Parking Eye - Appeal Process

gill33uk

Much appreciated, Coupon-Mad thank you

gill33uk

Morning All, I received a offer of mediation letter at the weekend, can you please point me to the relevant thread?

Coupon-mad

You should not be doing Mediation - loads of threads tell you it's pointless (could have searched for the word 'mediation' to find them - searches of this forum really help newbies, more than posting a question).

The NEWBIES thread is where to consult - post #2 tells you about every stage and Mediation is NOT one of the steps to engage in.

Are you sure you haven't in fact just got the DQ or Notice of Allocation?

gill33uk

Thanks, what it is is a copy of ParkingEyes request for mediation, I have not received my copy yet from the court, will go back to the newbie thread and read up.

gill33uk

Have received and responded to my Directions Questionnaire. I have turned down mediation and posted to PE and The Court and kept a proof of postage.

One more question if I may, how much longer does my actual defence have to be from my Skeleton Defence?

Many thanks

Coupon-mad

How much longer in terms of...

time?

length of the document?

Not sure what you mean. Witness Statement & evidence is next, when you get a court date.

gill33uk

Sorry to be unclear, I feel like a real rebel for turning down mediation! :A

What I meant to ask was does my Witness Statement have to be my Skeleton Defence but in much more detail?

Coupon-mad

No, in fact the WS should be short and sweet and about the facts of the matter - how you learnt about the PCN, the facts of what happened, in your case the fact that you did not park, did not accept any contract at all, and left. And that you appealed and that you are horrified to be dragged to court when ParkingEye are well aware of the Grace Periods section of the CoP, and believe they should have cancelled this one at appeal stage. Statement of truth, signed & dated. Job done.

And in evidence you'd be attaching the Grace Periods Section of the BPA Code of Practice, and Kelvin Reynolds' BPA article in the BPA website about observation periods taking some time (not just ten minutes, not set in stone) to decide whether to stay or go.

And the Professional Development and Standards Board meeting minutes from July 2015, which I think the BMPA have, if you ask them (they help people v private parking firms, with free advice and resources like case law and links). They also have the PDF to print off, for Jopson -v- Homeguard [2016] B9GF0A9E, and so does the Parking Prankster in his case law.

Your skeleton is NOT your first defence that you already filed, that's already done & dusted.

Your skeleton is a bullet point new document to assist the court and should be a crib sheet for you, a summary of your defence. Again, try to keep it short and easy for you to follow on the day, along the lines 'even if this point doesn't convince you, here's my next point...':

- my first defence point is that I did not 'park' and accept any parking contract, in fact my circumstances fall within the 'minor vicissitudes' mentioned by HHJ Charles Harris QC in Jopson...blah blah...(direct the Judge to the Jopson transcript and the QC's detailed definition of 'parking' ''merely to stop a vehicle cannot be to park it'', as opposed to a temporary stop for a few minutes/minor vicissitudes).

then

- even if the Judge is minded to think that I 'parked' for those few minutes, in my defence I turn to the BPA Code of Practice on Grace Periods and my supporting evidence to show that a PCN should never have been issued for a period of a mere ten minutes...blah blah

(write the skeleton in a way YOU can follow even if nervous on the day).

gill33uk

That's great, I am a bag of nerves but determined to see this through. When I have put my WS together I will post again, love, love this forum and all you lovely people that help muppets like me xx

Coupon-mad

Go for it - and take heart from the fact we've only seen one reported lost court defence on here, at all, in a year or more since more claims started to be made.

Look at what this poster's wife had to say about her day in court:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72822213#Comment_72822213

Although she was very nervous before hand, the text she sent me after was "Done and dusted 10 mins it was ace". The judge also awarded £109 costs even though my wife couldn't find the cost schedule we had done.

Your costs schedule gets filed to the Court and PE with your skeleton, a few days before the hearing (the WS and evidence supporting it, has to be filed earlier than that).