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Private Parking Ticket - Default CCJ - Set Aside Case, Prepare full defence
theconquest
Posts: 37 Forumite
I was renting the apartment for which two parking spaces were allocated with two parking permits. Parking lot is on a street with free parking on it.
Been using one of the spaces for more than 5 months displaying the permit. The other permit was sitting in the back of the car.
One rainy night forgot to display the ticket in the front.
Parking ticket issued on mid Nov 14 in a private car park for failure to display parking permit in very early hours of the morning (around 4am!).
I appealed naively to the parking company stating I am officially renting the apartment and been using the parking space for a long time. Apologised for my first mistake to display the permit on the dashboard. – Declined.
Appealed to Independent Appeals - Explaining circumstances and providing proof that even though I did not display the permit in the front there was another one clearly displayed in the back – Declined.
Ignored the debt collector letters and wrote them back saying I do not owe so stop harassing (No evidence of this I'm afraid - I just remember writing and posting letters to them).
Was it my intention not to honour the contract? - NO.
No due consideration was given by the management company to the fact that I was and have been parking my car at the same spot months before and after they issued the PCN.
Parking company - Parking and Property Management Ltd
Tenancy Agreement:
3.17 Car Parking
3.17.1 To park private vehicle(s) only at the Property.
3.17.2 To park in the space, garage or driveway allocated to the Property, if applicable.
3.17.3 To keep any garage, driveway, or parking space free of oil and to pay for the removal and cleaning of any
spillage caused by a vehicle of the Tenant, his family, contractors or visitors.
3.17.4 To remove all vehicles belonging to the Tenant, his family or visitors at the end of the Tenancy.
3.17.5 Not to park any vehicle at the Property which is not in road worthy condition and fully taxed.
3.17.6 Not to park any vehicle at the Property without displaying the correct parking permit if applicable. The
agent/landlord will not be held responsible for any costs incurred by the tenant or their guests if they fail to
comply with this clause
Changed property.
Recently came to know a County Court Judgement against me from the old address.
Solicitors – Gladstones.
Enquired with the solicitors - they said the case is with DBCL.
Enquired with DBCL - they said they do not have anything with them.
Filled a form to set it aside on the basis that I did not receive any documents and hence no chance to defend myself.
"
I did not receive any of the necessary court paper work in relation to the claim. And therefore did not have opportunity to defend.
Following the reasoning for my defence:
I had two valid parking permits in the vehicle.
Permit was displayed in the parked vehicle.
I was the legal resident to user the parking space.
"
Judge decided it in my favour to set it aside.
At the same time asked me to provide fully completed defence to the court and claimant.
And fill and send Directions Questionnaire.
Need to do this in 2 weeks time. Any pointers?
Few rules I found online below:
Fairness of the contract
Civil contracts are not normally allowed to punish or penalise the consumer – only criminal law can do that. This is backed by common law and statute. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 provides protection to consumers from unfair contracts.
In particular, it defines where a term is considered as unfair:
5.—(1) A contractual term which has not been individually negotiated shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer.
(2) A term shall always be regarded as not having been individually negotiated where it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not been able to influence the substance of the term.
8.—(1) An unfair term in a contract concluded with a consumer by a seller or supplier shall not be binding on the consumer.
1. Terms which have the object or effect of–
(e) requiring any consumer who fails to fulfill his obligation to
pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.
5.1 It is unfair to impose disproportionate sanctions for breach of contract. A requirement to pay more in compensation for a breach than a reasonable pre-estimate of the loss caused to the supplier is one kind of excessive penalty. Such a requirement will, in any case, normally be void to the extent that it amounts to a penalty under English common law. Other types of disproportionate sanction are considered below – Part III, Group 18
Can I not use any of above? Or any additional ones from any one!!!
Been using one of the spaces for more than 5 months displaying the permit. The other permit was sitting in the back of the car.
One rainy night forgot to display the ticket in the front.
Parking ticket issued on mid Nov 14 in a private car park for failure to display parking permit in very early hours of the morning (around 4am!).
I appealed naively to the parking company stating I am officially renting the apartment and been using the parking space for a long time. Apologised for my first mistake to display the permit on the dashboard. – Declined.
Appealed to Independent Appeals - Explaining circumstances and providing proof that even though I did not display the permit in the front there was another one clearly displayed in the back – Declined.
Ignored the debt collector letters and wrote them back saying I do not owe so stop harassing (No evidence of this I'm afraid - I just remember writing and posting letters to them).
Was it my intention not to honour the contract? - NO.
No due consideration was given by the management company to the fact that I was and have been parking my car at the same spot months before and after they issued the PCN.
Parking company - Parking and Property Management Ltd
Tenancy Agreement:
3.17 Car Parking
3.17.1 To park private vehicle(s) only at the Property.
3.17.2 To park in the space, garage or driveway allocated to the Property, if applicable.
3.17.3 To keep any garage, driveway, or parking space free of oil and to pay for the removal and cleaning of any
spillage caused by a vehicle of the Tenant, his family, contractors or visitors.
3.17.4 To remove all vehicles belonging to the Tenant, his family or visitors at the end of the Tenancy.
3.17.5 Not to park any vehicle at the Property which is not in road worthy condition and fully taxed.
3.17.6 Not to park any vehicle at the Property without displaying the correct parking permit if applicable. The
agent/landlord will not be held responsible for any costs incurred by the tenant or their guests if they fail to
comply with this clause
Changed property.
Recently came to know a County Court Judgement against me from the old address.
Solicitors – Gladstones.
Enquired with the solicitors - they said the case is with DBCL.
Enquired with DBCL - they said they do not have anything with them.
Filled a form to set it aside on the basis that I did not receive any documents and hence no chance to defend myself.
"
I did not receive any of the necessary court paper work in relation to the claim. And therefore did not have opportunity to defend.
Following the reasoning for my defence:
I had two valid parking permits in the vehicle.
Permit was displayed in the parked vehicle.
I was the legal resident to user the parking space.
"
Judge decided it in my favour to set it aside.
At the same time asked me to provide fully completed defence to the court and claimant.
And fill and send Directions Questionnaire.
Need to do this in 2 weeks time. Any pointers?
Few rules I found online below:
Fairness of the contract
Civil contracts are not normally allowed to punish or penalise the consumer – only criminal law can do that. This is backed by common law and statute. The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 provides protection to consumers from unfair contracts.
In particular, it defines where a term is considered as unfair:
5.—(1) A contractual term which has not been individually negotiated shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer.
(2) A term shall always be regarded as not having been individually negotiated where it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not been able to influence the substance of the term.
8.—(1) An unfair term in a contract concluded with a consumer by a seller or supplier shall not be binding on the consumer.
1. Terms which have the object or effect of–
(e) requiring any consumer who fails to fulfill his obligation to
pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.
5.1 It is unfair to impose disproportionate sanctions for breach of contract. A requirement to pay more in compensation for a breach than a reasonable pre-estimate of the loss caused to the supplier is one kind of excessive penalty. Such a requirement will, in any case, normally be void to the extent that it amounts to a penalty under English common law. Other types of disproportionate sanction are considered below – Part III, Group 18
Can I not use any of above? Or any additional ones from any one!!!
0
Comments
-
Have you contacted your landlord? What does his/her lease say? Is there any specific mention to displaying a permit therein?You never know how far you can go until you go too far.0
-
The landlord has given full rights to the estate agent to maintain the property.
Don't exactly know what the terms are with the landlord.
The flat agreement says need to display the permit wherever applicable. That's pretty much all I know.0 -
Recently came to know a County Court Judgement against me from the old address.
Automatic set aside so fill out this form, pay the £255 and the CCJ should be removed.
https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/n244-eng.pdf
You then may have to go back into court but if you lose you can pay and keep the CCJ off your credit record.
Or do nothing, suffer the CCJ and let it timeout after 6 years. Depends if you are independently wealthy (like The Deep
) and don't need credit, or you prefer to have a clean credit record. This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
3.17.6 Not to park any vehicle at the Property without displaying the correct parking permit if applicable. The agent/landlord will not be held responsible for any costs incurred by the tenant or their guests if they fail to comply with this clause
This does not restrict where the permit was displayed. Provided (i) your second permit was visible at the rear of the car (however odd that may be) (ii) there is no conflicting signage that may create a different argument and (iii) you can prove that the permit was displayed, there was no basis at all to issue a ticket. This is your primary defence: Own space. No default. Wrongly issued.
I trust you got the costs of the set aside application? or are they reserved in the case? Simply pursuing a claim against an address which dates back to 2014 without taking steps to ensure the details are still current is plainly wrong. I am glad the judgment was set aside.0 -
I have not received any costs of setting aside the application. I'm not even sure whether it is reserved in the case.
All I have been told by the end of the hearing was:
I need to provide fully completed defence to the court and claimant before next Friday. And fill and send Directions Questionnaire and send it before 17th Nov.0 -
This does not restrict where the permit was displayed. Provided (i) your second permit was visible at the rear of the car (however odd that may be) (ii) there is no conflicting signage that may create a different argument and (iii) you can prove that the permit was displayed, there was no basis at all to issue a ticket. This is your primary defence: Own space. No default. Wrongly issued.
I had another parking permit sitting in the back of the car and I thought it was a strong point to put forward.
During my set aside hearing got a feeling from the judge that it's not a good idea to mention that. Felt the judge was a bit biased as the other party was not present and he started asking questions in the defence of the other party.
His questions were - Are those photos dated? Did I take them on the same day?0 -
theconquest wrote: »I have not received any costs of setting aside the application.
Did you ask for costs?0 -
The flat agreement says need to display the permit wherever applicable. That's pretty much all I know
But what does the landlord's lease say? If it makes no mention of a permit then your AST should not either.
The standard letting agent's lease may incorporate these word in all the ASTs it issues, whether a permit is mentioned in the lease or not, just as it may tell you to keep the garden in good order, even when there is no garden. The actual wording of the landlord's lease is very important, ask him/her for a copy.You never know how far you can go until you go too far.0 -
-
The flat agreement says need to display the permit wherever applicable. That's pretty much all I know
But what does the landlord's lease say? If it makes no mention of a permit then your AST should not either.
I am not sure how this would be relevant as they would argue that whoever parks in their managed space has an obligatory contract with them!0
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