Entered Wrong reg on App. messed up my appeal now.

Coupon-mad

I assume you've seen that template letter in the many BW Legal threads you will have researched, which are ahead of your stage.

Jamesrb

Received a letter from the court saying it has now been transferred to my local county court hearing centre for allocation. A part of me was hoping BW would have just given up by now and weren't going to carry on with all this but appears it was just wishful thinking.

Redx

that is perfectly normal and is explained in the NEWBIES thread


B W LEGAL will do what their client instructs them to do, they dont decide for themselves

Coupon-mad

All as expected. We still see 99% wins and had four in one day this week!

Jamesrb

BW Legal letter received today saying that their clients offer to settle for £160 remains open for a further 14 days before they 'obtain judgement against me'. How nice of them.


Noticed somewhere that this is their last attempt to get the money if they think that they will lose, but cant find the thread I read it on now. Did I read it right or is this just standard?


Thanks
James

Umkomaas

Noticed somewhere that this is their last attempt to get the money if they think that they will lose, but cant find the thread I read it on now. Did I read it right or is this just standard?

It's not standard, but there have been some instances where an offer to settle before court has been followed by a discontinuation. You'll just have to play along to see if it works for you.

Please let us know how it goes as it helps build the picture for others who will follow in the future.

Jamesrb

Received the Notice of Allocation today as expected as per post 2 in the newbies.
Also included was a 'General form of judgement or order' saying it is ordered that the claimant shall file and serve a reply to Defence by 27th Feb.
Cant seem to see anything in the newbies threads regards this and nothing coming up in the searches that I can see, am I right in thinking this should have already been filed before now by Brittania? what happens if they don't file and serve it?

nosferatu1001

Thats the Court saying they want to see if the claimant has a case. Its a good thing
It will also mean you shoudl see documetns WELL in advance of you needing to formulate your WS, so you can address every single part of their arguemnt then - its a amassive advantage!

No if it says 27th feb then 27th feb is the deadline.
If they miss it you write to the court, asking for them to strike out the claim, as this is the usual sanction for failing to comply with a courts order

Jamesrb

The claimant served a reply to defence on the 27th. I had counted down the days thinking they weren't going to make it in time but sure enough on the morning of the 27th I received the email.
Detail is as per below:


IN THE WAKEFIELD COUNTY COURT CLAIM NO.
BRITANNIA PARKING GROUP LIMITED T/A BRITANNIA PARKING
Claimant
-VMR
Defendant
REPLY TO DEFENCE
REPLY
1. The Claimant repeats the facts and matters set out in the Particulars of Claim.
2. The Claimant denies the Defendant's defence in its entirety.
3. On (Contravention Date), it is submitted that the Defendant was the
registered keeper and/or the driver of a vehicle, registered (Vehicle) which
was observed breaching the Terms and Conditions at approximately xx hours.
4. On this date, the Defendant failed to purchase valid P&D ticket, which led to the
Claimant issuing a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) against the Defendant.
5. The Claimant manages and enforce the parking conditions in situ. For all intents and
purposes, the Claimant has a legitimate commercial interest and sufficient standing
to: (a) issue Parking Charge Notices ('PCN') as a result of the terms and conditions
being breached and (b) bring proceedings in its own name.
6. The signage situated throughout the Car Park forms a unilateral offer to anyone
wishing to park their vehicle at the location. As the offer is a unilateral one, there is
no need for the motorist to communicate their acceptance; the performance of
parking in accordance with the terms and conditions is the act of acceptance. The
signs are prominent and the terms and conditions are clearly displayed, and the
Defendant would have had the opportunity to read and understand them on parking
at the Car Park. An objective observer would consider this action to have been done
in acceptance of the terms and conditions.
7. The terms and conditions which the Defendant accepted upon entering the Car Park,
are clear and unambiguous. The terms make it clear that the Defendant should have
purchased a valid Pay and Display Ticket ('PDT'), detailing his full and accurate
Vehicle Registration Mark ('VRM'). The annexed photographs taken by the Claimants
Parking Attendant ('PA') show the Vehicle to be in breach of the terms and
conditions, in that no valid PDT was on display and no valid online session was
active either.
8. The Claimant reserves the right to file a further reply at a later date.
9. In essence the Defendant argues that he paid for parking, however he alleges that
whilst making payment online using a payment application, PayByPhone, ('App'), it
used his previous vehicle's registration and therefore payment was allocated
incorrectly.
10. However in previous correspondence to the Claimant, the Defendant admits that he
entered the wrong registration number whilst making payment using the App.
Annexed is a copy of the Defendant's appeal whereby he states that he entered the
wrong registration.
11 . The Claimant has confirmed that the App is available to motorists to pay for their
parking. This is not part of the Claimant's system, it is independent.
12. Having downloaded the App, motorists can enter their registration and store it to the
App. This enables it to be easier to pay for future parking sessions. The motorists
can store numerous VRMs on the App. However it was the Defendant's
responsibility to pay for the correct vehicle at the correct site.
13. Annexed to this Reply are screenshots of step by step instructions when using the
App. These instructions show that motorists can amend the details at any time. The
instructions clearly detail how much motorists are paying, which location for, and
which vehicle they are parking.
14. Below are the terms and conditions of the App which needs to be followed by all
users:
C.2.2 Paying for a Transaction:
i. (a) Each time you use the PayByPhone Service at a parking
Facility, the following will be charged to the credit/debit card registered
on your Account: (i) the parking fee charged by the Facility Operator,
(and any applicable taxes); and (ii) the Service Charges (unless
Service Charge is paid by the Facility Operator as determined by the
Facility Operator); and (iii) any Text Receipt or Text Reminder fees (as
defined under clause C.3.2 and C.3.3 respectively).
(b) Payments shall be made in Pounds Sterling.
(c) Cost of the Transaction shall be notified to you during the
transaction process.
(d) VAT (if applicable) shall be included in the cost of Transaction. A
breakdown of the VAT collected or charged are on parking receipts
which can be found within your Account section of the Website.
C.2.3 Completing a Transaction:
C.2.3.1 A Transaction shall only be deemed to be completed on receipt of a
confirmation message which shall be any one of the below ("Confirmation
Message"):
(a) A verbal confirmation if making the Transaction in accordance with
clause C.2.1 (a);
(b) An SMS confirmation text sent within 5 minutes of sending the original
text in accordance with clause C.2 .1 (b );
(c) A confirmation screen generated immediately after the Transaction in
accordance with clauses C.2.1 (c), C.2.1 {d) and C.2.1 (e); or
(d) Any other form of confirmation introduced by PayByPhone from time to
time.
C.2.3.2 If you do not receive a Confirmation Message, then the Transaction
may not be complete and you may remain liable to pay for parking to the
Facility Operator. In such circumstances, you should check the IVR, App,
Website (in the "Park Now" section), Mobile Web or Customer Care Centre
and start a new session if you have no live sessions on your Account.
C.2.3.3 Where you have received a confirmation text as described in clause
C.2.3.1 (b) and any details are wrong, you must text "STOP" to the relevant
number within 5 minutes of receipt and start a new transaction.
15. The terms and conditions are clear, if the wrong details had been entered then the
Defendant had the opportunity to cancel the transaction and start a new transaction
in accordance with clause C.2.3.3.
16. Following the PCN being issued, the Defendant appealed the matter with the
Claimant. The Claimant was sympathetic to the Defendant's situation and offered to
discount the PCN to £20 having been provided with evidence of the Defendant's
mistake, to cover administration charges. However the Defendant chose not to take
advantage of the Claimant's offer and made an appeal to POPLA instead.
17. The Claimant strongly disputes that the Defendant's data has been used incorrectly,
the Defendant is put to strict proof to the contrary.
18. The Defendant has made an allegation that the Claimant does not have authority to
bring this claim. Annexed is an agreement between the landowner and the Claimant,
which sets out, inter alia, the Claimant's standing and rights to manage and enforce
the regulations in situ.
19. The Defendant also alleges that the amount claimed is not proportionate. The
Claimant submits that £100.00 charge is regarded as a charge for contravening the
Terms and Conditions.
20. The Claimant has a legitimate interest in charging infringing motorists which
extended beyond the recovery of any loss.
21. The Supreme Court considered that PCN Charges (like this charge) in ParkingEye v
Beavis [2015] EWCA Civ 402 serve a legitimate commercial interest and did not
consider the term imposing a similar charge as unfair. The term does not exclude any
right which the consumer may be said to enjoy under the general law or by statute. In
the leading judgment of Lord Neuberger and Lord Sumpton, it was said that
"Motorists could hardly avoid reading the notice and were under no pressure to
accept its terms." The relevant Car Parking Code of Practice also gives guidance that
£100.00 is a reasonable sum to charge.
22. The Claimant has offered to contract with the motorist, providing a limited contractual
license to the motorist to use the Car Park on the basis of the specified Terms and
Conditions. The Claimant has provided their end of the bargain by permitting the
Defendant's Vehicle to park on private land. Following the Defendant's breach, the
Claimant is simply enforcing the Terms and Conditions in re lation to that breach.
STATEMENT OF TRUTH
The Claimant believes that the facts stated in this reply and defence to counterclaim are
true.
I am duly authorised by the Claimant to sign this statement.
Full Name: xx
Name of firm: BW Legal
Signed:
Date: 27 February 2019
Ref:
Solicitors for the Claimant


I would like to also add that where it appendixed the letter claiming I had admitted to entering the wrong reg the actual wording is below which shows I didn't specifically state that I had entered my reg incorrectly, it is the app that brought the detail forward. Actual wording shown below:


"I was confused at first as I had used the App to arrange the car parking charge and had received a text message
confirming the payment. It was at this point I realised that I had paid for the parking on the App under my own car
registration details xxx - Text confirmation attached also))and not my wifeao:s car reg.
I can assure you that I arrived in my wifes car and that I had not used my own car. My car xxx which I paid for
the ticket for was not in the car park at any point and was 5.5 hours away back in Yorkshire at the time of my visit, any
CCTV at the car park would be able to confirm this".


As always, any help at this stage is more than appreciated. Should I just keep down the road of maintaining the app stored old data. I also feel I should touch on the fact that they offered £20 to cover the costs incurred before upping it so dramatically but not sure what other angles to take.


Thanks in advance.

Jamesrb

Any helpers out there?