Received County Court Business Centre Claim

Le_Kirk

Well, thank goodness the forms make it quite clear what to do! Anyway, as usual the NEWBIE sticky had it right.

Not_so_old_oldie

Update. Received a notice of allocation to the small claims track notification (N157).
Will be late Jan when I need to attend court. If the claimant fails to pay the £25 by 4pm on a specific day in Jan then the case will be struck out.
Here's hoping they don't pay the fee.

KeithP

Not_so_old_oldie wrote: »

Here's hoping they don't pay the fee.

You must assume that they will pay the fee and prepare accordingly, until such time that you hear otherwise from the court.

Not_so_old_oldie

VcS are taking me to court. Papers received with witness statement and evidence.
Para 1 of defence denied.
Para 2. Noted
Para 3. Signage at the car park states the max period is 2 hours. 1st hour free however motorists need to pay for second hour.
Para 4. 10 minute grace period is in operation to allow motorists to read and understand the t&c of parking. The claimant can confirm that the defendant has been given a 10 minute grace period
Para 5. Denied endorsement does constitute valid particular of claim
Claimant position is that CPR 16.4 has been complied with
Para 6-7 denied. Signage is sufficient. Signs compliant with IPC CoP and have been audited and approved by IPC
Para 8. Denied. T&C state that additional costs may be incurred. IpC CoP part E. Reasonable sum must not exceed £60.
Para 9. Denied. "Upto 1 hour - free" "2 hours - £1". Valid ticket must be purchased upon arrival for duration of stay exceeding 1 hour.

Not_so_old_oldie

IPC CoP part B, 15.1 and 15.2 state
15. Grace Periods
15.1 Drivers should be allowed a sufficient amount of time to park and read any signs so
they may make an informed decision as to whether or not to remain on the site.
15.2 Drivers should be allowed a sufficient amount of time to leave a site after a pre-paid or
permitted period of parking has expired.

Therefore, in my opinion as per the claimants statement indicates that the 15.1 grace period of 10 minutes has been applied, however no grace period has been allowed under 15.2.
Do you agree?

KeithP

You've been preparing for this since October.

You can show us your draft Witness Statement if you wish.

Do not forget your Costs Schedule.

By what date do you have to file your Witness Statement and evidence with the Court - remembering of course to serve it on the Claimant by that same date too.

Not_so_old_oldie

Witness statement due 14th Jan.

Interestingly, the evidence supplied in relation to parking signs if different to today. Additional signage has been put up since the alleged infringement.

Is anyone aware of any recent case against VCS at Barkeley Precinct based on existing signage after Nov '18 (the evidence I've been supplied with) which would have meant them increasing their signage?

KeithP

Unfortunately yours is the only post on MSE that mentions Barkeley Precinct.

However, if you were use the forum's search facility with Berkeley Precinct as the argument, you will instantly find thirty-one posts mentioning it.

Read them all. See if any are of any use to you.

Coupon-mad

You need:

- a WS debunking theirs (easy to copy from others, there are LOADS here!)

- a supplementary witness statement about the falsely added £60

- a costs schedule

...all of which are easy to search for and are required, along with mentioning and bringing to court, the CRA 2015 schedule 2 (the grey list of unfair terms), the POFA para 4(5) and the three Beavis case quotes that show a PPC cannot say the costs of the operation are not part of the parking charge, and can't collect the 'costs' twice.

You need to spend a day or two on the WS, supplementary WS, and all the proper case law and photo evidence. The court's copy should be in a ring binder folder with a contents page - and every page and piece of evidence needs a number.

If you have been off forum since October, you missed CEC16's thread. READ IT!

Not_so_old_oldie

Thanks Coupon Mad. I'll look up CEC16's thread.
In the claimants WS/evidence they have added the agreement to operate dated 18th Jan 2019. This is after the date of parking and after their first letter. I'm considering pushing the Landowner Authority
ie. the Claimant has failed to demonstrate that they have any authority to collect parking charges on the land in question at the time of the PCN. The Claimant is to put strict proof as to on what terms they are permitted to operate by the landowner by disclosing the appropriate parts of their contract, not one dated after the alleged breach.

My worry here is that I'm now relying on 1) IPC grace periods not being followed [15.1 grace period given but not 15.2] 2) Lack of explicit contract with landowner at the time (which I'd expect them to then bring to the court with the contract which was in place at the time 3) the argument (probably without merit) that at least 4 addition signs have been put up since Jan 2019 indicating that the area was incorrectly signed at the time of the PCN issued.

I feel that only the IPC guidance argument will have merit, and only then if the judge is willing to allow the IPC PoC guidelines as enforceable.