UK PARKING PATROL OFFICE LTD - COURT PROCEEDINGS

Fazzz

Hi everyone, i have read loads of useful information on this forum and as advised starting a new thread. 
The driver received a PCN for parking in a staff car park without a permit. The driver was working in that particular office to cover someone for one day. The driver appealed against the PCN without doing any research on this forum, explaining that he was working there for one day and was not aware that you have to display a parking permit. The driver also provided an email address so that PPUK can confirm with the manager. This appeal/letter was refused and the claimant keeps sending different letters to recover charges. which were ignored. 
The proceedings have been issued on 20th of October and the AOS has been filed through money claim portal. The defence has been copied from one of the Coupon-mad's post which was updated/edited in October 2020.  
Kindly advise if I have missed anything or what should include in addition to the recommended defence which was uploaded on this forum Thank you in advance and sorry i i have missed any of the advice given on newbies. 

Redx

The AOS received date is useful too , especially as ideally it's after the 25th October

Email a SAR to ukppo if not done already , attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of I D under the GDPR law to obtain all your data

Post the adapted paragraphs below for critique , only the paragraphs you have altered

Who is the landowner ? Why did they not cancel the PCN ?

Get proof of permission granted to park on the day in question from them

KeithP

I'm going to make some assumptions - 1) that the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form was 20th October, and 2) that the Acknowledgment of Service was filed between 24th October and 9th November. Please confirm.

With a Claim Issue Date of 20th October, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 23rd November 2020 to file your Defence.

That's just one week away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

Fazzz

Redx said:

The AOS received date is useful too , especially as ideally it's after the 25th October

Email a SAR to ukppo if not done already , attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of I D under the GDPR law to obtain all your data

Post the adapted paragraphs below for critique , only the paragraphs you have altered

Who is the landowner ? Why did they not cancel the PCN ?

Get proof of permission granted to park on the day in question from them

Thank you for a prompt response, AOS was filed on the evening of 27th of October. 
Have not done SAR but will do it now if it helps
Have not changed much but I will post defence here for members consideration and critique. 
Not sure who is the landowner and I have not read this forum that time so didn't send any letter to the landlord. 
did try to get proof of permission but as the driver was cover staff, they were not very helpful. 

Fazzz

KeithP said:

I'm going to make some assumptions - 1) that the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form was 20th October, and 2) that the Acknowledgment of Service was filed between 24th October and 9th November. Please confirm.

With a Claim Issue Date of 20th October, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 23rd November 2020 to file your Defence.

That's just one week away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

Thank you for your prompt response. 
AOS was filed on 27th October and all above points are noted. Thank you

Umkomaas

The critical date, so that all other dates can be confirmed, is the Issue Date shown on the N1 claim form. @KeithP is assuming it was 20/10, could you please confirm (or otherwise).

Fazzz

Umkomaas said:

The critical date, so that all other dates can be confirmed, is the Issue Date shown on the N1 claim form. @KeithP is assuming it was 20/10, could you please confirm (or otherwise).

Sorry Umkomaas, it was the 20th of October. Thank you 

Fazzz

Sorry, i have not changed anything, to be honest, there are maybe few minor adjustments which are hardly noticeable. I have listed underneath a few of them which I can recall. 

Any critique/advice would be welcome. Thank you 

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the driver of the vehicle in question, but liability is denied. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all. 

3.    The defendant who have parked in the car park on previous occasions from time to time when he was covering a shift there. There was no requirement to display a staff permit in the past. In terms of signs, these are not clear. As soon as you approach the car there is a relatively big sign saying, ‘Forum Staff Car Park Only’. There is no other warning on this sign or on any other attached sign which says explain the terms and conditions of parking in the staff car park. Any reasonable person reading that sign would follow the instructions on the sign without looking for more signs. The other signs in the area are small and difficult to spot.

14.    Binding Court of Appeal authorities with cases involving unclear terms and a lack of ‘adequate notice’ of an onerous parking charge, would include:

                                          i.    Spurling v Bradshaw [1956] 1 WLR 461 (the ‘red hand rule’ case) and

                                         ii.    Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd [1970] EWCA Civ 2,

15.    The leading authorities confirming that an unseen/hidden clause cannot be incorporated after a contract has been concluded; and in Vine v London Borough of Waltham Forest: CA 5 Apr 2000, where the Court of Appeal held that it was unsurprising that the appellant did not see the sign ''in view of the absence of any notice on the wall opposite the southern parking space''.  In many cases where parking firm Claimants have cited Vine in their template witness statements, they have misled courts by quoting out of context from Roch LJ, whose words related to the Respondent’s losing the case, and not from the ratio.  To pre-empt that, Miss Vine in fact won because it was held as a fact that she was not afforded a fair opportunity to learn of the terms by which she would be bound.

17.    In the matter of costs, the Defendant seeks:

a)    standard witness costs for attendance at Court, pursuant to CPR 27.14, and

b)    that any hearing is not vacated but continues as a cost hearing, in the event of a late Notice of Discontinuance.  The Defendant seeks a finding of unreasonable behaviour in the pre-and post-action phases by this Claimant and will seek further costs pursuant to CPR 46.5.

Coupon-mad

    The defendant who have parked in the car park on previous occasions from time to time when he was covering a shift there.

You need to explain where 'there' is and what your job is.  Remember, the Judge doesn't know the background or any facts.

Also 'who have parked' is not grammatically correct English.

Fazzz

Coupon-mad said:

    The defendant who have parked in the car park on previous occasions from time to time when he was covering a shift there.

You need to explain where 'there' is and what your job is.  Remember, the Judge doesn't know the background or any facts.

Also 'who have parked' is not grammatically correct English.

Thank you, I will amend it. I assume the rest of the paragraphs are ok?

I have also sent an email to UK Parking Patrol Limited about Subject Access Request as recommended by Redx. Do I also need to send them a request in post? 
Thank you

Coupon-mad

I have also sent an email to UK Parking Patrol Limited about Subject Access Request... Do I also need to send them a request in post?
No.

Your defence looks fine if you have simply added #3 as shown and plan to change it to remove the badly worded phrase, and to explain to the Judge where the Defendant works and that they are/were at all times, permitted to park there.