Parking eye county court

Kasha

I was one of the ones that ignored a parking eye ticket (I thought I was parking on a free car park) and then got a 2nd ticket when my disabled sister was taken poorly whilst shopping. I put in a brief defense (info gathered from various forums and blogs on the internet) I was wondering if anyone could give me any tips advice re going to court?
From the Notice of allocation I have from the county court it says "If you cannot, or CHOOSE not to, attend the hearing you must write and tell the court at least 7 days before the date of the hearing. The district judge will hear the case in your absence, but will take account of your statement of case and any other documents you have filed.

I take it this means I don't HAVE to attend? (to be honest im scared to death and would be useless in a court) Do I have to appear?

In my defense I have used the "reasonable adjustment of time for a disabled person" as I only went over by 20 mins. Does anyone have any info regarding this as a defense?
Also used:- Parking eye ask for payment of £140. A payment which I believe far exceeds the cost to the landowner for the time my vehicle was present.
and:- Parking eye have provided no evidence to show that they have any proprietor interest in the car park. Nor have they provided any evidence that they are lawfully entitled to demand money from any driver or keeper.

My defense was very much bullet pointed so I need to elaborate and word it right so any advice tips will be gratefully received. Thanks.

Coupon-mad

You'll lose if you rely upon papers only. Stop trying to clutch that straw otherwise why defend at all? You do need to read some of the experiences of people in court v PE which is not that awful at all. There are LOADS of success linked in the NEWBEIS sticky thread, post #5 including a case where the defendant didn't have to speak and the Judge just laid into the PE rep and threw the case out, then there was the nice day out for the ladies in the Lemon & Harris case. And read PE v Collins-Daniel and PE v Clarke, for the laughs!

All linked in the NEWBIES thread and that's where you will also find links to details about defence wording and the parking prankster's 'Guide to Defending a Parking Eye small claim' which you can download.

As regards the reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010, yes it's true they are supposed to make adjustments in anticipation of 'the disabled public at large' but you should have told them about the issue and got it cancelled ages ago. Because they didn't know about the disability they will argue (wrongly) that they could not have known to make an adjustment. That's !!!! about face in fact because they have a statutory duty to make anticipatory adjustments (including of time) without having to know about any specific customers' disabilities. The Equality Act issue is explained here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/63918364#Comment_63918364

But...you are unlikely to win a court case on that basis IMHO, far more likely to try to win it on no GPEOL (see the NEWBIES thread for acronyms).

We would hope you have been reading the Parking Prankster's blogs and know how to rebut their reliance on the ParkingEye v Beavis case?

Also if you are so unconfident about a hearing, why haven't you written to the court to ask for your case to be stayed pending the Beavis result? Seeing as writing to the court to ask for a case to be stayed is our standard advice once it's locally allocated (before the hearing date is finalised, usually, but it's never too late to ask). All discussed loads of times on here on threads like yours, and examples of PE and VCS case recently stayed (frozen without a hearing) are in the prankster's blog. The NEWBIES thread post #5 covers these issues in the links shown there.

So I think you need to rethink your tactics - stop trying to duck out of a hearing that you seem to think is inevitable - and instead be proactive in trying to get your case stayed if you are that unprepared (because an unprepared defendant is going to lose unless they are very lucky on the day). Start with post #5 of the NEWBIEs thread, read every link. Then move on to the Prankster's Blog and read every single PE 'blog' from 2014. EVERY one. Then download his Guide, get your head around the issues and print off some relevant transcripts to start putting together your exhibits (evidence) in case your Judge doesn't stay your case for the Beavis case WHEN you write to ask. You can also ask in the same letter, alternatively, for the case to be stayed for a POPLA appeal to take place instead - and that's also covered in a link in post #5 of the NEWBEIS thread.

Not saying you'll achieve it (some Judges won't stay the case) but 'if you don't ask you don't get' and at least you'll be more prepared for the hearing what with your reading and downloading of the transcripts you will need from the Prankster's guide. Also get a 'witness statement' signed/dated by your sister as a 'statement of truth' (with her name and address on and confirming what you've said, naming the car park and the date and what happened) and evidence of her disability just in case the Judge is prepared to listen to that argument.

When is your last 'filing date' to submit to the court and to PE, your final defence skeleton argument?

When is your hearing date?

Which local court?

What happened when you complained to the Retail Park Management (as you would, when slapped with a court case over shopping with a disabled relative?).

Redx

start reading the NEWBIES sticky thread and especially the parking pranksters books about PE and defending against them in court, asap

Kasha

Thanks a lot for your advice, my mind is boggled with it all, to be honest I feel ive been so naive, burried my head in the sand in the hope it would go away...Ive done nothing that I should have done i.e complaining to the shops where I was parked (I didnt because the overstay was not through shopping, My sister was ill and needed to sit down for a while) I can prove her disability and can prove that she had a stroke a couple of weeks after this event. She is doing a witness statement and is also willing to come to court. Ive just receiced parking eyes 20 pages of there claim :-( I dont even understand most of it!
Coupon mad..thanks for the time youve taken over your reply. My court date is 1st September and last filing day is 21st July in Stockport county court.

Redx

Kasha wrote: »

Thanks a lot for your advice, my mind is boggled with it all, to be honest I feel ive been so naive, burried my head in the sand in the hope it would go away...Ive done nothing that I should have done i.e complaining to the shops where I was parked (I didnt because the overstay was not through shopping, My sister was ill and needed to sit down for a while) I can prove her disability and can prove that she had a stroke a couple of weeks after this event. She is doing a witness statement and is also willing to come to court. Ive just receiced parking eyes 20 pages of there claim :-( I dont even understand most of it!
Coupon mad..thanks for the time youve taken over your reply. My court date is 1st September and last filing day is 21st July in Stockport county court.

this is why we are so blunt with newbies and try to get them to deal with it asap as with our help it usually gets resolved in a less stressful way (but stressful for the RK or driver nonetheless)

most people do not want to deal with the court issues and these companies know it so bully the unwary

Coupon-mad

Kasha wrote: »

Thanks a lot for your advice, my mind is boggled with it all, to be honest I feel ive been so naive, burried my head in the sand in the hope it would go away...Ive done nothing that I should have done i.e complaining to the shops where I was parked (I didnt because the overstay was not through shopping, My sister was ill and needed to sit down for a while) I can prove her disability and can prove that she had a stroke a couple of weeks after this event. She is doing a witness statement and is also willing to come to court. Ive just receiced parking eyes 20 pages of there claim :-( I dont even understand most of it!
Coupon mad..thanks for the time youve taken over your reply. My court date is 1st September and last filing day is 21st July in Stockport county court.

If you do the reading I have mentioned above, and if you fit in a complaint this week and a letter to the court asking for your case to be stayed for POPLA or for the PE v Beavis case, I will see if I can fit in to help you finalise your skeleton argument before I go on holiday in a fortnight. The 20 pages is standard gubbins from PE so I don't even need to see it.

Is it a retail park? Never too late to send a strong complaint to the landowner/managing agent about disability discrimination and copy in PE as well (you can write to them - you are allowed). I would prioritise the complaint this week in writing.

Let me know next week by pm (NOT NOW, NOT YET) once you've done three things:

1. The complaint. Copy one from the 'Successful complaints about PPCs' forum sticky. I have written several before about disability discrimination like this so copy/adapt one and send it to the Retail Park Manager/landowner and email a copy to PE using [EMAIL="enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk"]enforcement@parkingeye.co.uk[/EMAIL] Do that by tomorrow to get the complaint in early.

2. The letter to the local court asking for a stay for POPLA or the PE v Beavis outcome (unless you would rather have a hearing and get your case heard definitely). This is a letter to the Court Manager, as advised in post #5 of the NEWBIES sticky. Try to get that in the post by Wednesday if possible so you've done it.
Seen this? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5006337 = shows it can be achieved with one letter.

3. Read up about defences and have got your head around the issues much more.

As bargepole always says to people he helps at this stage:

Read your skeleton defence argument through, make sure it's factually correct, and that you understand it. It is you who may have to argue these points in front of a Judge, not me. {When we've discussed it and finalised it) if you don't get the case stayed or cancelled} you will be printing off 3 copies, sign them, send one to the court (or hand deliver it), and one to the PPC. Do not enclose the case transcripts {your case law you want to rely upon}. You need to take 3 copies of those along on the day of the hearing - 1 for the Judge, 1 for the other side, and 1 for you to refer to.

Between now and the hearing, your priorities should be, in this order:
A. Doing as much reading and research as possible to ensure you understand all the legal arguments and are ready to argue your case;
B. Everything else - breathing, eating, sleeping, work, family etc.