Total parking Solutions and BW Legal

gary954

Hi

Just posting for advice on how next to proceed with the current issue.

The keeper has 4 separate PCN currently from TPS with 3 at LOC and 1 now at County Court stage as registered keeper of a vehicle.

The keeper declared Acceptance of Service online for County Court and requested an SAR from Total Parking Solutions in relation to any PCN they currently have. Has also emailed BW Legal to give notice of the SAR.
TPS have come back stating they require proof of ID before they will issue the information.

Just wondered the best way to proceed to get the data requested.

All 4 PCN relate to parking in a staff car park at a hospital which requires a paid permit. They state that a permit was not displayed on these occasions and so the PCN were issued. The vehicle has a permit that is paid for directly from a monthly salary and the evidence provided by TPS on all 4 of these does not show conclusive evidence that no permit was visible. When going onto the website to see the photographic evidence the code provided is not recognised and so if there is other evidence that they are holding it will be required, hence the SAR.
Having gone through many of the threads there doesn't seem to be much info on this type of PCN so would appreciate any guidance please.

As for the 3 at LOC stage how is it best to proceed in responding to them as can't seem to find that in the newbies section. Apologies if it is blindingly obvious but there is a lot to look through!

Thanks

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?
Did it come from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton, or somewhere else?


Post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread covers all you need to know about how to react to those Letters of Claim and onwards through any court hearing.

There are lots of threads here about hospital car parking, many of them from hospital staff.

Which hospital?

Have you asked the hospital to deal with their agents?

Are you a member of a Union? Will they help?

gary954

Thanks for the response

The Claim Form is from the Northampton centre and the date on it is 4th December

The hospital in question is Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincs

I have received some of the in the last 5 years or so but up till now nothing has ever come of them. I believe that it is because of BW Legal that they are now being followed up. Interestingly the hospital has now changed over to an ANPR system since these were issued and it is no longer under control of TPS.

The hospital will only go through the usual initial channels of appeal. Given the previous PCNs that were received and ignored over the years I assumed these would do the same and disappear but obviously now BW Legal have got their hands on them they are not going away.

I'm not sure if my union would be much help as I failed to appeal them when they were first issued.

KeithP

gary954 wrote: »

The Claim Form is from the Northampton centre and the date on it is 4th December.

With a Claim Issue Date of 4th December, you have until 27th December to do the Acknowledgement of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox link from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

You have extra time to do the AoS due to the courts' Christmas closing, but it's only ten minutes work, no thinking involved, might as well get it out of the way much sooner.

Having done the AoS, you then have until 4pm on Monday 7th January 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over two weeks away. Loads of time to produce a good Defence, but don't leave it to the very last minute.


When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as suggested here:

Print your Defence.
1. Sign it and date it.
   
2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
   
4. Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
   
5. Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive a copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to put you under pressure.
   
7. Wait for your DQ from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

gary954

Hi

So now we're finally at the stage where I have my court date.

I'm ready to submit a witness statement but to be honest I don't really think there's a lot to actually say extra to my very basic defence statement. The whole case revolves around there supposedly being no parking permit on display for the car in a staff car park. The car is registered with a staff permit and is paid for monthly via salary.
The only things that I can think of for evidence to submit are copies of the permit and evidence that the payments are made. The evidence they have are images of the car which show there is not permit on the dashboard where it usually is but don't prove that it wasn't visible somewhere else or in the actual car. Part of me wants to just point out the utter ridiculousness of the whole thing but obviously that isn't the way to go.
Any tips on how to expand and make a better witness statement?
Thanks

KeithP

Over three months ago I suggested you speak to your employer.
You decided that wasn't worth doing.

Over three months ago I suggested you speak to your trade union.
You decided that wasn't worth doing.

Have you read the NHS Car Parking Principles?

Without having seen your Defence it is difficult to offer anything further.

gary954

Having now received the Witness Statement for BW Legal, on the very last date possible, I have come across a few discrepancies in their evidence that might be of use and wondered if anyone had any advice. Although there are the images that show my car without a permit they are very dark and unclear to definitively prove my guilt in my opinion. The other major flaw in their evidence is all the plans and images they have provided of the car park in question is that it is not the car park in which I was allegedly parked! I see this as quite an issue for them and a good advantage for me to point out to the judge.
Does anyone on here have any advice as to the best option in this case. Obviously I am not going to sit there and say I was actually in "this car park over here!" but surely if they cannot prove where I was parked and have evidence that is wrong their defence is not that good on that aspect? They have also submitted a witness statement from the site facilities manager stating that at the time the pcn was issued TPS had the power to do so. This is also a bit shaky given that it is signed and date over 2 years before my pcn was issued.
Maybe I'm being overly hopeful on these points but I don't feel that they've done a great job.

gary954

Just to point out also is that I have always had a valid permit which I pay for monthly from my salary and so it is a case of them saying they could not see my permit at the time the car was parked and I have always contested that it is always in the car when parked on site which it is

Coupon-mad

Have you done your WS already?

I'd have waited a bit longer if I were you, so you could have torn into this duff evidence that they have fielded. But in a way it's a good thing as you can keep your powder dry and save it till the hearing when the poor rep won't have any clue and the Claimant won't have had a chance to file an additional WS to try to paper over those cracks.

What you have noticed is typical of a PPC claim and it's why we see 99% wins.

I hope you filed some decent evidence including the NHS Car Parking Principles, and proof that you pay for this permit every month (especially if you DO NOT pay TPS).

Do you have more than one claim on the go? Actually at court stage? If so you needed to also cover that in your WS like you would see in all the other 'two claims' threads, to get them consolidated into this one hearing.

What evidence did you file?

gary954

Thanks for the input

Ive included copies of the permit and my payslip in the evidence showing proof that the parking was paid for the month the pcn was issued.

The deadline to submit the evidence has now passed so I will quite happily wait to bring this up when the day arrives. I have 3 more of these stupid things to deal with as well so would I speak to the Northampton central court to get the hearing consolidated before asking for the cases to be heard at my local court?

Coupon-mad

would I speak to the Northampton central court to get the hearing consolidated before asking for the cases to be heard at my local court?

No, if these are live claims then you write URGENTLY to your local Judge right now (the one who set the deadline about WS and evidence and the hearing date) using the wording you find when you search for the forum for:

Two claims? abuse of process

And you ask that the hearing is either postponed or vacated till a later date and all the claims to be consolidated to save costs and court time, and duplication of facts, as well as a waste of your own time & money in attending repeat hearings about cases which turn on the exact same facts.