SMALL CLAIMS COURT - Witness Statement and Dispute Resolution Hearing advice

Fruitcake

Note that the signs refer to two separate entities, Minster Baywatch and Bransby Wilson. The latter is not a member of an accredited parking association. (It doesn't have the BPA roundel, so check what the BPA CoP says about that).

They are separate companies according to Companies House, so the signs are confusing and contradictory since a motorist would not know which one is managing the site, and therefore with which company a motorist is alleged to have formed a contract. It can't be both, so one of them is a stranger to the contract.

Then there is the issue of data handling and a possible data breach if one company has passed your personal data to another company without your permission.
You should ask the DVLA who requested the keeper's data if you haven't already.

As advised, do a forum search on the two companies where this has cropped up before. The MSE search facility has unfortunately been "improved" several times over recent years, so is sometimes no more useful than a pile of pants.

You might find using a search engine gives better results by adding moneysaving expert to the search criteria.

As mentioned above, you can't add new evidence at the WS stage. You can however introduce the concept of fairness as defined by the CRA 2015, even if it hasn't been brought up before. Installing deliberately misleading signs from two separate companies would seem unfair to me.

anony-moose

Sorry for the untimely response, but just to say thank you to you both for all for the help. I will keep you updated. 

anony-moose

Would anyone be willing to take a look at my defense and ws if I post them? Do I just need to remove the sensitive/personal information? 

Le_Kirk

Just post paragraphs 2 & 3 and any that you added or edited away from the standard defence template; we do not need to see the rest of the template if it is unchanged.  Of course you add back the rest of the template before sending t to CCBC.

anony-moose

Ok, so a bit of background here:

I used to use the car park when dropping off or picking up at a nearby school. The school has an agreement with the landowners that parents can use a smaller & closer car park for 15 mins (free), but the one I used seems to only provide 10 mins (free). I used this as the other gets full and this one is bigger/quiet. I stayed for a few mins over the 10 min threshold.

I provided the following for #2 and #3 in my defense:

2. (a) It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied. 

(b) The Defendant and his family make use of the car park and the surrounding roads when transporting their daughter to a nearby primary school. The Defendant is unsure who was driving the car on the given date.

3. (a) The Defendant first became aware of the parking charge in late July 2021, when a letter was received in the post, over 5 weeks after the alleged incident. The Defendant has since received a further 3 letters from the Claimant and from a ‘local’ debt recovery agent (which suggested to the Defendant they would be calling round like bailiffs), leaving the Defendant feeling distressed/harassed in fear of having unfair legal action taken against them.

(b) The Defendant’s daughter attends a nearby school, which has an agreement with the landowner (a public park) that parents are able to use the car park for 15 minutes in the absence of a more suitable and safer place to park. The Defendant and his family have previously used the car park without issue and on this basis.

(c) The written correspondence with the Defendant had threatened further (unexplained) charges to the original parking charge figure should payment not be received by arbitrary deadlines, with no evidence of how this extra charge had been calculated and, in an attempt, to pressure the Defendant into paying the fee. 

(d) The Defendant feels that they cannot be held liable due to the Claimant not complying with the ‘keeper liability’ requirements set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4.

I have gone past the date by which I should have submitted the witness statement (not good I know) and today received the WS from the Claimant. I think my WS is mostly there, but think I should now maybe take the opportunity to pick holes in the claimant's WS too? The following are points I wanted to include in my WS - some of these are not in my defence unfortunately, so I wanted to use the unfair angle instead - is there a standard line I should use for this?

- It is my car
- Not sure who was driving
- The school have an agreement with the landowner for 15 mintues on another car park and I thought it was the same for this one
- Park there for safety reasons - busy road
- Got first letter 5 weeks after and found correspondence to be threatening in nature
- Unexplained added charges
- A driver should be allowed time to drive in and out of the car park
- The 15 mins (for the smaller car park) was temp increased to 25 mins because of COVID
- Signs on the car park point to two different companies managing the site (Bransby Wilson & Minster Baywatch)
- There is no ANPR or GDPR sign at the entrance to the car park
- The sings do not mention the grace period
- The PCN is not POFA compliant (not sure what to look for with this yet)

NB - the claimant's WS seems to have a redacted landowner contract. Also the Dispute Resolution Hearing is coming up soon. 

Appreciate my situation isn't ideal so I can only apologise, but really thankful for all the help I've had thus far and any help I get going forward.

Thank you!

Le_Kirk

Certainly attack the redacted landowner contract but the main thing to do is get in quick if you have "I have gone past the date by which I should have submitted the witness statement".  You may be in a position where the judge will not allow your WS.  If you do decide to spend some more time on it, try to make it a more cohesive narrative/story that backs up your defence.  I am confused about which car park you are talking about the 15 minute or the 10 minute; how might the judge feel?

anony-moose

I parked on the car park that has 10 min limit. The school suggests using this one or the closer one (which was increased to 15 mins for the school). I did over run the 10 minutes, but don't think it's fair to be charged so much for a few extra minutes (especially given the circumstances), so was basically looking for the best narrative that will result in me not having to pay the fine. I figured that part of my defence would be that I thought it was 15 minutes like the other car park.

I'd been meaning to get the ws in sooner, but wanted to get it right and not really sure that I am making a good job of it. Would I stand a decent chance of defending it or should I settle on an amount?

Le_Kirk

The following are points I wanted to include in my WS - some of these are not in my defence unfortunately, 

You are going to struggle to introduce new points in the WS if they are not in the defence, the claimant is likely to object.  Your main task is to get this WS in quickly.  If you do not then the claimant can have it thrown out and you will have no evidence to back up your defence.

anony-moose

Could someone explain to me in layman's terms the argument against double recovery and the debt recovery fee that gets applied? I've got a lot of references to it in my WS (and references to other cases), but not sure that I am able to explain it simply to a judge in court? Thanks again.

Coupon-mad

They can't add false costs that they haven't incurred. 

The parking charge already covers all costs of the operation.

You've got ParkingEye v Somerfield as an exhibit we assume?  Paras 418-429 by HHJ Hegarty explains it. 

So does Excel v Wilkinson, that (if you've found a few recent WS to copy from) you will have as another exhibit already.

I think my WS is mostly there, but think I should now maybe take the opportunity to pick holes in the claimant's WS too? 

Yes, you can add some commentary about that. DON'T try to make it 'perfect'.  Get it done, signed and dated and email it (with pages numbers and exhibit numbers and a covering index) to your local court and their solicitor, before 3pm Wednesday (today).

See WS examples by @jrhys and @Nosy

They show how the whole thing looks with typical exhibits like PE v Somerfield and Excel v Wilkinson.  Copy that style but write the 'story' yourself.  It's fine.

DO NOT cave and settle at the Dispute Resolution Hearing.