Missed all the early stages of appeal and now heading to court

harmonicapapa

Great news, thanks both.  Do I need to provide evidence that there are two named drivers on the insurance? 

Redx

if you can do so , then yes you can , but also remember that thousands of other people in this country could have been the driver, ME FOR ONE , as third parties driving your vehicle on their own insurance , such as Comprehensive , it could have been a mechanic , the Police , the AA or RAC , a FRIEND who BORROWED THE VEHICLE and SHOWED YOU THEIR INSURANCE COVERED THEM , or a MOTOR TRADER etc, thousands of drivers have the ability to drive this vehicle with the keepers consent , think about it !!!

EDIT

but do not reveal the other person if they were the driver in order to stop SMART from pursuing them due to your mistakes

KeithP

harmonicapapa said:

 Do I need to provide evidence that there are two named drivers on the insurance? 

If you can easily do that, then why would you not do that?

Coupon-mad

Yes but cover the first name of the other driver otherwise you are naming them and a really sneaky PPC might just try a new claim against them if they fail against you!  Better to clearly state as well, how you know it wasn't you (shopping centre you never visit?  You were at work?).

harmonicapapa

Does this look strong enough?  I could argue about unclear signage and the placement not being at the entrance to the car park, but it is a less strong argument than what I have already outlined here:

________________________________________

WITNESS STATEMENT

________________________________________

1. 1. I am Harmonicapapa, of 2 Vermont Street, Sydney, xx37 9xx, the Defendant in this matter. I will say as follows: 
   2. On xx/xx/2018 the vehicle, registration xxxx xxx, of which I am the registered keeper, was parked in a marked bay at xxxxx Shopping Park. 
   3. I was NOT the driver of the vehicle on that day. I was at work from 08:00 - 14:30.
   4. As I was NOT the driver of the vehicle, I did not enter into a contract with Smart Parking Ltd and they failed to meet the requirements under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Paragraph 9, Sub-paragraph (5), to issue the Parking Charge Notice against me as the registered keeper within 14 days of the claimed contravention.
   5. On xx/xx/2018 (35 days after the date of the supposed contravention) I received a Parking Charge Notice from Smart Parking Ltd claiming that the vehicle was seen entering the car park at 10:20 and exiting the car park at 14:34 for a total duration of 4 hours 14 minutes.
   6. Permitted free parking time in the car park at xxxxx Shopping Park according to the signs is 4 hours.
   7. Smart Parking Ltd are members of the BPA Approved Operator Scheme. In the BPA Code of Conduct guidance issued January 2018, section 13 addresses Grace Periods.  That section explicitly describes grace periods to be allowed of 10 minutes to enter the car park and find a place to park as well as an additional 10 minutes to allow the driver to exit the car park.  The Driver on this occasion fell well within the two grace periods.
   8. On xx/xx/2020 an SAR was sent to Smart Parking at dpo@smartparking.com but no response was returned.  As a result, I have been given no further information about what details Smart Parking Ltd are using to bring this claim against me as I was not the driver of the vehicle.  
   9. In summary, I believe that the claim discloses no cause of action, is without merit, and has no real prospect of success. Accordingly, the I invite the Court to strike out the claim of its own initiative, using its case management powers pursuant to CPR 3.4.

I believe the facts contained in this witness statement are true.

Coupon-mad

BPA Code of Conduct guidance issued January 2018,

No such thing, but append the CoP as evidence.  Also where is the rest of your WS, like all the rest on here? Never do ONE point.

harmonicapapa

Cheers for that.. CoP!
As for the rest of the WS... I followed this example linked to from the Newbie Thread - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77048513#Comment_77048513
Do you have any other examples of well prepared WS I could refer to?
I'll add in details about the signage and proprietary interest in the land.  It feels like I am rehashing everything in my Defence letter issued several months ago.  Does the judge refer to the defence letter, or is the judgement based only on the WS?

Coupon-mad

This is the old statement of truth as well (NEWBIES thread warns about this!):

I believe the facts contained in this witness statement are true.

Do you have any other examples of well prepared WS I could refer to?

I wrote one the other week on an HX thread, that deals with the Semark-Jullien damp squib case. Search the forum for his name.

Redx

your WS should support your DEFENCE with explanations and exhibits , labelled as ABC/001 , ABC/002 etc where ABC is your initials

it should also rebut their POC and their WS plus include anything you have learned since the incident date that is to your advantage and to their disadvantage, using their details and poor signage and no landowner authority and failure to issue your data and documents etc ,  against them

it should put them to strict proof of their claim against YOU , or it fail for the same reason that there is no proof , so check their POC and also the charges because there may be double recovery

read recently completed court cases , there are plenty where we add a well known top ten song by QUEEN , the initials are AOBTD !!

there should be 3 items , your WS , your EXHIBITS , your Summary Costs Schedule , plus any suitable transcripts etc too

and P is for Practice, not C for Conduct (as CM pointed out)

Code of Conduct will CoC it up

harmonicapapa

Thankyou so much both.  I have not received a WS from Smart Parking yet.  The letter I had from the court says I need to send Smart Parking my WS by September 7th. Would I normally wait to submit my WS until after I have seen the complainants?