VCS Claim Form for Stopping in a Restricted Bus Stop at Southend Airport.

TNA.Music

Hi,

I have recently received Claim Form where VCS demands payment of £160 + £25 (court fee) for Stopping in a Restricted Bus Stop at Southend Airport. The claim is dated 14/02/2020.

Particulars of Claim: The Claim is for a breach of contract for breaching the terms and conditions set on private land. The Defendant's vehicle, MYCARREG, was identified in the Southend Airport on the 05/09/2019 in breach of the advertised terms and conditions, namely stopping in a restricted bus stop / stand. At all material times the Defendant was the registered keeper and/or driver. The terms and conditions upon entering private land were clearly displayed at the entrance and in prominent locations. The sign was the offer and the act of entering private land was the acceptance of the offer hereby entering into a contract by conduct. The signs specifically detail the terms and conditions and the consequences of failure to comply, namely a parking charge notice will be issued, and the Defendant has failed to settle the outstanding liability. The Claimant seeks the recovery of the parking charge notice, contractual costs and interest.

I have done Acknowledgment of Service in line with the advice provided on the forum and now need a help with preparing the defence.

I have also followed all the advice on the forum so far except writing to my local MP – is there a template for that please as I would like to avoid re-inventing a wheel?

As a part of my request to VCS to provide me with the all the proof they hold against me, I also received the letter explaining what I consider to be the basis of their case. The following are the parts of the letter that is not generic blurb about VCS associations to different parking bodies but relates to the specifics of my situation:

Re: Parking Charge Notice Number VCSMYCASE (Vehicle: MYCARREG)

Site: Southend Airport

Issue date: 16/09/2019

We refer to your appeal in respect of the above Charge Notice (CN) received on 28/09/2019.

Having considered the points you have raised and reviewed our records, we are unable to accept your appeal. Our main reason(s) for this decision are as follows:

The signs at the entrance to the Airport and on the access roads and designated bus stops within the Airport clearly state "No Stopping", giving clear notice that the land is private property and that a Charge of £100 will be levied if vehicles do stop. The above detailed vehicle stopped in a designated bus stop where stopping is prohibited and the driver became liable to pay that Charge.

In your appeal it is unclear who the driver was when your vehicle was seen to be stopped on the access road.

It is important we highlight that we will continue to pursue this matter on the reasonable assumption that you were the driver of the vehicle on the date in question until information/evidence to the contrary is provided.

A review of our CCTV evidence has confirmed that on the date in question, your vehicle stopped to drop off a passenger in the bus stop where restrictions apply,

There are 87 high profile signs advising drivers not to stop and warning that if a driver does stop, a charge of £100 is payable. The signs exceed recognised industry standards, with some as large as 2m by 1.1m (6ft 6in by 3ft 7in) which clearly state "No Stopping" alongside the nationally recognised Highway Code symbol for a Clearway (No Stopping). Furthermore, the Signage on the approach road is reflective and positioned to face oncoming vehicles and the text size used is relative to the average approach speed of a vehicle in relation to the speed limit in force at that location.

We have fully reviewed this case and we are satisfied that the Charge Notice was correctly issued. We are unable to accept the mitigating circumstances raised in your representations, your appeal is therefore rejected and the Charge will stand, photographic evidence which supports this can be viewed at www.myparkingcharge.co.uk.

Having read some of the cases on the forum I am considering to base my defence on the unclear signs and poor visibility including the following points:

·      It was dark (visible on the proof pictures VCS provided) and street lighting is poor.

·      On the street/road where I stopped there are no signs "No Stopping" facing oncoming vehicles in either driving direction.

·      There is no “Bus Stop” sign facing oncoming vehicles on the side of the road where I stopped.

·      There is “Bus Stop” sign on the road surface that I did not see because it was dark (I saw this on the Google Street) but even that sign was far behind the place where I stopped.

·      There are "No Stopping" signs on the fence of the road but they are not visible when driving (I saw this on the proof pictures provided by VCS and later on the Google Street)

I have pictures from Google Street proving the poor sign posting.

Please help with the advice on how to write up the defence.

Thank you in advance!

 

Redx

Read the other court claims for Southend airport plus RHA and LJLA and EMA etc and adapt one

KeithP

TNA.Music said:

I have recently received Claim Form... The claim is dated 14/02/2020.

I have done Acknowledgment of Service in line with the advice provided on the forum...

With a Claim Issue Date of 14th February, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 18th March 2020 to file your Defence.

That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

When you are happy with the content, your Defence could be filed via email as suggested here:

1. Print your Defence.
   
2. Sign it and date it.
   
3. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
4. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5. Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
   
6. No need to do anything on MCOL, but do check it after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defence received". If not, chase the CCBC until it is.
   
   After filing your Defence, there is more to do...
   
   
7. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire. Nothing of interest there. Just file it.
   
8. Wait for your own Directions Questionnaire from the CCBC, or download one from the internet - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n180-directions-questionnaire-small-claims-track , and then complete it as described by bargepole in his 'what happens when' post linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES thread - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou"]
   
9. The completed DQ should be returned by email to the CCBC to the same address and in the same way as your Defence was filed earlier.
   
10. Send a copy of your completed DQ to the Claimant - to their address on your Claim Form.

TNA.Music

@Redx, @KeithP,
Thanks for the tips and advice. I think I have seen all examples and understood the most of the defence points - not really used to legal lingo. I have a few quick questions before I post my defence here for the review:

1. I would like to use Farmlady's defence (link) with just a minor changes but I am a bit concerned that this one maybe too detailed and excessive. Could yo please provide your advice?
2. I could not find a template of the letter to MP, could you please point me in the right direction as I have no first idea how this letter should look like?
3. My wife is registered keeper but was not the driver in this case. I was with her on the date and witnessed all that happened, same as she. As she will be almost certainly away on business during the possible court hearing is it possible that I appear in her stead and if so what we need to do?

Thanks in advance!

Redx

3, definitely not , she must be there in person so at the DQ stage she must indicate all dates she is unavailable

If she is keeper and definitely not the driver, she must say so in the beginning of her defence

Le_Kirk

2. There are no templates for letters to MPs just write it from the heart.
3. The defendant MUST appear in court, unless you want it heard "on papers" which is discouraged here.  Since you/your wife have not submitted the defence yet, there is plenty of time before the court appearance.  For example the defence will be sent to the claimant and they have 28 days to advise it they are taking it forward.  The defendant (your wife) then will receive a DQ (look it up in the NEWBIE sticky) and on that document she can advise dates when she will not be available.

TNA.Music

Thanks guys, any thoughts on point 1? Is this the best defence available or is there something else? I have read so many but not being of legal profession not sure how to decide. Any help is greatly appreciated. 

D_P_Dance

Are you familiar with the different rules when PCNs are issued on land covered by airport bye-laws?

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.

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.

Coupon-mad

Someone has just posted a defence about stopping at Southend Airport.  Copy & adapt that one.

D_P_Dance

Have you read this?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8065277/Driver-fined-185-pulling-41-seconds-East-Midlands-Airport-adjust-wing-mirror.html

Coupon-mad

It doesn't help though, it just sensationalises the issue and invites clueless comments under the article.
Please let's not have that article posted in every VCS thread...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6110076/vcs-in-the-news-again
VCS v Ward would be more useful, so people can see how bad that decision was and how they will need to show their Judge that it is hardly 'persuasive' in an Airport case where the byelaws actually allow emergency stops. 

Let's hope this case is about an emergency stop and not about picking up passengers or dropping them off on red lines.