Going to court on Wednesday....shall I settle?

frandrake

In March 2019 I was issued a PCN by Parking and Property Management for parking my car for 5 minutes. Some context:

- PPM is the enforcing agency that manages the on street parking and garage parking on private land owned by a2dominion
- I am a resident in the property and have an assigned car bay in the garage, but I am not allowed to park in the on street bays
- In March 2019 I parked for 5 minutes my car in front of my block of flats entrance to get my daughter upstairs as she was sick and it was windy and cold outside
- Once I came back downstairs, I saw a PPM agent taking pics of the car, he had not glued the PCN on my windscreen yet and asked me to wait until he completed the procedure. I was stupid and I waited...
- All appeals have been rejected and on Wed I'll be facing PPM in court. The fine was £100, they are now asking for £271.

My defence, on top of stating the above, also focuses on PPM behaviour as following this PCN they issued:

- A PCN while I was parked in my bay displaying my permit, which was subsequently cancelled but displays they are more interested in making money than helping residents with their parking
- A PCN with their new ANPR system that incorrectly thought I was parked outside the garage while this was not true. Appeal was rejected but the landlord (a2dominion) had this cancelled for me.
- In short, my point is that PPM is harassing residents rather than helping them manage the private parking space and has been acting unfairly.

PPM has offered to settle before Wed for £200. I have no lawyer and I am self representing myself.

What shall I do? Risk it and go to court or settle?

Coupon-mad

Go ahead with the hearing but first of all, email the claimant and court a skeleton argument with your tenancy agreement or lease attached, plus the transcript of Jopson v Homeguard (appeal case, so it’s persuasive).

Google finds it. The actual transcript of the Judge’s decision.

That assuming you haven’t yet sent either of those as evidence with your WS.

...and that’s assuming you’ve done a WS, in time, two weeks ago as the court order told you, not just your defence.

what did your defence say exactly, word for word, not from m  red mort?

what did your recent WS and evidence say exactly or have you missed that deadline?

frandrake

I know, I never thought they would go so far and I put together the WS in 30 min as I had to race to the deadline....

Below the essence of the defence, which I know it's weak:

Attached to this statement is a paginated bundle of documents marked NR1 to which I will refer.

1. The facts in this statement come from my personal knowledge. Where they are not within my personal knowledge, they are true to the best of my information and belief.

2. I confirm that I am the Registered Keeper of the vehicle in question on the March 2019 and thereafter date.

3. I confirm that my vehicle was parked in front of XXXX, in one of the on street bays.

4. It is stated that my 2 years old daughter was at the time sick with a high fever, it was rainy and cold outside. (Exhibit REF2.pdf)

5. It is noted that I am a resident of XXXXX and hold a valid parking permit for bay XX in the garage. (Exhibit Claimant statement)

6. It is noted that walking from the garage exit to the entrance of XXXX with a sick, 2 year old child takes approximately 5 minutes. (Exhibit Claimant statement)

8. It is noted that weather on the day was very cold, rainy and windy. A even a 30 seconds exposure to the elements would have certainly resulted in a potential health risk for my daughter. (Exhibit REF2.pdf)

9. I confirm that I parked my vehicle in front of XXXX with the sole purpose of bringing my daughter upstairs.

10. I state that I returned after a couple of minutes to find a Claimant agent in the process of taking photos of my car. I was asked to stay and wait until such process was complete, as you can see from the pictures produced by the Claimant the driver door is open as the Claimant agent sticks the PCN on my windscreen.

24 August 2021

11. I believe that any parking management company has a legitimate interest in protecting the parking rights of a residential space as their only purpose.

12. I believe that any parking management company with a legitimate interest in protecting the parking rights of a residential space – which is surely their only purpose – would immediately rescind any charges issued to residents on health and safety grounds.

13. I believe that it was deceiving of the Claimant parking agent to ask me to stay while he took pictures.

14. Further PCNs raised by the Claimant in the following months, suggest a harassing behaviour which is aimed more at increasing revenues rather than protecting the parking rights of a residential space. (Exhibit REF1.pdf)

15. On 13/10/2019 I was issued a PCN while parked in my assigned bay XX and displaying my permit. The PCN was cancelled following my appeal. (Exhibit REF1.pdf)

16. On 11/5/2021 and following the installation of defective ANPR cameras, I was issued a PCN while parked in my assigned bay XX and displaying my permit. My appeal was rejected by the Claimant, but further conversations with A2Dominion who contracted them, they cancelled it. (Exhibit REF1.pdf)

17. The Claimant itself admitted issues with the installation of ANPR cameras (Exhibit REF1.pdf) yet maintains a tone of contempt instead of showing care, compassion, and a genuine desire to protecting the parking rights of a residential space. It seems more interested in squeezing revenues out of residents.

19. Finally, having outlined my witness statement with supporting evidence, I encourage the court to strike out the claims against the Defendant as we have seen a clear pattern of harassment from the Claimant, which appears to be interested more in revenues than managing parking rights in the interests of residents. Moreover, the specific circumstances in which the PCN was elevated are clearly unjust and unfair as I was tricked into staying longer to allow the Claimant agent to take the PCN and later appeals were denied, despite clear health and safety grounds. I appeal on the grounds of ius naturale.

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.

Coupon-mad

That’s the WS.

...what did the defence say? Verbatim.

frandrake

what do you mean? that's all I sent back....

Coupon-mad

When you got the claim form you put in a defence, months ago. What did it say?

frandrake

mmm I just looked in my archive but I could only find a form (Directions questionnaire) where I gave my details and my availability to mediation, but not a defence...

frandrake

my point is that I know I stupidly messed up by not giving this enough thought and I was wondering how much a judge would normally be open to listen and understand circumstances (note this is a 30 min phone hearing...) vs. robotically applying the role.

If the former, I am prepared to take the risk and state my case against PPM which I truly believe is a dirty company, if the latter I'll just resign, blame myself for my stupidity and pay.

Also, what do I risk if I lose in court? Will the 271 potentially go up?

frandrake

I meant the law not the role sorry!

Coupon-mad

If it’s only a 30 min hearing it is not your final hearing.  

This is a Directions Hearing with a rookie Judge who will ask if you want to settle and pay and will tell you that you have no case. It’s a bit like mediation and a complete waste of time. Theses Judges always want the Defendant to settle.  Don’t be bullied.  

And you did put a defence in when you got the claim form. We need to know what it said and so do you. Did you hand write a rushed defence in pen on the paperwork that came with the claim form or did you type it into MCOL using the password on the claim form?

On Tuesday morning, you could try ringing the CCBC at Northampton that handled the claim and your defence initially, and ask for a copy of your defence because you didn’t keep a copy.

if you lose the case at the real hearing, having told the Directions deputy Judge that you do not wish to settle and believe you have a good defence, the claim sum will not go up unless you have acted unreasonably.  

Defending and doing a witness statement and attending the hearings is not unreasonable.  As long as your Witness statement isn’t massively different from the original defence...but we don’t know that till you get a copy!

frandrake

ha! you are the best! I went on the MCOL website and found my claim there. Here's the defence:

I dispute the claim in full for the following reasons:

- I hold a valid parking permit for the estate parking garage
which is managed by the Claimant;
- The Claimant was informed that I temporary parked my car during
a wet winter day to bring my infant daughter upstairs without
exposing her to the elements;
- Less than 5 minutes after leaving my car, I returned to move the
car to my assigned parking bay in the parking garage, but I found
parking enforcement officer taking my car data;
- I told him I was leaving, but he insisted I waited till he
completed the emission of the ticket, which he then sticked to my
car in my presence and photographed;
- Photos taken by the parking enforcement officer show the driver
door was open I was ready to leave and only waiting for him to
complete the process out of courtesy;
- I later learned that the Claimant has a 5 minutes grace period
time, which I wasted out of politeness waiting for the officer to
do his job, while I could have left without a ticket.

I thus state that:

- The claim is unfair as I was asked by the parking enforcement
officer to keep my car parked as he completed his form, which led
me to exceed the grace period;
- I am a resident of the estate with a valid parking permit for a
different bay in the estate and my short parking was solely meant
to protect my infant daughter from wet and cold weather as she
already had a cold.