Court Claim Received PE Birchanger Welcome Break

rory1206

Having read through countless threads and getting a little stressed I have decided to start this thread as advised when receiving a court claim from PE under section 5 of Newbies.

I overstayed in the a welcome break in the early hours, I slept in my car as I was too tired to drive home. I was told to ignore the warnings they sent as they aren't chased, which is obviously outdated now! I didn't see any signage there otherwise I might have set alarm to wake myself up before driving on!

I have since had a court claim form with;
amount claimed £100
Courte fee and solicitor's costs totalling £175
I have emailed Welcome Break who have sadly said that they can't do anything now it has gone to court, they also said PE can't do anything either? Or does anyone know who to contact re landowner - I have been unable to find an email thus far.

In the meantime I have completed the Acknowledgment of Service to give me more time to write a defence - which is what I'm asking for help with, the below is what I have see posted elsewhere, is this what we proceed with for the first defence?

1)No genuine pre-estimate of loss or breach of contract
2)Failure of the Private Parking Company to adhere to the BPA Code!
of Practice
3)Unlawful Penalty Charge
4)No standing or authority to pursue charges nor form contracts!
with drivers
5)The signage was non-compliant with Motorway Service Station!
Requirements.

Additionally how I go about asking for it to be stayed until a verdict has been reached with the Beavis case - do I ask this in the initial defence or have to write to the judge/court directly? or has that case now come to a close?

Thanks in advance to all those who have contributed on these forums already!

ColliesCarer

Others more knowledgeable than me about defending against court claims will be along shortly.

In the meantime some general suggestions for you

register and post on PePiPoo too - lots of posters there are also very knowledgeable about claims.

Provide a little more info about the original charge (but not so much that the parking company could identify your case) so people can help to point you at the most relevant legal arguments for you.

If you haven't already done so - buy Parking Pranksters Guide to fighting a PE claim (and download the free accompanying legal arguments to use) (I'm not affliated in any way but having read it myself, I think you will find it very useful.

The Pranksters web site also has some very useful resources too - e.g. case transcripts, arguments about flawed ANPR etc etc

Re:
Additionally how I go about asking for it to be stayed until a verdict has been reached with the Beavis case - do I ask this in the initial defence or have to write to the judge/court directly? or has that case now come to a close?

Mr Beavis lost his CoA case but has been given leave to appeal to the Supreme Court - the application is expected to be made very soon. Read up about the latest on this case.

But you could ask for the case to be stayed pending the Supreme Court appeal. Saw a case recently were the appellant made a request for this which the judge granted - link to info

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5233384

To ask for the same, I believe you wait until it has been allocated to the court (of your choosing) then write to the court.
Others will confirm

nigelbb

I just mentioned the case of Motorway Service Areas in another thread.

If you forgot to pay a £10 bill before leaving a restaurant you would owe £10 not £100 so why is parking on an MSA different? The Beavis case has no relevance as neither the argument about 'commercial justification' of the £100 or the deterrence value needed to ensure turnover of parking spaces applies in an MSA.

They would have been happy with the car parked on the MSA or up 24 hours if they had been paid £11 before the car left the service area. The most that you owe is the £11 plus the cost of chasing the debt (£2.50 to the DVLA plus a letter or two plus court fees).

Redx

also see post #5 of the NEWBIES sticky thread too

The_Deep

I am pretty sure that Beavis does not apply. He overstayed in a free car park where there was no facility to pay for extra time. That is not the case with a MSA, and, (I assume) you bilked.

Commercial justification does not apply. You definitely owe them some money, perhaps up to £30, but I cannot see how they can claim more. Therefore, offer them £35 plus any court fees which they have paid, (do not use "without prejudice), to drop he matter.

rory1206

You definitely owe them some money, perhaps up to £30, but I cannot see how they can claim more. Therefore, offer them £35 plus any court fees which they have paid, (do may use "without prejudice), to drop he matter.[/QUOTE]

Should I contact Parking Eye directly to do this or wait till a date is set and then settle a fee. Or agree to pay some of the court claim and suggest a reasonable fee.

Many thanks

The_Deep

They will probably reject everything you offer, but if they did win in court it would show that you genuinely tried to settle, and paint them them in a very bad light. It might even persuade the Judge to refuse their costs.

Marktheshark

Find the "witness statement" and see who they have signed it with then do a Land registry search and see who owns the site.
Services often have complicated sub let set ups and the site operator normally is not the owner and if they dont own the land, it is a very good defence argument.

Cygnus_Alpha

Your best bet is signage. You say you didn't see the signage. Well there is a good reason for that as many PPCs hide their signage.

By all means file your defence but put signage top. There is no valid contract if they did not provide adequate signage.

Next time you are in the area of the service station check out their signs. Most likely there was inadequate signage.

rory1206

Many thanks for your comments. I may be passing through tomorrow so will take a look around.

Coupon-mad

Have you read post #5 of the Newbies thread and have you acknowledged the claim? If so then you should be well on the way to writing a defence too.