Urgent - court hearing date received

MAMAYINKS

Hello, hope you can assist. I found this forum late in the process having gone some way utilising the company private parking appeal (no i did not read the reviews prior) to defend a PCN initially issued by UK Car Park Management Ltd represented by Gladstones.
i have spent some time reading the newbies thread and various other threads to gather lots of information and identify the steps i might have missed.
A brief summary of the case is that the car was parked in a private residence without a permit, i never received a physical ticket but a letter a few weeks after the alleged offence requesting payment of £100. I ignored all correspondence until contacted by the county court business centre, filed the AOS and a defence within time line.
i recently received the notice of hearing which is scheduled for December. i am compiling evidence and also preparing witness statements. I was not advised to action a SAR which would be useful, is it too late at this stage, especially as i will have sight of their evidence 14 days prior to the hearing? Also, is anyone willing to review my defence in light of the company that advised on the content? many thanks !!!!

ShakeItOff

I'm afraid it will be too late to amend your defence at this point without paying for the pleasure. Post it up though, as it might be helpful to have that and your Witness Statement.

Definitely, definitely send a SAR to them, any debt recovery company they used, and the DVLA. It is too late to include in your defence, but hopefully you have the usual points covered. You will need to reference and provide any documents as part of your Witness Statement.

I've been to court, and will probably be going again. Search this board for "another one bites the dust" as this is the tagline for all the people who have won their case in court. It's reassuring and you can get a feel for the process.

MAMAYINKS

Thank you for the quick response shakeitoff, i will go ahead to request SAR now, below is the response filed and appreciate any comments, if it is not suitable, happy to consider paying to amend, thanks again

1) I am XXXX and I am the Defendant in this matter. This defence attempts to comply with CPR 16.5 in full. However, no element of the claim is admitted, and the Claimant is put to strict proof of each and every element of its claim, pursuant to CPR 16.5(1)(b).
2) The Claimant’s representative is a serial litigant whose business model is to file large numbers of spurious claims and pressure defendants into paying up by sending letters threatening increasing costs while entirely failing to provide any reasonable particulars of claim or complying with the Civil Procedure Rules by sending a Letter Before Claim complaint with the Pre-Action Protocol on Debt.
3) Claims produced by this representative are regularly dismissed and struck out, inter-alia for lack of particularity, no cause of action or similar case management grounds and District Judges regularly express their dissatisfaction with the representative's conduct, often so much so that unreasonable behaviour costs are awarded on that basis.
4) This claimant cannot be unaware of this unreasonable conduct of litigation, having had it brought to its attention in innumerable previous cases. It will therefore be my intention, if this matter proceeds, to seek my costs in defending this spurious claim against both the Claimant, and, if the court sees fit, the Claimant's Representative, Gladstones Solicitors Ltd and it is submitted that the court should consider whether an exemplary or punitive award ought to be made under the principles in Rookes v Barnard 1964 UKHL 1.
5) However, and to assist the court, I am aware of XXX Close as this is the public road which provides access to the XXX training centre. This is a road that both I and my husband regularly pass and repass to attend the training centre with our daughter. As such, the Claimant is put to proof that
a. The street in question is private land and is not a highway maintained at public expense.
b. they there is signage at the entrance to the street indicating its private status
c. That there is no local authority signage on the street implying, unlawfully, that statutory
parking restrictions either do apply, or do not apply as the case may be.
6) The court is asked to note that the Claimant has not provided enough information for me to defend the claim. No compliant letter before claim was provided and that which was sent only gave the date of the alleged event and the Vehicle Registration number, but not the location of the car park, time of parking, the amount of initial charge or the reason why the charge arose. As
such I am unable to admit or deny any element of the claim and require the claimant to prove the claim.
7) Indeed, as the Claimant's representative pointed out in its defence to Claim Number D3QZ9Q7P made against the Claimant’s rerpesentative, “the Claimant has failed to disclose any reasonable grounds for bringing a claim against me (CPR 3.4(2)(a)) and the claim falls short of the criteria required by CPR 16.4 as it does not contain "a concise statement of the facts" (CPR 16.4(1)(a)) by providing details of the alleged contract or service for which the claimed sum or indeed any amount became payable to the Claimant.”
8) To that end I ask the court to order that the Claimant shall provide additional particulars within 14 days of allocation.
9) Additionally, the Claimant does not explain the basis of the claim against me personally, claiming that I was the Driver and/or the Keeper. Particulars of Claim must provide certainty, not a menu of options, and, absent evidence of driver the Claimant cannot make any presumption. To pursue the Driver, the Claimant must have evidence of same, and to pursue the keeper, the Claimant must prove that it sought keeper details from the DVLA.
10) In the event that the Claimant has sought keeper details from the DVLA, the Claimant is put to strict proof that it's processing of such data has a Lawful Basis under the Data Protection Act 2018 and a Reasonable Cause under regulation 27(1)(e) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002, without which the Claimant has acted unlawfully, and the doctrine of ex turpi causa applies.
11) It is therefore not admitted, and the claimant is put to strict proof pursuant to CPR 16.5(4), that the Defendant is liable in any sum to the claimant.
12) Furthermore, even the Letter of Claim failed in any way to comply with the old Pre-Action Protocol on Debt Claims, and in no way, meets the new Pre-Action Protocol following 1st October 2017; this despite the Claimant being represented by a firm of Solicitors
13) The Claimant’s Representative is a serial abuser of the courts in this way. However, it is also widely reported that the Claimant’s representative and the claimant itself regularly fails to turn up to defended cases, wasting the court’s and the defendant’s time.
14) I therefore ask that that the claim be struck out pursuant to CPR 3.4 as having no prospect of success and being totally without merit. As the Claimant is not likely to attend court even if the claim progresses, this will save costs all round.
15) In the event that the claim is not struck out at this stage, I reserve the right to amend my defence if and when the Claimant actually notifies the court of the basis of its claim.
16) Additionally, and for the avoidance of doubt, if this matter proceeds to a full hearing despite the failings of the claimant, I do not consent to this matter being "heard on the papers" and will require a full hearing with attendance and cross-examination under oath of the Claimant and its witness(es), at my local court hearing centre in due course.
Please note that filing this defence by electronic means does not indicate my consent to being served by similar means, and I will not accept electronic service within the meaning of Practice Direction 6A.
I believe the contents of this defence to be true. This Defence has been electronically signed within the meaning of Section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000.


Defendant 9 June 2019

The_Deep

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

nosferatu1001

THats a mess

It doesnt even defend the actual issues, it doesnt raise anything about signage, and it doesnt make it clear why youre raising an issue about a public road at all.

It also leads with some fairly technical elements without giving us any real clue what actually went on

Obvious question - was the vehicle otherwise authorised to be there, for example by a lease? It is POSSIBLE it can be introduced if so, but would be shakyl

MAMAYINKS

Dear nosferatu1, thanks for the comments and yes i completely agree. My own fault but relied on the company mentioned in earlier post to assist with defence after they requested a brief summary of events, lesson learned!
i realise i may have some undoing to do to enable me move forward. Have sent SAR to company and their debt recovery company. Not sure i understand the question re the vehicle being authorised to be there by lease, i am the keeper of the vehicle and the area in question is an access road to another premises, although residents do have a permit to park there. Both my husband and myself use the car and neither of us recall parking as the training ground has parking ( at a push, we may have stopped behind other cars waiting to access the grounds). i was never provided with photo evidence of the offence nor received a physical ticket. thank you

nosferatu1001

You dont really have any undoing
Without paying £255 ther eis no wayyoure going to be able to amend your defence - you just have to work with what youve got

Its not a tricky question - was the vehicle authorised to be there? Yes or No
If Yes - how was it so authorised? By lease? Invite from a resident? Had business there?
If No then why was it parked there?

Can you please, for the love of... explain why youre talking about a public road?

Coupon-mad

Without paying £255 ther eis no wayyoure going to be able to amend your defence

Unless the D has a low enough income to qualify for Help with Court Fees, and can make applications with N244 forms, free.

The_Deep

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

MAMAYINKS

Thank you for the tip coupon-mad, this would not apply to me in this instance

MAMAYINKS

Dear Nosferatu1001, Thanks for letting me know the fee to amend defence, i will not pursue that option.
Re your question on authorisation to be on the premises, i wrote in a previous post that the road provides access to another premises (training ground) . We use this weekly and have permission to park in the training ground. There is resident parking either side of the road but we do not recall parking there and have no reason to do so , we have also not been provided with photo evidence of the offence nor received a physical ticket. i would have probably paid straight away if this was the case. have now actioned SAR which i hope will flush this out. i just wanted any help on anything else i might have missed and to help recover from the poor defence put forward on my behalf. Re your question on public road, no answer to that i am afraid. thank you