CEL overstay claim

Redx

no , because it was THE DRIVER that overstayed, the KEEPER is defending the claim

cheers

cdwood

Indeed, the driver overstayed by 10 minutes on a 2 hour stay, the cost to park was £2 for 2 hours - so at worse the PPC was out of pocket by £1. Ironically the car park is now free as people started to vote with their feet.

Can i ask if the defence letter in my first post looks good enough for my needs?

Should this be submitted immediately or closer to the deadline?

Many thanks.

cdwood

Hi Guys

My defence was submitted back in Otober / November and i have now received papers from the court to say that this case will be heard. CEL have sent their Witness statement and i now need to send mine, to the court and CEL.

I have looked at Sticky #2 and hunted round on the forum for hw to write the Witness statement. There are many defences but few witness statements. Those that i have found have copies of when NTK were recieved, photos of the signage and all that kind of stuff.
I didnt keep a record of any of that and when i nipped to teh car park last week i found that the car park in question doesnt have any restrictions anymore so i cannot get any photos of signage etc.

One interesting point is thta CEL in the pack, had a covering letter offering to settle in full prior to the court date, if i pay now £160. They are clearly (hopefully) about to discontinue.

How might i construct a WS? Should i simply resubmit the defence, which seems to sum the case up? any other pointers?

Thanks
CD

The_Deep

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Parking Eye, Smart and a smaller company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (who take hundreds of these cases to court, and nearly always lose), who have also been reported to the regulatory authority. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind most of these companies may well be put out of business by Christmas.[/FONT]

Quentin

cdwood wrote: »

I have looked at Sticky #2 and hunted round on the forum for hw to write the Witness statement.......

How might i construct a WS? Should i simply resubmit the defence, which seems to sum the case up?

No. Don't just resubmit your defence!!


Read up the section on the WS again in the Newbies FAQ #2.

Lots of suggestions there.

Coupon-mad

One interesting point is that CEL in the pack, had a covering letter offering to settle in full prior to the court date, if i pay now £160. They are clearly (hopefully) about to discontinue.

Standard now it seems, just before discontinuing, Nice try but no cigar, CEL:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/73936300#Comment_73936300

...keep the faith!

I wrote the bit about WS/evidence stage in the NEWBIES thread, to help people at WS stage!

cdwood

Thanks all - please find below my first stab at the Witness statement.

In the matter of

Civil Enforcement Limited (Claimant)
v
me (defendant)

Claim no: 123456

Witness statement of Mrs *******, defendant


I am the Defendant in this matter, I am unrepresented, with no experience of Court procedures. If I do not set out documents in the way that the Claimant may do, I trust the Court will excuse my inexperience.
In this Witness statement, the facts and matters stated are true and within my own knowledge, except where indicated otherwise.


1. Whilst I was the Registered Keeper of the vehicle concerned, there is no evidence of the driver and as this event has been resurrected from Three years ago, it is impossible to expect a keeper to recall who might have been driving. Further this car park is used regularly by more than one driver of the vehicle.

2. The Defendant denies being the driver at the time of the supposed event, and therefore puts CEL to strict proof that any contract can exist between the Claimant and themselves.

3. At the time in 2015, the insurance covered more than one family member, whom I have no obligation to name to a private parking firm. It remains the burden of the Claimant to prove their case.

4. There was no requirement upon me as keeper to respond to what appeared to be junk mail / unspeculative invoice, in early 2015, and in any event was not a matter where a registered keeper could be in any way legally liable as the law stood at that time. No adverse inference can be drawn from my lawful decision to ignore the colourful letter, impersonating a parking ticket yet with no basis in law.

5. Having not heard about this matter in years, suddenly in 2015 I received a letter and a court claim out of the blue and I have researched this and discovered that CEL are issuing robo-claims for archive 'parking charges' in their thousands. Both the Particulars of Claims dated 11th October 2017 and the Witness statement dated 23rd February 2018 are computer generated that have not been signed or a computer generated signature is apparent.
6. The claimant suggest there is ANPR cameras capturing images of the car and its number plates at entry and egress of the car park. No copies of these images have yet been supplied despite being requested. There is none of the same, in the particulars of claims nor the Witness statement from the claimant.
7. Paragraph point Seven within the Claimants Witness statement suggests that there is an exhibit One – a copy of the sign that was displayed in the car park. There is no such exhibit one in the Witness pack.
8. Paragraph point 15 within the claimants Witness statement suggests that there is a exhibit One – a copy of the PCN and subsequent reminder. There is no such exhibit one in the Witness pack.

9. I am no more liable now than I was then, but this unwarranted harassment and baseless litigation has caused me significant alarm and distress, such that I intend to report CEL my local MP noting that harassment was discussed in the Houses of Commons as an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences.

10. The claimant has failed to properly respond to my request made on XXX by royal mail postal service, requesting any documentation and relevant contracts with the land owners that allow the claimant to issue claims upon the landowners’ behalf. My request was not actioned appropriately. It is noted that this relevant contract is not provided in the claimants ‘particulars of claims’ nor is this in the Witness Statement.

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



Signed xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Dated xxxxxxxxxxx

How does that fare?

Thnsk

CD

KeithP

4. you are wrong to say that in 2015 there was no way to hold a keeper liable. Transference of liability to the keeper became possible with the introduction of The Protection of Freedoms Act in 2012.

cdwood

Thanks - if i remove point 4 is that WS now satisfactory?

Cheers

Castle

cdwood wrote: »

5. Having not heard about this matter in years, suddenly in 2015 I received a letter and a court claim out of the blue and I have researched this and discovered that CEL are issuing robo-claims for archive 'parking charges' in their thousands. Both the Particulars of Claims dated 11th October 2017 and the Witness statement dated 23rd February 2018 are computer generated that have not been signed or a computer generated signature is apparent.

You need to reword this; since the parking event is claimed to have happened in 2015!