County Court Action - Parking Eye

beingtakentocourt

Hi, I have been defending a claim from Parking eye. They claim I overstayed my parking at the Birchanger services on the M11. They have sent photos of me entering the site and leaving after 2hr 26mins, signage states 2 hours free parking. I didn't see any of this signage on the day so I was quite surprised to receive the letter from them however having been back more recently, there does seem to be plenty of signage about.

I'm defending the claim on a bit of a technicality, the signage states 2 hours free parking however on this particular day I left the parking area and went to the petrol station as my tyres were showing as being low air. The letter from Parking Eye and the information they have put in the county Court claim states the signage shows 'maximum 2 hour stay' but actually it states '2 hours free parking'.

The ANPR camera on the site covers the main entrance and exit to the site but does not cover the parking area directly. I have no way of proving the time I was parked and the time I was at the petrol station area but including driving time it could easily have added 20 odd minutes to the stay as you have to go right round the site to get there.

Parking eye are also unable to show how long I was parking, rather just how long I was in the service area.

Its quite feasible that my 2hrs 26min consists of:

5 mins to find a parking spot
2 hours of free parking
5 mins driving round to the petrol area
10 mins sorting tyres
5 mins to drive offsite.

Assuming the above to be correct, does that constitute breaking the 'two hours free parking'? Just glad I didn't also fuel up (although at those prices who would!)

Do I have a leg to stand on in court? Do PE have to prove parking time or will 'time on site' count as parking time?

As it stands I have just returned my paperwork to the court stating I am happy to go down the route of Mediation.

Le_Kirk

Really? Mediation? It consists of a dialogue: -
Mediator - "Mr beingtakentocourt, how much do you want to pay?"
Mr beingtakentocourt "£Zero"
Mediator - "Mr PPC, how much will you accept?
Mr PPC - "£FULL"
End of mediation.

Looks like you have a good defence of the time spent on site.

Redx

Concentrate on your defence , not the story , you are fixated on what happened , wanting to explain it , instead of concentrating on the legal defence

Only a judge can decide which leg you are standing on , too many unknowns for anyone here to make a judgment call

Post the issue date of the claim form below , if you haven't yet filed a defence, but if you have filed a defence and dq, post the draft defence below

Email a SAR to the DPO at PE to get all your data

Coupon-mad

Do I have a leg to stand on

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76495988#Comment_76495988

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76443954#Comment_76443954

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76428024#Comment_76428024

Please can people stop...saying...that...phrase... !

Of course you can win, someone beat P/Eye again here, only this month re a Welcome Break services. Search the forum as I think they won on similar grounds:

The ANPR camera on the site covers the main entrance and exit to the site but does not cover the parking area directly. I have no way of proving the time I was parked and the time I was at the petrol station area but including driving time it could easily have added 20 odd minutes to the stay as you have to go right round the site to get there.

Parking eye are also unable to show how long I was parking, rather just how long I was in the service area.

Its quite feasible that my 2hrs 26min consists of:

5 mins to find a parking spot
2 hours of free parking
5 mins driving round to the petrol area
10 mins sorting tyres
5 mins to drive offsite.

beingtakentocourt

Redx wrote: »

Concentrate on your defence , not the story , you are fixated on what happened , wanting to explain it , instead of concentrating on the legal defence

Only a judge can decide which leg you are standing on , too many unknowns for anyone here to make a judgment call

Post the issue date of the claim form below , if you haven't yet filed a defence, but if you have filed a defence and dq, post the draft defence below

Email a SAR to the DPO at PE to get all your data

Thank you. I see what you mean. Having examined other threads I guess my original post is more of a WS than a defence. I have already returned my defence to the court, along the lines of what I have said on here so I will have to stick to that. Otherwise it will be a matter of paying the fee to change the defence.

I have now sent my SAR to PE.

Coupon-mad

OK, as you say you can't change the defence but do not miss filing & serving evidence and a fuller WS at the time, before the hearing.

beingtakentocourt

Assuming we do go through mediation, is it better to offer something, £20 to show I have been willing to negotiate? Frankly I'd rather not pay a penny unless instructed to by a judge but £20 is better than £200!

Le_Kirk

Mediation is pointless, you want to pay £0, the PPC want £FULL, no middle ground!

Redx

this is an example of failed mediation, not even got to court yet, but shows their hand (different company)


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6071815/stupidly-ignored-parking-charge-notice-hearing-today-update

beingtakentocourt

Thanks for all your help.

PE proceeded to push for court and I had a hearing date of next Thursday. When their witness statement came through I noticed they were using an out of date 'site map', a hotel and drive through Starbucks have since been built on the site. I also used google street view to show that some of the signs they had stated were in the car park were nowhere to be seen. In my statement I also argued that 32 minutes was insufficient grace period fo a complex site as use of the petrol forecourt and use of the drive through coffee shop did not constitute 'parking time' but was included in the ANPR site. 

Anyway, the good news is that since submitting my WS last week, I have today received a Notice of Discontinuation from PE. Am I correct that it is for the court to inform me of the hearing being cancelled, and that I should continue to visit the court next week if I don't hear from them?

Coupon-mad

Well done on beating PE - ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

Please can you how us a screenshot of the out of date aerial view they put in as evidence, then the actual set up as you showed it using GSV?   Plus a copy of your WS (redact your name) and any other evidence bits that will help others re Birchanger services on the M11.

I would not turn up next week, just phone the court and check they got the NoD.  You could always file a claim v PE about your wasted printing costs and hours of time spent on this, in view of them making you get this far when their site map was hopelessly out of date and they had failed to allow minutes spent in a drive thru and petrol station, none of which falls into the 'MINIMUM 2 hours free parking' that the DFT says they MUST allow drivers, in the published rules about Services and Trunk Roads.