Letter before claim recieved

BRS7

I will be sending off my witness statement over the next few days. Is the below okay?

1.I, *********** of **************************, am the defendant in this case.
2. The facts in this statement come from my personal knowledge, where they are not within my own knowledge they are true to the best of my information and belief.
3. I am not liable to the claimant for the sum claimed and this is my witness statement in support of my defence already filed.

4. I assert that i am the registered keeper of the vehicle in question in this case.

5. The paragraph numbers mentioned below relate to the witness statement filed by the claimants legal advisor, **********.

6. Re #1: The claimant states that the managing agents contracts with the landowner grant them the right to manage parking at both sites.

7. The claimants contracts are with the managing agents and not the landowners, no contracts between the landowner and managing agents have been provided therefore I believe UK Parking Control do not have authority to manage the parking on both sites.

8. Re #3: The claimant says that a copy of the previous and current signage [for *************], together with a copy of the signage at ************* is attched Exhibit ***.

9. UK Parking Control no longer manage the parking at ************* so there is no "current signage". Neither of the copies they have provided for *********** match that seen in the photo evidence they have provided for the parking charge notices at that site.

10. Re #6: The claimant states that photographs were taken on each occasion of the vehicle in situ.

11. Please see exhibit A, a copy of the BPA code of practice, paragraph 20.5a says that the photographs must refer to and confirm the incident which is claimed unauthorised. All photographs provided for parking at ************** do not show that the vehicle was not parked within a marked bay as claimed.

12. Re #7: The claimant does not have copies of the notice to keeper and final reminder from parking charge notice dated *****.

13. The claimant has no proof that they have complied with Schedule 4 of the Freedoms Act 2012 (exhibit for this charge.

14. Re #8: The claimant says a further charge of £60 was incurred for each parking charge notice due to them being referred to their debt collection agent, Debt Recovery Plus Limited

15. Please see exhibit C, debt recovery plus LTD offer a no collection no fee service. The claimant is claiming a charge of £60 for each parking charge notice of that they have not incurred themselves.

16. Re #10: The claimant refers to the supreme court finding of the ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis case.

17. Please see exhibit D, the signage in the Parkingeye ltd v Beavis case. I invite the court to compare the sign in this case to those that have been provided in evidence by the claimant, in particular the size font of the parking charge amount.

18. I also refer to exhibit A, paragraph 19.3 which states that the charges must be shown clearly and fully to the driver on the signs. The signage at ******** and *************** do not follow the BPA code of practice.

19. Re #17: The claimant states "An offer was made to park on the sites from ample and clear signage at the sites. Due to the sufficiency of signage, the driver was put on notice of this offer."

20. Please see exhibit A, paragraph 18.3 of the BPA code of practice says that a record must be kept of where all the signs are. I have not been provided with this despite my asking in previous correspondence. As the site is no longer managed by the claimant I cannot see proof of the ample signage that they refer.

21. For these reasons I believe the claim should be dismissed in its entirety.

BRS7

Is it advisable that I include all versions of the BPA code of practice that are relevant as the parking charge notices range from 2013 to 2016?

Coupon-mad

I would quote from them, or attach a screenshot of the BPA CoPs, and also add that the PCNs range from 2013 to 2016, during which time:

- the BPA CoP changed significantly
- the BPA mandatory requirements for signage changed significantly
- UKPC's NTK wording changed over the years and was certainly NOT POFA compliant

and so the claimant must prove each and every PCN, one by one, with documents and signage and if they attempt to ambush me with a new WS or additional evidence now, this will be refused and objected to, at the hearing.

You haven't actually said anything much in the WS about what happened, what sort of car park it is, or whether you recall receiving each NTK? I think you should explain a bit more for the Judge.

BRS7

Coupon-mad, thank you for your suggestions. I have included this and added some extras, I have changed the colour of the added bits to hopefully aid the reading! Please see below, further comments and suggestions would be very welcome.




1. I, *********** of *****************, am the defendant in this case.


2. The facts in this statement come from my personal knowledge, where they are not within my own knowledge they are true to the best of my information and belief.


3. I am not liable to the claimant for the sum claimed and this is my witness statement in support of my defence already filed.


4. I assert that I am the registered keeper of the vehicle in question in this case.


5. 9 of the 11 parking charge notices were at ************* which is a residential estate of which I do not reside.


6. My ex-partner is a resident at ************* and had access to my vehicle.


7. The parking charge notices range from 2013 to 2016 during which time:


- the BPA Code of Practice changed significantly
- the BPA mandatory requirements for signage changed significantly
- UKPC's NTK wording changed over the years and was certainly NOT POFA compliant


And so the claimant must prove each and every parking charge notice, one by one, with documents and signage and if they attempt to ambush me with a new witness statement or additional evidence now, this will be refused and objected to at the hearing.


8. Due to the time lapsed I have no recollection of receiving the notice to keepers.


9. The paragraph numbers mentioned below relate to the witness statement filed by the claimants legal advisor, Abdullah Yaqub.


10. Re #1: The claimant states that the managing agents contracts with the landowner grant them the right to manage parking at both sites.


11. The claimants contracts are with the managing agents and not the landowners, no contracts between the landowner and managing agents have been provided therefore I believe UK Parking Control do not have authority to manage the parking on both sites.


12. Re #3: The claimant says that a copy of the previous and current signage [for ************], together with a copy of the signage at ********** is attached Exhibit AY/2.


13. UK Parking Control no longer manages the parking at *********so there is no "current signage". Neither of the copies they have provided for ********matches that seen in the photo evidence they have provided for the parking charge notices at that site.


14. Re #6: The claimant states that photographs were taken on each occasion of the vehicle in situ.


15. Please see exhibit A, a copy of the BPA code of practice, paragraph 20.5a says that the photographs must refer to and confirm the incident which is claimed unauthorised. All photographs provided for parking at ************ do not show that the vehicle was not parked within a marked bay as claimed.


16. The photographic evidence from the ********** parking charge notice show that the signage has a premium number which breaks the BPA code of practice, paragraph 18.6 which can be seen in exhibit A.


17. Re #7: The claimant does not have copies of the notice to keeper and final reminder from parking charge notice dated 07/01/13.


18. The claimant has no proof that they have complied with Schedule 4 of the Freedoms Act 2012 (exhibit for this charge and therefore cannot pursue me as the keeper.


19. Re #8: The claimant says a further charge of £60 was incurred for each parking charge notice due to them being referred to their debt collection agent, Debt Recovery Plus Limited


20. Please see exhibit C, debt recovery plus LTD offer a no collection no fee service. The claimant is claiming a charge of £60 for each parking charge notice of that they have not incurred themselves.


21. Re #10: The claimant refers to the Supreme Court finding of the ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis case.


22. Please see exhibit D, the signage in the Parkingeye ltd v Beavis case. I invite the court to compare the sign in this case to those that have been provided in evidence by the claimant, in particular the size font of the parking charge amount.


23. I also refer to exhibit A, paragraph 19.3 which states that the charges must be shown clearly and fully to the driver on the signs. The signage at ************** and ************ do not follow the BPA code of practice.


24. Re #17: The claimant states "An offer was made to park on the sites from ample and clear signage at the sites. Due to the sufficiency of signage, the driver was put on notice of this offer."


25. Please see exhibit A, paragraph 18.3 of the BPA code of practice says that a record must be kept of where all the signs are. I have not been provided with this despite my asking in previous correspondence. As the site is no longer managed by the claimant I cannot see for myself on re-visit.


26. Upon learning that UK Parking Control no longer operated at *********** I contacted ****** Property Management who gave reasons including “as many [parking charge notices] were issued incorrectly, where they were not following the management companies’ regulations.” Please see exhibit C.


27. For these reasons I believe the claim should be dismissed in its entirety.

Coupon-mad

How about adding as evidence, Schedule 4 of the POFA, and Henry Greenslade's wording 'understanding keeper liability' from the POPLA Annual Report 2015.

Just in case your Judge does not understand keeper liability.

BRS7

I will be including:
Schedule 4 of POFA 2012
Harry Greenslades “understanding keeper liability” from the POPLA annual report 2015
BPA Code of Practice
ParkingEye v Beavis signage
A copy of the email from the management company in relation to my point no 26

Are there any issues in including that email? Is it okay to leave their email address on there etc?

Coupon-mad

It's fine to include the email as court evidence.

BRS7

I’ve searched the newbies thread and couldn’t find a definitive answer to this:

I accidentally sent the WS to ccbcaq@justice.gov.uk, received a reply informing to send to allocated court, which I have done, however their automatic reply says “all county court part 7 claims are now processed and issued county court money claim centre CCMCC...” should I be sending it to them instead?

Coupon-mad

You don't email a WS and evidence to the court! They will not print that.

You take your WS and evidence in person to the local allocated Court, in a ring binder file, with a contents page (and all numbered pages, all numbered evidence) and a provisional costs schedule if you can do that too in time.

Hand it over, with the date of the hearing and the claim number and 'DEFENCE' stuck securely on the front of the file.

Think of the Judge reading your nice ordered file, compared with the Claimant's pile of crap! If you email it the Judge will see NOTHING from you, as you can't expect the court to print it all out (and put it in order)! Chances are it would go nowhere.

You DO email the copy to the Claimant/solicitor. Save postage.

KeithP

Emailing a Witness Statement and evidence is never a good idea.

Firstly, there is a strict limit on how many pages the court will print. Read the Practice Direction if you want to find out those limits.

Secondly it is at your local court, isn't it?
Best to present the stuff in a nicely organised file, maybe a ring binder, with page tabs etc. In other words make it easy for the judge to read.

Hand deliver it to your court is always the best way.