PCN defence advice needed, PCN issued as parking session was purchased outside of grace period

2headedshark

Hi, hoping I've created a new thread correctly and haven't missed something that is already out there on this. Any advice on the below wording would be very much appreciated. Thanks. 

The Defendant entered the car park at xxx on xxx and had paid for parking by xxx on the day in question, some 12 minutes after entering the car park. It was not possible for the Defendant to pay for parking quicker because the car park machine was out of service. On discovering the car park machine was out of service the Defendant read all the signage, managed to get online, download the parking app and made payment. It was dark and raining heavily, the car park was not well lit, there is no phone signal. The PCN was issued due to the parking session being purchased after the 10 minute grace period expired. The Defendant has previously responded to the Claimant to explain they would not be paying the PCN. The Claimants Terms and Conditions are frustrated as sufficient time was not given to comply. 

Coupon-mad

Looks good.  You have a court claim?

Who from (which PPC and which solicitor)?

What's the date of issue top right of the Claim?

2headedshark

Yes, have a Court Claim. 
One Parking Solution, DCB Legal
Issue Date is 15th Nov 2022. I've done the IOS on line. 

KeithP

2headedshark said:

Yes, have a Court Claim. 
One Parking Solution, DCB Legal
Issue Date is 15th Nov 2022. I've done the IOS on line. 

I am going to assume you filed an Acknowledgment of Service sometime after 18th November. Please confirm.

With a Claim Issue Date of 15th November, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 19th December 2022 to file your Defence.

That's nearly three 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

One Parking Solution.

Llangrannog car park, or where?

2headedshark

Yes, Llangrannog 

Coupon-mad

So you've Googled it and know about all the newspaper articles, the Facebook group and the BPA Report that shut the car park down the other year, due to the findings of the BPA Audit Inspector that none of the payment methods were reliable?

You've searched this forum and found the damning BPA Report posted in recent weeks here on the forum by @ParkingMad?

2headedshark

Yes. And have re-read again. I've added the below to my defence. It looks like a several people have had successful outcomes with frustration of contract. Not sure if I'm looking in the right place tho because I can't find any references or anything to use. Any suggestions? 

In addition, the Defendant claims the car park signage is confusing, in small print, not clear and does not comply with the BPA Code of Practice. The Pay and Display car par sign states clearly ‘Purchase a ticket on arrival, do not leave the site without first purchasing a ticket for parking’. This is exactly what the defendant did. After stating the charging times, the sign reads ‘A 10 minute grace period is permitted to purchase a ticket or a parking session’. It is not made clear that the 10 minute grace period starts as soon as the vehicle enters the car park. Once parked, the Claimant immediately went about paying for parking and purchased a ticket.

Issues at this site are common. The BPA made a visit to this site 5th Nov 2019. They recommended that the option to pay by phone/app/text should be removed as there is no mobile phone signal in the village. Since the Defendant’s visit new signage has been put in. The BPA inspectors report after his visit 5.11.19 required a working pay machine and alternative means to pay, using the just pay app should be removed as it was not possible to use them. The situation on December ‘21 date was no different. The machine was out of use, wifi unavailable and no mobile phone coverage.

Previous court rulings support that a grace period of 10 minutes at this location is unreasonable.

Coupon-mad

Get rid of this:

After stating the charging times, the sign reads ‘A 10 minute grace period is permitted to purchase a ticket or a parking session’. It is not made clear that the 10 minute grace period starts as soon as the vehicle enters the car park. Once parked, the Claimant immediately went about paying for parking and purchased a ticket.


and add here:

Previous court rulings support that a grace period of 10 minutes at this location is unreasonable.  One sign states 15 minutes grace.  The terms are not only ambiguous but the alleged contract is impossible to perform in minutes.

KeithP

I suggest you expand 5.11.19 to 5th November 2019.
You know the exact date so change on December ‘21 date to something more precise.

2headedshark

Hi, thanks for help with my defence. I now have a court date and I'm doing the WS. I've used the template so not copied here the first bit (I am xxx of xxx ..) or the last bits (The Beavis Case ...), so below actually is 3 onwards. 

Any advice would be welcome or pointing to anything I might have missed (11 is particular is bugging me, should I be able to find something more specific?)  

Sequence of events and signage             

1.     I arrived at the car park just after 7pm on 30 December 2021, it was dark and raining heavily. The car park is not well lit.

2.     This car park is notorious for issuing PCNs and is making Llangrannog a no go zone for many. I had therefore ensured I had plenty of change to enable me to pay immediately on entering the car park. Once parked, I went straight to the car park machine to pay. The car park machine was out of order as seen in exhibit xx.

3.     I then read the car park signage which was confusing, the print small and unclear as seen in exhibit xx. I focused on finding alternative means of payment. Once found, I proceeded to get online, download the parking app and made payment. The payment was made within 12 minutes of entering the car park, it was not possible to make the payment quicker.

4.     I received a PCN which I appealed believing it had been issued in error. The appeal was not successful. Despite having received payment for parking One Parking Solution claimed I was not parked in accordance with the terms and conditions on site. I had arrived on site at 19.08 and the parking session did not start until 19.20, this being outside of the 10 minute grace period provided so that motorists can review and comply with the terms and conditions of the site.

5.     I appealed to POPLA. This appeal was not successful. The response stated that the Assessor was satisfied that the signs complied with the BPA code of practise and that if I was unable to comply with the terms and conditions by making payment within 10 minutes of arrival I ought to have left the site to seek alternative parking arrangements. By remaining in the car park for 1 hour and 50 minutes I had accepted the contract and was in breach of it by not paying within 10 minutes.

6.     I paid £4.40, a payment that covered 2hours 40 minutes. I entered the car park at 19.08 and left the car park at 20.58, 1 hour 50 minutes. Payment was made as soon as was possible on entering the car park. I wrote to One Parking Solution stating I would not be paying the charge as the terms and conditions were frustrated due to the car park machine being broken and 10 minutes not being sufficient time to get online, download the app and make payment.

7.     Issues at this site are common and well documented. See exhibit xxx extracts from the Llangrannog welfare website 

8.     The BPA inspectors report (see exhibit xxx) after a visit 5th November 2019 recommended, a working pay machine and alternative means to pay should be removed as it is not possible to use them without a phone connection. The situation on 30th December 2021 was no different. The machine was out of use, wifi unavailable and there is no mobile phone coverage.

9.     The car park signage is small and confusing. Needing to pay within a 10 minute grace period did not stand out. At the point of entry to the car park the terms and conditions signs were not visible or readable. The only safe and reasonable way to stop and view the car park terms and conditions is by entering the car park.  The Pay and Display car park sign states clearly ‘Purchase a ticket on arrival, do not leave the site without first purchasing a ticket for parking’. This is what I did.

10.  The Llangranog welfare website details several POPLA decision where the assessor states the 10 minute grace period is in small print on the signage with the full terms and conditions and that if the requirement is to pay within 10 minutes it should be more prominent on the signage so that it is brought to the motorists attention. The PCN was considered invalid and the appeal allowed. Exhibit xxx

11.  A case Cardiff County Court in 19th October 2022 ruled in favour of the defendant. The defendant had been unable to pay within the 10 minute grace period

12.  Since my visit new signage has been put in and the 10 minute grace period more obvious exhibit xx