Letter before action Wells quay

finchman

Hi I have received letter before action for parking at wells I have requested sar from CEL on a thread posted by kjs_1991 there is a letter written by Frank which is very thorough iwas wondering if I could adapt it for my witness statement any help would be appreciated

Fruitcake

Follow the guide to court written by bargepole you will find in post 2 of the NEWBIES, but do follow the advice on the other Wells Next the Sea threads.
Frank Cannon's advice is sound and should be followed.

Make sure you do not reveal the driver's identity at any point since byelaws apply at this location meaning a keeper cannot be held liable.

Did you include proof of ID such as a copy of the vehicle V5C with the SAR? If not you will need to send it again.

Have you complained yet to the landowner/harbourmaster?

Have you complained to your MP yet about this unregulated scam.

When you get the claim itself please post the issue date and the date you complete the AoS as one of the regular posters here will give you some dates to put in your diary based on your information.

FrankCannon

Have you checked that the NtK complies with PoFA 2012 ? Have you told them who was driving ? And what is the reason for the PCN ?

The_Deep

Read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6086984/pcn-wells-next-the-sea-the-quay-car-park-civil-enforcement-ltd

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

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.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.[/FONT][/FONT]

finchman

Thank you for the replies v5c was not sent with sar the driver has not been named reason for pcn was overstay I was sure when I received first letter I read on one thread that it would time out after 6 months I have obviously misread it

The_Deep

It will time out in 6 months if they do not know the name of the driver.
Read about bye law tickets.

FrankCannon

The Wells Harbour Commissioners have told several people on this forum that byelaws do not apply to this car park, but that is contradicted by this image of the signage at the entrance to the car park that was taken in February 2019 ;

https://imgur.com/a/Zou4nyH

I think this sign was not taken down after CEL infested the site in May 2018, but I don't know if it is still there as I don't live locally. As private parking companies cannot issue penalties, it suggests that the land is subject to byelaws as the penalty could only be given by a judge sitting in a magistrates courts. The sign also violates section 14.2 of the BPA CoP under misrepresentation of authority, which states ;

"You must not use terms which imply that parking is being managed, controlled and enforced under statutory authority. This includes using terms such as 'fine', 'penalty' or 'penalty charge notice'."

I presume that the overstay is because you paid for parking, but removed the vehicle after mid-night. From the collection of signs that I have, I cannot find any CEL signs that say "no parking after mid-night", there's just one sign above a payment machine that looks as though it belongs to the Harbour Commissioners, which says, "charges apply 8am to midnight, no parking after midnight". I think that you are entitled to accept the most favourable terms where more than one type of sign is displayed.

In my experience, complaining to the Harbourmaster, Robert Smith MBE, is a waste of time, as I don't think he gives a damn about visitors to Wells-Next-The-Sea, and he seems to regard customers of the fish and chip shop across the road with contempt. I complained to the local councillor, Peter Fisher, who was useless, and Sir Norman Lamb's intervention on my behalf didn't make any difference either. I think the problem is that for every person caught out by this scam, there are many more queuing at the car park entrance ready to be preyed upon.

Umkomaas

https://imgur.com/a/Zou4nyH

@FC - with 24 posts under your belt, you should now be able to post live 'https' links

finchman

The pcn was issued may 2019

FrankCannon

Oh, yes. Thanks for that, Umkomaas.

finchman

I may be going to wells next week I will see if the sign is still there as the driver has not been named and it's over 6 months how come they are still trying to get their hand in my pocket