SIP sent me county court papers - help! deadline approaching **Claim Struck Out**

[buttered_toast2003]

Well I've drafted my defence and intend to send it tonight once I get home.

 

The ticket/invoice that was issued was ignored (as was the advice everywhere, including here at the time) but the court papers have not been ignored.

 

Hopefully SIP will drop this case like they did with someone else's (which was pretty much exactly the same as my situation). Fingers crossed!

[BankFodder]

I think that you had better assume that it will go to court so get used to the idea and be prepared.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?35-Guidance-note-Making-a-County-Court-familiarisation-visit

[buttered_toast2003]

Oh dear

 

if this gets to court and I lose, is there any chance I'd end up paying more than the £125 im being asked for?

[Surfer01]

I have never thought that ignoring it was the right thing to do.

 

I should have phrased that better as I meant that correct advice was given to ignore at the time and still stands except they have court summons which can easily be defended as it is from before Oct 2012 therefore only offence is trespass and damages will be severely limited to a few pounds. I am surprised that SIP has been stupid enough to pursue this one.

[buttered_toast2003]

As I am aware the only thing they have lost (if they can prove that the particular space belongs to them, which if it did, they should have made it much clearer at the time) is the £2 it would have cost me to park there. Maybe a couple of quid postage and that. Though one could argue that is an administrative cost, I supoose.

SIP seem to be getting very court-happy at the moment. Hopefully people will stand their ground and defend! I can't believe they get away with this nonsense

[ericsbrother]

If you admit being the driven, then yes, thier losses are the £2 but as this predates the 2012 change in law and you dont know/cant remember who was the driver this far back then it ias for them to prove who the driver is as only they are liable for any breach of contract, if one exists.

I reckon SIP are trying their luck as they have had a chat with PE at the BPA dinner a fortnight ago and reckon that firing off court summonses will earn them a fortune from recalcitrant motorists but they failed to make sure their claims held water and they dont. They will be severely humbled if they have a great wodge of these properly defended and may get an ear bashing if they have more than one in any particular court in front of the same judge.

The spaces dont belong to them, they hire themselves out as being the answer to a landlord's parking problems and they arent, they are just in it for the money and nothing else matters to them, no you and not the land owner.

[buttered_toast2003]

Ok so I've received the questionnaire for allocation...getting worried now!

[ericsbrother]

Good, just select your local county court unless you have a reason for wanting a different one. Dont go for mediation as you are denying owing them anything and return it asap with the appropriate boxes ticked. It will be when this is received that SIP are likely to throw in the towel as they dont stand a hope in hell of winning a defended claim. They will get another letter from court asking for the allocation fee and if you read the other pots about then you will mosy ;likely get a discontinuance letter. This means that they have decided to give up rather than it being left to time out. Either way, you can ask for your costs but you will probably be happy just to let them scurry away and avoid the hassle of having to waste a day turning up just to gt the price of a stamp back from them.

[buttered_toast2003]

Oh - do I need to send my defence to the court? I haven't received any letters yet...I submitted a shortened version of my defence through MCOL and have a longer version I was intending to send to the court. Which court do I send it to, the one I requested or Northampton?

[ericsbrother]

If sent via internet to MCOL then you dont need to send it to court. When you get an allocation (court date) you will be told to exchange documents and send a copy to the court by a given time before the hearing. Then you send all of your defence paperwork to the court where the hearing will be.

[buttered_toast2003]

So now I've received post saying that the case has been allocated to my local court (though not the court that I requested, strange) and I'm waiting for a date. Does this mean that SIP have paid the allocation fee?!

[ericsbrother]

no, it means that they have to now pay the fee as you have decided to defend the claim. You can still ask for the hearing to be transferred.

[buttered_toast2003]

Right.

 

So the letter I got from Northampton which says the case has been referred to XXXX court (the one most local to my address at the time) and says the judge will pick an hearing date may all come to nothing, and it is a standard letter?

[ericsbrother]

the courts service will decide the date and time according to their workload and the estimated time needed for the hearing. The default place is your local court but if you have a good reason for doing so you can have it transferred to another court. You will have to wait for the allocation before this can happen but you might be able to speak to Northampton and explain things and they could pass on the request. Generally, the plaintiff now has to pay the allocation fee of £25 and a date is then set. If they dont pay up within a certain time the case is not allocated and you can apply for it to be struck out.

[buttered_toast2003]

Just a heads up that I may be posting later this afternoon...apparently, two letters from the court have arrived.

If it isn't one saying it's been cancelled, Ill be very annoyed and stressed! I must be the only person that hasn't had a letter saying it's been discontinued!!

[buttered_toast2003]

Ok so the letters were one saying it was going to be allocated to the court I specified, and one saying it had been sent to the other court and was awaiting allocation.

 

Does this now mean SIP need to pay again to have it allocated? Is there now little chance of the case being cancelled?

[ericsbrother]

sorry, the other court being the one closest to you or Northampton, who deal with all online claims? If the latter they will now wait on SIP to pay up the allocation fee. What I would do is phone the Northampton bulk centre and ask them. they can check your case number and tell you what is happening andif SIP have paid up or not. They have a limited time to do this and then you can ask the court to dismiss the claim. When it comes to that there are several reasons you can use but just not paying the fee is most certain. I doubt they would resurrect the claim if it was struck down.

[buttered_toast2003]

Sorry for the confusion.

 

What happened was I got a letter from the court most local to the address I was living at at the time (I have since moved), even though on the questionnaire I requested a court near my new house.

It said it was going to be considered based on the court's current workload etc. I got a new letter today saying that the judge had decided that my case was to be transferred to the court near my new house, as I requested. I have another one that says it's been transferred to the new one, and is awaiting allocation based on the workload of the court etc. I'll get a decision from the judge at the new court soon.

[ericsbrother]

OK, so now SIP will be told of the court allocation and they will have to pay another £25 or withdaw their claim. Keep an eye on the dates as they have a limited time to pay and then you can make the request to strike out. There is a form for this, but you can ask under CPR 3.4(2) by letter

[buttered_toast2003]

Ok, how long do they have to pay up before I can apply to have it struck out?

[ericsbrother]

Cant remember but soemthing like 3 weeks.

[buttered_toast2003]

Just a quick update...received a letter from the court...judge has decided that the claim should be struck out as the claimant has no basis to claim anything against me and i owe them nothing. Another victory! Thanks for all the help everyone! And anyone else in future that received a parking charge notice...fight it!

[f16]

"Dum, Dum, Dum, Another one bites the dust." Result.... Good for you.

[esmerobbo]

Nice one, why on earth do they bother, they were not going to get their ridiculous charge, they then spend money not to get it?

[Mike_hawk]

I'd be inclined to approach the other side for costs, keep it reasonable at perhaps 2 hours and any expenses incurred in visiting site, compiling photographic evidence, telecoms, copying etc. Remind it that if it won't play it will be subject to your costs in the application. CPR 27.14(g) would seem to apply in your case.

 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained