Park Watch County Court Defence Review

whisperingeye1

Hello, firstly I want to thank all the regular contributors to this forum, it has been very helpful reading all the advice here!

I have received a County Court Claim from Park Watch relating to parking on the staff car park at Deepdale Shopping Centre in 2018. Issue Date is 09/08/2022, AOS submitted on 17/08/2022.

I was a Staff Member within the shopping centre at the time of the incident and don't recall seeing any signage stating that permits had to be displayed etc.

As this was a few years ago and I have ignored the letters to date and cannot find the original letter from the parking company detailing exactly what pictures they have etc. I have now submitted an Information Request to which they responded they will get back to me within 30 days which will most likely be after the Defence Deadline. 

My main defences will relate to being a staff member at the time and the fact the signage was inadequate to detail that I could not park where I did.

It does not help that the car park has since changed ownership and all the signs have changed when I visited last weekend to take pictures, Google Street View does reinforce the point that the signs at the time were obsure however. I have also find a historic picture of what I believe is one of the signs used at the time which I reference in my defence,

I have used the Template from the relevant defence section of the forum but would appreciate any feedback on points 2+3 of the the template (the rest remains unchanged)

The facts as known to the Defendant:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle in question.

3. The Defendant parked her car at Deepdale Shopping Center, Blackpool Road, Preston, PR1 6QY on 03/02/2018 in order to attend work within the Shopping Center, specifically as Assistant Manager of the JD Sports branch on site. The Claimant states that this parking was unauthorised and in “breach of the terms of parking stipulated on the signage”. This is fully refuted by the Defendant, as the sign at the entrance of the car park had no information regarding such terms and conditions. Furthermore other signage within the car park was either obscured by foliage, displaying terms and conditions using font of a size too small to be read from a passing vehicle or in such a position that anyone attempting to read them would be unable to do so easily. It is, therefore, denied that the Claimant's signage is capable of creating a legally binding contract.

The signs situated elsewhere within the car park state “Staff only in Approved Designated Areas”. These signs contain no further information regarding what constitutes “Staff” or the “Approved Designated Areas”. It also does not state any further requirement for staff to register or display any kind of permit. As the Defendant was a staff member at the time in question and due to inadequate signage to the contrary, she maintains that she was not at fault parking where she did while at work.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

KeithP

whisperingeye1 said:

I have received a County Court Claim... Issue Date is 09/08/2022, AOS submitted on 17/08/2022.

Hello and welcome.

With a Claim Issue Date of 9th August, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 12th September 2022 to file your Defence.

That's nearly two weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence and it is good to see you are not leaving 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

That defence is very good as part of the Template Defence.  Just needs added paragraph numbers.

whisperingeye1

Fantastic thank you both, I will add the paragraph numbers and get this defence ready. I will sit on it for a little while longer for the slim chance my information request actually comes back in time. Otherwise I will just go with this.

Thanks again 

Not_A_Hope

I was at Deepdale retail park at the weekend and didn’t see any parking signs at all. I thought it was unusual and that the owners should be congratulated. As your case is a few years ago perhaps  they had since learned that issuing PCNs puts people off from visiting or spending extra time there. 

whisperingeye1

There are still parking signs at Deepdale, albeit different ones now. I took several pictures of them when I was walking round at the weekend. It looks as though the car park is now managed by group nexus.

The signs look to display similar rules as the previous ones although are clearly not very visible if you could not see them! They have a grey background with small white writing that you have to be up close to read. 

Leylander

Not_A_Hope said:

I was at Deepdale retail park at the weekend and didn’t see any parking signs at all. I thought it was unusual and that the owners should be congratulated. As your case is a few years ago perhaps  they had since learned that issuing PCNs puts people off from visiting or spending extra time there. 

I got a fine from them over 3 years ago and after getting advice in here ignored their letters, today i received a judgement for Claimant to the value of £303.33. usual threats of bailiffs etc. I did not get any warning of it being taken to court so any advice would be welcome. 

Coupon-mad

Leylander said:

Not_A_Hope said:

I was at Deepdale retail park at the weekend and didn’t see any parking signs at all. I thought it was unusual and that the owners should be congratulated. As your case is a few years ago perhaps  they had since learned that issuing PCNs puts people off from visiting or spending extra time there. 

I got a fine from them over 3 years ago and after getting advice in here ignored their letters, today i received a judgement for Claimant to the value of £303.33. usual threats of bailiffs etc. I did not get any warning of it being taken to court so any advice would be welcome. 

Sorry but you'll have to pay it if you ignored a properly served Court claim form.  You will otherwise get a CCJ now by default.

Is there a claim form sitting unopened in a pile of post from August?  Start your own thread if not, please, as this one is only for @whisperingeye1

whisperingeye1

Hello all,

Just an update on this case and looking for advise on my next steps please.

After submitting my defence and later the DQ, Money Claim Online shows my claim has been transfered to Preston Court as requested. Shortly after I received a General Form of Judgment or Order from the Preston Court stating that

"IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1) The particulars of claim are struck out because (a) they do not disclose any reasonable grounds for bringing the claim and (b) they fail to comply with CPR 16.4 and PD 16 paragrapghs 7.3-7.5"

It then later states that

"The Claimant shall send to the court and to the Defendant a further statement of case, verified by a statement of truth, by 4pm on 5th December 2022"

I assume this is because they failed to provided the correct paperwork or because their case against me is pretty weak. This deadline came and went without any correspondance so I assumed it was all over. However 11 days after the deadline on the 16th December the claimant sends an email and with the documents for the court. The documents were also dated with 16th December. 

I have since heard nothing further regarding this. My question is, since they submitted the documents 11 days past the deadline would the case have automattically been struck out? Money Claim Online still shows the last update as the case being transfered to Preston so I am not sure if that will show if the case has been struck out.

Is my next step to get in touch with Preston Court to get the status of this case?

As a side note, the updated documents they presented to the court have alot of issues I will highlight if the case were to progress. This includes a contract for the management of the car park dated after my ticket was given, pictures of signs which were not present at the time of my parking as the "fines" stated on them do not match with what the original letter from them from was asking for etc. Would the witness statement be a good place to highlight these points if it were to progress? 

Thanks again all

Le_Kirk

Once your case is allocated to a court, the CCBC has no further part to play.  Send an e-mail to the court where your case is allocated and ask them to confirm that your case is struck out.  If you have deadlines for witness statement and evidence you should continue to meet those unless you have already submitted WS etc.

Coupon-mad

You should assume the case will continue because Claimants get away with murder in small claims.

But email Preston court and point out that the C failed to comply with the Order.  The new Particulars arrived far too late to be considered compliant and no application was filed by the Claimant, for an extension of time or relief from sanctions.  Therefore please confirm that the claim is struck out.