Going to County Court Business Centre over VCS Parking Charge/ Notice.

Umkomaas

BenjiH23 said:

Coupon-mad said:

Hopefully you have now read the NEWBIES thread and the TEMPLATE DEFENCE thread and realised this is what we do every day?  Perfectly do-able.

Thanks for this Would it be worth doing an SAR when building my defence? I’d like to see their contract for that Tesco, as I feel their sign was very vague and can lead to confusion.

A SAR won't elicit a copy f the contract - the only time you are likely to see one is at the Witness Statement stage.  A SAR is only about personal data - anything which relates directly to information they hold about you (it also includes data held relating to the VRM of the vehicle concerned). 

BenjiH23

Also, something else has occurred to me. How long can you claim after an incident?

I had an accident at work which I'm currently investigating the fault of it with my union. The whole thing has been slowed down due to Covid but I was told I had 3 years to claim. The parking incident occurred over 3 years ago. Naturally, it's a different kind of dispute, but it's likely to be over much less money. Keeping in mind my accident has needed an operation, scarred me for life and cost me a few days of freelance work.

Coupon-mad

6 years for contract law claims.

3 years may be right for personal injury - Google will tell you.

BenjiH23

Coupon-mad said:

6 years for contract law claims.

3 years may be right for personal injury - Google will tell you.

Ahh, worth a shot! Thanks anyway.

nosferatu1001

Limitation act has the precise info. 

BenjiH23

Also, according to a few sources. As of 2019. Private Car Parks now have a grace period of 10 minutes. Given my PCN was issued in 2017, does anyone think this holds any weight?

BenjiH23

Hey everyone, just an update. I’m going to court with VCS in June. In the witness statement they’ve put the following.

“The claimant submits that a grace period is not applicable. As the Charge is automatically issued as soon as the breach was detected. Applying for a grace period would for such contraventions would defeat the purpose of the scheme in place.”

As mentioned before. They only have proof my car was in the car park for 2 minutes and to my knowledge, my car was parked in there for under 5 minutes whilst I scouted a car park across the road. As I was unsure if i was aloud to park in the VCS’s due to the fact I found their sign misleading to their terms and conditions when the shops of the park are closed. 

Is saying that a grace period is not applicable, and that I can be charged as a trespasser upon entry even legal? Surely there needs to be a reasonable amount of time to contemplate a contract and there was no way I would read the whole sign displayed on the car parks entrance whilst driving safely. And again, why would there be a cash machine available to use if this was the case?

nosferatu1001

BenjiH23 said:

Also, according to a few sources. As of 2019. Private Car Parks now have a grace period of 10 minutes. Given my PCN was issued in 2017, does anyone think this holds any weight?

As a generalisation, it is wrong. in specific, it was correct only for some car parks, for some time. 

They are not claiming you are a trespasser though! You have made that up and that is dangerous. They will not claim you were trespassing, because a trespasser cannot be sued by VCS, ever, as they do not own the land. 
You of course talk abouit those points. Yes, a grace period MUST apply as parking was allowed, right!?

When is your deadline to file a WS? Have you already filed it?

Coupon-mad

Anything is 'legal' because they are unregulated and make it up as they go along, until the Government (MHCLG) regulates them later this year and holds them to statutory rules and a framework with a proper appeal.  But that won't apply to this PCN.

However, whether a term is fair or not will be up to a Judge. 

If VCS are saying they know a person left the site and used a cashpoint over the road then they will make the case that the driver was not considering the terms and any consideration period (not grace period) ended when that person left their car and chose NOT to read the signs. 

However, I doubt they have evidence of any such thing, except I suggest you edit and delete part of your recent post that talks about 'scouting' and 'road'!

As always, VCS ones are fairly easy to beat in court and most Judges will want to apply a consideration period to allow a driver to read signs, but will want to hear your account and look at your evidence too.

BenjiH23

Coupon-mad said:

Anything is 'legal' because they are unregulated and make it up as they go along, until the Government (MHCLG) regulates them later this year and holds them to statutory rules and a framework with a proper appeal.  But that won't apply to this PCN.

However, whether a term is fair or not will be up to a Judge. 

If VCS are saying they know a person left the site and used a cashpoint over the road then they will make the case that the driver was not considering the terms and any consideration period (not grace period) ended when that person left their car and chose NOT to read the signs. 

However, I doubt they have evidence of any such thing, except I suggest you edit and delete part of your recent post that talks about 'scouting' and 'road'!

As always, VCS ones are fairly easy to beat in court and most Judges will want to apply a consideration period to allow a driver to read signs, but will want to hear your account and look at your evidence too.

Thanks for your advice @Coupon-mad . Are you advising I should leave the part out about the car park across the road? Or should I just leave out those specific words? The only concerns I have about that are: I’ve already mentioned it in my submitted Defence (I believe I used the word ‘investigate’, over ‘scout’). Plus, it’s a small car park (Tesco Express). It wouldn’t have been possible to stay in the car park without me seeing them put the ticket on my car.

Thanks again.