*Updated* SUCCESS against BW Legal/UK Parking Patrol Office Ltd

Rosa_Klebb

Hello everyone, back again.  I submitted my defense and have now received a court date for early August.  I will be seeing this through to the bitter end and will let the judge decide.  I have used the standard defense but updated it with the text in the thread above.  I have some questions if that's okay?

Is Beavis even relevant in my case since the claimant has never mentioned Beavis in their Letter of Claim or the actual claim. 

Which cases should I include with my defense?  Getting very confused here.  Is there any point in including them given what I already have written in my defense or can I just mention them?  Basically should I keep it simple and not confuse things with links to multiple cases that might or might not apply in my case?

Finally is the attached sign forbidding?  Anything wrong with the sign?

Coupon-mad

Have a look at the Witness Statement example posted last month by @jrhys which shows you what sort of thing to include. 

Whether that sign is prohibitive rather than offering a contract depends on if you were stopped in a bay or on the roadway, so remind us what happened and was the car only photographed for 3 minutes flat, in which case grace periods is worth mentioning. 

And REALLY IMPORTANT PLEASE: 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78411172/#Comment_78411172

Please, please come back every week to take part in the Government Consultation, coming very soon!

Rosa_Klebb

Coupon-mad said:

Whether that sign is prohibitive rather than offering a contract depend on if you were stopped in a bay or on the roadway, so remind us what happened and was the car only photographed for 3 minutes flat, in which case grace periods is worth mentioning.

Thank you, a relative of ours was alleged to have overstayed in one of the visitor bays (overstayed the 24hr period).  She did not see any signs in the nearby vicinity - because there weren't any.  Only some high up signage on some lamp posts on the access road to the car park.  Too high to read from a vehicle entering the site.

D_P_Dance

Signs are important, read this.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972164/parking-eye-signs-oxford-road-reading/p1

Rosa_Klebb

Thanks guys, do I need to include transcripts from all cases mentioned in my defense?  I have used part of the standard defense so there is a lot of transcripts from previous cases mentioned.  Don't want to confuse things and would rather keep things simple.  But if all transcripts are required please let me know.

One of the key points to my case is that the Parking Company have already lied by saying that signage was located throughout the car park.  They sent a document showing where their signs were located.  I can confirm that there were no signs anywhere near, or visible from the vehicle in question.  I can prove this with photographs and video.  The parking company's own photographs of the vehicle in question also prove this.

Coupon-mad

All of the above - including transcripts, photos and a method of showing your video - goes with your WS.  The most recent example is by @jrhys and that includes Excel v Wilkinson. 

And REALLY IMPORTANT PLEASE: 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78411172/#Comment_78411172

Please, please come back every week to check and make sure your voice - AND YOUR FRIENDS’ AND RELATIVES’ VOICES TOO -  is/are not missed from this final opportunity to take part in the Government Consultation, coming very soon!

Fruitcake

There is no "s" in defence. I am not being picky. You are dealing with legal issues here so you need to use the correct legal terminology.

Your photos and other evidence should be included in your witness statement as Exhibits, each one identified by your initials and numbers, and referred to in your WS.

Video has to be provided on a durable medium such as a CD or memory stick. You will need to contact your local court beforehand and find out what format they will need. 

You will need to provide transcripts/court reports from other cases. You shouldn't need to include Acts of Parliament such as the PoFA or Companies Act 2006 as the judge should be able to access them her/himself. Sections 43 and 44 of the latter are useful to check if the landowner contract complies with the Act (the law).

Remember that everything has to go to the claimant as well as the court.

Rosa_Klebb

So some great news all, I have SUCCESS! 

Following receipt of my witness statement, and an impressively rambling 129 paragraph witness statement received from BW Legal, UK Parking Patrol Office Limited have dropped their claim and have filed a Notice of Discontinuance with the court.  What a bunch of time wasting cockroaches these people are!  A shame in many ways as I was looking forward to attending the court hearing.

Key to my witness statement was probably reference to the Claimants signage.  The Claimant said that their signage was visible throughout the site, but the Claimants own photographs showed otherwise.  Utter incompetence on the Claimants part not to realise that their own photographs of my vehicle when parked, disproved their own case.  Or maybe they did know but pressed ahead anyway?  I wrote in my witness statement the following:

"The Defendant informed the Claimant on the xxth July 2019, and once again on the xxth April 2020 that there was no repeater signage present.  Therefore, by claiming (after being informed otherwise) that there were repeater signs in the area of the car park where vehicle XXXX XXX was parked, when in reality there was not, as shown by the Claimants own photographs, I believe that the Claimant is now deliberately attempting to mislead the court.  The Defendant can therefore only assume that the case bought by the Claimant is vexatious.  I would therefore ask that the Judge strike out the claim on this basis".

In my witness statement I also highlighted 'Primacy of Contract' referring to my leasehold agreement, signage not compliant with IPC guidelines, a redacted contract with the Managing agent and no landowner permission given for the Claimant to operate, Beavis, abuse of process, and a statement of my costs.

So thank you for everyone on here for their advise.  It just goes to show that if you stick with it then it is worth it.

Snakes_Belly

Well done at getting the claim cancelled. 

I always think that residential cases are the worst as there is no choice as to where to park and drivers have to put up with these aggressive companies. At least I never have to go back to the car park where I was ticketed.

There will be a consultation in a few weeks time regarding the new CoP whereby you can have your say about the way that these companies can operate in the future.

Redx

Well done , a victory against b w legal and Ukppo

Another one bites the dust !!