BW legal pursuing 5 years on for VCS

Earpl

Hi, first post. Just after an Idea where to go with this. and what to expect next. I imagine It will be heading a court at the other end of the country

Anyway the story so far......

14/01/2012
Went to the cinema with my lovely partner. Pre paid tickets, busy as hell, couldn't get parked.

Saw an opportunity, muddy area, half a bush........ she's going in there!!! See's the big red parking sign near the truck. stating "NO PARKING ON ROAD/PAVEMENT AREAS AT ANYTIME" Thats not a road or a pavement..... happy days........

Anyway I come out perhaps unsurprisingly to find a PCN slapped on the windscreen......

Later on we got a letter, stating that we had so many days to pay etc. So I decided to make an appeal.

Yes I did state I was the driver, because I was. and I stated that I was not parked on a pavement nor a road. That it was in fact a muddy once grassed area.

I got a generic reply saying I wasn't in a marked bay blah blah.

I then made a reply to this via email (method I contacted them to initiate an appeal) stating the following:

Hello
I received a reply from yourselves this morning via post ( attached file reply).

In your letter you state that "On the day in question, the vehicle was observed by our Patrol Officer and it was clear that you were not parked within the markings of a designated bay. Notice of the parking restrictions in place is given through our signs displayed throughout the site which state "customer parking only/Park in designated bays only". If you were in any doubt or had a query regarding the parking restrictions in place you could have utilised the helpline number displayed on our warning signs. It is the responsibility of the motorist to ensure that they read and adhere to the signs in place. Unfortunately as you did not park within a designated bay the notice was issued correctly and will not be revoked."

I have some issues with this statement that I will now point out.

1/. "Notice of the parking restrictions in place is given through our signs displayed throughout the site which state "customer parking only/Park in designated bays only"

This is not the case, the sign I read, and agreed to the terms in place on the sign did not state anything about parking in designated bays. It only mentioned "No parking on the road/pavement areas at any time" Being that the area in which I parked was not a road or a pavement, and was a muddy, previously grassed area, I had no issue agreeing to the terms displayed on the sign, or any doubt regarding the parking restrictions.

2/. "Unfortunately as you did not park within a designated bay the notice was issued correctly and will not be revoked."

As above, This was not part of the contract that I agreed to, therefore I see no way how it was issued correctly

I see this issue in two different ways, either Issuing the ticket was not legitimate, due to the sign in the car park not fully stating the terms and conditions that it was intended to, Or the above quoted paragraph is being used to try and apply pressure to pay the charge even though it states terms that were not on the sign (contract) agreed to, by myself on the day in question.

From that I got a generic automated reply, which I add stated "Please be advised that we acknowledge receipt of your email, and will be responding directly to you in due course. "

I got a letter saying they would look into it, and get back to me...................(never did).

I was recently contacted on their behalf by BW legal stating their intentions to pursue the case. I called them, explained that I was not parked in the areas the sign stated I was not allowed to park. A couple of months back.

Today, I got another letter. stating "Photographic Evidence showing signs at the location of the Contravention"

A lovely collection of Signs was provided, that were not the same as the sign at the time of the incident.

So I called them, and had a lovely 1/2 conversion with a girl who's main points were:

"But I can see your car was parked on a raised are" and "Yes but you were not parked in a marked bay"

To which every time I had to remind her of what the actual sign at the location and time of the incident actually stated.....

I even quoted the Oxford English dictionary for the definitions of a "road" and a "pavement".....

Pavement: A raised paved or asphalted path for pedestrians at the side of a road:
‘he fell and hit his head on the pavement’

Road: A wide way leading from one place to another, especially one with a specially prepared surface which vehicles can use:
‘a country road’.

The car was parked on a muddy area, previously grassed (which they have also provided pics of the vehicle parked here) ineither a paved area nor a prepared surface.

Yes I know I may be being a bit of an Idiot, BUT...... I do not believe I was in contradiction of the sign displayed at the time. My biggest issue Is that I am not prepared into being bullied into paying the charges, which is how it feels every time I talk to someone.

They pretty much said, it will go to court now. So What do I do.... Roll with it? Inform BW that I'm not prepared to discuss the matter further until VCS reply to me, as they said they would in their letter?

Quentin

Pointless ringing them.

They have 6 years to take legal action (as you unfortunately identified yourself unnecessarily - you should have ignored everything back in Jan 2012!

Wait and see if they do and if so come back here for advice on how to deal with court

beamerguy

What do you mean .... "It will be heading to a court at the other end of the country" ??

Where was the naughty deed.

Where in the UK is the keeper ?

The_Deep

Ask them to produce contemporary signs. If they cannot, they are Friar Tucked. How much are they asking for? How much interest?

Earpl

£174 so far. Up from £30

Wont let me post pictures........

Redx

you can host pictures on tinypic or photobucket and add a dead link to them , changing http to hxxp

as for the court , it will be allocated to your nearest court, wherever that may be (if this is in england or wales)

the initialo pcn would not have been for £30 , more likely to be a figure between £60 and £100 , reduced for early payment , so any signs at the time are unlikely to have said £30 on them

TW1234

It's out of your hands now as to whether they try the final throw of the dice and invest in the risk of applying for a court order to make you pay.
It may be intellectually satisfying and of future use, if you swat up on the court claim process; recognise that your response will need references to past cases that support your many lines of argument. The ones you will need will depend on the wording of their court application. Advice can be obtained here when more is known.
But do not ignore a "letter before action" or anything from a court or MCOL as there are strict requirements about response. Also ensure that the PPC have your contact address so that there is no chance of these key documents going to any former address.

Coupon-mad

I imagine It will be heading a court at the other end of the country

Your local court.

What do I do.... Roll with it? Inform BW that I'm not prepared to discuss the matter further until VCS reply to me, as they said they would in their letter?

Yep.

The_Deep

Can you confirm that the original charge was for £30, it seems rather low?

Umkomaas

The_Deep wrote: »

Can you confirm that the original charge was for £30, it seems rather low?

It's so long ago it could have been 30 guineas.