Parking at Costa

KeithP

jrc123 said:

Hi All, are there any examples of defenses for poor signage that have been done recently?

Yes, usually several posted every day.

Does the template Defence not cover poor signage sufficiently?

jrc123

HI Keith, for defence is that the template defence to be used which CouponMad has written?
Whilst adding in personalisation?

thanks

Le_Kirk

It is this one below but it takes you to the same thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6108153/template-defence-to-adapt-for-all-parking-cases-where-they-add-false-admin-costs-edited-march-2022#latest

jrc123

Hi @Le_Kirk thanks! which page is it on? (lot of pages there - dont want to get the incorrect one).

thanks! :-)

KeithP

jrc123 said:

...which page is it on? (lot of pages there - dont want to get the incorrect one).

thanks! :-)

The second post on that thread. Well worth reading the opening post first.

jrc123

thanks Keith!
my last one i had to do i didnt have a defence template - had to spend hours writing one!

jrc123

Hi  All,
I am going to be writing my defense this evening and there is a section i need to complete:

3. [EXPLAIN IN YOUR OWN WORDS...but please notice that defences are written in the THIRD person as 'the Defendant', not 'I did this' nor 'my/me']. 

Explain briefly what business the driver had there & what went wrong?  

If you don't know because the Defendant didn't get any letters, say that instead.

Were signs obscured/unlit in darkness? 

Would anyone be able to point me a direction of a recent defense post i could check out?

thanks in advance for the help

Le_Kirk

Your defence has to be personal to your circumstances and should answer the points in the POC on the claim form.  Having said that, search the forum for recent posts, defences are submitted daily for critique.  This may give you something useful: -

A defence is a series of short punchy legal/technical arguments in the third person.  The arguments should be used to refute what is claimed in the POC.  Using the defence template, paragraph #1 is not edited, paragraph #2 states whether you are keeper and NOT the driver or keeper AND driver.  An own space defence is best defended as keeper and driver as you can then give an honest first person account in the witness statement.  A defence as "not driver" is best if  a) you weren't the driver and b) the PCN failed POFA.  Paragraph #3 is used to set the scene for the judge and explain that you deny not paying/overstaying/not displaying/not having a permit/not having a blue badge (or whatever the POC states) and, provided you have opened the door with those arguments, you can tell the whole story in the narrative that forms the witness statement along with the evidence that backs up the defence.  Just write section 3 in your own words and one of the regulars will critique it for you; resist the temptation to write War & Peace.

jrc123

I have written up my defence for that section in question:

• The area where the road is situated is poorly lit.
• Confusing Unclear ambiguous inadequate signage so no valid contract formed.
• The signs in question cannot be read in the dark or in poor lighting
• The car spaces on the day of the alleged offence had road markings on the floor spelling ‘Costa Only’. After the alleged offence the painting on the road has been changed to ‘Costa Staff Only’
• Photographic evidence supports these changes, as this is extremely misleading and poor signage.
• Signs saying Costa Only and Costa Staff Only are contradictory. Changes to surface markings and temporary warning signs support this.
• Signs are above head height (above the roof of the van in one of the photos, so over 2m to the bottom of the signs) and not visible to a driver. Only one bay has signs. 

Would there be anything else worth adding or any changes recommend?

Le_Kirk

Reading back through the thread I now remember this where the signs were changed (presumably after some customer complaints)! You need to write your defence using properly constructed paragraph(s) rather than bullet points.