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    • No! What has happened is that your pix were up-to-date: 5 hours' maximum stay and £100 PCN. The lazy solicitors have sent ancient pictures: 4 hours' maximum stay and £60 PCN. Don't let on!  Let them be hoisted by their own lazy petard in the court hearing (if they don't bottle before).
    • Thanks for all the suggestions so far I will amend original WS and send again for review.  While looking at my post at very beginning when I submitted photos of signs around the car park I noticed that it says 5 hours maximum stay while the signage sent by solicitor shows 4 hours maximum stay but mine is related to electric bay abuse not sure if this can be of any use in WS.
    • Not sure what to make of that or what it means for me, I was just about to head to my kip and it's a bit too late for legalise. When is the "expenditure occured"?  When they start spending money to write to me?  Or is this a bad thing (as "harsh" would imply)? When all is said and done, I do not have two beans to rub together, we rent our home and EVERYTHING of value has been purchased by and is in my wife's name and we are not financially linked in any way.  So at least if I can't escape my fate I can at least know that they will get sweet FA from me anyway   edit:  ah.. Sophia Harrison: Time bar decision tough on claimants WWW.SCOTTISHLEGAL.COM Time bar is a very complex area of law in Scotland relating to the period in which a claim for breach of duty can be pursued. The Scottish government...   This explains it like I am 5.  So, a good thing then because creditors clearly know they have suffered a loss the minute I stop paying them, this is why it is "harsh" (for them, not me)? Am I understanding this correctly?  
    • urm......exactly what you filed .....read it carefully... it puts them to strict proof to prove the debt is enforceable, so thus 'holds' their claim till they coughup or not and discontinue. you need to get readingthose threads i posted so you understand. then you'll know whats maybe next how to react or not and whats after that. 5-10 threads a day INHO. dont ever do anything without checking here 1st.
    • I've done a new version including LFI's suggestions.  I've also change the order to put your strongest arguments first.  Where possible the changes are in red.  The numbering is obviously knackered.  See what you think. Background  1.1  The Defendant received the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) on the 06th of November 2020 following the vehicle being parked at Arla Old Dairy, South Ruislip on the 05th of December 2019.  Unfair PCN  4.1  On XXXXX the Defendant sent the Claimant's solicitors a CPR request.  As shown in Exhibit 1 (pages 7-13) the solicitors helpfully sent photos of 46 signs in their evidence all clearly showing a £60.00 parking charge notice (which will  be reduced if paid promptly).  There can be no room for doubt here - there are 46 signs produced in the Claimant's own evidence. 4.2  Yet the PCN affixed to the vehicle was for a £100.00 parking charge notice (reduced if paid promptly).  The reminder letters from the Claimant again all demanded £100. 4.3        The Claimant relies on signage to create a contract.  It is unlawful for the Claimant to write that the charge is £60 on their signs and then send demands for £100.   4.4        The unlawful £100 charge is also the basis for the Claimant's Particulars of Claim. No Locus Standi 2.1  I do not believe a contract exists with the landowner that gives MET Parking Services a right to bring claims in their own name. Definition of “Relevant contract” from the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4,  2 [1] means a contract Including a contract arising only when the vehicle was parked on the relevant land between the driver and a person who is-  (a) the owner or occupier of the land; or  (b) Authorised, under or by virtue of arrangements made by the owner or occupier of the land, to enter into a contract with the driver requiring the payment of parking charges in respect of the parking of the vehicle on the land. According to https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/44  For a contract to be valid, it requires a director from each company to sign and then two independent witnesses must confirm those signatures.  2.2  The Defendant requested to see such a contract in the CPR request.  The contract produced was largely illegible and heavily redacted, and the fact that it contained no witness signatures present means the contract has not been validly executed. Therefore, there can be no contract established between MET Parking Services and the motorist. Even if “No Parking in Electric Bay” could form a contract (which it cannot), it is immaterial. There is no valid contract. Illegal Conduct – No Contract Formed  3.1 At the time of writing, the Claimant has failed to provide proof of planning permission granted for signage etc under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Lack of planning permission is a criminal offence under this Act and no contract can be formed where criminality is involved.  3.4        I also do not believe the claimant possesses this document.  No Keeper Liability  5.1        The defendant was not the driver at the time and date mentioned in the PCN and the claimant has not established keeper liability under schedule 4 of the PoFA 2012. In this matter, the defendant puts it to the claimant to produce strict proof as to who was driving at the time.  5.2 The claimant in their Notice To Keeper also failed to comply with PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 section 9[2][f] while mentioning “the right to recover from the keeper so much of that parking charge as remains unpaid” where they did not include statement “(if all the applicable conditions under this Schedule are met)”.    5.3        The claimant did not mention the parking period instead only mentioned time 20:25 which is not sufficient to qualify as a parking period.   Protection of Freedoms Act 2012  The notice must -  (a) specify the vehicle, the relevant land on which it was parked and the period of parking to which the notice relates; 22. In the persuasive judgement K4GF167G - Premier Park Ltd v Mr Mathur - Horsham County Court – 5 January 2024 it was on this very point that the judge dismissed this claim. 5.4  A the PCN does not comply with the Act the Defendant as keeper is not liable. Interest 6.2  It is unreasonable for the Claimant to delay litigation for four years in order to add excessive interest. Double Recovery  7.1  The claim is littered with made-up charges. 7.2  As noted above, the Claimant's signs state a £60 charge yet their PCN is for £100. 7.3  As well as the £100 parking charge, the Claimant seeks recovery of an additional £70.  This is simply a poor attempt to circumvent the legal costs cap at small claims. 29. Since 2019, many County Courts have considered claims in excess of £100 to be an abuse of process leading to them being struck out ab initio. An example, in the Caernarfon Court in VCS v Davies, case No. FTQZ4W28 on 4th September 2019, District Judge Jones-Evans stated “Upon it being recorded that District Judge Jones- Evans has over a very significant period of time warned advocates (...) in many cases of this nature before this court that their claim for £60 is unenforceable in law and is an abuse of process and is nothing more than a poor attempt to go behind the decision of the Supreme Court v Beavis which inter alia decided that a figure of £160 as a global sum claimed in this case would be a penalty and not a genuine pre-estimate of loss and therefore unenforceable in law and if the practise continued, he would treat all cases as a claim for £160 and therefore a penalty and unenforceable in law it is hereby declared (…) the claim is struck out and declared to be wholly without merit and an abuse of process.” 30. In Claim Nos. F0DP806M and F0DP201T, District Judge Taylor echoed earlier General Judgment or Orders of District Judge Grand, stating ''It is ordered that the claim is struck out as an abuse of process. The claim contains a substantial charge additional to the parking charge which it is alleged the Defendant contracted to pay. This additional charge is not recoverable under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 nor with reference to the judgment in Parking Eye v Beavis. It is an abuse of process from the Claimant to issue a knowingly inflated claim for an additional sum which it is not entitled to recover. This order has been made by the court of its own initiative without a hearing pursuant to CPR Rule 3.3(4)) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998...'' 31. In the persuasive case of G4QZ465V - Excel Parking Services Ltd v Wilkinson – Bradford County Court -2 July 2020 (Exhibit 2) the judge had decided that Excel had won. However, due to Excel adding on the £60 the Judge dismissed the case. 7.7        The addition of costs not previously specified on signage are also in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2, specifically paras 6, 10 and 14.  7.8        It is the Defendant’s position that the Claimant in this case has knowingly submitted inflated costs and thus the entire claim should be similarly struck out in accordance with Civil Procedure Rule 3.3(4).  In Conclusion  8.1        I invite the court to dismiss the claim. Statement of Truth I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth. 
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Council tax benefit help please


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I will try to be as brief as possible. I am self employed. I own my home outright. Due to a variety of illnesses and disabilities and the ecenomic times we are in I have been struggling of late and decided to apply for council tax benefit as my income is well below the required threshold and I have next to no savings anymore having tried in vein to just pay the council tax anyway and am currently up to date.

 

I had no idea how difficult and frankly discouraging the local authority could be. They are asking me for audited accounts. I do not have audtied accounts, it is just me as a very small time sole trader. If I could afford audited accounting, I would not need help with council tax!

 

But today I received a letter telling me that 'an officer needs to see you at the property...'. meaning my home. I am not a council tenant and am not at all happy to have a council employee in my home at all. I have provided proof of me, my address, utitility bills, bank statements, they know I live here because they send me the council tax bill!!!!

 

Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

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Yeah, this is routine. I mean, I realise it's not great - who wants council folks showing up and asking to see paperwork? But it is one of the things you occasionally have to tolerate when you claim benefits.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING. EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 

The idea that all politicians lie is music to the ears of the most egregious liars.

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Thank you both. That is appreciated. I have multiple medical conditions including autism and phyiscal diabilities. If they simply want to see where I live I suppose that is understandable.

 

Now, when I said they seem to make things difficult I was not joking. I pay for my Council tax by direct debit. I have paid every month on time without exception, including this month (leaving December, January, February and March to pay. Yet, 3 days after submitting my claim they send me an ammended bill in which they demand the rest of the years money in two payments, effectively doubling what I just told them I could not afford. So December 1st will be more than double what I would have paid if I had not made a claim!!!!!

 

Is this actually designed to cause alarm and distress? Before applying I was struggling to pay, but did pay. Now I am in limbo and now have the increased stress of dealing with this council on multiple angles.

 

I cannot help but think this is designed to meake me give up and go away.

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I have just looked closer at the new bill. It states Demand reason: Payment Method Change

 

Being in a position where I can no longer afford to pay council tax and having made a vaild claim after paying at the beginning of November, I cancelled the direct debit to prevent further payments being taken in the belief that I would no longer be liable to pay. I did not expect the council to literally pounce like a hungry lion.

 

I must say that on visiting their very nice offices last week to take evidence in, I noted the very high quality of the keyboards they type on, the huge monitors, the luxury chairs and when I commented on how warm it was was told they have underfloor heating. No wonder they pounce for more money!

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I have just looked closer at the new bill. It states Demand reason: Payment Method Change

 

Being in a position where I can no longer afford to pay council tax and having made a vaild claim after paying at the beginning of November, I cancelled the direct debit to prevent further payments being taken in the belief that I would no longer be liable to pay. I did not expect the council to literally pounce like a hungry lion.

 

I must say that on visiting their very nice offices last week to take evidence in, I noted the very high quality of the keyboards they type on, the huge monitors, the luxury chairs and when I commented on how warm it was was told they have underfloor heating. No wonder they pounce for more money!

 

The offices might be rented...

 

If you lapsed your D/D the council tax team would not know that you had made a claim- it's a separate department. Hence the demand.

 

Have you looked into what other benefits you can cla ?

Please do not ask me for advice via PM as I will not reply.

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Thanks you all so much again. What a shame you are not the people I have to deal with.

 

I get the higher rate of DLA mobility anyway but really cannot be doing with the stress levels of something so fundamental as claiming council tax benefit that I am completely entitled to do. I had no way of knowing that stopping the direct debit would trigger a panic at the council. I am not in arrears one penny. I am so tempted to just pay it off for the year and forget the whole claim - which is what I think they would like.

 

I have never had to deal with them before and never truly appreciated it when I hear of horror stories and people getting so upset. But am beginning to understand why. I realize they have to protect the public purse against fraud etc, but to tar everyone with the same brush - or that is how it feels - seems just the wrong way.

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I had no way of knowing that stopping the direct debitlink3.gif would trigger a panic at the council

thats how it is unfortunately, all automated and contracted out (to capita).

if you can, try speaking direct to yr council (even though capita are now inhouse) rather than the call centre.

the adjustment bill shld have an option for dd. cld just do that again. then see how the claim goes in the mean.

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Previously you were on a 12 monthly payment scheme and they've defaulted back to a 10 month - unless you've requested this then they have no legal powers to change the payment plan. The choice of whether you use a 10 month or 12 month plan is yours (unless you've lost the right to pay by instalments).

 

http://lgfa92.co.uk/council-tax-paying-over-12-instalments/

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Thanks you all so much again. What a shame you are not the people I have to deal with.

 

I get the higher rate of DLA mobility anyway but really cannot be doing with the stress levels of something so fundamental as claiming council tax benefit that I am completely entitled to do. I had no way of knowing that stopping the direct debit would trigger a panic at the council. I am not in arrears one penny. I am so tempted to just pay it off for the year and forget the whole claim - which is what I think they would like.

 

I have never had to deal with them before and never truly appreciated it when I hear of horror stories and people getting so upset. But am beginning to understand why. I realize they have to protect the public purse against fraud etc, but to tar everyone with the same brush - or that is how it feels - seems just the wrong way.

It's not so much a panic attack as computer says no.. most councils have these letters triggered automatically.

Please do not ask me for advice via PM as I will not reply.

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But can you imagine the distress it can cause someone with certain medical conditions? I do not WANT to claim, I NEED to claim. I am not doing anything wrong by doing so as I am completely entitled to do so. But when you claim thinking that they will reduce or cover the remaining council tax bill, they then send you a demand for more than double what I was paying, it causes alarm. The wordiong on the back fo this new bill is entirely about different methods of how you can pay them as well as a warning that failure to pay can result in prosecution etc.

 

Nice to know that the very people I have been paying for for years, are the people who will not help when I need it.

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I get where you are coming from. I needed to change direct debit date due to a change in job last year. I rang and explained to them what I was doing and why (change of pay date) and still the lapsing of a d/d caused a deluge of letters. The wording is pretty strong as they don't differentiate between the evaders and the genuine.

 

That's the problem of automated systems.

 

I know none of that helps you

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Please do not ask me for advice via PM as I will not reply.

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does the dd cancel not change things?

 

Not unless it has lead to either you failing to pay an amount on a reminder within 7 days of it's issuing or a final notice within 14 days of it's issuing.

 

Cancelling a direct debit in itself does not change your payment plan - they likely would revert it to a cash plan but the right to determine the 10/12 month plan is yours alone (unless you've lost the right to instalments)

 

Craig

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Not unless it has lead to either you failing to pay an amount on a reminder within 7 days of it's issuing or a final notice within 14 days of it's issuing.

 

Cancelling a direct debit in itself does not change your payment plan - they likely would revert it to a cash plan but the right to determine the 10/12 month plan is yours alone (unless you've lost the right to instalments)

 

Craig

 

I wasn't aware I could opt for 12 months. Good to know.

 

Though I enjoy my two "free" months in feb/march to come away from 10 months. The extra £140 a month is nice :)

Please do not ask me for advice via PM as I will not reply.

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Not unless it has lead to either you failing to pay an amount on a reminder within 7 days of it's issuing or a final notice within 14 days of it's issuing.

 

Cancelling a direct debit in itself does not change your payment plan - they likely would revert it to a cash plan but the right to determine the 10/12 month plan is yours alone (unless you've lost the right to instalments)

 

Craig

cheers, thats what i meant. following just a dd cancel, it gets auto adjusted to back to cash. but, there shld still be an option on the bill to go back on instalments, albeit maybe adjusted to reflect the last missed dd (provided as you say its not in collection.) if that makes sense :)

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cheers, thats what i meant. following just a dd cancel, it gets auto adjusted to back to cash. but, there shld still be an option on the bill to go back on instalments, albeit maybe adjusted to reflect the last missed dd (provided as you say its not in collection.) if that makes sense :)

 

They can change the payment plan back to cash payments (which is actually sensible if a DD has been ended) but they have no right to change whether someone is on the statutory 10/12 month instalment plan or not - if you were on a 10 month DD then they can could change it to a 10 month cash plan (and give you whatever available instalments are left in the year) but they couldn't just change it to a 12 month cash (well, not without permission from you).

 

Just because the DD has ended doesn't lose the right to pay by instalments - the right to pay by instalments can only legally end with a default on a reminder or final notice.

 

Unless a person has legally lost the right to pay by instalments then they have the right to swap between the 10 & 12 month plan at their own discretion, the council have no say in the matter.

 

Craig

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