Court hearing and denied appeal - what next?

Persistent_1

Hi All,

Wondering if any of you are able to cast a view on the next steps I should take and what my chances of success would be?

In 2021 I was taken to court by a parking management company for my vehicle being parked in a Hotel car park in York . They were claiming £207 from the vehicle keeper with no evidence of driver.

Due to technical issues my court response got “lost” within MCOL and I ended up with a judgement against me which has affected my credit score and caused me many issues.

Feeling victimised, I decided to pay to set the judgement aside and six months later, £275 and many hours of research I was able to remove that judgement .

The first court hearing took place in August 2022 via telephone but, in line with my luck, the telephone connectivity dropped just as I was questioning the validity of the contract between the parking company and land owner ( Contract has no start date). Upon repeated technical issues the judge decided to adjourn the hearing in favour to a face to face meeting with same audience.

Te second hearing (face to face) took place few days ago, with a different client solicitor, and the judge was, in my view very biased and decided in Claimant's favour on all points and also denied me an appeal.

Key defence points were :

1) There was no breach of any enforceable agreement / obligation or contract.

2) There was any agreement between me, as the vehicle owner and the Claimant.

3) Claimant has suffered any loss or damage or that there is a lawful basis to pursue a claim for loss.

In support of the points above I had evidence of:

1. Invalid contract between Paking company and the land owner as it had no start date

2. Actual site signage, which was obstructed by vegetation, different to their evidence and was using confusing words (Patron only car park - I was a patron but there were no instructions on what I am expected to do)

3. No evidence of me being the actual driver – which I wasn't

4. Royal mail performance during Covid (i.e. 20%drop in KPIs) therefore the pre-court action can't be satisfied

5. Lack of planning permission for signage and ANPR

6. GDPR and handling personal details without consent (i.e. DVLA fine)

7. The hotel advertising “free parking” with no time limit restrictions

8. Showing routes into the carpark without seeing any signs.

Leaving aside my complete lack of faith in the legal system, I am now trying to get legal advice on next step but I am unable to find anyone available/willing to take it on ...any ideas from anyone?

Coupon-mad

You can't appeal unless a Circuit Judge agrees you have a case and that cannot be because you don't agree with the outcome.

There must have been an error in law or serious mistake/omission by the Judge.  For example: if you were not driving AND the PPC was one that doesn't use the POFA and the Judge wrongly applied the POFA, that would be an error in law.

Even then I wouldn't expect a Circuit Judge to understand it...I would save your money.  Sadly, that does mean paying the judgment.

I would move on - but instead, pursue a formal complaint against the CCBC to get compensation for your £275 and ask for an extra £200 to remedy the effect of their error on you and your credit rating.

Someone whose username escapes me but I think started with 'jagrun' got (I think) £150 from the CCBC and an apology for 'losing' an emailed defence.

Le_Kirk

Coupon-mad said:

Someone whose username escapes me but I think started with 'jagrun' got (I think) £150 from the CCBC and an apology for 'losing' an emailed defence.

Found this one: -
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6181115/ukcpm-free-parking-overstay-ccj-removed-compensation-update-june-2022/p1 - Start
and this: -
29 June at 6:08PM

Persistent_1

Thank you very much both for the fantastic help and advice...

To me the error in law comes from the fact that the Judge has accepted a contract with no valid start date and denied me an appeal on the basis that para 12 of Schedule 4 has no relevance to planning permission which needs to be in place at the time of the offence...

In addition, none of the criteria needed to allow claimant to go after the vehicle owner was met ...and the signage was innapropriate to convey a binding contract with a driver let alone a vehicle owner...

Grizebeck

Move on with your life

Persistent_1

Appreciate the sentiment...and I can't say I fully disagree. It has affected me on all levels , I had spent weeks on this and there is not much hope moving forward ...Looks like the way forward would be to pay and then start complaining to MCOL and higher courts on the judge bias.

To the seasoned people out-there this might be another ordinary day/event but to me it feels extreemly representative of the societal problems we find ourselves confronted with ... and if a judge  is no longer impartial and there is no hope, nor a mechanism of addressing it we are likely to see many more being denied justice...

Perhaps the way to deal with these is through social media, MPs and Local Authorities ...

Sadly, my case will become another precedent where the big corp. wins.

Coupon-mad

I think the important thing in future is to keep cases away from court and judges altogether, because of cases like yours where you are left feeling let down by the court service from start to finish.

Judges are hit and miss re parking law.  Always were and still are. But I don't see an error in law in your case.

That's why I said copy jagrun's example to recoup £275 plus ask for an extra £200 compensation and see what they offer.  Let us know how it pans out.

AND respond to the DLUHC's Public Consultation when it opens in the New Year.  That's very important to change the law on the max level of parking charges and to reinforce the ban on the false 'DRA fee' enhancement that enriches the legals and adds nothing of value except that (money for roboclaim legals).  It clearly fuels the bulk litigation juggernaut and MUST be stopped.

Le_Kirk

Coupon-mad said:

That's why I said copy jagrun's example to recoup £275 plus ask for an extra £200 compensation and see what they offer.  Let us know how it pans out.

This example here: -
19 December at 3:17PM

Persistent_1

Thank you very much.

I will progress with what has been suggested above and will keep everyone posted.

I guess that the only thing i wasn't prepared for was an impartial judge ...now I know better.

What helped influence my final decision is the fact that there doesn't appear to be many solicitor companies specialised in civil parking cases and after 20 odd calls and emails I had to draw a line....or I can just accept my "unlucky" status.

Have a good break with no legal challenges, and good health!

Coupon-mad

See you in the new year for the Public Consultation!

And do let us know (in the end) how much the CCBC offer you by copying jagrun's tenacity.

Umkomaas

What helped influence my final decision is the fact that there doesn't appear to be many solicitor companies specialised in civil parking cases and after 20 odd calls and emails I had to draw a line....or I can just accept my "unlucky" status

In our experience, there are none specialising in defending civil parking cases, although there are a number specialising in prosecuting such cases. There really isn't any money in it for defending. Their costs for defending a £100 'debt' claim would been significantly greater than the amount at stake. Even though it might be a big issue for the motorist, fighting for principles via litigation can be extremely costly.  Nor would any solicitor entertain a no-win-no-fee case.