Advice re blue badge owner

[Deleted User]

Coupon-mad said:

They try hard, don't they?

Nothing unexpected there and much of it is template stuff (ironic, given what they say about you using internet research to help you form your defence!).

There are a number of points to respond to that rubbish but it can all wait till witness statement stage.

You should have shown your blue badge showing the name (both sides) and merely covered your photo.  Put that right now in a short but polite email.

OK. Will do. Thank you. 

What about the point where they say that I hadn't followed the Personal Injury Claim protocol in my LBC where I tell them I will counterclaim?

Cheers again and Merry Christmas!!

[Deleted User]

My own thoughts on their reply and their defence to my Counterclaim are below. Please comment on mine and add your own!

Points 19-23

I think this is a tacit admission that their own T&C are a pitfall trap. They contradict what was written in reply to my appeal. I still have the original ticket which displays I paid my £0.70 for an hour at 17:55, yet states an expiry time of 18:00. They have since increased what they say they own me from £100 to some £270, which I think is incredibly unfair. What PPS said in reply to my appeal some two years ago was:

“to authorise parking for the period of 1 hour and 16 minutes that your driver was in the car park, they would have needed to pay £0.70 from the time of entry at 17:51 until 6pm and another £2.00 from 6pm until the time they leave the car park or upto 8am the next morning, this makes a total of £2.70 that should have been paid to authorise the parking for your vehicle”.

Points 24-25

They make no reference to the grace period at exit of the car park, which their own CoP states should be 10 minutes. Point 25 admits that it took me 4 minutes to get to the payment machine after entering the car park. They know I have impaired mobility. I deny I had any chance to read their signage in this 4 minutes.

Points 26-28

Do I need to provide a “factual basis” for why I overstayed? How is this relevant? Would this have caused them to strike out the PCN? I argue it wouldn’t as they’re stating I still have “contractual liablity”, even after they reference the well known “protected characteristics” from the EA 2010.

They allege I haven’t provided valid evidence that I own a Blue Badge, as they can’t see my name on there. I sent them a copy of the front of my Blue Badge with its expire date on there (2022) and the Blue Badge number. One is required to display the front of the Blue Badge when parking and this is deemed sufficient evidence by any reasonable parking attendant that one is valid to do so.

I don’t see why I should be giving out more personal information than is necessary to a company that I don’t trust with my data.

Points 45-46

I’ve explained to them already, numerous times that I have cognitive dysfuction, and they’ve made no reasonable adjustment for this. Can someone with cognitive dysfunction read and understand signage that has not been made with them in mind? In 4 minutes? Given they also understand I have impaired mobility and would take me far longer to get to the payment machine than an able-bodied person.

Counterclaim

Point 52

I have already set out in my Defence and Counterclaim how they have breached the EA 2010 and how the Vento Bands lay this out. From my Counterclaim: “Vento bands, have been updated from April 2020.  This stems from a landmark case from 2003 (Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police) where the Court of Appeal set out clear guidelines for Courts and Tribunals to apply when they are assessing injury to feelings awards for pure distress, as opposed to financial loss.  The Vento case decided that there is now an accepted quantum for compensation and courts have followed this guidance.”

My medical condition causes exacerbation of symptoms called “Post Exertion Malaise” after physical or cognitive effort. This causes me to be bed-bound for days or even weeks after exertion with flu-like symptoms. This can be from something as simple as a short walk or reading a magazine. Never mind reading and replying to letters from aggressive solicitors and parking companies. I am unable to work and am on disability benefit due to my symptoms. Significant cognitive effort has been expended fighting this unjust PCN and is extremely distressing!

Point 62.

I haven’t provided any other medical evidence to the Claimant as at no point have they asked. They have known since December 2019 when they received a copy of the front of my Blue Badge with my appeal that I was disabled and have not asked for any other evidence.

As I mentioned above, why would I trust such a nefarious company with my private and personal information?

I have letters from a ME/CFS specialist and my GP which I used to take the DWP to tribunal in order to get my disability benefit, called PIP. I can submit this to the Judge at the Witness Statement state can’t I?

Coupon-mad

Yes it can all be used at WS stage but as I just said, I would send a scan of the back of your blue badge now (covering the photo only) so they can see nice and early in this process that it is yours.

You could also send your other evidence of medical condition now. PIP letter et al. Makes their WS harder for them later!

They make no reference to the grace period at exit of the car park, which their own CoP states should be 10 minutes. Point 25 admits that it took me 4 minutes to get to the payment machine after entering the car park. They know I have impaired mobility. I deny I had any chance to read their signage.

Don't forget as well: there is NOTHING to show that the machine clock was synchronised to the minute, with the ANPR camera clocks. We have seen cases where the clocks are as much as four minutes out,

I doubt it only took a mere 4 minutes to drive in, park, get out, lock the car, walk slowly to the signs and machine, read the ambiguous terms, check your watch and decide to pay for one hour at the correct 'before 6pm' rate, and then go through the steps and buttons to press to pay, including inputting your VRM.

I think it's far more likely all that - counting from the moment uou drove in - took more like 6 or 7 minutes.   I think it is almost certain that their camera clock is not synch'd with the pay and display machine, given they are entirely separate and use different servers and providers.

That means you took a reasonable time to pay and no more than the mandatory MINIMUM ten minutes (it's not a maximum) grace period to leave.

And you are entitled to more time and they knew that in 2018.

So, how about providing your evidence of disability and PIP letter and back of the blue badge now (photo redacted so it's not a full ID copy). 

Tell them that this is provided to help narrow the issues and in return you require two things at this stage:

(A). BW Legal's full log or table of all contact and attempted contact with you, either by phone, text or letter/email in the months between when they received the case up until Letter of Claim stage.  State that you know this exists because BW Legal have provided it before to a motorist and they must consider this a SAR, and

(B) A response and evidence (if any exists) from their client, showing whether the Pay and Display machine clock was synchronised each day (or at all) with the ANPR clocks, given they are entirely separate systems and servers and it is your position that the timings are unsynchronised as well as lacking any 'reasonable adjustment' provision for disabled drivers.

Le_Kirk

12. In response to a simple contract dispute, the Defendant purports to serve and file dis Defence and Counterclaim amounting to: 16 pages, 49 paragraphs

Mmm in response to a "16 page, 49 paragraph defence and counterclaim" they have used 51 paragraphs and who knows how many pages.  Typical "copy & paste" rubbish we have seen before.

[Deleted User]

Coupon-mad said:

Yes it can all be used at WS stage but as I just said, I would send a scan of the back of your blue badge now (covering the photo only) so they can see nice and early in this process that it is yours.

You could also send your other evidence of medical condition now. PIP letter et al. Makes their WS harder for them later!

They make no reference to the grace period at exit of the car park, which their own CoP states should be 10 minutes. Point 25 admits that it took me 4 minutes to get to the payment machine after entering the car park. They know I have impaired mobility. I deny I had any chance to read their signage.

Don't forget as well: there is NOTHING to show that the machine clock was synchronised to the minute, with the ANPR camera clocks. We have seen cases where the clocks are as much as four minutes out,

I doubt it only took a mere 4 minutes to drive in, park, get out, lock the car, walk slowly to the signs and machine, read the ambiguous terms, check your watch and decide to pay for one hour at the correct 'before 6pm' rate, and then go through the steps and buttons to press to pay, including inputting your VRM.

I think it's far more likely all that - counting from the moment uou drove in - took more like 6 or 7 minutes.   I think it is almost certain that their camera clock is not synch'd with the pay and display machine, given they are entirely separate and use different servers and providers.

That means you took a reasonable time to pay and no more than the mandatory MINIMUM ten minutes (it's not a maximum) grace period to leave.

And you are entitled to more time and they knew that in 2018.

So, how about providing your evidence of disability and PIP letter and back of the blue badge now (photo redacted so it's not a full ID copy). 

Tell them that this is provided to help narrow the issues and in return you require two things at this stage:

(A). BW Legal's full log or table of all contact and attempted contact with you, either by phone, text or letter/email in the months between when they received the case up until Letter of Claim stage.  State that you know this exists because BW Legal have provided it before to a motorist and they must consider this a SAR, and

(B) A response and evidence (if any exists) from their client, showing whether the Pay and Display machine clock was synchronised each day (or at all) with the ANPR clocks, given they are entirely separate systems and servers and it is your position that the timings are unsynchronised as well as lacking any 'reasonable adjustment' provision for disabled drivers.

This is all very helpful, so thanks very much.

I will crack on with this this evening.

D_P_Dance

therefore nonsensical and/or irrelevant. 

I would not put p with this, complain to the SRA

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/

[Deleted User]

D_P_Dance said:

therefore nonsensical and/or irrelevant. 

I would not put p with this, complain to the SRA

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/

I'll do that in a minute. Thanks for this extra angle!!

Coupon-mad

No, don't; that's pointless.

[Deleted User]

Le_Kirk said:

12. In response to a simple contract dispute, the Defendant purports to serve and file dis Defence and Counterclaim amounting to: 16 pages, 49 paragraphs

Mmm in response to a "16 page, 49 paragraph defence and counterclaim" they have used 51 paragraphs and who knows how many pages.  Typical "copy & paste" rubbish we have seen before.

Yeah it took me hours to type it all out here. I thought it was rather hypocritical of them too!

Fruitcake

It's only a minor point, but did you mean to say, "what I owe them"?

"They have since increased what they say they own me from £100 to some £270."