The claim form was issued in January 2022. It has taken two years and three months to get to a hearing. Are you sure it's the same case?

Yes, i did! Around 85%.

If you read through this short thread you'll see every stage of the legal process https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/406892-highview-parking-anpr-pcn-claimform-urban-exchange-manchester-claim-dismissed/#comments The important first steps are to do Acknowledgement of Service and also send a CPR request. I see PE have messed up by sending you a LoC for £100 but then suing for £170.

A couple of quick legal lessons. If you and I were in legal dispute I could sue you and you could sue me. Your best mate couldn't sue me and my next door neighbour couldn't sue you because the dispute would have nothing to do with them. It's the same for EOS. They have no power. It's not their debt. Only Hertz Espana can sue you. Not only do costs not escalate with a DCA but they can't do anything at all. Secondly, anyone can send threatening letters to anyone else. If I sent you a latter saying you owe me £100 because I don't like the style of shoes you're wearing today you would just laugh at it. I'm sure you wouldn't consider it a debt or anything to worry about. Thee same here. Unless a judge in a county court has found against you after a court hearing you don't owe anything. The only way you could be forced to pay this money is if the creditor sent you a Letter of Claim, then took you to court, after convinced the judge on the balance of probabilities that you had agreed to buy this insurance you didn't need even though American Express had investigated and found in your favour. Not going to happen. If a company buys a debt from another company then yes they can sue. Can you please upload the letter redacted of your details? It will most probably show Hertz Espana as EOS's client. Plus, how much money are we talking about?

A debt collector can do absolutely nothing. For a start it's not even their debt. Relax and ignore them.

Good! So you don't have to do anything tomorrow. However, leave a paper copy with the court only if you wish. For UKPC do nothing, their auto replies show they've received what you sent. Time for them to sweat!

I'm just thinking that if they don't reply by tomorrow it's worth investing in a 2nd class stamp and getting a free Certificate of Posting from the post office. That way you have proof of posting and they can't pretend they never received the letter.

Well done. I bet UKPC won't be happy when they read their mails tomorrow morning.

Yes, I use Thunderbird.

I found this for Bluemail https://bluemail.me/help/read-receipts/ However, don't worry, a Return Receipt isn't essential. I was just thinking about proof that you sent the WS. The court will probably send you an automatic mail anyway, and on top of that you're going to pop a paper version in. For UKPC, simply take a screenshot of your Sent folder after the mail has been sent.

Which software do you use to send mails?

It's not a Letter of Claim so can just be ignored. Thread title updated. Did they send the original PCN with the SAR? It would be useful to see it.

Yes! I think the WS is fine as it is. The matters of Frustration of Contract and the made-up £60 have already been made clearly. So e-mail it today to the three addresses above (two are for UKPC). Obviously click on Return Receipt. In the subject title put the claim number, the names of the two parties, the hearing date and "Witness Statement". I see you have to sign and date the WS.

That's a positive move from Euro Garages. Fingers crossed. Ignore any debt collection rubbish - the letter is from a third party that has nothing to do with the dispute and has no power. Because of the tsunami of threads on CAG for this car park I did some searching and some maths. We have about 120 threads, obviously Caggers always refuse to pay - and MET have done court just six times. So about 5%. One one occasion sadly the Cagger didn't file a defence so MET won by default. Two cases are ongoing. With one case the judge looked at the horrible Particulars of Claim months before a hearing would have happened and struck out the claim. On two occasions, when the case got near Witness Statement stage, MET wet themselves and gave in.

You can file your defence by MCOL, e-mail, fax, snail mail, etc., but if it can be done in five minutes and with certainty on MCOL, why do something else? We have had cases where the court staff missed the e-mails or where the Cagger e-mailed the wrong address, leading to losing the case by default.

If you go here https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/393251-received-a-court-claim-from-a-private-parking-speculative-invoice-how-to-deal-with-it-hereupdated-dec-2021/ and scroll down to Q2) How should I defend? you will find the bland defence that we usually use. This covers all bases. For example the part denying entering a contract with the Claimant can be fleshed out at Witness Statement stage as to why there was no contract - rubbish signage, prohibition, not being the driver, etc. It's of course up to you if you want to alter it but (a) it's unnecessary and (b) the more you add the more info the other side is getting about how you will fight the case.

So, any update here? Did the chargebacks go through alright?

Aye, me too.

Then "The maximum period allowed at this site is 0 minutes". What about the various Codes of Practice?!!! Oh dear!

You need to title your exhibits - EXHIBIT 1, EXHIBIT 2, etc. - and add them to the end of the WS. You can use the attached as EXHIBIT 3, you just need the one page, not the whole CoP. The WS and the five exhibits need to be e-mailed to both the court and UKPC. You might as well hang on till Sunday just in case the other regulars have ideas. 17_extracted_Version91.2.2024.pdf

Dx is spot on about the bye-laws. I don't understand however why you want to add to our usual bland defence. We normally advise to keep it simple so the other side doesn't really have a clue about how you will fight the case.

Better version attached with the late appeal explained more clearly for the judge. This will sound silly, but I think it would be a good idea to e-mail it to the court and UKPC on Sunday. It's probably me being daft, but Sunday is still March, and as it's late, sending it in March rather than April will make it sound like it was less late than it really is. if you get my drift. You can still pop in a paper version on Tuesday if you want. E-mail address for the court: civil.gloucester@justice.gov.uk And for UKPC: complaints@ukparkingcontrol.com sales@ukparkingcontrol.com Defendant WS.pdf

Any reply from these jokers?

Actually there wasn't a massive amount of work to do on the WS. The "meat" was there because of the great work you'd already done. Here is a version which I think is nigh-on finished. However, with Easter there are a few days for the other regulars to suggest tweaks. Defendant WS.pdf