UKPC and SCS - County Court claim form

KeithP

AS2, that seems quite clear to me.

It surely tells you everything you need to know, doesn't it?

You may well have questions, but you need to ask them rather than asking others to predict them.

My guess is that this is the most important sentence there:

AS2

Hi KeithP

Yes I am preparing the witness statement now. Getting advice from the NEWBIES section.
Does the witness statement need to be lengthy and in depth?
Also, I don't have images of the hospital carpark signs as this contravention was back in 2013 roughly. The only images I have are from the UKPC PCNs and also from google maps. Is that sufficient?

Thanks

Coupon-mad

AS2 wrote: »

Does the witness statement need to be lengthy and in depth?

No. This advice from solicitor poster, Johnersh:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75631862#Comment_75631862

Also, I don't have images of the hospital carpark signs as this contravention was back in 2013 roughly. The only images I have are from the UKPC PCNs and also from google maps. Is that sufficient?

Google STREET VIEW will show earlier images too. Click the GSV date back by using the tiny arrow and clock image on the left and you can then click on the date you want to see.

You will find I am sure that the signs DID NOT say that they could add £60 costs (and even if they did say that, YOU MUST ARGUE that they still can't add it, pursuant to:

- the POFA Schedule 4 (maximum is capped at the sum on the NTKs)
- the BPA CoP at the time (capped at £100 ceiling)
- the CPRs: court rules don't allow damages to be added willy nilly
- the Beavis case (that you need to rely on and know) where only £85 was granted and the Supreme Court Judges stated that a parking cannot plead a sum in damages AND that the parking charge itself is already highly inflated for profit (therefore it's illogical to even try to say there is a loss by sending letters, when that's a normal feature of the business model under which they actually make a huge % profit).

And debt collector letters cost a parking firm NOTHING as DRP send them free.

So the contraventions were in 2013, six years ago, but they filed the claim within 6 years?

Have you seen this thread also about UKPC at a Hospital, same stage as you:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5893813/court-claim-ukpc-scs-law-defence-pending-immediate-submission&page=3

What about using the NHS Car parking Principles as one of your exhibits? Google it.

AS2

So guys, please let me know what you think of my WS below, I'm aiming to send it end of the week latest as I am going away abroad next Monday:

In the County Court XXXXX
Claim No. XXXXX
Between 
UK PARKING CONTROL LTD (Claimant)

and


XXXX



WITNESS STATEMENT


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


1. Before I begin my witness statement, I confirm that the essence of my defence to this claim is that accordingly, it is denied that the Defendant breached any of the Claimant's purported contractual terms, whether express, implied, or by conduct.


2. I, the defendant was the registered keeper of vehicle registration number XXXXXXX on the material date at XXXXl Hospital. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.

3. The facts of the matter are that the Defendant is an employee at the XXXXXXX hospital, and has continued to hold a valid parking permit for the hospital car parking for the duration of employment at the hospital. The ‘land’ which forms the basis of the current claim consists of a relatively small number of poorly marked ‘private land’ parking spaces located amongst those forming a much larger hospital car park (for which hospital parking permits are valid). Given this lack of clarity regarding how or where an NHS employee with a parking permit is, or is not, allowed to park in this car park, no contract can be construed from the Claimant's signage, under the contra proferentem principle. Communicating the "controlled" space is fundamental to the management of any car park. The Claimant was grossly negligent in their duty and seek to take advantage of defendants by abusing the court process with misguided claims. 


4. Where the basis of your parking charges is based in the law of contract it 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.


5. Accordingly, it is denied that the Defendant breached any of the Claimant's purported contractual terms, whether express, implied, or by conduct.

6. The Claimant is put to strict proof that it has sufficient interest in the land or that there are specific terms in its contract to bring an action on its own behalf. As a third party agent, the Claimant may not pursue any charge, unless specifically authorised by the principal. The Defendant has the reasonable belief that the Claimant does not have the authority to issue charges on this land in their own name, and that they have no right to bring any action regarding this claim.

7. The Defendant has the reasonable belief that the Claimant has not incurred £30 costs to pursue an alleged £100 debt. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, in Schedule 4, Para 4(5) states that the maximum sum that may be recovered from the keeper is the charge stated on the Notice to Keeper, in this case £100.

8. Contracts by NHS should not be let on any basis that incentivises additional charges, eg ‘income from parking charge notices only’. I believe this is what the claimant is pursuing.

9. The claimant statement that ‘the Claimant has suffered loss or damage and PARTICULARS OF LOSS'. A parking charge issued by a non-landholder cannot represent damages or loss, and the authority for this is the Beavis v ParkingEye's case would have failed if they had pleaded it in damages/loss, and the Supreme Court held:
''In the case of a straightforward damages clause, that interest will rarely extend beyond compensation for the breach, and we therefore expect that Lord Dunedin's four tests would usually be perfectly adequate to determine its validity.''

and at 285:

''the charge was not and did not purport to be a claim for damages for any loss that ParkingEye would suffer as a result of a motorist exceeding the two-hour maximum parking time. ParkingEye suffered no loss.''


10. Further to the claimants particulars of claim emailed to the defendant received on 25th Ocotber 2018, the claimant stated ‘ The additional charge of £60.00 is clearly explained on the signage at the site and became contractually owing when the parking charge notices were referred to Debt Recovery Plus, when they were not paid.’ This incorrect and I believe UKPC have added nearly as much to their additional charge to each PCN for no reason whatsoever which is clearly an abuse of process


11. In summary, the Claimant's particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed, and the Court is invited to dismiss the claim in its entirety.

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:

Date:

[Deleted User]

If it were me, I'd be writing in terms:

It was Monday morning and I drove into the car park through the north gate as usual, which is one of 4 entrances etc.. DGH xxxx is operated by Yyyy NHS Trust. It is the 2nd the largest DGH in the country etc serving a population of 10,000 etc. There is paid car parking on site for around 300 vehicles.

As an employee, I am entitled to, and purchased at a cost of xxx a permit....

In short tell YOUR story. What you've drafted is more legal argument and not an account of the facts. The primary purpose of a witness statement is that it is evidence of fact, not law. This is actually quite important as the PPC almost certainly won't do factual evidence better than you. Take photos of the carparks too. Explain how confusing it is.

Get rid of nonsense that diminishes your best arguments - Is there any point suggesting ukpc aren't authorised by the Trust to operate a parking scheme? I just don't see a court buying it: this isn't a poxy car park near a block of flats.

Your call, of course. I don't know how you plan to defend this. But if your explanation is strong enough it is much easier to admit being the driver and to walk the judge through the signage defects.

If you want to refer to case law, you can stick judgments in a hearing bundle under a single (paginated) tab, labelled "authorities". At the hearing you discuss them, show the judge relevant paragraphs to your heart's content...

AS2

Thanks Johnersh.
At the end of the day my wife did have a staff permit, it due to work constraints and being on call emergency in other days, sometimes she did not park at the relevant spaces and hence got a ticket. Nevertheless, do we continue defending form an incorrect signage point of view?

Le_Kirk

The point Johnersh is making is that you seem to be writing a defence rather than a witness statement (WS) and you have a suggestion on how it can be better written. Most of the points in the WS should have been in the defence. The WS is your story of what happened on the day.

AS2

yes I get it now. working on it.
another point- they are contesting several PCNs- do I talk about every day of those PCNS or just generally how the days pans out overall?

AS2

Hi Guys, please check this for me :

In the xxx



Claim No.!

Between!

UK PARKING CONTROL LTD (Claimant)


and

xxx


I, XXXXX, of XXXXXXXX, will say as follows:

I am the Defendant in this matter.

1. Before I begin my witness statement, I confirm that the essence of my defence to this claim is that accordingly, it is denied that the Defendant breached any of the Claimant's purported contractual terms, whether express, implied, or by conduct.

2. I, the defendant was the registered keeper of vehicle registration number XXXXXXX on the material date at Milton Keynes General Hospital. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.

3. Where the basis of the claimants parking charges is based in the law of contract it 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 of paractic3 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.

4. On the alleged dates of the Parking Charge Notices (PCN), I was working as a full time Cardiology Doctor at Milton Keynes NHS General Hospital. I had a contract to work at this trust for 1 year. As I was travelling from London to Milton Keynes every day, it was necessary for me to drive my car there and therefore I applied for a staff permit at the hospital. Milton Keynes is a very big hospital and serves a population of about 10,000. There are several parking zones within the hospital for patients and visitors and a section for staff permits. Signs are quite unclear in the hospital with regards to parking, but individuals just have to drive around until they find what looks like a parking spot.

5. Travelling into the main entrance of the hospital, there aren’t any clear signs informing us where staff car park is (please see google image MKH 1 supplied). You have to essentially know where you are going after a few trips to the hospital. Where I normally park would be near the Cardiology department, circled in document ‘MKH MAP’. When entering the area near the cardiology department, it is confusing which side is staff and which side is visitor parking (Please see MKH 2 and MKH 3 documents). Nevertheless, when the staff car park is completely full and I am required urgently at work, it makes sense on some days to find space where available and get to work immediately. On some occasions I have left a note on my car dashboard stating ‘DOCTOR ON CALL PLEASE DO NOT TICKET’ (even though I have full staff permit) but this was ignored by the parking officer.
6. On the days I received the PCNs, I most likely would have been in a rush to attend cardiology labs for urgent procedures for my patients. It is therefore important that I did not waste time looking for parking and just park as close to the department as possible. Everyday is busy and urgent, there isn’t one day as an NHS doctor where you can rest. The best thing is I enjoy it and love looking after my patient.

7. As you can see from the images supplied by the claimant of my car parked, my car was not obstructing anyone nor causing any problems. I feel it is unfair to just give a PCN on my car when I have a valid staff permit and also being a Doctor, we are working so hard to look after our patients over the hours we are meant to so that we provide the best, free and effective care in the NHS. It is companies like UKPC who dishearten, bully and stress us doctors out by repeatedly posting threatening letters demanding false payment. There should be some discretion towards NHS staff when its regarding PCNs.

8. The facts of the matter are that the Defendant was an employee at the XXXXXXX hospital, and had continued to hold a valid parking permit for the hospital car parking for the duration of employment at the hospital. The ‘land’ which forms the basis of the current claim consists of a relatively small number of poorly marked ‘private land’ parking spaces located amongst those forming a much larger hospital car park (for which hospital parking permits are valid). Given this lack of clarity regarding how or where an NHS employee with a parking permit is, or is not, allowed to park in this car park, no contract can be construed from the Claimant's signage, under the contra proferentem principle. Communicating the "controlled" space is fundamental to the management of any car park. The Claimant was grossly negligent in their duty and seek to take advantage of defendants by abusing the court process with misguided claims. 


In summary, the Claimant's particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed, and the Court is invited to dismiss the claim in its entirety.

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:




Date:

Coupon-mad

AS2 wrote: »

yes I get it now. working on it.
another point- they are contesting several PCNs- do I talk about every day of those PCNS or just generally how the days pans out overall?

if the Defendant can recollect what happened on each day then they should do that, or if not then just do a more general WS that says the D has a permit and does not recall parking in a 'wrong' bay, and being a Doctor, often works on call and in emergency situations and believes that was the case on the material dates and that she parked in the right place, and that the signage in the various areas has always been confusing for staff.

Evidence would be her permit and pics of the signs, lots of pics of DIFFERENT signs and instructions to paint a picture of confusion in the large car park site where certain areas and bays have unclear rules.