Defence - comments and advice please!

Coupon-mad

I am aware that they should have contacted me within 14 days of the alleged incident

No, they can send their NTK later because it's a non POFA one (no keeper liability).

managed by Civil Enforcement for a local hospital.
Should I make any comment in my defense statement about them not being the landowner?

CEL defences on here ALL state that. Copy one.

BloHar

Thanks for info. but could you tell me why the 14 day rule doesn't apply in my case

6.2 Where a contravention is detected remotely (such as by cameras), the
landholder may request registered keeper data from the DVLA
immediately and must write to the registered keeper within 14 days
seeking details of the driver or payment of the parking charge.

This is copied from the POF Act 2012

Thank you

Coupon-mad

Because they don't use that Act. Already said that this is a NON POFA PCN.

Get your head around the fact this is good because they can't hold you liable as keeper.

BloHar

I have completed my defence and have sent it off and I have been told that the case will be held in my local court.
I have today received a letter from Civil Enforcement saying that they will accept a payment of £100.00 if I pay within 14 days. They also enclosed a Witness statement saying that I had parked in a specific car park between such and such times and had breached the contract. I have never received evidence of this because I didn't park in the car park. All they have ever sent me is two photos of my car on an unidentified road with a time stamp on them. Also they have never provided evidence that I was driving.
I have made all this very clear in my defence statement (see below) but I am unsure what to do next.
Do I write back to them repeating my request for evidence or do I just wait and see if I have to go to court?
I'm unclear about how I address the issue of me being contacted as the keeper not the driver.
Please try not to be impatient - I am doing my best to get my head round all this - I am not an expert

BloHar

I'm not allowed to post my Defence Statement - don't know why. I don't find the rules on this site very clear - any help would be appreciated

Quentin

Don't post it in this thread!

You need to start your own thread and not hijack someone else's like this!

You will need to copy and paste the defence

BloHar

Thank you - I wasn't trying to "highjack" this thread - I don't know how to start a new one. Can you tell me what to do please? I cannot find instructions on how I do this.
I find some of the replies from so called helpers quite abrupt and judgmental which is really frustrating when all I'm trying to do is get some assistance to fight back against being harassed by this unscrupulous company

Coupon-mad

I don't know how to start a new one. Can you tell me what to do please? I cannot find instructions on how I do this.

Top of every page on the left above 'be nice to all moneysavers' there is FORUM HELP.

In the NEWBIES thread at the top of this forum board, I give a link to a video showing you how to use the forum. If you have not even yet found the NEWBIES thread you need to read it first (please) and NO LINK GIVEN, see my signature, below, for where to click.

Badger18

A few months later now and the case continues...

I submittted my defence, then a few months later received Notice of Allocation to Small Claims Track (Hearing).
I waited until I knew the Claimant had paid the court fee before starting on my witness statement. That's the point I'm at now and I need to submit it by the end of the week.

I've used examples/templates from the forum and adapted as appropriate. Any comments on this would be much appreciated. Thank you!

========================================================================
In the County Court at (court name and address)


Claim No. (claim number)

Between

VEHICLE CONTROL SERVICES LIMITED (Claimant)

and

(NAME) (Defendant)


WITNESS STATEMENT


I, (NAME), of (ADDRESS), will say as follows:

I am the Defendant in this matter. Attached to this statement is a paginated bundle of documents marked (Initials)1 to which I will refer.

1. The Claimant asserts that on (date) I failed to adhere to the advertised Terms and Conditions at a development known as (development name and address). The Claimant asserts that they manage a parking scheme at this development. The Claimant asserts that the offer advertised by way of Terms and Conditions was accepted by conduct and as such I entered into a contract with it. The Claimant asserts that I breached that contract and must pay a contractual charge, with additional charges for debt collection, interest and court fees.

2. Before I describe what happened on the day I parked in the (name of car park) (“the car park”) which serves as a customer car park for (business name), I confirm that the essence of my defence to this claim is that:
a. On entry to the car park there were no clear signs stating that by entering the car park I was entering into a contract, and as such no contract was made between myself and the Claimant.
b. The Claimant has failed to prove that they have contractual authority to operate in the car park.

3. On the day in question I was visiting a friend who lived in the apartment building next to the car park. It was a Sunday evening at around 7.00pm and the (business name) was closed (opening hours on a Sunday are 11.00am-4.00pm).

4. On entry to the car park I saw no signs stating that the car park was for permit holders only, or that by entering the car park I was entering into a contract. The actual sign at the entry to the car park is shown on page 1 of (Initials)1.

5. When I had parked my car in the car park I saw no other signs detailing Terms and Conditions of parking and left the car park to go to my friend’s apartment.

6. On returning to my car that evening, a yellow envelope was attached to my car, as shown on page 2 of (Initials)1. On the envelope it stated ‘This is not a parking charge notice’ and as such I understood the envelope to simply be a scam.

7. The Claimant has not complied with the IPC Code of Practice Part E, in terms of clear and prominent signs at the entrance and throughout the car park. A copy of the IPC Code of Practice Part E is attached in pages 3-5 of (Initials)1.

8. The IPC Code of Practice Part B 2.1 states: “Where the basis of your parking charges is based in the law of contract which will usually be by way of the driver of a vehicle agreeing to contractual terms identified by signage in and around a controlled zone. It is therefore of fundamental importance that the signage meets the minimum standards under The Code as this underpins the validity of any such charge. Similarly, where charges are founded in the law of trespass and form liquidated damages, these too must be communicated to drivers in the same way.”
A copy of the IPC Code of Practice Part B 2.1 is attached in pages 6 of (Initials)1.

9. Signs throughout the car park, as shown on page 7 of (Initials)1, are not clear nor prominent to drivers entering the car park. I only saw these when returning to the car park on foot to take photos to use as evidence in this case.

10. It is my understanding that there are three elements to a contract: offer, acceptance and consideration. I could not possibly have accepted any contract offered by the Claimant at the precise moment I drove into the car park because at that point no offer had been made. An offer must be communicated to an offeree. There was no offer communicated at the entrance to the car park, but only inside it - the Claimant’s signage setting out the terms and conditions are dotted around the site but could not be seen immediately on entry and could not be read from my car.

11. This case can be distinguished from ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67 (the Beavis case) which was dependent upon an un-denied contract, formed by unusually prominent signage forming a clear offer and which turned on unique facts regarding the location and the interests of the landowner, as shown on page 8 of (Initials)1. In this case strict compliance with the BPA Code of Practice was paramount and Mr Beavis was the driver who saw the signs and entered into a contract to pay £85 after exceeding a licence to park free.

12. The claimant has failed to properly respond to my request for documentation and relevant contracts with the land owners that allow the claimant to issue claims upon the landowner’s behalf. The IPC’s Code of Practice states “If you operate parking management activities on land which is not owned by you, you must supply us with written authority from the landowner sufficient to establish you as the creditor within the meaning of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (where applicable) and in any event to establish you as a person who is able to recover parking charges.”

The Court is invited to dismiss the claim and to award my costs of dealing with this claim and 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: XXXXXXX
Date: (today's date)

===========================================================================

System

Seems a straightforward "didn't see the signs but I dumped my car on someone else's property."

You should get their WS in a few days. If not chase them and then go through it to prove the allegation about the signs.

It will be down to the judge's mood on the day but CEL may drop it before then.