Ticket For Parking in Allocated Residential Space

Drey

Hi Everyone!

Long time lurker here, have received some very helpful information from this Forum in past ticket affairs which have lead to successful appeals so thank you very much!

I have got myself into bit of a sticky situation this time if anyone has any information that could help my case i will be very grateful.

2 Years ago i moved into a new apartment and was given a unique numbered parking space in a secure shuttered underground carpark. I was not given a permit or told of any parking enforcement when i moved in. i just assumed all tenants had their allocated space and the car park was secure so enforcement wasn't needed. There were signs plastered all around the car park however but i didn't take notice or even stop to read to be honest.

Turns out i needed to display a permit, as it was a new address i hadn't got round to changing my cars registered address. 6 months of went by until i found out i was on the receiving end of 6 fines for not displaying a valid permit however i had NO PCN's stuck to my windscreen which would have alerted me to the permit rule sooner.

Ill bullet point the rest to make for easier reading

- Stupidly messaged The Parking Company calmly explaining all these detail as an honest mistake they rejected this and demanded £600 or court

- Out of anger I told them to f****** take me to court

- I am now waiting for a court date from the courts to defend myself against Galdstone

My question is this, do i have a chance in court is worth fighting or should i try and make contact to settle before it goes to court (If i can). I feel frustrated that i could end up paying potentially £1000's in court for a space i pay for and a lack of communication from the property managers and lack of awareness from myself in the rules of the car park. Maybe i should just cut my losses and try strike a deal?

I have also looked through my tenancy agreement and it has no mention of parking or the space.

NeilCr

Who told you about your space in the first place?

Do you know if there is anything in your landlord's lease about parking and the space?

Drey

It was the property management agent that told me about the space. The only thing i received from them was a handover type sheet with door codes etc . . and parking space with the numbered space my apartment was allocated. I have looked through the lease and there is no mention of parking within it.

Coupon-mad

What makes you think court costs thousands? It doesn't.

I am now waiting for a court date from the courts to defend myself against Galdstone

My question is this, do i have a chance in court

Well that would partly depend on what you put in as your defence (exact words please) and how we can hep you rescue this at WS & evidence stage, before the hearing.

KeithP

C-m, it's not clear but I think maybe when saying "I am now waiting for a court date", the OP probably means he is waiting for a claim and hasn't yet filed, or even written, a Defence.

It would of course be good if the OP can clarify that.

The_Deep

Have you read this?

https://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/11/residential-parking.html

read about "Primacy of Contract"

What does your lease/AST say about parking, exact words please. Does in mention the need for a permit and/or paying a penalty to a third party for not displaying one? If not, the scammers are Friar Tucked.

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so complain to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

Drey

Thanks for your replies!

The County Court papers i have received say the claimant is claiming for £660 so i've been thinking this is going to cost £1000+ if i lose taking into account court fees etc . . but this was me just speculating and getting my head around worst case scenario.

Im at the stage now where i have completed the claim form and submitted my defence. All i really put in my defence is outlining the story i have told in my original post which i am sort of regretting now.

I had stated on the claim form which i sent back that i was moving home. So my most recent letter about this was that they were transferring documents to a court closer to that location, i am guessing then i will be given a date to appear at court and not given another chance to submit anymore evidence/further defence

KeithP

OK, then as Coupon-mad requested, please show us the Defence you filed - word for word.

Coupon-mad

The County Court papers i have received say the claimant is claiming for £660 so i've been thinking this is going to cost £1000+ if i lose taking into account court fees etc . .

That's not even a worst case scenario, it's wrong.

Drey

Hi Guys,

Sorry for length in time replying about this i had to request my defence from the courts as i submitted online and was unavailable to read. I added a bit more than i thought much of it was found from researching similar cases on this forum. Forgive any errors but my understanding and knowledge on these laws are limited

My defence -

As per my agreement with the landlord i pay for the right to park in the allocated parking space marked '52' in the private locked secure residents parking space at . . . . . The location of which the claimant is pursuing me for breaches in parking terms.

1. I reject that the claimant has any authority over me and my space and contend that claimant has authority to bring a claim against me. The claimant does not own the land where the vehicle was parked

1.2 I have cause to believe The Claimant's did not enter the
property to witness any said parking breaches, no physical penalty
notice was issued. My investigations into the matter lead to the
Conclusion that the claimant is acting on misinformation from the
apartments caretaker.

1.3 Recent cases have set clear precedence that my Lease has
primacy of contract over any signage that the Claimant puts up as
per judgements in B9GFOA9E Jopson v Homeguard [2016], C6GF14FO
Pace vs Mr N- [2016] and C7GF50J7 Link Parking v Ms P [2016].

1.4. In B9GFOA9E Jopson v Homeguard [2016], the exact question
regarding terms in a lease was tested at Oxford County Court on
29/9/2016. The Jopson case is a persuasive decision, where Senior
Circuit Judge HHJ Charles Harris QC found that Home Guard had
acted unreasonably when issuing a penalty charge notice to Miss
Jopson, a resident of a block of flats.

1.5 Furthermore, in the case of C7GF51J1 Pace vs Mr N [2016]
District Judge Coonan ruled that any amendments to a leaseholder's
covenants regarding parking cannot be amended by a third party,
they must be amended into the Lease by the landowner directly, in
accordance with the terms set out within the Lease.

1.6 In the case of Saeed v Plustrade Limited [2001] EWCA Civ 2011
parking restrictions and a change which caused detriment to
tenants and their visitors were held to be in breach of the well
known and well established principle that 'a grantor shall not
derogate from his grant'.

1.7 The charge is an unenforceable penalty based upon a lack of
commercial justification. The Parking Eye vs Bevis [2015] case
actually confirmed that the penalty rule is certainly engaged in
any case of a private parking charge, and was only disengaged due
to the unique circumstances of that case, primarily the specific
interests of the landowner, which do not apply to this claim as
the parking is not available to commercial tenants, nor to attract
customers, nor to ensure turnover to increase customers, nor
to this claim as prevent misuse of the space by commuters, which were the deciding
factors in the case.

1.8 There can be no 'legitimate interest in penalising residents
for using parking spaces which they own, under the excuse of a
scheme where ostensibly and as far as the landowner is concerned,
the parking firm is contracted for the benefit of the residents.
It is contrary to the requirement of good faith
and 'out of all proportion to any legitimate interest' to fine
residents for using the parking spaces they pay for

1.9 The presence of the Claimant on the land will have supposedly
been to prevent parking by uninvited persons, for the benefit of
the actual leaseholders. Instead, a predatory operation has been
carried out on those very people whose interests the Claimant was
purportedly there to uphold.

1.10 From my research I have found The Claimant's solicitors are
known to be a serial issuer of generic claims similar to this one,
with no due diligence, no scrutiny of details nor even checking
for a true cause of action. I believe the term for such conduct is
robo-claims' which is
against the public interest, demonstrates a
disregard for the dignity of the court and is unfair on
unrepresented consumers. I have reason to believe that this is a
claim that will proceed without any facts or evidence supplied
until the last possible minute, to my significant detriment as an
unrepresented Defendant.

1.11 I suggest that parking companies using the small claims track
as a form of aggressive, automated debt collection is not
something the courts should be seen to support. Receiving
Countless demands from this company over the past year has caused
me unimaginable distress. Not to mention the continued stress this
case will have on my day-to-day life.

1.12 Furthermore I submit that the £70 legal representatives cost
have not actually been incurred by the Claimant; these are figures
plucked out of thin air and applied regardless of facts as part of
their roboclaim litigation model in an attempt to circumvent the
Small Claims costs rules using double recovery. The Court is
invited to report Gladstones Solicitors to the Solicitors
Regulation Authority for this deliberate attempt to mislead the court
Court, in contravention of their Code of Conduct.

beamerguy

Keep an eye on this thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5965305/ukpc-scs-county-court-claim-help-urgently-requested

Very similar to yours and ABUSE OF PROCESS £££ amounts

We waiting for the court info

How has Gladstones broken down the amounts they claim because this will no doubt be abuse of process

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal