Court Claim - AoS Complete

Tommer123

This is what I have so far as my Witness Statement, any builds appreciated. I have also printed a 3 page bundle of photos of the car park layout with a description / explanation on each:

In the County Court at Bath, The Law Courts, North Parade Road, Bath, BA1 5AF

Claim No. #######

Between

PARKINGEYE LTD (Claimant)

and

MR ###### (Defendant)



WITNESS STATEMENT

I am ######, of #####################################, the Defendant in this matter. I will say as follows:

1. I made every reasonable effort to leave the car park within the 2-hour stay limit but due to the layout of the car park and exceptionally slow-moving traffic, was unable to do so. However, I did return to my vehicle and leave the space I was parked in within this limit. It took a further 14 minutes from this point in time for my vehicle to re-pass the automatic number plate recognition camera registering my exit from the premises. Due to the roundabout (shown in Image 8. Pg. 3 in attached photographic evidence) being notoriously difficult to get out of because of heavy traffic using Alexandra Road (passing from right to left), there were no vehicles to block this traffic thus allowing anyone exiting the car park to move onto the roundabout freely.

2. The Claimant has not adhered to the British Parking Association’s Code of Practice (of which it is a member) for grace periods. This Code of Practice is quoted in my defence statement in point 4.1.3 stating a grace period of a minimum of 10 minutes before and after the actual parking event must be given.

3. The Claimant has noted my ‘Arrival Time’ as 13:51:43 and ‘Departure Time’ as 16:06:02, meaning a total time of 2 hours 14 minutes and 19 seconds on the site. This shows that the grace periods have not been allowed for in their calculations.

4. It was impossible to read the full terms and conditions on the signage in the car park due to the font size and height of the sign. This is shown in Image 4. Pg. 2 in attached photographic evidence.

5. The Court is invited to dismiss the claim and to award my costs of attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14.

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

Signature of Defendant:


Name:
Date:


Here are the photos:

Ezisola

Tommer123 wrote: »

5. any summary of all above & outline what defendant wants

Did you mean to leave this in?

Tommer123

Edited.
No, I did not. Thanks

nosferatu1001

Any chance of getting photos , over a few days at teh similar time to your visit, showing this congestion?

As youre using grace periods, you need to exhibit them from your WS.

Tommer123

Good point but unfortunately not possible, the car park in question is 6 hours away...

Ok, thanks. So I need to print the section in the BPA's code which refers to the grace periods? or the whole code!?

nosferatu1001

Just he bit that applies
Have a tablet or something with you on the day witha PDF of the code.

Tommer123

Oh right. Do I not need to send everything I rely on to the court & the Claimant before the hearing?

Loadsofchildren123

Your WS will be very simple.
Unlike the defence, think of it like a short story in a magazine. Its purpose is to tell your story.
So, top and tail it like the precedents say. And your story will be something like:


On x date I decided to go [shopping/to the cinema/out for lunch, whatever]. I parked in [carpark]. I read the signs and was aware that there was a 2 hour period for free parking.


It took me a few minutes to find a space and park in it. It was a [Saturday?] and the carpark was quite busy. When I got out of the car, I checked the time and set a reminder alarm on my phone to make sure I got back to the car in time. Then I went [shopping or whatever] and returned to the car within two hours. I know that I did so because I remember heading off to the car as soon as my alarm went off and I remember looking at my watch when I got back to the car to check that I was back in time (which I was).


The carpark was very busy. It took me a little while to reach the exit road of the carpark, because I had to drive round its one-way system, pausing along the way to allow other cars to get in/out of spaces. I estimate that it took me at least 5 minutes to get to the exit road.


When I reached the exit road, there was an enormous queue to get out of the carpark. At the exit there are traffic lights, and I had to wait for the lights to go through several red/green cycles before I could get out. There were about [20] cars in front of me all trying to exit the carpark and there was a traffic jam on the two roads outside the exit [name the roads] because [say why - eg there was a new road layout including a one-way system, there were roadworks or temporary traffic lights]. I remember it all very clearly because it was incredibly frustrating queuing up while only 3 or 4 cars managed to get out each time the lights went green.


Queuing up at the lights to exit the carpark took quite a long time, about ten minutes. [was anyone else in the car with you - eg I had my toddler/baby with me and they were fussing and getting impatient, or my friend was with me and we were both getting fed up (and then do a statement for the friend, but beware that anyone making a statement has to go to court with you)].


At page 1 of AB1 [AB being your initials] is a google earth bird's eye photograph of the carpark. I've marked on it in red roughly where my car was parked and in yellow dashes I have marked the route I took round its one-way system to the exit road. The exit road is marked in blue, with the traffic lights marked with a blue cross. The Claimant's ANPR machine is, I believe, almost next to the traffic lights. The roads outside the carpark, where there was very slow moving traffic at the time, are marked in green on the photograph.


I can see from the evidence relied upon by the Claimant that there was a 14 minute period between the free 2-hour period expiring and me exiting the carpark.


I know, because I remember looking at my watch and setting an alarm to remind me, that I got back to the car just before the free 2-hour period expired. I estimate that it took me about 15 minutes to get out of the carpark. I remember the occasion very clearly as I was really annoyed at being stuck there.


The traffic jam (both the one inside the carpark and the one on the public highway outside) were beyond my control and I could not have anticipated them.


I have considered the Code of Practice ("CoP") of the British Parking Association ("BPA"), of which the Claimant is an accredited member. A copy of paragraph 13 of the CoP, which relates to grace periods, is at page xxx of AB1. In order to be an accredited member of the BPA, compliance with the CoP is compulsory, and a copy of paragraphs 4.1 and 6 of the CoP is at page xxx of AB1.


Paragraph 13 of the CoP clearly states that a grace period is to be applied to parking. The CoP makes clear that such grace periods are to be applied both at the start of any parking period and also at the end of any parking period. The whole point of these grace periods is to allow drivers time to find a parking space, to read the signage, and to exit the carpark once they have finished parking. Grace periods are not defined, but the CoP requires them to be "a minimum of 10 minutes" either side of the actual parking (paragraphs 13.2 and 13.4).


In this case, the data produced and relied upon by the Claimant shows that the period passing between my car entering and leaving was 14 minutes. Applying the "minimum" 10 minutes either side of the parking, the minimum total grace period I should have been allowed by the Claimant under its own compulsory CoP was 20 minutes. I was therefore well within the grace period. Whilst I accept that following the parking I was on site for more than 10 minutes, this was because of the heavy traffic both inside and outside the carpark, a matter which was outside of my control. It is worthy of note that the recommended grace period is a minimum of 10 minutes, and the Claimant should have exercised common sense and applied a greater grace period than the minimum to take into account the prevailing circumstances at the time. The issue the court is being asked to deal with is de minimis and the court's valuable time should not have been taken up with this matter.


[you may also deal with the law here about reasonable endeavours to comply and matters out of your control, which can be found on many other threads]


I have repeatedly drawn these matters to the Claimant's attention, but it has refused to see reason, including applying an appropriate grace period of "a minimum of 10 minutes" before and after parking.


Something like this. Add a bit of "colour" to show you remember the day and why you are adamant you remember the queuing, getting back to the car on time etc.

Loadsofchildren123

Sorry, cross post - will look now at what you've drafted

Tommer123

This is incredible, thank you so much :T