Fine from Civil Enforcment **HELP**

kayjones83

Morning all,


Please see below my witness statement:


In the County Court at XXXXX
Claim No. XXXXXXXX
Between
Civil Enforcement Ltd (Claimant)
and
Sally6588 (Defendant)


1. I am Sally6588, of [Address], [Postcode], the Defendant in this matter. I will say as follows:

2. On 12th March 2017 I visited the Bargain Book Time store, and parked my vehicle registration no,..........in the car park.

3. Upon receipt of a parking charge notice from the Claimant, I supplied them with this evidence, however they have elected to pursue this matter via litigation.

6. It is my position that, under the doctrine of promissory estoppel, the Claimant has no standing, or cause of action, to litigate in this matter.

7. I invite the Court to dismiss this claim in its entirety, and to award my costs of attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14.




Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.

Signature
Date

kayjones83

Should I also add this to the statement?


Supporting Evidence attached.

• Proof of car ticket payment
• Copies of all letters and email correspondence
• Defence letter
• Letters received from Civil Enforcement Ltd, ZZPS and QDR solicitors.
• Receipts (Postage and Bargain Book time purchase)
• Copy of Schedule 4 of the POFA

nosferatu1001

You do not include your defence. They have that already

Given youve identified the driver, why would you be relying on POFA? Or did you not mean to tell us who drove that day, and incidentally the whole world including the PPC?

Why are you making arguments in your WS? This is a place for facts.
Why are you reliant on promoisspory estoppel? You have proof of car payment, apparently. Yet you havent stated so in your WS - at all.

A WS doesnt ask the court to dismiss the claim.

kayjones83

I've made a few changes:




In the County Court at XXXXX
Claim No. XXXXXXXX
Between
Civil Enforcement Ltd (Claimant)
and
!!!8230;!!!8230;!!!8230;!!!8230;.(Defendant)


1. I am !!!8230;!!!8230;.. of [Address], [Postcode], the Defendant in this matter. I will say as follows:


2. On 12th March 2017 I visited the Bargain Book Time store, and parked my vehicle registration no XXXXX in the car park.


3. I paid for a pay and display ticket of which I have proof. The keypad appears to have been faulty because it is highly unlikely that I made an error entering my VRN and more likely that the keys on the old, worn PDT machine were faded or sticky. The parking operator would easily be able to match up the correct VRN when carrying out the manual checks that the BPA requires of any ANPR operator before enforcing an unfair PCN for such a trifling issue.


4. Upon receipt of a parking charge notice from the Claimant, I supplied them with this evidence; however they have elected to pursue this matter via litigation.


Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.

Signature
Date

kayjones83

Supporting Evidence attached.

• Proof of car ticket payment
• Copies of all letters and email correspondence
• Letters received from Civil Enforcement Ltd, ZZPS and QDR solicitors.
• Receipts (Postage and Bargain Book time purchase)

nosferatu1001

As you will have seen from every single WS, your WS has to reference the documents directly.

Coupon-mad

I'd also adduce Jolley v Carmel and talk about the 'reasonable endeavours' made to comply with the terms, like here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74394556#Comment_74394556

That one also shows you that the evidence need to be referred to by number. All pages would then be numbered as well, and then create a quick contents page and pop it into a ring binder file so the Judge's version is very readable.

CEL can have a pile of emails...

Jolley v Carmel is discussed here by the BMPA:

https://padi.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000857125-Jolley-v-Carmel-Limited-2000-

kayjones83

Thanks all!
Will have a look and make the necessary changes.

kayjones83

Afternoon all,

Please do let me know if the below is ok and if there is anything I should add or remove:


Witness Statement of [Name]

I, [Name], of [Address] WILL SAY AS FOLLOWS:

1. I am the Defendant in this matter. I am an unrepresented consumer who is not experienced at attending county court. In this statement, I will refer to clearly labelled exhibits which appear in this bundle.

Parking Events

2. On the [Date] I parked my [Car], registered number [Reg] on land xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx walked to the nearest pay and display machine, purchased a ticket for the day and I displayed it on the dashboard of my car. I am careful with parking tickets to ensure they are displayed correctly. I retained the ticket that I had "paid and displayed" (in good faith) as evidence, if required in the future (Exhibit 1).

3. My reason for parking in the car park was so that I could go into a book shop. I have produced a receipt for the item purchased (Exhibit 2).

Communications with the Claimant

4. In a response, on the 31st March 2017 (Exhibit 3), I provided a copy of the ticket displayed on the day providing the Claimant with clear evidence that the Driver acted in good faith and made all reasonable endeavours to comply with the terms .This was sent via email to the email address provided on the PCN Letter office@ce-service.co.uk (Exhibit 4), requesting information in order to make an informed decision about how to respond or appeal.

5. Having not heard anything, I sent another copy via post on the 10th April 2017 with photographic evidence of ,y pay and display ticket- I have somehow lost the evidence for this however, I do have proof of postage (Exhibit 5)

6. On 15th May 2017, I received a (Final Reminder Before Legal Action) letter, reaffirming the Claimant's claim (Exhibit 6). The purported debt was now £100. The Claimant failed to acknowledge or answer any of the specific points I raised in my previous response.

7. On 16th May 2017 I called and spoke to a lady named Christina who told me that a response was sent out to me 7th April 2017 of which I did not receive. She then said a copy of the letter will be sent to me (Exhibit 7-received a week later), the claimant still had not addressed the specific points I had raised.

8. On 12th June 2017 I received a !!!8216;Cessation of Correspondence!!!8217; letter, stating that they cannot continue corresponding with me (Exhibit 8).

9.I received a Letter Before Action!!!8217; dated 24th July (Exhibit 9) The outstanding debt is now £140 at this point. In a response, a letter was sent to them on the 2nd August 2018 on the 31st March 2017 (Exhibit 10), I provided a copy of the ticket displayed on the day

10. Between the 26th September 2017 and 5th January 2018 I received three Debt Collection Letters (Exhibit 11 ,12 and 13) and one Letter of Claim (Exhibit 14). The purported debt in these letters increased to £140 and then to £236. I did not respond to these letters since they held no basis for action, and the Claimant had demonstrated that they did not respond to any points that I raised in previous communications. These letters included demands with increased amounts owing with no explanation for the increased amounts and these letters threatened me with further debt recovery. No figure for additional charges was agreed, or communicated to me, nor could it have formed part of the !!!8216;alleged!!!8217; contract because no such indemnity costs were quantified on the Claimant!!!8217;s signs. Terms cannot be bolted on later with figures plucked out of thin air, as if they were incorporated into the small print, when they were not.

11. After a gap of 3 months, I received a Claim from the Claimant (Exhibit 15). The purported debt had now increased to £331.69.

12. I then received a Claim Form letter dated 17th April 2018 (Exhibit 16). The Particulars of Claim set out in the Claim Form do not meet the requirements of Practice Direction 16 7.5 as there is nothing which specifies what the terms of the alleged contract were, or how they were breached. The Particulars are not !!!8220;clear and concise!!!8221; as is required by CPR 16.4 1(a). There is no information regarding why the charge arose, what the original charge was, what the alleged contract was nor anything which could be considered a fair exchange of information. It just states !!!8220;Claim for monies relating to a Parking Charge!!!8221; which does not give any indication on what basis the claim is brought. The claimant also failed to provide a copy of their written contract as per Practice Direction 16 7.3(1) and Practice Direction 7C 1.4(3A).


Evidence of the Parking Ticket on the Dashboard


13. The Claimant!!!8217;s evidence of a specimen sign (Contract) states !!!8220;A valid ticket must be purchased to park on this site and be displayed clearly in your front windscreen!!!8221;. This from the Claimant!!!8217;s own evidence was clearly adhered to. Any breach (which, for avoidance of doubt, is denied) was de minimis.

14. In Jolley v Carmel Ltd [2000] 2 !!!8211;EGLR -154, it was held that a party who makes reasonable endeavours and takes reasonable steps to comply with contractual terms, should not be penalised for breach outside of their control.

15. On the day in question I have provided evidence of my ticket, the keypad appears to have been faulty because it is highly unlikely that the I made an error entering my VRN and more likely that the keys on the old, worn PDT machine were faded or sticky . Even if I made the error , this is de minimis and a reputable parking operator would easily be able to match up the correct VRN when carrying out the manual checks that the BPA requires of any ANPR operator before enforcing an unfair PCN for a trifling issue. It is therefore not conclusive that I failed to display a parking ticket such that it was visible, and therefore the Claimant has no cause for action.

16. The Claimant and their solicitor are known to be serial litigants and issuers of speculative claims, using !!!8220;template!!!8221; particulars of claim, with no due diligence. Research indicated they are the subject of an active investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

17. At no point did the Claimant acknowledge or respond to my requests for information, nor did they acknowledge the existence of a purchased parking ticket. In fact, in exchanging court case documentation, it has become clear that the Claimant would not have upheld an appeal if a purchased parking ticket had been provided as part of an appeal.

18. The Claimant and their solicitor have used scare tactics to "encourage" me into settling the debt as early as possible. Hence the rapid increase in the purported debt from £60 to £140 to £236. This has caused me great distress, sleepless nights and a desire for this issue to be resolved as early as possible.

Claimant's Costs

19. I dispute that the Claimant has incurred £50 Solicitors costs to pursue an alleged £100 debt, the costs of which are in any case not recoverable. The claimant has described the charge of £50 as !!!8216;legal representative!!!8217;s costs!!!8217; not !!!8216;contractual costs!!!8217; CPR 31.14 does not permit these to be recoverable in the Small Claims Court.

20. The Claimant has at no time provided an explanation of how the sum claimed has been calculated, the conduct that gave rise to it or how the amount has climbed from £100 to the £236 now sought.

21. Under Regulation 30 of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 (amended) A parking operator needs to have Advertising Consent for signs displayed in the car park. The only relevant Advertising Planning Consent found for the car park in question has now lapsed (Exhibit X). I therefore hold to strict proof that they have Claimant has advertising consent for signage.

I believe that the facts stated in this statement are true.

Signed: [Name]

Date:

KeithP

That looks pretty good to me.

I would make a slight change to 5. -

5. Having not heard anything, I sent another copy via post on the 10th April 2017 with photographic evidence of my pay and display ticket. Proof of posting can be seen in (Exhibit 5).