I beat BW Legal (Total Parking Solutions) in County Court!

crb88

Hello everyone, I thought I'd let you know that BW legal took me to court on behalf of Total Parking Solutions yesterday (after hounding me for two years) and their case was dismissed!

FACTS OF THE CASE:

I parked at the university car park where I worked, as I closed the car door, the wind blew my parking permit onto the passengers side (face down) without me noticing. I got ticketed and within 90 mins of the ticket I sent a photograph of the permit to the parking company and told them I would not pay. They hounded me 2 and a half years.


THE COURT:

BW legal included legal arguments in their witness statement which is a breach of CPS regulations (the judge referenced the Vardy case for this!), and nearly had the entire statement thrown out. The judge was very disparaging that this incident had been taken all the way to court and found numerous holes in the BW Legal case, for example there was no witness to be questioned (just a statement); the penalty notice was vague; by referring to legal cases in the witness statement whilst not providing those case notes in evidence; the ambiguity of the landowner's website (specifically in terms of the fact that I was not staff, but a sub-contracted visitor); the fact that the reverse side of my permit could be seen on the passenger side with parking permit text (although not my permit number).

I didn't try to claim costs from the other side because I was just glad it was over, but probably should have claimed my bus fare and a couple of hours pay.

THE VERDICT:

The case was dismissed due to numerous shaky grounds, BW legal based their entire case essentially on 'breach of contract' but failed to supply evidence to support it. However the Judge granted them grounds for appeal based on making that case with evidence in future although he suggested it would be somewhat ridiculous to spend that amount of money to pursue it further for such a minimal claim.

QUESTION:

The question I now have to ponder for 20 days is whether or not they will file for an appeal and if so, how will I contest that appeal? Also, would I then be liable for far greater costs?


So it's kind of a bittersweet victory for now and certainly hasn't ended the stress having over me for now, but I though you'd all like to know about it, and I wouldn't mind some advice in terms of appeal if that happens.

Thanks everyone.

Umkomaas

Nice result and thanks for the excellent report. I doubt Tito of TPS will be up for funding an appeal - we see very, very few. I'm sure he'll chalk it off as part of doing business, as most do, plenty of far less resilient people who will supinely cough up at the first sign of a court claim. Come back for further help if he does appeal.

Le_Kirk

Nice report and nice outcome.  Was this the original thread: -
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6228967/ticket-because-my-permit-fell-down/p1
If so, you could ask one of the board guides (@savvy or @soolin) to merge this with the original.

Johnersh

Congratulations. Nice to have a DJ that is on top of permissible evidence. 

Virtually all of ppc statements are legal argument and lack core fact. There is a whole host of authority against that.  The difficulty is that the defendant often expands upon their case in a similar way, so its difficult to take the point. 

Key authority is JD Wetherspoon v Harris, but yes, it was recently revisited in Vardy v Rooney - a case which has done as much for jurisprudence as for the tabloids... You need the 21 April judgment (there have been 6 interim hearings, not including the trial). 

1505grandad

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Vardy-v-Rooney-judgment.pdf

crb88

Le_Kirk said:

Nice report and nice outcome.  Was this the original thread: -
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6228967/ticket-because-my-permit-fell-down/p1
If so, you could ask one of the board guides (@savvy or @soolin) to merge this with the original.

Yeah, that's me, happy for mods to do whatever they deem works.


It was pretty funny to me how unprepared the Lawyer seemed to be and how his entire booklet of evidence was beaten by 5 jpgs!

The lawyer was very keen to get the judge to accept grounds for appeal which is why I am a touch worried, but will keep you all informed as to how it goes.

Coupon-mad

In my experience with a few court hearings under my belt (100% win rate!) the other side always ask for leave to appeal because they are instructed to do so.  It is standard. 

No reason to think they will.  There is nothing contentious about the decision.

Well done!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

crb88

I got a letter today that I assume is just a recap of the result of the trial, but I'm worried that the:

 "an appeal lies from this judgment order to the county court" box being ticked. Does this mean they are appealing?

I've attached screenshots of the letter with identifying information removed.

Coupon-mad

Standard I think.  It means they can appeal if they want to (rarely happens).

Le_Kirk

Do judges go to the same school as Doctors for handwriting lessons?

MothballsWallet

Le_Kirk said:

Do judges go to the same school as Doctors for handwriting lessons?

My handwriting's better than that, and mine looks like I'd spilt ink over the desk and let a tame chicken walk and scratch through the puddle.