Help! Parking Eye Court Claim Form- Private Land w/ no 'free stay'

[katcapstick]

You are not submitting a defence yet, you are writing back to acknowledge the claim and denying it in its entirety and a full defence will be submitted within the time allowed. That gives you more time to prepare a full defence when necessary. You will then fill out the allocation questionnaire and choose a county court local or convenient to you.

Dont state that you want to know things, find out who the landowner is and ask them to provide proof of transferrence of their rights to PE. They may well not do this and it will cost you a few quid to force the issue so I wouldnt bother than going further than asking. As I said, there is a time and a form for asking for sight of the contract, it used to be called "discovery" but is dealt with on a separate court form so dont be putting anything on yours, just the Ack of service bits and the allocation.

If nothing else, this will make PE pay for the allocation and thus have to turn up or let the matter drop by being timed out on the allocation fee. There are pluse and minuses to this, a very strong defence, such as being the landowner yourself (are you reading Euro Car Parks?), would make them drop this hot potato but generally having more time gives you the advantage, even if they decide to pay the £40 to continue.

 

 

I have already submitted the acknowledgement so just trying to gather everything for the next step. Do they send more forms now I've done this or do I just use the original ones and get them back to the court within the time limit?

 

I've now emailed the hotel to enquire about who owns the land. I'll see if they respond.

[ericsbrother]

You now wait for PE to pay the allocation fee and gety a court appearance time. In the meanwhile you gather your evidence for the time that it has to be submitted by. Read all of the other posts in this section to see standard defences and for suggestions of what you will need to gather. You will get a chance to denand evidence from PE, you will need to know exactly what they are claiming so your defence rebuts the case they are making and more. They should have sent you details of their claim, if not you need to write to the court and ask for the cklaim to be struck out if they havent sent them in time.

[katcapstick]

You now wait for PE to pay the allocation fee and gety a court appearance time. In the meanwhile you gather your evidence for the time that it has to be submitted by. Read all of the other posts in this section to see standard defences and for suggestions of what you will need to gather. You will get a chance to denand evidence from PE, you will need to know exactly what they are claiming so your defence rebuts the case they are making and more. They should have sent you details of their claim, if not you need to write to the court and ask for the cklaim to be struck out if they havent sent them in time.

 

 

Okay so I should receive this in the post then? I presume this means I definitely have to attend a hearing? I haven't had any further 'details' other than the couple of sentences which are on the front of the court papers- what sort of thing should I expect to receive? When should they have sent this sort of thing by?

 

I actually contacted the hotel to enquire who the landowner was and received a helpful reply from someone there. However must've been forwarded to PE as they've sent quite a nasty response really saying I'm not to contact any third parties as they are dealing with the claim and are authorised by the landowner to do so?!

[katcapstick]

also, has anyone got any links to a standard defence?

[katcapstick]

Just as examples of how to set this out

[ericsbrother]

in the sticky section at the top of this forum topic

[ericsbrother]

You will get the allocation papers when they pay up. If they dont pay up you can have the claim struck out or just ignore the whole matter. The courts are rather busy so you wont hear anything for a several weeks but if you are worried you can phone the courts service at Northampton and quote the case number and they will tell you the progress of your case.

As for taking any notice of Parking Eye, I would ignore anything they say directly to you but keep it all as evidence of harassment, which you can counterclaim for. As for being authorised, how do you know unless you ask the landowner/occupier?

Dont forget that Parking Eye is reading your posts on here so they may not have got their infomation from the hotel but from your postings and applied it to their letters to pressure you into paying them the money they dont merit.

[Nev Met]

I note that the Prankster has mentioned recently ParkingEye and their mailing system so I shall now try and explain why I asked you to request from ParkingEye of 'proof of postage'

 

It is believed that ParkingEye use an outsourced company called 'imail' to send out their letters etc.

 

The way this works is that ParkingEye's system populate the relevant generic letter that is to be sent out to the registered keeper. That letter is then sent in an electronic encrypted form to 'imail'

 

'imail' then un-encrypt (is there such a word?) the electronic message from ParkingEye and create a hard copy which is then enveloped and posted off to the registered keeper.

 

'imail' have a system that puts a unique reference number of every letter (the series of five or six digits just to the top right of the registered keepers name and address). This audit trail is essential because it a) proves that 'imail' have posted the letter and b) they can invoice ParkingEye accordingly.

 

The reference numbers put on the letters are sequential and therefore if there is a dispute as to whether a letter was actually posted or not, there is an evidential audit trail that can be produced if requested.

 

[This is what we believe is the system set up but because of commercial sensitivity we cannot confirm 100%]

[katcapstick]

Thanks guys.

 

I believe the 14 days (following the 5 days after the papers were issued) is up in around a week so we'll see what happens. If nothing comes through I shall ring the court to check.

 

Am I right in thinking that if they proceed and get the claim details sent within their time allowance, I don't actually prepare a written defence and it is dealt with in person in court?

 

I'm hoping if that's the case then citizen's advice can help with sorting out how I go about getting my own solicitor as I've never had to do anything like that so wouldn't know where to begin! I'm sure there's an option to defend yourself but would rather enlist someone who knows their way around the law. I presume if I had to pay a solicitor, I could claim the cost back should I win?

 

 

That's an interesting point on the mail system Nev Met. I wouldn't want to go in all guns blazing without concrete confirmation of who they use and how but very good to know that seems to be what's thought. Good to bring it up in case they can, and should be able to prove the letter was sent if indeed it was.

[citizenB]

katcapstick.

 

Your timeline is as follows..

 

Date of issue XX + 5 days to acknowledge = XX + 14 days to acknowledge claim = XX + 14 days to submit a defence. If it is your intention to defend the claim, then you MUST acknowledge otherwise they will obtain a default judgment.

[Nev Met]

Thanks guys.

That's an interesting point on the mail system Nev Met. I wouldn't want to go in all guns blazing without concrete confirmation of who they use and how but very good to know that seems to be what's thought. Good to bring it up in case they can, and should be able to prove the letter was sent if indeed it was.

 

Give the tree a shake and see what falls.

 

Just simply ask them for proof of postage from their mail service provider and see what they come back with.

[david1605red]

Am I right in thinking that if they proceed and get the claim details sent within their time allowance, I don't actually prepare a written defence and it is dealt with in person in court?

 

I'm hoping if that's the case then citizen's advice can help with sorting out how I go about getting my own solicitor as I've never had to do anything like that so wouldn't know where to begin! I'm sure there's an option to defend yourself but would rather enlist someone who knows their way around the law. I presume if I had to pay a solicitor, I could claim the cost back should I win? ...

Wrong on all counts, I'm afraid.

 

You will certainly need to send a written defence. If not, they will automatically get Judgment against you.

 

Citizen's Advice are next to useless regarding private parking issues. They take their script from BPA Ltd propaganda.

 

Most high street solicitors aren't that clued up on this stuff, and if you find one who is, they will probably charge £2-300 for a court appearance, which you won't get back unless the Judge decides the other side has "behaved unreasonably".

[katcapstick]

katcapstick.

 

Your timeline is as follows..

 

Date of issue XX + 5 days to acknowledge = XX + 14 days to acknowledge claim = XX + 14 days to submit a defence. If it is your intention to defend the claim, then you MUST acknowledge otherwise they will obtain a default judgment.

 

I've already done the Acknowledgement online so that part is sorted.

 

 

 

Nev Met: Would you advise me emailing PE about the PoP asap or just bringing it up in my defence? I guess if they say they cannot provide such information then that's a point against them. It's just confusing on whether I should still be speaking to them now as previously they had said they weren't communicating with me on the matter then recently having been accused of harrassment I don't know where I stand on that front! Is it worth asking them for their contract w/ the landowner too or as others have suggested, there's some kind of form to request the document- though I don't really know and what stage and how I obtain this.

 

The solicitor thing is worrying as I would have to find someone in 14 days presumably to help with my defence. Or would the right course of action be to put together my own written defence the best I can following everyone on here's advice and then a solicitor gets involved when it goes to court?

[Nev Met]

I've already done the Acknowledgement online so that part is sorted.

Nev Met: Would you advise me emailing PE about the PoP asap or just bringing it up in my defence?

 

Absolutely, a simple email along the lines that I suggested

[katcapstick]

Requested the proof of postage and did in fact receive a response but no answer to the question (just repeated that 'a letter was sent') and just told me that I now need to submit my defence or pay up.

 

:/

[ericsbrother]

send a copy of the letter to the court when you get your allocation and inform them that it is your belief that Parking Eye are abusing the small claims procedure by using the claims process for intimidation rather than recovery of an alleged debt. Their paper output is certainly prolific in that manner, sending out reams of paper telling people how their barrister reckons they are on to a winner rather than just issuing the POPLA code requested. If it isnt designed to intimidate, why send the irrelevant gumf in the first place.

[DBC]

You can what shaky ground PE are on by the number of cases they have lost as POPLA. Just going by the ones listed on MSE, this amounts to nearly 50 in just six months.

[katcapstick]

does anyone know anything about the particulars you are meant to receive? I hear that when the claim is to do with a contract, a separate detailed set of particulars should be served containing a copy of the contract in its entirety.

 

I've not yet received such documents and I'm sure anyone who has seen the court forms will know that PE's 'particulars' are a pretty brief thing just on the front of the form.

 

I'm thinking of contacting the court and enquiring about this- good idea?

 

The defences I've seen tend to be bullet-pointed as if in answer to points point by the claimant (PE) but I don't feel I have enough to go off based on their particulars to do it like that.

 

If anyone has any knowledge on this please let me know.

 

 

I'd also like to see the contract between the landowner and PE, at what point can I request this?

[DBC]

They don't usually send you the contract (probably because if they did it would show they haven't got the proper authority). What they might do is send out a "letter of authority", which is a meaningless piece of paper, produced by PE and signed by a lowly minion from the management agent or landlord.

[ericsbrother]

When you submit your defence there is a form that you can fill in to seek paperwork from the other side,it used to be called "discovery" but has a different name now, might be N180 but check with the court-you can phone Northampton and ask them. Otherwise ask the landowner for a copy and should they decline to oblige tell them that you can apply for a "Norwich Pharmacal Order" but would prefer to keep the costs to a minimum.

The land registry can supply the details of ownership to you for £3 and will prove useful if the land is leased as certain rights are often retained by the freeholder.

[katcapstick]

When you submit your defence there is a form that you can fill in to seek paperwork from the other side,it used to be called "discovery" but has a different name now, might be N180 but check with the court-you can phone Northampton and ask them. Otherwise ask the landowner for a copy and should they decline to oblige tell them that you can apply for a "Norwich Pharmacal Order" but would prefer to keep the costs to a minimum.

The land registry can supply the details of ownership to you for £3 and will prove useful if the land is leased as certain rights are often retained by the freeholder.

 

 

I've emailed PE to request a copy of the contract between them and the landowner. They have not replied, quite strange as they've been quick to respond previously.

 

I also called the court to ask about this and they advised requesting it from the claimant and if they won't give you it, then it's something to add to your defence.

 

Hopefully looking to get a draft defence together this week and hoping some experienced members will be willing to take a read over it through a pm.

[DBC]

In the light of this thread :-

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?408614-PE-Drop-Court-Case-Paperwork-quot-Irregularities-quot-%281-Viewing%29-nbsp

You will probably just receive a "witness statement" . Please check the signature and the hand-writing of the date and see if they match!

[ericsbrother]

A statement in your defence saying that you asked for a copy of the contract between the landowner or occupier and themselves that entitles PE to seek damages for breach of contract and trespass in their own name but PE refused to supply such a document. As their claim is based solely on this right it is imperative that the full proper document should be available to you and the court. Also ask for copy of the Planning Permission granted that allows them to place their advertising hoardings in the car park. Again, they will claim that it is deemed consent and they dont need it but it is not one of the categories of sign that deemed consent covers so stick with that one as well as it will void any contact so formed as being unconsionable. (you cannot be forced into a contract by way of a criminal activity)

[katcapstick]

Hi all,

 

I have a draft defence ready.

 

Are there any experienced members who would be willing to take a look over it if I pm it through?

 

Many thanks in advance.

[ericsbrother]

post it up and you will get several opinions of what emphasis you should place on the various parts and what case law you want considered. You should have copies of the case law available for the judge and send to PE with your defence bundle.

PM's wont allow your helpers to see what others are thinking.