Hi All,
I have received a claim form from UKPC and DCB Legal regarding an expired parking permit for an allocated parking space that comes with my rented apartment to the sum of £1.8k. The space is allocated/numbered and entry to the underground parking required a residents fob to open the shutter.
Timeline:
Feb-2024 - I was issued with 10 parking charges for an expired parking permit (permits expire every 12 months) by UKPC who manage the underground parking, they were all issued within a 2 week window so almost 1 fine a day. The parking charge notices all came through the post on one day, meaning I didn't realise my permit had expired until they had chance to hit me with 10 fines. I appealed the fines with UKPC at the time (entered in one of the 10 reference numbers into their system) and they agreed to reduce the fine to £20 which I paid at the time and thought nothing else from it. I did not take this further with POPLA as I didn't think it was necessary.
I then started to received debt collection letters regarding the other 9 parking charges which I assumed had been dropped (at the time I assumed it would be unreasonable for me to pay 10 lots of parking charges all with different reference quotes on their system).
Jun-24 - I issued a letter to the property management company of the building setting out why I thought the fines were unreasonable (see complaint letter below) and asked them make UKPC drop the charges. This didn't materialise and nothing came of it, they were unable to get through to UKPC.
May-2025 - I ignored the debt collection letters and thought it had gone away until I received a claim form on the 20th May (see below) to the sum of £1,878. I will be ackowledging receipt to get an extension but I then need assistance from what to do from there. I would like to either defend my case or strike it out.
My main argument which you will see in the complaint letter below is that my AST doesn't state that I need to display a permit and the Contract Act 1999 doesn't apply to my AST so UKPC can't vary the rights of this contract. From speaking to a few people they have mentioned that as I previously had a permit and parked in my space with clear signage then that may go against me and imply I am a party to their conditions. I have made contact with a couple of different solicitors but their fees are all £1k+ so I may have to do this all myself (hopefully with the help of this forum!).
I will also mention that I tried to input the details of the claim form into the moneyclaim online portal but they didn't recognise the credentials, however the portal is down today so that may be why. Either way I don't want to risk not replying incase it is a real claim form, I will also try to ring the courts on Monday.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
AST Contract:
Tenancy agreement doesn't include any specific mentions of the right to a parking space but it also doesn't mention any requirement to show a permit, in fact it is completely silent on parking. The only two clauses I think are relevant are below. I am waiting for a copy of the head lease to see if it has any mention on parking.
11) The Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 does not apply to this Agreement
15) Where the Tenant is notified prior to commencement of the Tenancy, in writing or by the provision of copy documents of any agreements or restrictions contained in any superior or head lease affecting the Property which may bind the Landlord (and his Tenant) in the use or occupation of the Property, not to break such agreements or restrictions.
Images of relevant info:
Original PCN received (1 of 10):
https://imgur.com/a/pcn-kBk6n8IClaim form:
https://imgur.com/a/claim-form-KsIJk7sComplaint letter:
https://imgur.com/a/otAlotpSignage:
https://imgur.com/a/wEopsxtGarage entry signage:
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