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CEL witness statement
Not_for_real
Posts: 64 Forumite
Hi all
Cold i ask for feedback on my witness statement below - i initially had this ready some months when the claim came through - defence submitted - my number one point of my defence is the grace period
i have a feeling point 14 may be irrelevant now
Claim No. XXXXXXX
Between
Civil Enforcement Limited (Claimant)
and
XXXXXXXXX (Defendant)
WITNESS STATEMENT
I, XXXXXXXXX, of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, will say as follows:
I am the Defendant in this matter. Attached to this statement is a paginated bundle of documents marked xxx to which I will refer.
1. The Claimant asserts that I entered into a contract with it, that I breached that contract and must pay a contractual charge, with further undefined and unexplained additional charges. It claims that I was in the relevant car park for a total of 1 hours and 14 minutes, when only 1 hours was permitted. It is these 14 minutes with which the Claim is concerned.
2. Before I describe what happened on the day I visited a restuarant (“the car park”), I confirm that the essence of my defence to this claim is that:
a. I did not breach the terms and conditions of parking
b. The Claimant's signage did not make it clear whether the 1 hour free parking period offered included time spent after entering the site via its ANPR cameras looking for a space and parking in it and locating and reading the terms and conditions and deciding to accept them, and time spent when leaving the site via the same cameras exiting the space, driving round the car parks narrow road and then driving out onto a public highway – a junction at a traffic light is situated 100m away. It is my case that it offered 1 hours of free parking, and that is the period I parked for. It is trite law that any uncertainty in a contract should be resolved against the person who offered it under the contra preferentem rule;
c. Even if I did breach the terms, the Claimant is obliged by the compulsory Code of Practice of its own Accredited Trade Association to apply separate grace periods of at least 10 minutes at the start and end of each period of parking to allow for potential delays in finding a space, exiting the car park and to allow time for drivers to find and read the terms and conditions offered, and the 14 minute overstay is well within these grace periods.
3. Attached is a google earth aerial photograph of the car park which shows there was no signage on the entrance near the time of said contraventation and a photograph showing the Civil Enforcement Limited have seen erected a sign outlining its terms and conditions. The Claimant's ANPR machine is, I believe, almost next to the junction to the exit road. Also, shown is the layout of car park and the narrow space with which one needs to manoeuver and avoid an road traffic collision.
4. After driving in past the ANPR cameras at the entrance, it took me a few minutes to find a space and park in it as the car park was quite busy. I remember waiting for a few other cars to manoeuvre in and out of spaces before parking myself. When I got out of the car, I walked over to the closest parking sign to read it. I estimate that this took 3-4 minutes, possibly a little more. The sign and where I parked my car are marked on the aerial photograph at pages 1 & 2 of TH1 in red. The sign stated that there was a free 1 hour period of parking. I visited the restaurant which had delays of its own. All effort was made t return to the car within the 1 hours witch kids and ensuring they were in their car seats and seatbelts done
5. It is my understanding that there are three elements to a contract: offer, acceptance and consideration. I could not possibly have accepted any contract offered by the Claimant at the precise moment I drove through the ANPR cameras, at the start of minute 1 of the 1 hours and 14 minutes period, because at that point no offer had been made. An offer must be communicated to an offeree. There was no offer communicated at the entrance to the car park, but only once I was inside it - the Claimant’s signage setting out the terms and conditions were dotted around the site and could not be seen immediately on entry, and I could not read them from my car. It took me 3-4 minutes to drive in, find a space, find a sign, read it and decide to avail myself of the parking. At that point I say an offer was made (insofar as the sign was capable of making an offer), and I accepted it.
6. Since no contractual terms were offered until I had read the sign, that leaves the remaining 10 minutes of my alleged overstay.
7. When I returned to my car, the car park was very busy. I know that I reached my car within the 1 hour limit, because I was mindful of the time and the need to return home with the children. I did not remain parked when I returned to the car, I got straight in it, fasten the seatbelts to the children in their car seats and drove off, and at that point I was no longer making use of the car parking facility, but was exiting the car park.
8. It took me a long time to reach the exit road and then drive out onto the public highway (marked in green), because I had to navigate a narrow space with cars parked in bays and along the kerb , stopping along the way to allow other cars to get in / out of spaces and out of junctions within the car park, and when I reached the exit, there was a traffic jam leading to the carriageway. The exit is at an intersect of the main road (insert Named Road) and on the day it was heavily congested which meant the traffic was almost at a standstill leading up to the traffic light at the crossroad. There were a lot of cars stuck inside the car park waiting to get out. I estimate that it took me around 10 minutes to get to the exit road and out of the car park, past the ANPR cameras.
9. I was not familiar with the car park layout or how busy the road outside it could be. The fact is that I returned to my car and drove it away from where it was parked within the 1 hour period and made every effort to exit the car park in a timely manner. I was delayed because of reasons beyond my control (the traffic jams both inside the carpark and on the public highway outside) and I could not have anticipated them. The entirety of the final 10 minutes spent in the car park were spent trying to exit it. The Claimant, a company which manages the car park, should be aware of these issues and should make reasonable allowances for the foreseeable delays users may experience in exiting the car park.
10. Contractually, the Claimant’s signage did not specify that the 1 hours of free parking included time spent finding a space and then leaving the car park via the ANPR cameras. Had this been clear to me, I would have returned to the car earlier. Of the 14 minute alleged overstay, 3-4 minutes (possibly more) were spent in the car park prior to any contract being formed. The 10 minute delay in leaving at the end of the 1 hours was beyond my control and unforeseeable. I made all reasonable endeavours to leave the car park and to remain parked for only 1 hours.
11. In addition to considering the contractual element of the claim, I have considered the Code of Practice ("CoP") of the British Parking Association ("BPA"), of which the Claimant is an accredited member. A copy of paragraph 13 of the CoP, which relates to grace periods. In order to be an accredited member of the BPA, compliance with the CoP is compulsory, and a copy of paragraphs 4.1 and 6 of the CoP is at pages xxx. The significance of being a member of the BPA and subscribing to its CoP is that the Claimant is only entitled to ask the DVLA for the details of a car’s registered keeper if it is a member (so without membership a private parking company would not be able to function without the ability to trace drivers/registered keepers).
12. Paragraph 13 of the CoP clearly states that a grace period is to be applied to parking. 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 space and to read the signage prior to commencement of the period of parking, and time to exit the carpark once they have finished parking. Grace periods are not defined, but the CoP requires them to be "a minimum of 10 minutes" either side of the actual parking (paragraphs 13.2 and 13.4). It is worthy of note that the recommendation is a minimum of 10 minutes, not a maximum.
13. There is no explanation for why the Claimant has declined to apply any grace period at all in my case, which is a clear breach of the CoP.
14. In the now infamous parking case of Cavendish Square Holdings BV v Talal El Makdessi; ParkingEye Limited v Beavis, the Supreme Court made clear in its judgment that strict compliance with the CoP is paramount where a Claimant seeks to enforce a private parking charge. Paragraphs 96 and 111 of the judgment stated:
96. ''The BPA Code of Practice is a detailed code of regulation governing signs, charges and enforcement procedures.''
111. “''And, while the Code of Practice is not a contractual document, it is in practice binding on the operator since its existence and observance is a condition of his ability to obtain details of the registered keeper from the DVLA. In assessing the fairness of a term, it cannot be right to ignore the regulatory framework which determines how and in what circumstances it may be enforced.'' (emphasis added).
15. In this case, the data produced and relied upon by the Claimant shows that the period passing between my car entering and leaving via the ANPR cameras was 14 minutes. Applying the "minimum" 10 minutes either side of the parking, the minimum total grace period I should have been allowed by the Claimant under its own compulsory CoP was 20 minutes. I was therefore well within the grace period. Whilst I accept that following the parking I was on site for around 10 minutes, this was because of the heavy traffic both inside and outside the carpark, a matter which was outside of my control. The Claimant should have taken a reasonable and proportionate approach, complied with its own obligations under the CoP (not to mention exercised common sense) and should have applied the grace period, particularly in light of the potential bottleneck at the roundabout at the exit from the car park. 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.
16. I have repeatedly drawn these matters to the Claimant's attention, but it has refused to see reason, including applying an appropriate grace period of "a minimum of 10 minutes" before and after parking, which it is actually obliged to do by its compulsory CoP.
The Court is invited to dismiss the claim and to award my costs of dealing with this claim and attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14.
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
Signature of Defendant:
Cold i ask for feedback on my witness statement below - i initially had this ready some months when the claim came through - defence submitted - my number one point of my defence is the grace period
i have a feeling point 14 may be irrelevant now
Claim No. XXXXXXX
Between
Civil Enforcement Limited (Claimant)
and
XXXXXXXXX (Defendant)
WITNESS STATEMENT
I, XXXXXXXXX, of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, will say as follows:
I am the Defendant in this matter. Attached to this statement is a paginated bundle of documents marked xxx to which I will refer.
1. The Claimant asserts that I entered into a contract with it, that I breached that contract and must pay a contractual charge, with further undefined and unexplained additional charges. It claims that I was in the relevant car park for a total of 1 hours and 14 minutes, when only 1 hours was permitted. It is these 14 minutes with which the Claim is concerned.
2. Before I describe what happened on the day I visited a restuarant (“the car park”), I confirm that the essence of my defence to this claim is that:
a. I did not breach the terms and conditions of parking
b. The Claimant's signage did not make it clear whether the 1 hour free parking period offered included time spent after entering the site via its ANPR cameras looking for a space and parking in it and locating and reading the terms and conditions and deciding to accept them, and time spent when leaving the site via the same cameras exiting the space, driving round the car parks narrow road and then driving out onto a public highway – a junction at a traffic light is situated 100m away. It is my case that it offered 1 hours of free parking, and that is the period I parked for. It is trite law that any uncertainty in a contract should be resolved against the person who offered it under the contra preferentem rule;
c. Even if I did breach the terms, the Claimant is obliged by the compulsory Code of Practice of its own Accredited Trade Association to apply separate grace periods of at least 10 minutes at the start and end of each period of parking to allow for potential delays in finding a space, exiting the car park and to allow time for drivers to find and read the terms and conditions offered, and the 14 minute overstay is well within these grace periods.
3. Attached is a google earth aerial photograph of the car park which shows there was no signage on the entrance near the time of said contraventation and a photograph showing the Civil Enforcement Limited have seen erected a sign outlining its terms and conditions. The Claimant's ANPR machine is, I believe, almost next to the junction to the exit road. Also, shown is the layout of car park and the narrow space with which one needs to manoeuver and avoid an road traffic collision.
4. After driving in past the ANPR cameras at the entrance, it took me a few minutes to find a space and park in it as the car park was quite busy. I remember waiting for a few other cars to manoeuvre in and out of spaces before parking myself. When I got out of the car, I walked over to the closest parking sign to read it. I estimate that this took 3-4 minutes, possibly a little more. The sign and where I parked my car are marked on the aerial photograph at pages 1 & 2 of TH1 in red. The sign stated that there was a free 1 hour period of parking. I visited the restaurant which had delays of its own. All effort was made t return to the car within the 1 hours witch kids and ensuring they were in their car seats and seatbelts done
5. It is my understanding that there are three elements to a contract: offer, acceptance and consideration. I could not possibly have accepted any contract offered by the Claimant at the precise moment I drove through the ANPR cameras, at the start of minute 1 of the 1 hours and 14 minutes period, because at that point no offer had been made. An offer must be communicated to an offeree. There was no offer communicated at the entrance to the car park, but only once I was inside it - the Claimant’s signage setting out the terms and conditions were dotted around the site and could not be seen immediately on entry, and I could not read them from my car. It took me 3-4 minutes to drive in, find a space, find a sign, read it and decide to avail myself of the parking. At that point I say an offer was made (insofar as the sign was capable of making an offer), and I accepted it.
6. Since no contractual terms were offered until I had read the sign, that leaves the remaining 10 minutes of my alleged overstay.
7. When I returned to my car, the car park was very busy. I know that I reached my car within the 1 hour limit, because I was mindful of the time and the need to return home with the children. I did not remain parked when I returned to the car, I got straight in it, fasten the seatbelts to the children in their car seats and drove off, and at that point I was no longer making use of the car parking facility, but was exiting the car park.
8. It took me a long time to reach the exit road and then drive out onto the public highway (marked in green), because I had to navigate a narrow space with cars parked in bays and along the kerb , stopping along the way to allow other cars to get in / out of spaces and out of junctions within the car park, and when I reached the exit, there was a traffic jam leading to the carriageway. The exit is at an intersect of the main road (insert Named Road) and on the day it was heavily congested which meant the traffic was almost at a standstill leading up to the traffic light at the crossroad. There were a lot of cars stuck inside the car park waiting to get out. I estimate that it took me around 10 minutes to get to the exit road and out of the car park, past the ANPR cameras.
9. I was not familiar with the car park layout or how busy the road outside it could be. The fact is that I returned to my car and drove it away from where it was parked within the 1 hour period and made every effort to exit the car park in a timely manner. I was delayed because of reasons beyond my control (the traffic jams both inside the carpark and on the public highway outside) and I could not have anticipated them. The entirety of the final 10 minutes spent in the car park were spent trying to exit it. The Claimant, a company which manages the car park, should be aware of these issues and should make reasonable allowances for the foreseeable delays users may experience in exiting the car park.
10. Contractually, the Claimant’s signage did not specify that the 1 hours of free parking included time spent finding a space and then leaving the car park via the ANPR cameras. Had this been clear to me, I would have returned to the car earlier. Of the 14 minute alleged overstay, 3-4 minutes (possibly more) were spent in the car park prior to any contract being formed. The 10 minute delay in leaving at the end of the 1 hours was beyond my control and unforeseeable. I made all reasonable endeavours to leave the car park and to remain parked for only 1 hours.
11. In addition to considering the contractual element of the claim, I have considered the Code of Practice ("CoP") of the British Parking Association ("BPA"), of which the Claimant is an accredited member. A copy of paragraph 13 of the CoP, which relates to grace periods. In order to be an accredited member of the BPA, compliance with the CoP is compulsory, and a copy of paragraphs 4.1 and 6 of the CoP is at pages xxx. The significance of being a member of the BPA and subscribing to its CoP is that the Claimant is only entitled to ask the DVLA for the details of a car’s registered keeper if it is a member (so without membership a private parking company would not be able to function without the ability to trace drivers/registered keepers).
12. Paragraph 13 of the CoP clearly states that a grace period is to be applied to parking. 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 space and to read the signage prior to commencement of the period of parking, and time to exit the carpark once they have finished parking. Grace periods are not defined, but the CoP requires them to be "a minimum of 10 minutes" either side of the actual parking (paragraphs 13.2 and 13.4). It is worthy of note that the recommendation is a minimum of 10 minutes, not a maximum.
13. There is no explanation for why the Claimant has declined to apply any grace period at all in my case, which is a clear breach of the CoP.
14. In the now infamous parking case of Cavendish Square Holdings BV v Talal El Makdessi; ParkingEye Limited v Beavis, the Supreme Court made clear in its judgment that strict compliance with the CoP is paramount where a Claimant seeks to enforce a private parking charge. Paragraphs 96 and 111 of the judgment stated:
96. ''The BPA Code of Practice is a detailed code of regulation governing signs, charges and enforcement procedures.''
111. “''And, while the Code of Practice is not a contractual document, it is in practice binding on the operator since its existence and observance is a condition of his ability to obtain details of the registered keeper from the DVLA. In assessing the fairness of a term, it cannot be right to ignore the regulatory framework which determines how and in what circumstances it may be enforced.'' (emphasis added).
15. In this case, the data produced and relied upon by the Claimant shows that the period passing between my car entering and leaving via the ANPR cameras was 14 minutes. Applying the "minimum" 10 minutes either side of the parking, the minimum total grace period I should have been allowed by the Claimant under its own compulsory CoP was 20 minutes. I was therefore well within the grace period. Whilst I accept that following the parking I was on site for around 10 minutes, this was because of the heavy traffic both inside and outside the carpark, a matter which was outside of my control. The Claimant should have taken a reasonable and proportionate approach, complied with its own obligations under the CoP (not to mention exercised common sense) and should have applied the grace period, particularly in light of the potential bottleneck at the roundabout at the exit from the car park. 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.
16. I have repeatedly drawn these matters to the Claimant's attention, but it has refused to see reason, including applying an appropriate grace period of "a minimum of 10 minutes" before and after parking, which it is actually obliged to do by its compulsory CoP.
The Court is invited to dismiss the claim and to award my costs of dealing with this claim and attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14.
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
Signature of Defendant:
0
Comments
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Cel will have added spurious costs and charges to their claim, so add the abuse of process paragraphs by coupon mad posted in the thread by beamerguy to the WS
Add your exhibits mentioned in the WS and label them with initials plus a number, like jps001, jps002 etc
Add your costs schedule to the bundle as well0 -
Point 14 is very relevant, especially today! But I don't think the Judge would be overly impressed by your veiled disrespect for the decision of the highest court in the land by describing it as 'infamous'. While we might agree, sounding off on that before a Judge obliged to follow The Supreme Court's decision is not a wise tactic. Why not use 'well known' instead?i have a feeling point 14 may be irrelevant nowPlease note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
As Umkomaas says, we must respect the Supreme court
However, whatever the Supreme Court ruled, they did not rule on parking companies adding fake charges to their claim.
As such, any PPC quoting the Beavis case is totally pointless
Assume CEL added a fake £60 ??
ABUSE OF PROCESS
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/60140810 -
As Umkomaas says, we must respect the Supreme court
Certainly in any legal pleadings.
We can still have a pop at the decision here - after all it is the root of almost every private parking small claim currently swamping county courtrooms across England and Wales and sending forum work levels into the stratosphere!
Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
Have you read these.
https://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2014/03/waiting-for-space-is-not-parking.html
https://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2014/04/transcript-donated-approved-judgment.html
Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP.
Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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.You never know how far you can go until you go too far.0 -
Thanks all I did think the wording was a bit much will amend. Add paragraph on abuse and detail my costs (seen an example here somewhere) and will post a revised version later on0
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The costs schedule is an additional document, added to your bundle, which also includes your evidence as well , 3 items in total, plus take evidence of wages such as payslips on the hearing date, plus evidence of costs like petrol and parking
Ie , it's not just your WS that you are doing0 -
Revised ws
Claim No. XXXXXXX
Between
Civil Enforcement Limited (Claimant)
and
XXXXXXXXX (Defendant)
WITNESS STATEMENT
I, XXXXXXXXX, of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, will say as follows:
I am the Defendant in this matter. Attached to this statement is a paginated bundle of documents marked xxx to which I will refer.
1. The Claimant asserts that I entered into a contract with it, that I breached that contract and must pay a contractual charge, with further undefined and unexplained additional charges. It claims that I was in the relevant car park for a total of 1 hours and 14 minutes, when only 1 hours was permitted. It is these 14 minutes with which the Claim is concerned.
2. Before I describe what happened on the day I visited a restuarant (“the car park”), I confirm that the essence of my defence to this claim is that:
a. I did not breach the terms and conditions of parking
b. The Claimant's signage did not make it clear whether the 1 hour free parking period offered included time spent after entering the site via its ANPR cameras looking for a space and parking in it and locating and reading the terms and conditions and deciding to accept them, and time spent when leaving the site via the same cameras exiting the space, driving round the car parks narrow road and then driving out onto a public highway – a junction at a traffic light is situated 100m away. It is my case that it offered 1 hours of free parking, and that is the period I parked for. It is trite law that any uncertainty in a contract should be resolved against the person who offered it under the contra preferentem rule;
c. Even if I did breach the terms, the Claimant is obliged by the compulsory Code of Practice of its own Accredited Trade Association to apply separate grace periods of at least 10 minutes at the start and end of each period of parking to allow for potential delays in finding a space, exiting the car park and to allow time for drivers to find and read the terms and conditions offered, and the 14 minute overstay is well within these grace periods.
3. Attached is a google earth aerial photograph of the car park which shows there was no signage on the entrance near the time of said contraventation and a photograph showing the Civil Enforcement Limited have seen erected a sign outlining its terms and conditions. The Claimant's ANPR machine is, I believe, almost next to the junction to the exit road. Also, shown is the layout of car park and the narrow space with which one needs to manoeuver and avoid an road traffic collision.
4. After driving in past the ANPR cameras at the entrance, it took me a few minutes to find a space and park in it as the car park was quite busy. I remember waiting for a few other cars to manoeuvre in and out of spaces before parking myself. When I got out of the car, I walked over to the closest parking sign to read it. I estimate that this took 3-4 minutes, possibly a little more. The sign and where I parked my car are marked on the aerial photograph at pages 1 & 2 of TH1 in red. The sign stated that there was a free 1 hour period of parking. I visited the restaurant which had delays of its own. All effort was made t return to the car within the 1 hours witch kids and ensuring they were in their car seats and seatbelts done
5. It is my understanding that there are three elements to a contract: offer, acceptance and consideration. I could not possibly have accepted any contract offered by the Claimant at the precise moment I drove through the ANPR cameras, at the start of minute 1 of the 1 hours and 14 minutes period, because at that point no offer had been made. An offer must be communicated to an offeree. There was no offer communicated at the entrance to the car park, but only once I was inside it - the Claimant’s signage setting out the terms and conditions were dotted around the site and could not be seen immediately on entry, and I could not read them from my car. It took me 3-4 minutes to drive in, find a space, find a sign, read it and decide to avail myself of the parking. At that point I say an offer was made (insofar as the sign was capable of making an offer), and I accepted it.
6. Since no contractual terms were offered until I had read the sign, that leaves the remaining 10 minutes of my alleged overstay.
7. When I returned to my car, the car park was very busy. I know that I reached my car within the 1 hour limit, because I was mindful of the time and the need to return home with the children. I did not remain parked when I returned to the car, I got straight in it, fasten the seatbelts to the children in their car seats and drove off, and at that point I was no longer making use of the car parking facility, but was exiting the car park.
8. It took me a long time to reach the exit road and then drive out onto the public highway (marked in green), because I had to navigate a narrow space with cars parked in bays and along the kerb , stopping along the way to allow other cars to get in / out of spaces and out of junctions within the car park, and when I reached the exit, there was a traffic jam leading to the carriageway. The exit is at an intersect of the main road (insert Named Road) and on the day it was heavily congested which meant the traffic was almost at a standstill leading up to the traffic light at the crossroad. There were a lot of cars stuck inside the car park waiting to get out. I estimate that it took me around 10 minutes to get to the exit road and out of the car park, past the ANPR cameras.
9. I was not familiar with the car park layout or how busy the road outside it could be. The fact is that I returned to my car and drove it away from where it was parked within the 1 hour period and made every effort to exit the car park in a timely manner. I was delayed because of reasons beyond my control (the traffic jams both inside the carpark and on the public highway outside) and I could not have anticipated them. The entirety of the final 10 minutes spent in the car park were spent trying to exit it. The Claimant, a company which manages the car park, should be aware of these issues and should make reasonable allowances for the foreseeable delays users may experience in exiting the car park.
10. Contractually, the Claimant’s signage did not specify that the 1 hours of free parking included time spent finding a space and then leaving the car park via the ANPR cameras. Had this been clear to me, I would have returned to the car earlier. Of the 14 minute alleged overstay, 3-4 minutes (possibly more) were spent in the car park prior to any contract being formed. The 10 minute delay in leaving at the end of the 1 hours was beyond my control and unforeseeable. I made all reasonable endeavours to leave the car park and to remain parked for only 1 hours.
11. In addition to considering the contractual element of the claim, I have considered the Code of Practice ("CoP") of the British Parking Association ("BPA"), of which the Claimant is an accredited member. A copy of paragraph 13 of the CoP, which relates to grace periods. In order to be an accredited member of the BPA, compliance with the CoP is compulsory, and a copy of paragraphs 4.1 and 6 of the CoP is at pages xxx. The significance of being a member of the BPA and subscribing to its CoP is that the Claimant is only entitled to ask the DVLA for the details of a car’s registered keeper if it is a member (so without membership a private parking company would not be able to function without the ability to trace drivers/registered keepers).
12. Paragraph 13 of the CoP clearly states that a grace period is to be applied to parking. 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 space and to read the signage prior to commencement of the period of parking, and time to exit the carpark once they have finished parking. Grace periods are not defined, but the CoP requires them to be "a minimum of 10 minutes" either side of the actual parking (paragraphs 13.2 and 13.4). It is worthy of note that the recommendation is a minimum of 10 minutes, not a maximum.
13. There is no explanation for why the Claimant has declined to apply any grace period at all in my case, which is a clear breach of the CoP.
14. In the well known parking case of Cavendish Square Holdings BV v Talal El Makdessi; ParkingEye Limited v Beavis, the Supreme Court made clear in its judgment that strict compliance with the CoP is paramount where a Claimant seeks to enforce a private parking charge. Paragraphs 96 and 111 of the judgment stated:
96. ''The BPA Code of Practice is a detailed code of regulation governing signs, charges and enforcement procedures.''
111. “''And, while the Code of Practice is not a contractual document, it is in practice binding on the operator since its existence and observance is a condition of his ability to obtain details of the registered keeper from the DVLA. In assessing the fairness of a term, it cannot be right to ignore the regulatory framework which determines how and in what circumstances it may be enforced.'' (emphasis added).
15. In this case, the data produced and relied upon by the Claimant shows that the period passing between my car entering and leaving via the ANPR cameras was 14 minutes. Applying the "minimum" 10 minutes either side of the parking, the minimum total grace period I should have been allowed by the Claimant under its own compulsory CoP was 20 minutes. I was therefore well within the grace period. Whilst I accept that following the parking I was on site for around 10 minutes, this was because of the heavy traffic both inside and outside the carpark, a matter which was outside of my control. The Claimant should have taken a reasonable and proportionate approach, complied with its own obligations under the CoP (not to mention exercised common sense) and should have applied the grace period, particularly in light of the potential bottleneck at the roundabout at the exit from the car park. 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.
16. The Claimant's has refused to see reason, by applying an appropriate grace period of "a minimum of 10 minutes" before and after parking, which it is actually obliged to do by its compulsory CoP.
Costs on the claim - disproportionate and disingenuous
17. CPR 44.3 (2) states: ''Where the amount of costs is to be assessed on the standard basis, the court will –
(a) only allow costs which are proportionate to the matters in issue. Costs which are disproportionate in amount may be disallowed or reduced even if they were reasonably or necessarily incurred; and
(b) resolve any doubt which it may have as to whether costs were reasonably and proportionately incurred or were reasonable and proportionate in amount in favour of the paying party.
18. Whilst quantified costs can be considered on a standard basis, this Claimant's purported costs are wholly disproportionate and do not stand up to scrutiny. In fact it is averred that the Claimant has not paid or incurred such damages/costs or 'legal fees' at all. Any debt collection letters were a standard feature of a low cost business model and are already counted within the parking charge itself.
19. The Parking Eye Ltd v Beavis case is the authority for recovery of the parking charge itself and no more, since that sum (£85 in Beavis) was held to already incorporate the minor costs of an automated private parking business model. There are no losses or damages caused by this business model and the Supreme Court Judges held that a parking firm not in possession cannot plead any part of their case in damages. It is indisputable that the alleged 'parking charge' itself is a sum which the Supreme Court found is already inflated to more than comfortably cover the cost of all letters.
20. Any purported 'legal costs' are also made up out of thin air. Given the fact that robo-claim solicitors and parking firms process tens of thousands of claims handled by an admin team or paralegals, the Defendant avers that no solicitor is likely to have supervised this current batch of cut & paste claims. The court is invited to note that no named Solicitor has signed the Particulars, in breach of Practice Direction 22, and rendering the statement of truth a nullity.
21. According to Ladak v DRC Locums UKEAT/0488/13/LA a Claimant can only recover the direct and provable costsof the time spent preparing the claim in a legal capacity, not any administration costs allegedly incurred by already remunerated administrative staff.
22. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 (POFA) makes it clear that the will of Parliament regarding parking on private land is that the only sum potentially able to be recovered is the sum in any compliant 'Notice to Keeper' (and the ceiling for a 'parking charge', as set by the Trade Bodies and the DVLA, is £100). This also depends upon the Claimant fully complying with the statute, including 'adequate notice' of the parking charge and prescribed documents served in time/with mandatory wording. It is submitted the claimant has failed on all counts and the Claimant is well aware their artificially inflated claim, as pleaded, constitutes double recovery.
23. Judges have disallowed all added parking firm 'costs' in County courts up and down the Country. In Claim number F0DP201T on 10th June 2019, District Judge Taylor sitting at the County Court at Southampton, echoed an earlier General Judgment or Order of DJ Grand, who on 21st February 2019 sitting at the Newport (IOW) County Court, had struck out a parking firm claim. One was a BPA member serial Claimant (Britannia, using BW Legal's robo-claim model) and one an IPC member serial Claimant (UKCPM, using Gladstones' robo-claim model) yet the Order was identical in striking out both claims without a hearing:
''IT IS ORDERED THAT The claim is struck out as an abuse of process. The claim contains a substantial charge additional to the parking charge which it is alleged the Defendant contracted to pay. This additional charge is not recoverable under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 nor with reference to the judgment in ParkingEye v Beavis. It is an abuse of process from the Claimant to issue a knowingly inflated claim for an additional sum which it is not entitled to recover. This order has been made by the court of its own initiative without a hearing pursuant to CPR Rule 3.3(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998...''
24. In summary, the Claimant's particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed and it is the Defendant's position that the poorly pleaded claim discloses no cause of action and no liability in law for any sum at all. The Claimant's vexatious conduct from the outset has been intimidating, misleading and indeed mendacious in terms of the added costs alleged.
25. there are several options available within the Courts' case management powers to prevent vexatious litigants pursuing a wide range of individuals for matters which are near-identical, with meritless claims and artificially inflated costs. The Defendant is of the view that private parking firms operate as vexatious litigants and that relief from sanctions should be refused.
26. which it is not entitled to recover. This order has been made by the court of its own initiative without a hearing pursuant to CPR Rule 3.3(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998...''
The Court is invited to dismiss the claim and to award my costs of dealing with this claim and attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14.
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
Signature of Defendant:
Name: XXXXXXX0 -
Before It is ordered , add something like
The judges stated
Plus you have ignored by advice on referencing your exhibits , despite adding abuse of process which I mentioned
Ie , it says Attached is a picture ((or photograph) but does not ID the picture with a personal reference like TMG001 if your name was Thomas Michael Grant for example
Point 10 talk's about the claimants signage , but no reference to any picture of the signage
We should not have to repeat ourselves when providing advice
Here is how it should look , with picture references identified clearly
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/596961230 -
Following RedX advice above
amended WS
Claim No. XXXXXXX
Between
Civil Enforcement Limited (Claimant)
and
XXXXXXXXX (Defendant)
WITNESS STATEMENT
I, XXXXXXXXX, of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, will say as follows:
I am the Defendant in this matter. Attached to this statement is a paginated bundle of documents marked Exhibit NFR001-010 to which I will refer.
NFR001/A PHOTO OF NO SIGNAGE AT ENTRANCE AT TIME OF INCIDENT
AND SIGNAGE AT ENTRACE AT LATER DATE
NFR002 GOOGLE AERIAL PHOTO OF CAR PARK - ENTRANCE
NFR003 PHOTO OF CARPARK LAYOUT
NFR004 – LETTER RECEIVED FROM CLAIMANT SHOWING PHOTO OF VEHICLE ENTERING AND EXITING CAR PARK
NFR005 – 008 PHOTO OF SIGNS AT THE SITE AS CURRENT NEAR VEHICLE
NFR009 BPA CODE OF PRACTICE PARAGRAPH 13
NFR010 BPA CODE OF PRACTICE PARAGRAPH 4.1 AND 6
NFR011 A COPY OF SCHEDULE 4 OF THE POFA
NFR012 MY COST SCHEDULE
1. The Claimant asserts that I entered into a contract with it, that I breached that contract and must pay a contractual charge, with further undefined and unexplained additional charges. It claims that I was in the relevant car park for a total of 1 hours and 14 minutes, when only 1 hours was permitted. It is these 14 minutes with which the Claim is concerned.
2. Before I describe what happened on the day, I visited a restaurant (“the car park”), I confirm that the essence of my defence to this claim is that:
a. I did not breach the terms and conditions of parking
b. The Claimant's signage did not make it clear whether the 1 hour free parking period offered included time spent after entering the site via its ANPR cameras looking for a space and parking in it and locating and reading the terms and conditions and deciding to accept them, and time spent when leaving the site via the same cameras exiting the space, driving round the car parks narrow road and then driving out onto a public highway – a junction at a traffic light is situated 100m away. (Exhibit 001). It is my case that it offered 1 hours of free parking, and that is the period I parked for. It is trite law that any uncertainty in a contract should be resolved against the person who offered it under the contra preferentem rule;
c. Even if I did breach the terms, the Claimant is obliged by the compulsory Code of Practice of its own Accredited Trade Association to apply separate grace periods of at least 10 minutes at the start and end of each period of parking to allow for potential delays in finding a space, exiting the car park and to allow time for drivers to find and read the terms and conditions offered, and the 14 minute overstay is well within these grace periods.
3. Attached (Exhibit NFR002) is a google earth aerial photograph of the car park which shows there was no signage on the entrance near the time of said contravention and a photograph showing the Civil Enforcement Limited have seen erected a sign outlining its terms and conditions. The Claimant's ANPR machine is, I believe, almost next to the junction to the exit road (Exhibit NFR001). Since going back to the site in question, a sign has been erected at the entrance (Exhibit NR001b) Also, shown is the layout of car park and the narrow space with which one needs to manoeuvre and avoid a road traffic collision (Exhibit NFR003)
4. After driving in past the ANPR cameras at the entrance, it took me a few minutes to find a space and park in it as the car park was quite busy. Exhibit NFR004 is a letter received by the claimant and showing photo of the vehicle entering and exiting the car park. I remember waiting for a few other cars to manoeuvre in and out of spaces before parking myself. When I got out of the car, I walked over to the closest parking sign to read it. I estimate that this took 3-4 minutes, possibly a little more. The sign and where I parked my car are marked on the aerial photograph on Exhibit NFR003 in red. The sign stated that there was a free 1 hour period of parking. I visited the restaurant which had delays of its own. All effort was made to return to the car within the 1 hours with kids and ensuring they were in their car seats and seatbelts done
5. It is my understanding that there are three elements to a contract: offer, acceptance and consideration. I could not possibly have accepted any contract offered by the Claimant at the precise moment I drove through the ANPR cameras, at the start of minute 1 of the 1 hours and 14 minutes period, because at that point no offer had been made. An offer must be communicated to an offeree. There was no offer communicated at the entrance to the car park, but only once I was inside it - the Claimant’s signage setting out the terms and conditions were dotted around the site and could not be seen immediately on entry (Exhibit NFR002), and I could not read them from my car. It took me 3-4 minutes to drive in, find a space, find a sign, read it and decide to avail myself of the parking. At that point I say an offer was made (insofar as the sign was capable of making an offer), and I accepted it.
6. Since no contractual terms were offered until I had read the sign, that leaves the remaining 10 minutes of my alleged overstay.
7. When I returned to my car, the car park was very busy. I know that I reached my car within the 1hour limit, because I was mindful of the time and the need to return home with the children. I did not remain parked when I returned to the car, I got straight in it, fasten the seatbelts to the children in their car seats and drove off, and at that point I was no longer making use of the car parking facility, but was exiting the car park.
8. It took me a long time to reach the exit road and then drive out onto the public highway (see Exhibit NFR001 and NFR002), because I had to navigate a narrow space with cars parked in bays and along the kerbs, stopping along the way to allow other cars to get in / out of spaces and out of junctions within the car park, and when I reached the exit, there was a traffic jam leading to the carriageway. The exit is at an intersect of the main road (insert Named Road) and on the day it was heavily congested which meant the traffic was almost at a standstill leading up to the traffic light at the crossroad. There were a lot of cars stuck inside the car park waiting to get out. I estimate that it took me around 10 minutes to get to the exit road and out of the car park, past the ANPR cameras.
9. I was not familiar with the car park layout or how busy the road outside it could be. The fact is that I returned to my car and drove it away from where it was parked within the 1 hour period and made every effort to exit the car park in a timely manner. I was delayed because of reasons beyond my control (the traffic jams both inside the carpark and on the public highway outside) and I could not have anticipated them. The entirety of the final 10 minutes spent in the car park were spent trying to exit it. The Claimant, a company which manages the car park, should be aware of these issues and should make reasonable allowances for the foreseeable delay’s users may experience in exiting the car park.
10. Contractually, the Claimant’s signage (Exhibit 005 – 008) did not specify that the 1 hours of free parking included time spent finding a space and then leaving the car park via the ANPR cameras. Had this been clear to me, I would have returned to the car earlier. Of the 14 minute alleged overstay, 3-4 minutes (possibly more) were spent in the car park prior to any contract being formed. The 10 minute delay in leaving at the end of the 1 hours was beyond my control and unforeseeable. I made all reasonable endeavours to leave the car park and to remain parked for only 1 hours.
11. In addition to considering the contractual element of the claim, I have considered the Code of Practice ("CoP") of the British Parking Association ("BPA"), of which the Claimant is an accredited member. A copy of paragraph 13 of the CoP (Exhibit 009), which relates to grace periods. In order to be an accredited member of the BPA, compliance with the CoP is compulsory, and a copy of paragraphs 4.1 and 6 of the CoP is at Exhibit 010. The significance of being a member of the BPA and subscribing to its CoP is that the Claimant is only entitled to ask the DVLA for the details of a car’s registered keeper if it is a member (so without membership a private parking company would not be able to function without the ability to trace drivers/registered keepers).
12. Paragraph 13 of the CoP clearly states that a grace period is to be applied to parking. 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 space and to read the signage prior to commencement of the period of parking, and time to exit the carpark once they have finished parking. Grace periods are not defined, but the CoP requires them to be "a minimum of 10 minutes" either side of the actual parking (paragraphs 13.2 and 13.4). It is worthy of note that the recommendation is a minimum of 10 minutes, not a maximum.
13. There is no explanation for why the Claimant has declined to apply any grace period at all in my case, which is a clear breach of the CoP.
14. In the well-known parking case of Cavendish Square Holdings BV v Talal El Makdessi; ParkingEye Limited v Beavis, the Supreme Court made clear in its judgment that strict compliance with the CoP is paramount where a Claimant seeks to enforce a private parking charge. Paragraphs 96 and 111 of the judgment stated:
96. ''The BPA Code of Practice is a detailed code of regulation governing signs, charges and enforcement procedures.''
111. “''And, while the Code of Practice is not a contractual document, it is in practice binding on the operator since its existence and observance is a condition of his ability to obtain details of the registered keeper from the DVLA. In assessing the fairness of a term, it cannot be right to ignore the regulatory framework which determines how and in what circumstances it may be enforced.'' (emphasis added).
15. In this case, the data produced and relied upon by the Claimant shows that the period passing between my car entering and leaving via the ANPR cameras was 14 minutes. Applying the "minimum" 10 minutes either side of the parking, the minimum total grace period I should have been allowed by the Claimant under its own compulsory CoP was 20 minutes. I was therefore well within the grace period. Whilst I accept that following the parking, I was on site for around 10 minutes, this was because of the heavy traffic both inside and outside the carpark, a matter which was outside of my control. The Claimant should have taken a reasonable and proportionate approach, complied with its own obligations under the CoP (not to mention exercised common sense) and should have applied the grace period, particularly in light of the potential bottleneck at the junction between the exit of the car park and the main road (Insert named road here). 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.
16. The Claimant's has refused to see reason, by applying an appropriate grace period of "a minimum of 10 minutes" before and after parking, which it is actually obliged to do by its compulsory CoP.
Costs on the claim - disproportionate and disingenuous
17. CPR 44.3 (2) states: ''Where the amount of costs is to be assessed on the standard basis, the court will –
(a) only allow costs which are proportionate to the matters in issue. Costs which are disproportionate in amount may be disallowed or reduced even if they were reasonably or necessarily incurred; and
(b) resolve any doubt which it may have as to whether costs were reasonably and proportionately incurred or were reasonable and proportionate in amount in favour of the paying party.
18. Whilst quantified costs can be considered on a standard basis, this Claimant's purported costs are wholly disproportionate and do not stand up to scrutiny. In fact, it is averred that the Claimant has not paid or incurred such damages/costs or 'legal fees' at all. Any debt collection letters were a standard feature of a low cost business model and are already counted within the parking charge itself.
19. The Parking Eye Ltd v Beavis case is the authority for recovery of the parking charge itself and no more, since that sum (£85 in Beavis) was held to already incorporate the minor costs of an automated private parking business model. There are no losses or damages caused by this business model and the Supreme Court Judges held that a parking firm not in possession cannot plead any part of their case in damages. It is indisputable that the alleged 'parking charge' itself is a sum which the Supreme Court found is already inflated to more than comfortably cover the cost of all letters.
20. Any purported 'legal costs' are also made up out of thin air. Given the fact that robo-claim solicitors and parking firms process tens of thousands of claims handled by an admin team or paralegals, the Defendant avers that no solicitor is likely to have supervised this current batch of cut & paste claims. The court is invited to note that no named Solicitor has signed the Particulars, in breach of Practice Direction 22, and rendering the statement of truth a nullity.
21. According to Ladak v DRC Locums UKEAT/0488/13/LA a Claimant can only recover the direct and provable costs of the time spent preparing the claim in a legal capacity, not any administration costs allegedly incurred by already remunerated administrative staff.
22. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 (POFA) (Exhibit 011) makes it clear that the will of Parliament regarding parking on private land is that the only sum potentially able to be recovered is the sum in any compliant 'Notice to Keeper' (and the ceiling for a 'parking charge', as set by the Trade Bodies and the DVLA, is £100). This also depends upon the Claimant fully complying with the statute, including 'adequate notice' of the parking charge and prescribed documents served in time/with mandatory wording. It is submitted the claimant has failed on all counts and the Claimant is well aware their artificially inflated claim, as pleaded, constitutes double recovery.
23. Judges have disallowed all added parking firm 'costs' in County courts up and down the Country. In Claim number F0DP201T on 10th June 2019, District Judge Taylor sitting at the County Court at Southampton, echoed an earlier General Judgment or Order of DJ Grand, who on 21st February 2019 sitting at the Newport (IOW) County Court, had struck out a parking firm claim. One was a BPA member serial Claimant (Britannia, using BW Legal's robo-claim model) and one an IPC member serial Claimant (UKCPM, using Gladstones' robo-claim model) yet the Order was identical in striking out both claims without a hearing:
The judges stated:
''IT IS ORDERED THAT:
The claim is struck out as an abuse of process. The claim contains a substantial charge additional to the parking charge which it is alleged the Defendant contracted to pay. This additional charge is not recoverable under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 nor with reference to the judgment in ParkingEye v Beavis. It is an abuse of process from the Claimant to issue a knowingly inflated claim for an additional sum which it is not entitled to recover. This order has been made by the court of its own initiative without a hearing pursuant to CPR Rule 3.3(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998.''
24. In summary, the Claimant's particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed and it is the Defendant's position that the poorly pleaded claim discloses no cause of action and no liability in law for any sum at all. The Claimant's vexatious conduct from the outset has been intimidating, misleading and indeed mendacious in terms of the added costs alleged.
25. There are several options available within the Courts' case management powers to prevent vexatious litigants pursuing a wide range of individuals for matters which are near-identical, with meritless claims and artificially inflated costs. The Defendant is of the view that private parking firms operate as vexatious litigants and that relief from sanctions should be refused.
The Court is invited to dismiss the claim and to award my costs (Exhibit 012) of dealing with this claim and attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14.
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
Signature of Defendant:
Name: XXXXXXX0
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