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County court claim for parking please help

I wondered if any one can help me....

i was renting a property that was patrolled by UKPC.
i received numerous parking tickets, including ones on bank holidays such as new years day... I received tickets at 9,10,11pm which i didnt believe i had to pay! Now 18 months later i have received
a claim form from SCS law for an amount that totals £1090.
As i was about to pay this, my brother advised me of this thread and suggested posting a thread to see if anybody can help me or let me know how to go about either defending myself, or just paying the charge..... I have drafted an email in which i used one of you're templates......

In the County Court Business Centre
Between:
UK PARKING CONTROLS
V
CAMERON INCH

I, CAMERON INCH, deny I am liable to the Claimant for the entirety of the claim for each of the following reasons:


1. This Claimant has not complied with pre-court protocol. And as an example as to why this prevents a full defence being filed at this time, a parking charge can be for trespass, breach of contract or a contractual charge. All these are treated differently in law and require a different defence. The wording of any contract will naturally be a key element in this matter, and a copy of the alleged contract has never been provided to the Defendant.

(a) There was no compliant ‘Letter before County Court Claim’, under the Practice Direction.

(b) This is a speculative serial litigant, issuing a large number of identical 'draft particulars'. The badly mail-merged documents contain very little information.

(c) The Schedule of information is sparse of detailed information.

(d) The Claim Form Particulars were extremely sparse and divulged no cause of action nor sufficient detail. The Defendant has no idea what the claim is about - what the alleged contract was; nothing that could be considered a fair exchange of information. The Claim Form Particulars did not contain any evidence of contravention or photographs.

e) The Defence therefore asks the Court to strike out the claim as having no reasonable prospect of success as currently drafted.

f) Alternatively, the Defendant asks that the Claimant is required to file Particulars which comply with Practice Directions and include at least the following information;

i. Whether the matter is being brought for trespass, breach of contract or a contractual charge, and an explanation as to the exact nature of the charge

ii. A copy of any contract it is alleged was in place (e.g. copies of signage)

iii. How any contract was concluded (if by performance, then copies of signage maps in place at the time)

iv. Whether keeper liability is being claimed, and if so copies of any Notice to Driver / Notice to Keeper

v. Whether the Claimant is acting as Agent or Principal, together with a list of documents they will rely on in this matter

vi. If charges over and above the initial charge are being claimed, the basis on which this is being claimed

vii. If Interest charges are being claimed, the basis on which this is being claimed

g) Once these Particulars have been filed, the Defendant asks for reasonable time to file another defence.

2. The Claimant failed to meet the Notice to Keeper obligations of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Absent such a notice served within 14 days of the parking event and with fully compliant statutory wording, this Claimant is unable to hold me liable under the strict ‘keeper liability’ provisions.

Schedule 4 also states that the only sum a keeper can be pursued for (if Schedule 4 is fully complied with, which it was not, and if there was a 'relevant obligation' and relevant contract' fairly and adequately communicated, which there was not) is the sum on the Notice to Keeper.

3. This case can be distinguished from ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67 (the Beavis case) which was dependent upon an undenied contract, formed by unusually prominent signage forming a clear offer and which turned on unique facts regarding the location and the interests of the landowner. Strict compliance with the BPA Code of Practice (CoP) was paramount and Mr Beavis was the driver who saw the signs and entered into a contract to pay £85 after exceeding a licence to park free. None of this applies in this material case.

4. In the absence of any proof of adequate signage that contractually bound the Defendant then there can have been no contract and the Claimant has no case.
a) The Claimant is put to strict proof that at the time of the alleged event they had both advertisement consent and the permission from the site owner to display the signs.
b) In the absence of strict proof I submit that the Claimant was committing an offence by displaying their signs and therefore no contract could have been entered into between the driver and the Claimant.
c) Inadequate signs incapable of binding the driver - this distinguishes this case from the Beavis case:
(i) Sporadic and illegible (charge not prominent nor large lettering) of site/entrance signage - breach of the POFA 2012 Schedule 4 and the BPA Code of Practice and no contract formed to pay any clearly stated sum.
(ii) Non existent ANPR 'data use' signage - breach of ICO rules and the BPA Code of Practice.
(iii) It is believed the signage was not lit and any terms were not transparent or legible; this is an unfair contract, not agreed by the driver and contrary to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in requiring a huge inflated sum as 'compensation' from by an authorised party using the premises as intended.
(iv) No promise was made by the driver that could constitute consideration because there was no offer known nor accepted. No consideration flowed from the Claimant.
(v) The signs are believed to have no mention of any debt collection additional charge, which cannot form part of any alleged contract.
d) BPA CoP breaches - this distinguishes this case from the Beavis case:
(i) the signs were not compliant in terms of the font size, lighting or positioning.
(ii) the sum pursued exceeds £100.
(iii) there is / was no compliant landowner contract.

5. No standing - this distinguishes this case from the Beavis case:
It is believed UKPC do not hold a legitimate contract at this car park. As an agent, the Claimant has no legal right to bring such a claim in their name which should be in the name of the landowner.

6. The Beavis case confirmed the fact that, if it is a matter of trespass (not breach of any contract), a parking firm has no standing as a non-landowner to pursue even nominal damages.

7. The charge is an unenforceable penalty based upon a lack of commercial justification. The Beavis case confirmed that the penalty rule is certainly engaged in any case of a private parking charge and was only disengaged due to the unique circumstances of that case, which do not resemble this claim.

The Defendant denies any liability whatsoever to the Claimant in any matter and asks the Court to note that the Claimant has:

(a) failed to disclose any cause of action in the incorrectly filed Claim Form issued on 12 June 2017

(b) Sent a template, well-known to be generic cut and paste 'Particulars' of claim relying on irrelevant case law (Beavis) which ignores the fact that this Claimant cannot hold registered keepers liable in law, due to their own choice of non-POFA documentation.

The vague Particulars of Claim disclose no clear cause of action. The court is invited to strike out the claim of its own volition as having no merit and no reasonable prospects of success.

I confirm that the above facts and statements are true to the best of my knowledge and recollection.

Signed
Cameron Inch
Date
17/06/2017
«13456710

Comments

  • caminch1993
    caminch1993 Posts: 44 Forumite
    May i add i have recently moved property so never have received any NTK's.
  • bargepole
    bargepole Posts: 3,231 Forumite
    Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post First Anniversary
    That defence has been copied from a template somewhere, and is mostly irrelevant.

    Forget about keeper liability, POFA 2012, penalties or signage. This is a residential case, and it would be obvious to a blind badger in a bag that you were the driver.

    The key here is your Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement. Does that say that you have to display a parking permit, and pay penalties to a third party for non-display of same?

    If it doesn't, then you rely on that contract to enjoy quiet enjoyment of the property, and use of the common areas, which presumably includes the parking spaces.

    This is known as 'primacy of contract', and cannot be amended by the PPC signs, whatever they say, unless you have agreed to a variation of the tenancy.

    I have been providing assistance, including Lay Representation at Court hearings (current score: won 57, lost 14), to defendants in parking cases for over 5 years. I have an LLB (Hons) degree, and have a Graduate Diploma in Civil Litigation from CILEx. However, any advice given on these forums by me is NOT formal legal advice, and I accept no liability for its accuracy.
  • caminch1993
    caminch1993 Posts: 44 Forumite
    Okay,

    there is no mention of paying third parties or displaying permits in the contract,

    would you or could you advise me on drafting an email to send back?

    Also when doing my AOS am i intending to contest jurisdiction?

    many thanks
  • caminch1993
    caminch1993 Posts: 44 Forumite
    The Car parking section in the contract says as follows:
    To park private vehicles only at the property in the space,garage or driveway allocated to the property

    not to park any vehicle at the property which is not in a road worthy condition, taxed and insured.
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 131,404 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    edited 21 June 2017 at 3:08PM
    Okay,

    there is no mention of paying third parties or displaying permits in the contract,

    would you or could you advise me on drafting an email to send back?

    Also when doing my AOS am i intending to contest jurisdiction?
    You won't be sending an email back, except for your email to the CCBC in Northampton, attaching your PDF defence once it's finished. No rushing it, as long as you acknowledge service (AOS) using MCOL, you buy more time.

    As for your Q about jurisdiction = NO. This and other questions about procedure and what not to include in a defence, are written by bargepole, in posts I have linked to post #2 (all about court stage) of 'NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST'. It's all there, all you need to know.

    So go and read that first, only post #2 of it, click on the links and examples. Make sure you have done the AOS (there's an idiot's guide to that, with pictures) because that buys you another fortnight to work on a winning defence.

    I agree with bargepole about not alleging you were not the driver v UKPC, partly because they probably did send Notice to Keeper letters a month after each PCN, and their wording is 'OK', but mainly because it's all about your primacy of contract.

    Also read this, once you have done the AOS:

    http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/residential-parking.html

    and read the threads by:

    Daniel San

    hairray

    infernouk

    ...all of which deal robustly with the question of a resident's rights over a poxy parking scammer. Your eyes will be opened - as will this, about UKPC and who they are:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35253759

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11858473/Parking-firm-UKPC-admits-faking-tickets-to-fine-drivers.html

    http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=63597

    that's the calibre of ex-clampers your Managing Agents are letting loose near residents' cars. So get angry about the Managing Agents' role in all this...whilst defending a claim you should NEVER have had to face, how bloody dare they do this to residents?
    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 THREAD
  • Thanks for the links! Good information! No not from Surrey unfortunately!!
    So I have been to the road and taken photos of the signage, to which I believe is contradicting and confusing.. could this be my defence?

    One sign states " No unauthorised parking between 7am- 11am" I don't have the PCN"s anymore but I'm pretty certain these tickets were issued outside of these times, so I would like to see the pcns.

    The second sign states " Private Road
    Parking for Resisdents of "** *************" Only (to which I was!! )

    The third sign states " no parking on double yellow lines"

    Thanks for your help in advance
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 131,404 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    Yes it helps your case. Any ambiguity in contractual agreements must be interpreted in the way that most favours the consumer. This is trite law.
    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 THREAD
  • caminch1993
    caminch1993 Posts: 44 Forumite
    Ok that's good
    Do you know any links where I could get a similar draft letter that is similar situation to this? Or any points that I should mention in my defence letter?
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 41,336 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    Ok that's good
    Do you know any links where I could get a similar draft letter that is similar situation to this? Or any points that I should mention in my defence letter?

    Have you read the links provided by CM? And especially the threads of Daniel San, hairray and infernouk?

    There must be something there to help get you underway.
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
  • caminch1993
    caminch1993 Posts: 44 Forumite
    OK i cant find the threads of them guys?
This discussion has been closed.
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