Help with Defence for CC claim from Parking Eye who haven’t allowed grace period.

Redx

Whatever , doesn't matter what it's called or how many there are , I have assumed it's their WS same as previous posters , the point is to do your WS plus Exhibits plus costs schedule , not worry what their submissions are called

Just to be clear , you are looking at and addressing or rebutting everything you can in every piece of paper you have received from parking eye , not just the last one

Not_a_pushover.

Many thanks Redx,will do that.

Coupon-mad

I used a car park in the Greater Manchester area operated by ParkingEye. One week later I received a parking charge notice from them stating that the time I spent in the car park, according to their time stamped ANPR cameras was 10 mins more than the ticket I purchased.

Fortunately I kept the ticket, the ticket itself show the time I purchased it was about 10 mins after my car first entered. This was because of the status of the car park at the time.

In your WS, use the wording I wrote for people to use, in the NCP 0 Taxman 1 thread!

Did you also overstay another ten mins at the end or is it 10 mins altogether?

Not_a_pushover.

10 minutes in total.

Not_a_pushover.

Coupon-mad.Struggling to find your thread.Typed into search box for this forum but nothing came up.
Sorry bit of a technophobe,

Coupon-mad

Unless you are unlucky enough to get a very bad Judge, you will win then, if you point the Judge to the Court of Appeal NCP case. you need to put that transcript in and use my words (all available in the NCP 0 Taxman 1 thread and I never, ever link such things...better for newbies to use the forum and get confident in how it works for them).

Not_a_pushover.

Really appreciate your help again Coupon-mad.I’ll find it and concur exactly with what you are saying re:threads etc.👍

Umkomaas

Not_a_pushover. wrote: »

Coupon-mad.Struggling to find your thread.Typed into search box for this forum but nothing came up.
Sorry bit of a technophobe,

HOW TO USE THE FORUM SEARCH FUNCTION:

Hit your 'Back' button to get back to the forum thread list. On the bar just above the threads you'll see the 'Search' function. Click on the 'Advanced Search' button and on the following page place your keyword(s) in the 'Search By Keyword(s)' and make sure the 'Show Results As' button (at the foot of the window) is changed from 'Threads' to 'Posts'.

Not_a_pushover.

After studying this site for a few days now,I would be grateful if someone could read my WS and critique it.Many thanks in advance
Witness Statement Draft

In the County Court at xxxxxxxx

Claim No.

Between

Parking Eye (Claimant)

And

xxxxxxxx (Defendant)



WITNESS STATEMENT

I,xxxxxx,am the Defendant in this matter.Attached to this statement is a paginated bundle of documents marked Exhibit XX1 to Exhibit Xx 11
which I will refer.

Background and facts of the parking event
1. I am the registered keeper of the vehicle in question,and for the avoidance of doubt the driver of the vehicle at this time,and I deny any liability to the claimant.

2. I entered the car park with honest intentions and adhered to the terms on display as best as they could be deciphered.As would be expected,it took me a few minutes after crossing the threshold of the site,find a suitable parking space,safely park,gather my belongings,lock the car and walk to the payment machine,where I then read the signs and paid for my parking in good faith.

3. On the day in question I parked my car and went to pay.I had to return to my car for more money at which time I noticed the rear of the parking space was covered in dog excrement.As I needed access to my boot I then moved my car to an alternate space on the car park after which I went to pay at the machine.This took 10 minutes from point of entry to the site according to Parking Eye’s evidence provided of my time entering the site (exhibit xx1)and the time logged on my parking ticket received from the machine(exhibit xx2).

4. The claimant asserts that I was in the car park for a total of x hours and 10 minutes,when only x hrs were paid for.It is these 10 minutes with which the Claim is concerned.

5. It is my understanding that there are three elements to any contract: offer,consideration and acceptance.I could not possibly have accepted any contract offered by the Claimant at the precise moment I drove past the ANPR cameras.An offer must be communicated to an offeree.There was no offer communicated at the entrance of the car park,but only inside it.The claimant’s signage setting out the ‘Terms and Conditions’ were dotted around the site and could not be seem immediately on entry,and I could not read them from the car .(Exhibits xx 3,4,5 & 6) .

Binding case law against this Claimant.

6. In the Court of Appeal case involving NATIONAL CAR PARKS LTD-and-THE COMMISSIONERS FOR HER MAJESTY’S REVENUE AND CUSTOMERS[2019] EWCA Civ 854,Paragraphs 18,19 and 20 of that judgement make interesting reading in regards to the information in a pay and display car park.I would suggest ParkingEye Ltd need to take heed of this binding case law and stop misleading consumers regarding the start of a pay and display parking contract,which is completely different from the free car park scenario in ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis[2015]UKSC67.(Exhibit xx 7).

6.1 Paragraphs 18,19 and 20 from that judgement make it clear the offer and acceptance takes place when the paying motorist inserts the coins and hits the button and this is the point when the contract is actually made and accepted.

6.2. Whilst the case focused upon whether VAT applied to overpayments at the machine,it was held as a matter of fact at the Court of Appeal that the contract with a paying visitor,in this type of car park,starts when payment is made:[18]”English law,of course,generally adopts an objective approach when deciding what has been agreed in a contractual context.Here it seems to me that NCP was willing to grant an hour’s parking in exchange for coins worth at least £1.40. In the hypothetical example,the precise figure was settled once the customer inserted her pound coin and 50p piece into the machine and pressed the green button rather than cancelling the transaction.On that basis,the pressing of the green button would represent acceptance by the customer of an offer by NCP to provide an hour’s parking in return Firth’s coins that the customer had by then paid into the machine...”

6.3 The Court of Appeal continued at[19]: “ This is the contractual analysis [...] If the customer nevertheless chooses to insert £1.50 and presses the green button,it remains the case that she has accepted the offer to provide an hour’s’ parking at that price.” Then at [20]: This analysis may be slightly different from that of the UT,which referred to an offer by NCP to grant the right to park for up to one hour I. Return for paying an amount between £1.40 and £2.09.In fact the offer made by NCP is more specific,to grant the right to park for an hour in return for the coins shown by the machine as having. Been inserted when the green light flashes.This is the offer the customer accepts”.

7. This confirms the trite law position,dating from as far back as Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd [1970]EWCA Civ 2,a classic example of the rule that a clause cannot be incorporated after a contract has been concluded without a reasonable notice before,and that the contract began when Mr Thornton paid and pressed the button.Given that ParkingEye Ltd use pay and dispay(PDT)machines alongside ANPR,this is a binding decision about the commencement of a contract in this type of car park,which(unlike in the Beavis case) can not possibly begin upon driving in,not least because at that point the driver has no idea whether the tariff is 50p or £50 until they stand in front of the machine and signs.

8. Contractually the Claimant’s signage did not specify that the paid for parking period included time spent finding a suitable space and then leaving the car park monitored by the ANPR cameras.Had this been clear to me,I would have ensured that I would have paid for a longer time period.In fact the opposite was communicated by ParkingEye Ltd because the PDT produced by the machine calculates an expiry time which begin at the point payment was made,and the ‘ordinary person in the street’ would expect that this receipt constituted the arming licence and timings. The British Parking Assocation (BPA)Code of Practice(CoP) is against this claim.

9. In addition to considering the contractual element of this claim,I have considered the of Code of Practice of the British Parking Assocation of which the Claimant is an accredited member.A copy of paragraph 13 of CoP(Exhibit xx 7),which relates to grace periods.In order to be an accredited member of BPA,compliance with CoP is compulsory,copy of paragraphs 4.1 and 6 of the CoP(Exhibits xx 8 & 9.)

10. In ParkingEye LTD’s information pack sent to POPLA about this case (Exhibit xx 10) they state that they have a minimum period of grace of 10 minutes on this site.If this is the case why is it not being adhered to which makes this vexatious claim invalid. 10.1 The CoP makes clear that such grace periods are to be applied both at the start of any parking period and also at the end of any parking period.The whole point of these grace periods is to allow drivers time to find a parking spot and to read the signage prior to commencement of the period of parking,and time to exit the car park once they have finished parking. 10.2The CoP requires that the final period of grace after expiry of paid for time to be “a minimum of 10 minutes”.It is worthy to note that this is a mandatory period of 10 minutes,not a maximum,and is different from the time of entry,variously described by the BPA as the ‘transaction/observation/consideration’ period for which the duration is not stipulated in the CoP because it depends on a number of factors, such as the size of the car park,how busy it is,the queues to pay,the circumstances and speed of the driver to find the correct coins as well as reading the terms and conditions of said site.

11. Helpfully,Kelvin Reynolds,BPA Director of Corporate Affairs has gone on record in an official BPA article about ‘good practice and grace periods’ (plural) that there is a difference between ‘grace periods’ and ‘observation’ periods and good practice allows for this.”Our guidance specifically says there must be sufficient time for the motorist to park their car,observe the signs,decide whether they want to comply with the operator’s conditions and either drive away or pay for a ticket,” he explains. “No time limit is specified.This is because it may take one person 5 minutes,but another person 10 minutes depending on various factors,not limited to disability “. (Exhibit. xx 11).

12. In this case,the data produced and relied upon by the Claimant shows that the period between my car entering and exiting the site was x hrs and 10 minutes.Applying the ‘minimum’ grace period of 10 minutes,which ParkingEye Ltd say they honour on this site,I have not overstayed on this car park and have not exceeded the parking licence at all.

13. The Claimant should have taken a reasonable and proportionate approach,complied with its own obligations under the BPA’s CoP (not to mention exercise common sense) and should have applied the grace periods.Furthermore,the issue the court is being asked to deal with is ‘de minimis’ and the court’s valuable time should not have been taken up with this matter.

14. I have repeatedly drawn these matters to the Claimant’s attention,but it has refused to see reason,including honouring it’s own stated grace period “of 10 minutes”.

15. The court is invited to dismiss the claim and to award my costs of attendance the hearing such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14

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


Signature of Defendant.

Name:
Date:

1505grandad

On a skim read:-

Para 6 - no "e" in judgment

para 6.2 - ".....NCP to provide an hour’s parking in return (Firth’s) coins that the customer had by then paid into the machine...”

do you mean "in return (for the) coins....."

Do not understand what para 8 is trying to say.

Para 10 - I thought para 13 of the BPA CoP dealt with grace periods

Check name of claimant on the court docs.

Cannot see re landowner authority

Also supplementary WS re new Abuse of Process etc. paras are required