Equality Act and Private Land Parking issues

ally50

Hi All,

I had sent a SAR request to the Private Parking Company more than 30 days ago but I did not get a respond yet. What to do next, please any advice on this?

Thank you

Fruitcake

Contact them again and give them seven days to respond otherwise you will report them to the ICO.
If they fail to respond or provide you with the personal data they hold about you, then report them to the ICO.

This assumes you provided their DPO with non-photo proof of your ID.

ally50

Hi All, 

I need to submit a WS, would that be okay if I rephrase  my Defence (write in First Person) and include evidences I really on?

Thanks

Umkomaas

ally50 said:

Hi All, 

I need to submit a WS, would that be okay if I rephrase  my Defence (write in First Person) and include evidences I really on?

Thanks

Has to be based on your Defence, but it's not simply changing third to first person and adding a bundle of evidence, it has to be much more than that.

The following Witness Statement is seen as a good example from which to work. Use it as the basis from which to construct your own. Note - this isn't suggesting you just copy and paste it, you must describe the circumstances pertaining to your parking event. 

@baz417

ally50

Umkomaas said:

ally50 said:

Hi All, 

I need to submit a WS, would that be okay if I rephrase  my Defence (write in First Person) and include evidences I really on?

Thanks

Has to be based on your Defence, but it's not simply changing third to first person and adding a bundle of evidence, it has to be much more than that.

The following Witness Statement is seen as a good example from which to work. Use it as the basis from which to construct your own. Note - this isn't suggesting you just copy and paste it, you must describe the circumstances pertaining to your parking event. 

@baz417

Many thanks 

Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad said:

I'd add mention of your case being on all fours with the authority of 

Kettel & Ors v Bloomfold Ltd [2012] EWHC 1422 (Ch)

https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5a8ff7ba60d03e7f57eb18e0/amp

Read it.  Mention it. Do not attach it.

Remove these words (ONLY THESE) because 'title' means ownership, which a tenancy isn't:

"legal title under the terms of"

You've remembered the above advice I hope, and have gathered all the relevant residential case law transcripts as exhibits?

Plus you need the extra (important) one we really hope you have read about this month (the HHJ Murch judgment).  All over the forum!  You are reading other threads?

The advice to use the WS by baz417 is already in the Newbies thread.  That link is provided there plus a whole load of info about WS stage and standard exhibits.  It's worrying to see you appear not to have revisited and re-read it?  Sorry if I'm wrong but the link to baz's case shouldn't be needed on individual threads, as it's already in the NEWBIES advice on this stage.

You also need the words you find when you search the forum for:

Gladstones deplorable 10.25% interest

...but again, this is a self-help forum full of resources, and we always trust that people with claims like yours have kept up to date and read some Gladstones threads already this month and know this about the 10.25% interest too.  

You could literally 90% copy a WS already written this month for any Gladstones residential case. We have loads!

ally50

Coupon-mad said:

Coupon-mad said:

I'd add mention of your case being on all fours with the authority of 

Kettel & Ors v Bloomfold Ltd [2012] EWHC 1422 (Ch)

https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5a8ff7ba60d03e7f57eb18e0/amp

Read it.  Mention it. Do not attach it.

Remove these words (ONLY THESE) because 'title' means ownership, which a tenancy isn't:

"legal title under the terms of"

You've remembered the above advice I hope, and have gathered all the relevant residential case law transcripts as exhibits?

Plus you need the extra (important) one we really hope you have read about this month (the HHJ Murch judgment).  All over the forum!  You are reading other threads?

The advice to use the WS by baz417 is already in the Newbies thread.  That link is provided there plus a whole load of info about WS stage and standard exhibits.  It's worrying to see you appear not to have revisited and re-read it?  Sorry if I'm wrong but the link to baz's case shouldn't be needed on individual threads, as it's already in the NEWBIES advice on this stage.

You also need the words you find when you search the forum for:

Gladstones deplorable 10.25% interest

...but again, this is a self-help forum full of resources, and we always trust that people with claims like yours have kept up to date and read some Gladstones threads already this month and know this about the 10.25% interest too.  

You could literally 90% copy a WS already written this month for any Gladstones residential case. We have loads!

Yes, thank you. I had added it to my Defence. I have read WS by bay as well. Based on my defence I have prepared my WS, I would be grateful if you could have a look at it. As evidence, if I include the relevant page or section of my Tenancy Agreement would that be sufficient or I need to include all pages?

ally50

1- I am, xxxxxx, the Defendant in this case, at xxxxxxxx

2- In my statement I shall refer to (Exhibits ?) within the evidence supplied  with this statement , referring to page and reference numbers where appropriate. My defence is repeated and I will say as follows:

Facts and Sequence of events

3- I asserted that I was the driver and registered keeper of the vehicle in question. 

4- I had the right to park nearby home without conditions under easement  granted in a Tenancy Agreement at the property. Under this Tenancy I have contractual rights and obligations with the landowner and no other party. 

5- The facts below are true to the best of my belief and my account has been prepared based upon my own knowledge.

I am represented  with no experience of Court procedures. If I do not set out documents in the way the the Claimant may do, I trust the Court will excuse my inexperience. 

6- The Parking Charges referred to in this claim did not arise from any agreement of terms. The charge and the claim was unexpected shock. I deny that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all. 

7- The PCN issued on xxxxxxxx; I have disabilities and several medical condition(s) including urgent toilet needs. On this day I had to stop, at the space outside of my residence in line with my Tenancy Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “TA”), to access the toilet. 

The PCN issued on xxxxxx; I have to stop (at the same space as above) due to severe muscle spasm which significantly restricted my ability to walk. 

8- Above mentioned PCNs issued at a residential site where I have a TA that allows for parking ‘nearby home’ and I have been parking nearby home at the current address since xxxxxx, as relying on ‘primacy of contract’ that a contract (TA) can not be altered by one party without permission of other. There are no terms within TA requiring tenants/residents to pay parking charges to third parties, such as the Claimant. Therefore, the vehicle in question clearly was ‘authorised’ as per TA and that parking charges can not be forced on me. 

9- However, I have noticed “parking signs” around the building I live after I was discharged from the hospital. 

Since then I have contacted the Claimant and XX Housing Management Team (XXHMT) as well as the Local Authority several times, both prior and after being issued PCNs, to require information and advice about these changes as I was confused about the terms and which areas were subject to control and which areas were available to stop/park. The Local Authority have concluded that under the Equality Act 2010 the property is unsuitable and not reasonable for me continued occupation. However, the Claimant and XXHMT failed to provide accurate information and advice such as where the alternative disabled parking bays etc. 

10- These changes (introducing restriction  and/or forbidden parking nearby home) were very detrimental for my health and daily life. I believe this is a breach of the Equality Act 2010 (aka disability discrimination - failing to provide reasonable adjustments for someone with a long term disability). Further, if a disabled person is put at a disadvantage compared to an able person it is ‘discrimination’. if discrimination/harassment continues I will not restrained in issuing proceedings  against XXHMT and their agent (the Claimant). 

11- I also believe that this is a breach of GDPR - as the Defendant has a right to park there (nearby home) then the XXHMT through the actions of their parking agents (the Claimant) have failed to carry out due diligence to ensure they are entitled to access my personal data. It should be considered that the Claimant have accessed my personal data perviously where a PCN was invalid (PC XXXXXX dated XXXXX )

In this situation the case of Vidal-Hall v Google Inc [2014] EWHC 13 (QB) provides authority that misuse of personal data is a tort and that damages may be non-pecuniary. The case of Halliday v Creation Consumer Finance Ltd [2013] All ER (D) 199 provides authority that a reasonable sum for compensation would be £750.

12- I also refer previous cases such as; 

In Pace v Mr N [2016] C6GF14F0 [2016] and  Link Parking v Ms P C7GF50J7 [2016] were found that the parking company could not override the tenant's right to park by requiring a permit to park.

In Jopson v Homeguard [2016] B9GF0A9E, on appeal it was found that the parking company could not override the tenant's right to temporarily stop near the building entrance for loading/unloading. In Jopson v Homeguard [2016] B9GF0A9E, it was established that ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67 does not apply to residential parking.

In Saeed v Plustrade Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 2011, was found the managing agent could not reduce the amount of parking spaces available to residents. 

In another example, this case is on all fours with Kettel & Ors v Bloomfold Ltd [2012] EWHC 1422 (Ch).

13- The Particulars of Claim refer to the signage as the ‘contract’.

A so called contract may only be effective if it is clear and the terms unambiguous to everyone. The sign refers to “vehicles must be parked with a valid parking permit fully within the windscreen and parked wholly within the confines of a ‘marked bay’ appropriate for the permit on display”. This is clearly prohibitive, since if there is no ‘marked bay’, there is no ‘valid parking permit’ and therefore no contract. 

This is clear from several cases. An example In PCM-UK v Bull et all B4GF26K6 [2016], residents were parking on access roads. The signage forbade parking and so no contract was in place. A trespass had occurred, but that meant only the landowner could claim, not the parking company. 

Further, the sign refers to all drivers are agreed to all terms and conditions ‘by entering’ on the land in question. Since there is no prominent signage within the site that were capable of being read from the drivers’s seat and/or forming a contract, contrary to the BPA CoP, PoFA and the Beavis Vs ParkingEye 2015 case.

14-The Claimant have issued number of tickets (below) which were later cancelled due to the Claimant claimed to be erroneous). PC XXXXX , PC XXXXX -(court case number:J XXXXX ), PC XXXXX, PC XXXXX. Therefore, I am aware that the Claimant's conduct in aggressive ticketing is in fact a matter of tortious interference, being a private nuisance to residents. In this case, the Claimant continues to cause a substantial and unreasonable interference with my daily life, and the use or enjoyment of that land/property.

15- The Claimant or their legal representatives, has added an additional sum of £70 to the original £100 parking charge per each PCN, for which no explanation or justification has been provided. Schedule 4 of the Protection Of Freedoms Act, at 4(5), states that the maximum sum which can be recovered is that specified in the PCN which is £100 in this instance. It is submitted that this is an attempt at double recovery by the Claimant, which the Court should not uphold, even in the event that Judgment for Claimant is awarded.

16- In the alternative I refer to my own case with the Claimant (court case number:J XXXXX), the Court is invited, under the Judge's own discretionary case management powers, to set a preliminary hearing to examine the question of this Claimant's substantial interference with easements, rights (Equality Act 2010) and 'primacy of contract' of residents at this site, to put an end to not only this litigation but to send a clear message to the Claimant to cease wasting the court's time by bringing residents to court under excuse of a contractual breach that cannot lawfully exist. 

17- I contend it is wholly unreasonable to rely on barely readable and confusing signs in an attempt to profit by charging a disproportionate sum where no loss has been caused by the act of stoping/parking. Therefore the Claimant is to strictly proof to justify that their charge, under the circumstances described, does not cause a significant imbalance to the Defendant’s detriment.

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

Coupon-mad

I'm not sure you have an easement.

Remove paragraph 11. No relevance.

You are advised to start again and use the resources already in the NEWBIES thread section about WS stage.

And read the threads I already advised you to go and read.  Your draft WS misses out everything I just advised you to go look for and include.

1505grandad

A heads-up when preparing new WS:-

"...contrary to the BPA CoP,....

The claimant is Parking Control Management (UK) Ltd, an IPC AoS member (just in case any references are made to a Code of Practice).