£860 Private Parking County Claim - Urgent Help!

Jonathon365

Thanks.

So I need to send to the claimant and court a copy of the Lancaster University parking policy (that contains the 10 minute clause). Along with my initial defence? And Witness Statement?

I am sorry that I'm unsure, this document isn't as explicit as the previous.

Jonathon365

I'm preparing my documents:

Please see below for the structure (Adapted from Newbies thread) and my comments:

(a) a copy of the Beavis case sign as a comparison to show how awful the small print sign was in yours case. I will add here that the sign makes no mention of the 10 minute grace period noted in the lancaster parking policy.
(b) a video of how it looks from a car is good evidence! You can get a passenger to hold a camera or phone and record the lack of signs seen to the point of parking. Only 1 sign that's positioned on a round-a-bout.
(d) a copy of Schedule 4 of the POFA - there is a link to it in post #1 above. The Judge will NOT have this to hand & is unlikely to be familiar with it. This is only applicable if you are defending as keeper. @Coupon-mad is this appropriate?
(e) a copy of Henry Greenslade's wording from the POPLA Annual Report 2015 'Understanding Keeper Liability' if defending as keeper. Again, @Coupon-mad is this appropriate?
(g) the case transcripts that support your argument (get them from the Parking Prankster's case law page), e.g. if arguing prohibitive 'forbidding parking' signs which offer no contract a driver can accept, you need PCM v Bull; if arguing that this is a residential space where the tenant/leaseholder has already been granted (impliedly or explicitly) the right to park or unload you need Jopson v Home Guard (a persuasive Appeal case heard by a Senior Circuit Judge) and PACE v Mr N, etc. This will be the case mentioned earlier in this thread regarding the differences between parking and loading.
(h) the IPC or BPA Code of practice, where it supports your case (e.g. the grace periods section 13 of the CoP in a BPA few minutes' 'overstay' claim).

Coupon-mad

So I need to send to the claimant and court a copy of the Lancaster University parking policy (that contains the 10 minute clause). Along with my initial defence? And Witness Statement?

Not the initial defence again, but your WS needs your evidence (not just one thing).

See the NEWBIES thread post #2 for suggestions on WS and evidence to include.

Jonathon365

Hello, I've organised my key arguments as follows: Please provide input where you see relevant: (Please note this is not the final WS but key themes I've picked out to structure into a proper argument that supports my WS).

1.0. - Loading and not Parking
1.1. Car was being loaded with library books and not parked.
1.2. Jopson v Homeguard![2016] B9GF0A9E - Confirms the distinction between loading and parking
1.3. Lancaster University Parking Policy - States loading is fine as long as your car is not left unattended for 10 minutes. This immediately strikes out 1/5 claim (Provide evidence of pictures taken less than 10 minutes apart).
1.4. Lancaster University Signage makes no mention of this 10 minute loading period.

2.0. Add-ons and additional charges disallowed
2.1. Under POFA Schedule 4 add-ons and additional charges are disallowed as not part of any contract and not quantified on Lancaster signage.
2.3. Initial charge is £375.00 (£75.00*5 violations), yet £860.00 is being claimed.

3.0. Lack of information provided by the claimant
3.1. The Claim form Particulars were extremely sparse and divulged no cause of action nor sufficient detail. The Claim form Particulars did not contain any evidence of contravention or photographs.
3.2. A copy of the contract that was allegedly in place has never been provided.

Please can I have feedback on these points.

Thanks

Jonathon365

@Coupon-mad any input? Are these solid arguments? Shall I leave the last one out?

Do I reference the relevant case within the WS? Or just send the transcript along with the WS?

Writing up my WS now

Cheers,

Lamilad

Do I reference the relevant case within the WS? Or just send the transcript along with the WS?

You must reference any evidence you adduce in your WS, e.g:
. "The defence refers to exhibit AB1 - a copy of the transcript from claimant vs defendant [claim no.] [court] [date]....... "

Jonathon365

Hello,

I am feeling out of my depth, completely overwhelmed and very stressed in putting this together. Please can you assist me urgently. I have only a few days left to complete this and send.

Below is what I currently have for the WS. Are these valid arguments? Is the evidence i'm using correctly applied? Will this be enough to win?



I assert that I am not liable to the Claimant for the sum claimed, or any amount at all for the following reasons:

1.1 The Claim relates to 5 alleged parking events from vehicle (REG NUMBER) having been loaded at Lancaster University Campus (FULL ADDRESS HERE). These 5 events occurred on the following dates:
07-03-2016
04-04-2016
26-04-2016
04-05-2016
09-05-2016
First Parking are arguing I have breached Lancaster University Parking Policy and therefore bound by those terms creating a contractual charge.

1.2. I was not made aware of the Lancaster University Parking Policy until after the said parking events had taken place. This was not provided to me in any University starter documentation that I would of received back in 2012 nor was communicated to me in the duration of my course.

1.3. For each parking event, I did drive my vehicle onto Lancaster University property and stopped my vehicle for a very short duration. Whilst I cannot remember the particulars of each case, the intention of stopping was so that I can collect and then load bulky books and other documents from the University library into my vehicle.

1.4. HHJ Charles Harris in Jopson v Homeguard (2016) held this distinction that “it is possible to draw a real and sensible distinction between pausing for a few moments or minutes to enable passengers to alight or for awkward items to be unloaded, and parking in the sense of leaving a car for some significant duration of time”.

1.5. HHJ Charles Harris provided a very detailed definition of 'parking' as opposed to a few minutes 'loading' and held: ''The concept of parking, as opposed to stopping, is that of leaving a car for some duration of time beyond that needed for getting in or out of it, loading or unloading it, and perhaps coping with some vicissitude of short duration, such as changing a wheel in the event of a puncture. Merely to stop a vehicle cannot be to park it; otherwise traffic jams would consist of lines of parked cars. Delivery vans, whether for post, newspapers, groceries, or anything else, would not be accommodated on an interpretation which included vehicles stopping for a few moment for these purposes. Whether a car is parked, or simply stopped, or left for a moment while unloading, or (to take an example discussed in argument) accompanying a frail person inside, must be a question of fact or degree. I think in the end this was agreed. A milkman leaving his float to carry bottles to the flat would not be “parked”. Nor would a postman delivering letters, a wine merchant delivering a case of wine, and nor, I am satisfied, a retailer’s van, or indeed the defendant, loading awkward piece of furniture. [...]I am quite satisfied, and I find as a fact, that while the appellant’s car had been stationary for more than a minute and without its driver for the same period (whatever precisely it was), while she carried in her desk, it was not “parked”. Accordingly, for that reason too, the appellant was not liable to the charge stipulated in the respondent’s notice.''

2.0. Once I finally did see the Lancaster University Parking Policy Exhibit A - I noticed it does contain a clause where "Where vehicles are being loaded or unloaded in other areas, including car parking areas, vehicles must not be left unattended for more than 10 minutes at a time. This includes moving students’ belonging in or out of campus accommodation".

3.0. The claim is for £800.00 of charges which represents additional charges and add-ons to the original charges. The original charges were £75.00 per parking event (total £375.00) and means First Parking have included £425.00 of disallowed additional charges.

3.1. Under POFA Schedule 4 add-ons and additional charges are not allowed as part of any contract and are certainly not quantified on Lancaster University signage (Exhibit C) nor in the Lancaster University parking Policy (Exhibit A).

3.2. Add-ons and additional charges were also not applied in the complex case of Parking Eye Ltd v Beavis (2015). In this case, only the £85.00 value of the original ticket and no additional charges were pursued. The attempt made by First Parking is a cynical attempt to circumvent the Small Claims cost rules.

4.0. I have never been presented with a contract showing the authority of First Parking to issue tickets on behalf of Lancaster University. I suspect any "contract" that is shown during the hearing will be self-authorisation, where First Parking have written to themselves saying they have authority to issue tickets. I challenge First Parking to prove they have genuine authorisation from the occupier Lancaster University and not just a self-generated approval.

5.0. The parking charge for each parking event was issued after the 28-day limit as set out under POFA. (Readers can you confirm this is the case?)

5.1: Parking charge issued 35 days after the event.
Date of Event: 07/03/2016
Date Issued: 11/04/2016
First Parking County Court Legal Action Case Preparation letter notice: 01/03/2017

5.2 2: Parking charge issued 36 days after the event.
Date of Event: 04/04/2016
Date Issued: 10/05/2016
First Parking County Court Legal Action Case Preparation letter notice: 01/03/2017

5.3 3: Parking charge issued 36 days after the event.
Date of Event: 26/04/2016
Date Issued: 01/06/2016
First Parking County Court Legal Action Case Preparation letter notice: 01/03/2017

5.4.4: Parking charge issued 34 days after the event.
Date of Event: 04/05/2016
Date Issued: 07/06/2016
First Parking County Court Legal Action Case Preparation letter notice: 01/03/2017

5.5: Parking charge issued 36 days after the event.
Date of Event: 09/05/2016
Date Issued: 14/06/2016
First Parking County Court Legal Action Case Preparation letter notice: 01/03/2017

6.0. The Court is invited to dismiss the claim, and to allow such Defendant's costs as are permissable under Civil Procedure Rule 27.14.

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

Coupon-mad

bumping for others as I'm not around/able to post right now.

Jonathon365

bump, I've got 4 days left to respond. I just need to know if the arguments I've chosen are valid / strong enough to win.

[Deleted User]

The problem you have is that this is subject to a university policy, so it's not entirely clear when (if at all) that was brought to your attention - in Freshers packs or when you collected flat keys etc. This may not boil down simply to signage. It is by no means the standard type of case.

Jopson is helpful, but the driver there had an absolute property right to pass and repass over the land, that's not entirely the case here.

No one can tell you if your case can win. Personally, I think the problem with your statement is that it is pure argument. There are 5 incidents. Is the best you can do "oh I was loading" this is YOUR statement of the facts - you largely recite case law, which you will no doubt be providing anyway. I'd put in sub headings for each event time/location, say what you were doing and why. Also stating why you had to park there.

POFA 2012 may well not be relevant here if your defence and witness statement both admit you were the driver.

The point about additional costs is that the contract they say existing between you as driver and them usually does not allow them.

Have you seen the contract between the university and first parking?