Help please with Parking Eye court claim

tinkerbellie

We had paid for a one hour parking ticket at Morecambe Pleasureland last March but then received a PCN from ParkingEye with ANPR evidence for overstaying by 16 minutes. POPLA appeal was unsuccessful.
Made a without prejudice offer to settle for their actual loss of only £1.10 car parking revenue plus admin costs to which they just sent a generic letter.
Took my eye off the ball with the LBCC and Court claim now arrived for £100 + £25 court fee + £50 legal costs. Most odd is that their particulars of claim state that their ANPR capture vehicle entering and leaving, parking without valid parking ticket. Their previous correspondence shows that we had paid for one hour parking and anyhow we still have the original ticket.
I have filed acknowledgement of service and would be grateful for any help drafting a defence based on non-compliance of BPA Code of Practice re grace periods.

Coupon-mad

Most odd is that their particulars of claim state that their ANPR capture vehicle entering and leaving, parking without valid parking ticket.

That's good (for you) and can be included in the defence, along with an argument about Grace periods.

I would search the forum for 'ParkingEye defence grace period' and see if there is one written in 2016 or 2017 by another poster. You can crib from their format and the defence can be fairly generic at this stage.

The BMPA charity is a very good resource for all stages:

http://www.bmpa.eu/static_defense_statement.php

HTH - show us what you come up with!

tinkerbellie

So I am now wondering if I actually need to mention grace periods at all in my defence. The Particulars of Claim do not mention alleged overstay at all, just that a valid ticket wasn't purchased. Could this be a clear cut defence, they say a ticket wasn't purchased, I say it was and can prove this, still have the ticket. Or do you think the claim for the overstay is still included? The PCN was issued for an overstay and copies of the POPLA paperwork supplied to me specify this. Would PE have to change their Particulars of Claim now?
I am so confused about how to deal with this.

Guys_Dad

They can claim that a valid ticket was not bought - a valid ticket would have been for 2 hours, so if you want to miss out on your major defence plank of Grace - good luck!!!!

Try reading the BPA Code of Practice on grace periods and also the BPA lead assessor's report 2015 on this very point.

Coupon-mad

tinkerbellie wrote: »

So I am now wondering if I actually need to mention grace periods at all in my defence. The Particulars of Claim do not mention alleged overstay at all, just that a valid ticket wasn't purchased. Could this be a clear cut defence, they say a ticket wasn't purchased, I say it was and can prove this, still have the ticket.

Or do you think the claim for the overstay is still included? The PCN was issued for an overstay and copies of the POPLA paperwork supplied to me specify this. Would PE have to change their Particulars of Claim now?
I am so confused about how to deal with this.

Your defence need to cover ALL the bases. Don't rely on one point PE will twist.

Read other ParkingEye defences on here.

kaytata_2

reading this makes me want to pay the fine. I am in the same boat - 10min overstay with parking eye. not sure if its worth appealing and ending up in court if denied by POPLA for a £40 fine.


POPLA seem to be very hit and miss, so whats the point.

Coupon-mad

kaytata wrote: »

reading this makes me want to pay the fine. I am in the same boat - 10min overstay with parking eye. not sure if its worth appealing and ending up in court if denied by POPLA for a £40 fine.


POPLA seem to be very hit and miss, so whats the point.

Because POPLA isn't hit and miss on here. We win 99% of the time...and if it's £40 it sounds like Aldi - guess what, PE never sue re Aldi sites! Finally, in the BPA Code of practice on grace periods - MANDATORY MINIMUM 10 minutes MUST be allowed...what more do you need to know?

tinkerbellie

Ok, so I have now drafted a defence which I will post for scrutiny shortly. In the meantime can anyone please tell me, if I am quoting other court cases in my defence statement do I actually need to supply a copy of the case summary or do I just need to name the court, case number, date and judge?

Coupon-mad

No evidence at first defence stage. Pretty sure bargepole's thread about court procedures, linked in post #2 of the NEWBIES thread, tells you that evidence/attachments come later, at WS stage a few weeks before the hearing.