Claim Form received from BW Legal (Britannia)

s7huj

I'm not making a huge amount of progress with my Witness Statement, as I'm not entirely sure what it should contain.

Is it a continuation of my original defence I submitted (above)? Or am I meant to respond to their 'Response to my defence' which I've received in the post?

Many thanks for any advice provided.

Le_Kirk

There are example witness statements (WS) in the NEWBIE thread post # 2. The WS should be your story of what happened on the day, written in the first person, relating to the particulars of claim and your defence and also adding any evidence that you are going to rely on. It is not a continuation of a defence nor an attempt to add additional items to the defence.

Castle

Please confirm that the claimant is Britannia Parking Ltd.

s7huj

Claimant is Britannia Parking.

I finally managed to get a hold of all the data they hold on my including the original notice sent in the post and photos of my vehicle. The time stamps on the vehicle are a bit odd, whilst they show there was no ticket in the window - they suggest the car was indeed parked within the 30min free window (but you're meant to get a ticket from a machine to enjoy your free 30mins). I'll mention this in my WS.

Thanks Le_Kirk, I did take some time to read other WS, I'll have a go at writing my own and post once complete.

I do appreciate everyone's help.

Castle

s7huj wrote: »

Claimant is Britannia Parking.

Is it Britannia Parking Ltd?

s7huj

'BRITANNIA PARKING GROUPLIMITED T/A BRITANNIA PAR'

Is exactly what is says on the allocation to small claims track.

Are there a few claimants similarly named?

Coupon-mad

Read other small claim Britannia threads. Loads like this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5953514/britannia-rejected-popla-appeal

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75816543#Comment_75816543

s7huj

@Coupon-mad, BW Legal have managed to get the correct claimants name on the paperwork in my case. Thanks for pointing out though - was worth checking.

Back to my Witness Statement.

So below is my START on my Witness Statement, I fully appreciate it needs a LOT more information before it's anywhere near finished. But before I put more time into it, does the rough layout seem right?am I presenting my statement in the correct format?


****************************************************************************************

I, *NAME* of *ADDRESS* am the defendant in this case.

1. I am unrepresented with no exposure to Court proceedings. I trust the Court will excuse my inexperience.

2. The facts in this statement come from my personal knowledge. Where they are not within my personal knowledge they are true to the best of the information available to me.

3. I am not liable to the Claimant for the sum claimed, or any amount at all and this is my Witness Statement supporting my defence as already filed.

4. I assert that I am the registered keeper of the vehicle in question in this case, but I was not the driver.

5. I will describe the day my vehicle was parked in West Quay Retail Park Southampton car park but firstly I confirm a summary of my defence to the claim;

(a) The Claimant has no legal standing to bring a claim against the defendant.

(b) The Claimant does not have sufficient proprietary interest in the land of the necessary authorisation from the landowner to issue parking charge notices, and to pursue payment by means of litigation.

(c) Due to the scarcity, location and presentation of the information signs in the car park, notably in the immediate area my vehicle was parked in, it was not possible for the driver to have seen any signs provided by the parking operator and therefore it is denied that the driver entered into any legally binding contract with the Claimant. I strongly suspect this obscure signing configuration is partly intentional to confuse and ultimately entrap car park users into receiving a parking charge notices.

(d) My vehicle was parked for less than 30 minutes within the West Quay Retail Park car park and thus there are no costs to be recovered since parking for less than 30 minutes is advertised as being 'free'.


EVENTS OF THE DAY AND FOLLOWING

On the *INSERT DATE* the driver of my vehicle drove into the West Quay Retail Park car park at *INSERT TIME*, spaces immediately near the entrance were already occupied so the driver continued along the access road until an available space was found. Whilst driving through the car park no signs were observed indicating the car park is subject to charge for its use (VIDEO EXHIBIT)

Upon parking the vehicle the driver was unable to see any indication the car park was a pay and display car park, no signs or machines are visible from the parking space (PHOTO EXHIBIT). The West Quay Retail Park car park is identical in it's presentation to other local free car parks.

When the driver returned to the vehicle, leaving within the 30 minute free window, there was no indication a parking charge notice had been received.

My first knowledge of the Parking Charge Notice from Britannia Parking Ltd was a letter received from BW Legal on *INSERT DATE*. Initially I dismissed the letter as a scam as I myself have never parked in the West Quay Retail Park and had no knowledge of any parking infringement. Upon receiving further letters I tried to investigate further, but attempts to gain any details of the alleged offence were rejected (with automated looking emails) unless I confirmed unnecessary amounts of personal information, I refused to comply because it had all the hall marks of a scam trying to glean useful personal information.

I spent a long period of time in uncertainty as to whether I had received a parking charge notice or was subject of a scam.

(to be completed)


DEFENCE ITEMS IN DETAIL

(A) CLAIMANT HAS NO LEGAL STANDING TO BRING A CLAIM AGAINST THE DEFENDANT

(to be completed)

(B) CLAIMANT DOES NOT HAVE AUTHORISATION FROM THE LANDOWNER

(to be completed)

(C) POOR SIGNAGE WITHIN CAR PARK

(to be completed)

(D) VEHICLE WAS PARKED WITHIN 'FREE' PARKING PERIOD

Vehicle of registration *REG*, of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, was parked on the *INSERT DATE* in a marked bay within the allotted 30 minute free parking time.

Photographic evidence from the claimant clearly shows the car present within the 30 minute time allocation. (PARKING PHOTO EXHIBIT)




***************************************************************************************

Coupon-mad

Yes that's on the right lines but wait to submit it until the last 24 hours, in case the WS & evidence turns up from BW Legal first, as you'd want to demolish their WS as well, in your WS, given the chance.

See examples when searching the forum for 'demolish evidence' and also have a look at the thread by Lop5 which shows an example too.

Put some thought into how you will file & serve this in watchable format in advance:

(VIDEO EXHIBIT)

s7huj

but wait to submit it until the last 24 hours

- Excellent, this was a question I was going to ask whether it was advantageous to wait. Cheers.

Thank you very much for your reply Coupon-mad, I will now continue my work to make a decent WS and make a good clear video.