Who was the PPC that MIL ' bought ' the ' debt ' off?

 

what are the 'PARTICULARS OF CLAIM' (exact wording please).

 

Some reading for you;

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?425819-Llawnroc-Parking-Services-Ltd-2*-PCN-from-2014-MIL-claimform-help

 

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/mil-collections-fail-on-home-turf.html

 

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/mil-collections-lose-in-court.html

 

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/mil-collections-fail-in-court-champerty.html

I'm not sure who the original PPC is but it's not a parking eye kind of parking.

The Particulars of claim are as follows: -

Charge for parking on private land

1. The Claimant purchased the debt on the 2/11/2015. Assignment notice sent 3/11/2015.

2.The defendant was the reistered keeper/driver of **** *** at the time. The charge is as follows:

JAS16723 Contravention: Customer parking whilst using premises only LOCATION:

Staples Stevenage DATE and TIME:

14/11/2014 11:34:00

3. In accordance with schedule 4, the protection of freedoms act 2012, Notice outlining liability was sent to the defendant by post.

4. The claimant wrote to the defendant on 14/12/205 informing of an intention to issue a summons. No resolution achieved.

THECLAIMANT CLAIMS:

1. Debt amount £149

2. Admin and collection fees £50

TOTAL £199

As I said before I contacted to car park company when I first got the ticket and they said unless I send the original receipt for proof they won't drop the fine, copies won't be accepted.

I sent back to the the original parking ticket with a letter stating the facts again that I was shopping in the store and have proof of this and would send a copy if they wanted. All I ever got after that was the bog standard demand letters saying I still have to pay.

It wasn't until I got this claim through that I noticed the time the ticket was issued which was before we left the store, so the dodgy parking attendant must have pounced on the car as soon as we went in the shop!

You were right not to send the original. It's funny how documents can go missing and being a parking company they were more than likely to claim they never received it.

If this was such a certainty, why have they sold it on, because they know they have nothing on you so unless they are tied in with the debt collection company that bought it, they were seen off as well.

as you are not being sued by the parking co it will make little difference what evidence you offer, they will either drop it when you show you are defending or they will take it all the way in the hope you lose your bottle and pay up. They have no cause for action and they know it so for the moment keep your powder dry and dont offer MIL anything. They will have to pay the allocation fee when your acknowledgement of service is processed and they may well pull out then.

Hi,

The only way for MIL to take court action is if they have bought this charge. It is rumoured they buy these for £1 then chase for the full balance however there is one major flaw in their case.

They rarely turn up in court!

They will ask the court to decide the case 'on paper' but don't inform the keeper so you turn up expecting a fight with MIL but there is no one to fight with.

These rules set out what should happen.

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part27