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Urgent advice kindly requested - County Claim (Gladstone Solicitors)
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is there an equivalent phrase i can replace the following with, to be IPC specific instead of BPA?
9. The BPA code of practice point B4.2 states that signs must be placed at the entrance to the site and inform a driver that the location is private land and managed by a BPA member
It's very similar wording - the IPC code of practice is here. Part E talks about signage.0 -
Why have you suddenly started saying ‘I did this’, ‘I did that’ when your defence clearly denies Keeper Liability
The Claimant will be all over that contradiction.
Thanks, great point. I've amended my posts. What's the perspective on that whilst in court? Do I continue to speak to the judge and refer to "the driver"?0 -
thanks for your comments this morning. Here's the latest version of the witness statement:
XXX County Court
Case Number: XXX
Hearing date: XXX Feb 2018
Defendant: XXX
Vs
Claimant: Parking & Property Management LTD / Gladstones Solicitors LTD
Witness Statement: XXX
I am the Defendant in this matter, I am unrepresented, with no experience of Court procedures. If I do not set out documents in the way that the Claimant may do, I trust the Court will excuse my inexperience.
In this Witness statement, the facts and matters stated are true and within my own knowledge, except where indicated otherwise.
I as the defendant deny I am liable for the entirety of this claim for the following reasons:
1. As an unrepresented litigant-in-person I respectfully ask that I be permitted to amend and or supplement this interim defence as may be required following a fuller disclosure of the Claimant’s case.
2. I deny any liability in respect of the claim.
3. On the date and time in question, the driver entered and parked at XXX Meadows residential area. Upon entering the area, the driver came across no obvious signage, barriers, pay-and-display machines or any other suggestion that there were parking restrictions in place. I refer to the video evidence submitted that shows a driver's perspective upon entering the residential area.
4. The Claimant is a well-funded company with a dedicated legal staff and is a serial litigator. I submit that his issuing Particulars of Claim lacking in usable detail or that do not disclose a clear cause of action is not only remiss but smacks of a “Cut and Paste” approach to the issuing of proceedings. I further submit that this demonstrates a disregard for the dignity of the court and little concern for the Claimant’s duties in supporting the court to achieve the overriding objectives.
5. Additionally such scant Particulars leave Defendants to respond to what are at best vague details.
6. It is denied that the Claimant is the landowner of the property in question or that they have any other right or proprietary interest in the land or any demonstrable intention to occupy it sufficient to support this claim.
7. The Claimant is therefore put to strict proof that they were at the time of the alleged event in possession of sufficient authority to issue parking charges and institute proceedings in their own name and can demonstrate a clear chain of authority from the landowner.
8. If the court is minded to accept that the Claimant has standing then I submit that the signs on site at the time of the alleged event were insufficient in terms of their numbers, distribution and wording to reasonably convey a contractual obligation and did not in any event at the time comply with the requirements of the Code of Practice of the Independent Parking Committee’s Accredited Operators Scheme a signatory to which the Claimant was at the relevant time.
9. With regards to the placement of signage, the International Parking Community (IPC) code of practice states that
- “Signs should, where practicable, be placed at the entrance to a site. Otherwise the signage within the site must be such as to be obvious to the motorist”
10. With regards to the content of signage, the International Parking Community (IPC) code of practice states that signs should:
o Make it clear that the motorist is entering onto private land
o Refer the motorist to the signs within the car park which display the full terms and conditions
o Identify yourself (where you are a limited company. This should be by reference to your full company name, your company number and the jurisdiction within which your company is registered)
11. With regards to the text size / font of signage, the International Parking Community (IPC) code of practice states:
- “Text should be of such a size and in a font that can be easily read by a motorist having regard to the likely position of the motorist in relation to the sign.”
12. I further submit that such is the complexity and density of the text on the Claimant’s signs that the most onerous term – the £100 parking charge – is buried amongst a mass of small print and does not even begin to comply with Denning MR’s “Red Hand Rule”.
13. I would ask the court to consider the frequently overlooked test established by Roskill LJ in the matter of Vine -v- London Borough of Waltham Forest ('Vine') insofar as it relates to the display of signage in conveying an obligation.
14. In the absence of any signage that contractually bound the Defendant then there can have been no contract and the Claimant has no case. The IPC code of conduct states the following:
- "Where the basis of your parking charges is based in the law of contract it will usually be by way of the driver of a vehicle agreeing to contractual terms identified by signage in and around a controlled zone. It is therefore of fundamental importance that the signage meets the minimum standards under The Code as this underpins the validity of any such charge. Similarly, where charges are founded in the law of trespass and form liquidated damages, these too must be communicated to drivers in the same way."
15. In the above circumstances I respectfully ask that the court dismiss the claim.
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
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Thanks, great point. I've amended my posts. What's the perspective on that whilst in court? Do I continue to speak to the judge and refer to "the driver"?
Decide now which perspective you can honestly appear at a hearing with. Sounds like you want to major on the signage, which might be better and easier to speak about, with honesty, if you decide to defend as driver (assuming you were).PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD0 -
Coupon-mad wrote: »Decide now which perspective you can honestly appear at a hearing with. Sounds like you want to major on the signage, which might be better and easier to speak about, with honesty, if you decide to defend as driver (assuming you were).
Does it literally come down to language used? Would the judge ever ask me straight to my face who the driver was?0 -
In your WS you refer to both the 'Independent Parking Committee’ and 'International Parking Community'. You should change any references to the former to the latter.
Also, from what I know of PPM signage and the IPC Code Of Practice, the IPC example sign has a whopping great 'P' for parking on it (obviously to communicate at a distance that this is a notice about parking, not a jumble sale / council planning application or whatever). All the PPM notices I've seen omit this entirely (not even a small 'P' symbol). It might be worth mentioning this in your list of COP signage violations.0 -
muleskinner wrote: »In your WS you refer to both the 'Independent Parking Committee’ and 'International Parking Community'. You should change any references to the former to the latter.
Also, from what I know of PPM signage and the IPC Code Of Practice, the IPC example sign has a whopping great 'P' for parking on it (obviously to communicate at a distance that this is a notice about parking, not a jumble sale / council planning application or whatever). All the PPM notices I've seen omit this entirely (not even a small 'P' symbol). It might be worth mentioning this in your list of COP signage violations.
Thanks - I also noticed the great whopping P on their guidance!0 -
Does it literally come down to language used? Would the judge ever ask me straight to my face who the driver was?
Can I, in theory, leave the WS (which needs to be sent to the court and claimant in advance) as is - referring to "the driver" - and once in court I identify the driver and refer to them appropriately?0 -
12. I further submit that such is the complexity and density of the text on the Claimant’s signs that the most onerous term – the £100 parking charge – is buried amongst a mass of small print and does not even begin to comply with Denning MR’s “Red Hand Rule”.
13. I would ask the court to consider the frequently overlooked test established by Roskill LJ in the matter of Vine -v- London Borough of Waltham Forest ('Vine') insofar as it relates to the display of signage in conveying an obligation.
Is there any supporting documentation for Denning MR’s “Red Hand Rule”?
And is my point 13. even necessary?0 -
I am not legally trained but I would definitely leave in the reference to 'Vine vs Waltham'.
That case is Court of Appeal - so it's binding on the County Court, and it basically establishes the principle that you cannot be bound by terms and conditions on a notice that you didn't see.
Also, PPCs frequently reference this case out of context to justify their tenuous 'if the signs were there it's your job to go looking for them argument' so it's worth putting in so the Judge gets the whole picture - that case was won by the motorist on the basis that they didn't see the signs.
The judgement itself is quite short so I included the whole thing (with relevant parts highlighted) in my evidence bundle.0
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