Gladstone Solicitors Court Claim Received (HX Car Park Management)

KeithP

throwawayflux wrote: »

Oh and another thing. When Gladstones sent me the WS bundle by email, they said this:



Does this mean there will be nobody from their side present at all, or simply that it'll be a legal representative in their place?

It means there may or may not be any legal representation present for the Claimant.
You won't find out until the day of the hearing.

throwawayflux

throwawayflux wrote: »

Ok I have written a draft Witness Statement and would appreciate comments. I originally wrote something a lot longer and more wordy, but saw recommendations to make them more concise and factual, which I have now attempted to do.

I haven't quoted any case law - is that a bad thing?

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

2. On XXX, I visited XXX and parked my vehicle registration no. XXX in the car park.

3. I had previously visited XXX many times over the years, and had always used the car park, which was free for patrons of the attraction. When visiting on 23rd October 2017, I had no reason to believe that a pay-to-park scheme had recently been introduced and was therefore understandably shocked and confused when I received a parking charge notice in the post a few days later.

4. Whilst visiting the car park to investigate on the day that I received the PCN, 28th October 2017, it became obvious that the signage was wholly inadequate and not illuminated at all, which must have been why I had not noticed it on 23rd October 2017. Evidence of the poor signage and lack of illumination in the car park is shown in the photos attached, Exhibits A + B. This is in contravention of the Code of Practice Part B, paragraph 2.2 (Exhibit C), issued by IPC, of which the claimant is a member.

5. As the car park was previously free to use, the British Parking Association Code of Practice v6 18.11 recommends that a grace period is provided to allow regular visitors of the site to adjust and familiarise themselves with the changes – see Exhibit D.

6. With the above in mind, I submitted appeals to both the claimant and subsequently the IPC, both of which were rejected, and my claim was passed to Gladstones Solicitors. Upon researching online and looking at Companies House, it became apparent that there was a conflict of interest as, until recently, the same two individuals had been directors of both IPC and Gladstones Solicitors. Thus, any rejected appeals that were passed to Gladstones Solicitors would generate further revenue for the two individuals concerned. Both directors had recently resigned from one of the companies each, presumably in an attempt to circumvent this conflict of interest, but it seems reasonable to assume that a conflict remains.

7. I invite the Court to dismiss this claim in its entirety, and to award my costs of attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14.

STATEMENT OF TRUTH

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

A quick call for help as tomorrow is the deadline for me to submit my WS. Any criticisms/pointers on the above would be massively appreciated. I haven't quoted any case law - is this a problem?

Coupon-mad

It's very short and you have not used it to pick holes in their WS. Have they sent a pile of rubbish? You need to attack the evidence.

You also need to use only ONE CoP, as the PPC can't be in both the IPC & BPA AOS:

This is in contravention of the Code of Practice Part B, paragraph 2.2 (Exhibit C), issued by IPC, of which the claimant is a member.

5. As the car park was previously free to use, the British Parking Association Code of Practice v6 18.11 recommends that a grace period is provided to allow regular visitors of the site to adjust and familiarise themselves with the changes – see Exhibit D.

HX are in the IPC I seem to recall, so you need the grace periods section in the IPC CoP (make sure you use the version relevant for that month in 2017).

The BPA CoP doesn't come into it unless HX were in the BPA then (can't recall)?

You should also mention that the added costs have not been incurred/paid by HX to any party, nor can that add more just because their CoP (run by Gladstones/IPC...) says they can!

The Beavis case, the CPRs and the POFA 2012 says they CANNOT.
It is an abuse of process to inflate a claim with unrecoverable costs and you should say so, at every opportunity.

throwawayflux

Coupon-mad wrote: »

It's very short and you have not used it to pick holes in their WS. Have they sent a pile of rubbish? You need to attack the evidence.

You also need to use only ONE CoP, as the PPC can't be in both the IPC & BPA AOS:



HX are in the IPC I seem to recall, so you need the grace periods section in the IPC CoP (make sure you use the version relevant for that month in 2017).

The BPA CoP doesn't come into it unless HX were in the BPA then (can't recall)?

You should also mention that the added costs have not been incurred/paid by HX to any party, nor can that add more just because their CoP (run by Gladstones/IPC...) says they can!

The Beavis case, the CPRs and the POFA 2012 says they CANNOT.
It is an abuse of process to inflate a claim with unrecoverable costs and you should say so, at every opportunity.

Thanks, I have removed the reference to the BPA CoP.

Their Witness Statement is in a post of mine above, linked again here: https://docdro.id/Dtc7yMF

I'm not too sure whether it is a pile of rubbish or not.

Coupon-mad

Try picking a random case or three, from that template drivel.

For example Alder v Moore, or Elliot v Loake or Vine v Waltham Forest.

Search the forum for:

Alder

then separately (just the single word)

Loake


then try:

Vine

...you will soon see that exact template WS pulled to shreds on other threads which saves us a lot of time & typing!

throwawayflux

So the big day is finally here - I'm in court tomorrow, so will have a report in due course. Not feeling overly optimistic to be honest, but also very relaxed - what will be will be.

KeithP

Don't forget to mention costs when you win.

You need to take a payslip or other proof of loss of earnings to attend the hearing.

Have a look at this short video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93eoaxhzpU

throwawayflux

Will do, thanks.

Haven’t been seen yet, only two lots of us left in the waiting room now though and the other one looks like a family dispute so may be complex, am hoping I’ll be seen next as the other car parking ones have already been, last one is in there now.

Gladstones/HX Car Park Management haven’t sent a representative. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe they’re so confident that they didn’t feel it was necessary?

throwawayflux

I won! Very pleased with the outcome.

As I was sitting in the waiting room reading through my defence and witness statement, I started to think I was under prepared and had rushed my witness statement (both true in all honesty), and wasn’t feeling great about my chances. They didn’t send a representative but I assumed the judge would still look at it carefully based on their evidence/witness statement.

However as I entered the court room, it became apparent that the judge was firmly on my side anyway. He scoffed and said ‘so, HX Car Park Management haven’t sent a representative’. He then asked me if I had their evidence as he didn’t have it. I said no but that I had received their witness statement and evidence via email. I explained I didn’t have it with me though and asked whether I should have. He said no, it’s not your responsibility, but I haven’t got it either. It was clear from his body language at this point that he was less than impressed with them and it became apparent that he’d probably rule in favour of me.

I asked if he’d like me to give a summary from my perspective anyway, which he agreed to. I explained the car park was previously free to use, had inadequate signage and was completely unlit. I explained that IPC rejected my appeal immediately and it was then that I started to research the parking charge industry and found how corrupt/rife it was. At this point he nodded in agreement and said yes it is absolutely rife and it seemed to me that he was fed up of dealing with these cowboys.

He then said ‘I suppose I had better make a ruling for the recording device even though they aren’t here to hear it’ and said that he agrees with me that the signage was inadequate and the car park did not have sufficient lighting (he noted that the establishment it was for is predominantly a night time venue so even more reason for the car park to be sufficiently bright/illuminated at night’). He dismissed the case, at which point I asked if I could claim expenses. He said yes and asked what I wanted to claim for, to which I replied the maximum £95 for loss of earnings and £10 for parking. He agreed, and that was that!

I may have got lucky that they didn’t send a representative but to be honest I would’ve fancied my chances anyway as the judge seemed in total agreement that it was nonsense with the lights in the car park not working!

Thanks to everyone on here for your help - you’re incredibly generous with your time.

MaxSamuel

Congratulations! I was reading through your early thread and then saw that the court date was 21st Mar - wait that's today. Promptly scrolled to the bottom and delighted to see that you won. Enjoy a drink or two tonight