Urgent - received claim form from country court business center

Optimusf

Le_Kirk said:

Is this a defence or an appeal?  It reads more like a witness statement, which comes later in the process. What you need for a defence is a series of short, punchy technical/legal arguments refuting what the claimant put in their POC on the claim form.  Time of parking, time of ticket, what sort of car park (e.g. free to park for customers) plus the killer point that the photo taker was using a car paring space when NOT actually a customer of the store!  All paragraphs require a number.

Hi thanks for the reply! This is, well supposed to be a defence...........Shall i reduce the size of the paragraphs and number the points? Not too sure i know how to make it punchy with the legal terms?

This is the POC:
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The driver of the vehicle with the registration xxxxx (the "Vehicle") parked in the breach of the terms of parking stipulated on the signage (the "contract") at Tesco on 27/08/2018 thus incurring the parking charge (the "PCN"). The PCN was not paid in within the 28 Days of issue/ The Claimant claims the unpaid PCN from he defendant of the as the driver/keeper vehicle. Despite demands being made, the defendant has failed to settle their outstanding liability. The CLAIMANT claims £100 for the PCN, £70 contractual costs pursuant to the Contract and PCN terms and conditions, together with the statutory interest of £55.09 pursuant to the s69 of the County Courts ACT 1984 at *% per annum continuing at £0.04 per day.

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Im trying to find examples on this form that could make it more legal - does anyone have a good example i could mirror?

KeithP

Nowhere have you told us what you are accused of doing wrong.

In your opening post you say "I received a fine from Tesco's for parking in a bay that I apparently shouldn't have".

What does that actually mean?

Le_Kirk

I can see from the POC that they have used their generic "parked in breach" rubbish but they don't say what the breach was, how is earth is anyone supposed to defend that.  What did it state in the PCN?

Optimusf

Le_Kirk said:

I can see from the POC that they have used their generic "parked in breach" rubbish but they don't say what the breach was, how is earth is anyone supposed to defend that.  What did it state in the PCN?

This is what it said in the PCN:

We recently issued Parking Charge Notice (PCN) XXXX to your vehicle because on 27th August 2018

at 14:26 it was parked in a manner whereby the driver became liable for a parking charge at Tesco Express

XXXX that we are authorised to manage by our client. This PCN was

issued on the 30th August 2018 and has not been paid. The reason we issued the PCN to the vehicle is as

follows:Parking in Disabled Bay without clearly displaying a Valid Disabled Badge.

In accordance with the signage that is clearly and prominently displayed on site, those drivers who break the terms and conditions of parking are liable to pay a charge. We have requested your details from the DVLA as the registered keeper of the vehicle (through the Reasonable Cause criteria of pursuing an outstanding parking charge).

You are notified under paragraph 8(2)(b) of schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 that the driver of the motor vehicle is required to pay this parking charge in full. If you were not the keeper of the vehicle at the time it was parked or if the vehicle was stolen prior to the beginning of the period of parking which is the subject of this Notice, please let us know. If you were not the driver we ask you to supply the full name and current serviceable postal address of the driver so that we may address this request to them.

We now request this amount is paid using one of the payment methods described overleaf. If after 29 days we have not received full payment, we have the right to recover the parking charge amount that remains

unpaid from the driver of the vehicle. The case will then be passed to our Debt Recovery Agent which may escalate to court proceedings to recover the amount owed. The overdue charge will increase to £160.00 in the first instance of further action.

Optimusf

KeithP said:

Nowhere have you told us what you are accused of doing wrong.

In your opening post you say "I received a fine from Tesco's for parking in a bay that I apparently shouldn't have".

What does that actually mean?

Hi, yes that was very vague apologise. ( I was abit stressed with the Court letter and trying to read the newbies thread was somewhat overwhelming but no excuse)

I parked up in Tesco Express car park, its a small car park. The only space available was the disabled parking space, so i parked there as i wanted to buy something quickly. But as soon as i entered i was told by a lady someone is taking pictures of my car. I ran outside and told the guy i will move the car, which i did. This was all within 30 seconds.

However i noticed that the person taking the picture was occupying one of the spaces, i took a picture of this for my own record.

Because of this i have been getting these nuisance letters. I have emailed Tescos CEO they passed in on to a regional director who said they cant do anything as it has gone to court and they no longer deal with this company.

I appealed via POPLA and they rejected my appeal.

I know the defence i have written isnt great and was hoping to get some pointers.

Le_Kirk

They still haven't stated what rules you fell foul of or how you "became liable" so hard to see how you can defend with specifics.  What does it state on their signs in the car park?  Did you park outside a marked bay, stay over too long, make two visits within a banned time?  There are a few defences on the forum that use a form of words relating to a poorly written particulars of claim, see if you can find one by searching.

Optimusf

Le_Kirk said:

They still haven't stated what rules you fell foul of or how you "became liable" so hard to see how you can defend with specifics.  What does it state on their signs in the car park?  Did you park outside a marked bay, stay over too long, make two visits within a banned time?  There are a few defences on the forum that use a form of words relating to a poorly written particulars of claim, see if you can find one by searching.

They are arguing that I parked on a disabled parking spot. They have taken pictures of the parking disabled signed and markings - also I didn't have a disabled badge on display 

I have uploaded some of the pictures they have taken and some of the letters (I have deleted any personal information) 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eg6nis0by6l27y7/AAAOqD5GjhWqujy56Vn84CY2a?dl=0

I hope this helps to build a picture what has happened - I'm quite eager to finish this defence off as soon as!

I should add that I have taken pictures of the guy occupying a parking space who took these pictures of my car. 

I am arguing:

It's unfair as the car was parked there but was moved within 30 seconds, 

Secondly it's a small car park, why is one of the employees for parking solutions occupying a space - almost setting ppl up 

Le_Kirk

New information that helps.  Your defence is simple; you either were or were not parked in a disabled spot and if you were, you had a blue badge or you didn't.  What was the reason for parking there?  Did you have a blue badge and it fell off the dashboard or did you have a blue badge holder in the vehicle?
The part about the PPC employee occupying a space you should mention and certainly go to town on it in the WS but it is not a defence in itself as the PPC would just say, if there were no spaces available (no matter who was occupying one of them) just leave and park somewhere else!

Optimusf

Le_Kirk said:

New information that helps.  Your defence is simple; you either were or were not parked in a disabled spot and if you were, you had a blue badge or you didn't.  What was the reason for parking there?  Did you have a blue badge and it fell off the dashboard or did you have a blue badge holder in the vehicle?
The part about the PPC employee occupying a space you should mention and certainly go to town on it in the WS but it is not a defence in itself as the PPC would just say, if there were no spaces available (no matter who was occupying one of them) just leave and park somewhere else!

I didn't have a blue badge at present. 

I parked there as it was the only space and I wanted to quickly purchase an item as I was in a rush. But it was moved within 30 seconds- 1 minute when the lady informed me that someone is taking pictures. Hence I moved the vehicle. 

Optimusf

I have updated the Defence Statement, would be greatly appreciated if i can get some feedback, i have read some threads about this could be a weak case potentially. @Coupon-mad 
Le_Kirk

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3 As soon as the defendant stepped into the store, a bystander informed the defendant that a man was taking photos of the parked car. Due to this the car only briefly remained in a disabled bay less than one minute, merely as long as it took for the defendant to discover the claimant was taking pictures, abandon the plan to shop, then return to the car to park elsewhere. The Claimant failed to allow a suitable consideration period which is a clear breach of the Trade Body Code of Practice. Therefore the PCN was issued with haste and allowed no grace period.

3.1 Further, given this was a manned car park and permits are supplied by the Claimant, the ticketer was occupying a parking space for themselves.  Rather than lurk and issue predatory PCNs, the employee's should have left that space for the customers as the claimants own sign states “Customer Car Park”. The Defendant was set up to fall and this is not only a clear breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 but it is also exactly the sort of 'concealed pitfall or trap' that the Supreme Court Judges in ParkingEye v Beavis held would have been unfair, penal and unenforceable.

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I did copy some bits from other threads - unsure if they are relevant for me?