County Court Claim - One Parking solution/ DCB Legal

P4RK3R

Hi all, 

I have been sent a county court claim form regarding an unpaid parking charge. I have read alot of info on the threads here and am just looking for a little guidance through the stages. 

Heres the claim form:

//imgur.com/a/CfbWYL0

I was visiting the area over a period of about 5 days and parked in the same car park everyday. During this time I had problems with paying on the mobile app so my friend in London ended up having to pay for me, Pay n display machine also didn't work. I have receipts for each day parked there, however they do not indicate how long the payments covered. 

I have contacted the PPC on the phone and they say ANPR got my car entering on the 16th and then exiting on the 17th. They say my car was there overnight which I disagree with. I would've driven home each night to London. 

I have filed my AOS today. 

I am currently preparing an SAR to PPC. 

I will be soon filing a freedom of information request through the police to see if they'll send me any ANPR proof that my car wasn't in the car park overnight. 

I am thinking that my defense will be based on the idea that their ANPR camera system and payment system weren't working correctly at the time and so they have no solid proof my car remained there overnight. Is this ok or do you guys think I should defend on different grounds?

Thanks for you help. 

KeithP

https://imgur.com/a/CfbWYL0

Hello and welcome.

With a Claim Issue Date of 31st March, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 3rd May 2022 to file your Defence.

That's nearly four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Coupon-mad

Which location?  We know lots about OPS sites.

My guess is the crappy car park no-one should ever use, at Vantage Point Brighton.  A trap.  Park anywhere but there.

Or was it somewhere else?

P4RK3R

Coupon-mad said:

Which location?  We know lots about OPS sites.

My guess is the crappy car park no-one should ever use, at Vantage Point Brighton.  A trap.  Park anywhere but there.

Or was it somewhere else?

Yes it was vantage point!

Coupon-mad

Quelle surprise!

We have regulars who have loads of info:

@ParkingMad

@95Rollers

95Rollers

Good morning @P4RK3R

I had a problem at Vantage Point which ended up with them taking me to court where their case was dismissed.  The brief circs were I attended carpark, I couldnt find a space, waited in aisles in case one freed up, gave up after a few mins and left to search for somewhere better, had no such luck so ended up back at VP, got a space (think I nabbed one as someone was leaving) and machine didn't take my ££, couldn't get a phone or Internet signal, fully read signs (none of which directed me to any other machines or payment solutions so I duly left due to frustration of attempting to form a "contract" as I'd reasonably exhausted all available options!). This all occurred in a 23 minute window and they only used the first and last ANPR times - if they did their jobs properly like the BPA suggests they do they'd have seen it was 2 seperate visits!

Basically the Judge concluded that I wasn't "parked" and certainly not for 23 minutes and that the terms were not fair.

I can help you with the court process. My initial defence wasn't great as I rushed it, but I turned it around with my Witness Statement(s).  I'd advise using a Defence Template from the Newbies section (if you haven't already).

I'm happy to help you with the process and am happy to share my Witness Statement with you. Plus my notes/ exhibits re: signage etc.

95Rollers

You mention that your car was in London.  Not that you should have to, but can you prove this by Sat Nav, Google or TFL ULEZ/ Congestion charges or other carpark reciepts etc It's? It's always useful to include such evidence if available.  Not to worry if you don't, as I had none of this. I had an old Nokia phone at the time which didn't have trackers nor does my car. Since this debacle I've invested in a Dash cam and put on my GPS when I feel it's necessary. Again I never thought the then non eventful process of driving in and out and attempting to park in a grubby backstreet carpark would of made me fall victim to a lengthy legalised harassment/ extortion scam! 

When you send your SAR (FOI only relates to government/ public sector) ask them for ALL ANPR footage and a copy of the ANPR log of your VRM.  They refused me this so I included their refusal by Email in my court exhibits!

I'll message you Directly later today when I'm home and have access to my laptop. 

ParkingMad

Also read the threads by @fishsoup @jolly_cabbage @joeythepoey and @erik_the_red

Do you have any petrol receipts (or other receipts) to show that you were in London that evening?

The landowner of Vantage Point is Periworld Ltd.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02004643

They allow a 15 minute grace period in this car park-
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78288607#Comment_78288607

Did you pay using the JustPark app, or OPS' own PopPay app? 

Were you on the open-air upper level, or the underground lower level? The two levels aren't connected inside the car park. The entrance to the upper level is from New England Street and the entrance to the lower level is from Elder Place. There is one P&D machine on each level, but if one is faulty, you can't get to the other one unless you know where the other entrance is and walk out of the car park and round the corner. 

Lower level in Elder Place BN1 4GY

Upper level in New England Street BN1 4GW



Some articles from the local paper-

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18978621.one-parking-solution-brighton-man-wont-pay-fine/#comments-anchor

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14819206.amp/

95Rollers

As @ParkingMad states the 2 carparks are not connected, the entrances are on 2 different street addresses (with possibly differing postcodes). I tried parking in the upper carpark (open air) and I was not aware of the existence of the underground level until I had been sent court papers, came on here for assistance and used Google Street View. 

There are NO signs (certainly not on the upper level) advising patrons of additional parking/ or payment machines downstairs. There is no connecting stairway either (I imagine it would be the same downstairs sign-wise!). 

In my court case the Legal Rep for OPS asked me why I didn't pay downstairs - and I asked him where are the signs saying I can do this and where is the exit within this carpark to get down there?!?  I asked him to show me in the maps/ pics which he obviously couldn't do! 

FULL Details of my case are here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6264789/won-case-dismissed-by-ddj-one-parking-solution-vantage-point-brighton/p1

The court report is on Page 9, I've also included Copy & Pasted versions of their Reply To Defence and Witness Statements so this will give you a heads up of whats to come so we can help you prep way in advance.

95Rollers

They've also appeared to have added an Unlawful Amount of £70!  They (and countless other firms) have had whole cases struck out for Abuse of Process for this practise of "double recovery". The government recently released their New Codes of Practise regarding private parking and BANNED the additional "debt recovery/ admin fees" - the BPA which OPS are subscribed have advised their members to stop claiming this amount. OPS and DCBL have appeared to ignored this. Both parties are FULLY aware of this as both DCBL and OPS have multiple cases STRUCK OUT/ DISMISSED due to this practise - and this was BEFORE it was banned, but still contiune to partake in this behavuiour. I pointed out to OPS' Harry Green and DCBL in Oct/ Nov last year that this was "unlawful double recovery" and goes against the principles of legitimate debt recovery so they have been officially told and made aware of this, but are still doing it. I can provide a statement to you of this effect.

Fruitcake

With regards to the SAR, and asking for all four images, when they refuse or say they only have two or the middle ones don't exist, complain to the BPA and the ICO and the DVLA that your personal data has been unlawfully obtained and processed. This should also be included in landowner complaints and a complaint to your MP.

The ICO is investigating the DVLA for selling personal data without reason, so the more complaints they get, the more chance something will one day be done ... or pigs might fly.