Defending imminent Minster Baywatch court case

ensignia

Hi all, I've got into a bit of a situation with the notorious Minster Baywatch/Bransby Wilson shysters and need a bit of advice.

The story so far:

- Parked in March in a car park which I use(d) regularly and paid using the PayByPhone app

- It's a covered car park under a supermarket so phone/data is very patchy and you often have 0 reception so no 4G/5G until you walk out from under it and on to the main street

- Paid via my usual method of the PBP app, although it did fail several times due to the above mentioned issues

- Eventually it seemed to go through and I forgot about it as it was something I experienced regularly with this car park

- A week later I receive a letter in the post from Minster Baywatch stating that the driver of the vehicle hadn't paid and I had to pay a "fine"

- I think I ignored this first letter, but did respond before 28 days with a list of every transaction showing payments to Bransby Wilson from my banking app. Annoyingly the payment date is always at least 1 day after the actual event, so there was nothing for the day in question, but 15 or so transactions from earlier on in the year and one one day after the claimed unpaid parking job

- Thinking they would see this as some sort of clerical error or issue with the bank/parking app along with the multiple previous parking transactions it would be canceled and no further action would be taken

- I was wrong. I got a reply stating there was no payment on that date for the car in question and they demanded their fee and that this would be the last time they would enter into any correspondence regarding the matter

- Annoyed at this and thinking they wouldn't take it any further I chose to not waste any more energy on this issue as I had received these types of threats before from other parking companies, and aside from the odd letter none of them bothered taking it further

- MB obviously are more determined and they continued pursuing, by this point I had moved in with my partner to another address so probably missed a few more letters until I went home (I still own the house) and saw an ominous looking brown envelope which was a claim form from the CNBC

- Issue date was 14 Aug and I saw it just in time and submitted the AOS on 28 Aug stating I would defend the claim. I didn't request a SAR, and I'm not sure who the land owner is as the supermarket shut down and is empty now

I realise I have limited time to draft a defence and have read the sticky along with numerous posts.

What's the best way to defend this? Surely any sane judge will see the multiple payments to Bransby Wilson (which isn't even the same company claiming) and throw the case out?

I've seen the latest template from Coupon-Mad including the code of practice from the DLUHC which will form the basis of my defence which will then be sent by email to the CCBCAQ.

Sorry it's a bit long and if it didn't need a new thread, but these people seem to be even more crooked than the average parking management company, which certainly takes some doing!

Extract of their response to my evidence showing I had paid, along with historic payments of the same amount to show I was a regular user of the car park:

Coupon-mad

Just copy another MB defence facts section that cites Fairlie v Fenton and pop that wording  into the Template Defence as paragraph 3.

Presumably you've done some forum searches and found the recent one with s written finding from a Judge, saying MB are the wrong Claimant because the signs are BW?

I can't provide it as (in order to try to find it) I'd have to do the exact same forum search we are advising you to do, which would defeat the object of the forum as a resource for newbies to use as a tool and to gain confidence from what you can find here.

KeithP

ensignia said:

...an ominous looking brown envelope which was a claim form from the CNBC

- Issue date was 14 Aug and I saw it just in time and submitted the AOS on 28 Aug stating I would defend the claim. 

With a Claim Issue Date of 14th August, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 18th September 2023 to file your Defence.

That's well over a week away. Plenty of time to produce but please don't leave 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'.

ensignia

Just by way of update, I sent through the AOS and a defence which was received and acknowledged on the MCOL platform, and since then have received only a letter from HMCT confirming this and stating that the Claimant had 28 days to decide next steps from 20/09/23.

As I no longer live at the address (but my family does), I don't have full access to the post, but have told my dad to keep an eye out for any letters for me, and so far nothing has been received

As the last action on the MCOL portal (I know it's 'read only')  is confirming my defence was received and I don't appear to have received any letters does it mean the Claimant has decided against pursuing further?

What's the usual next steps once a defence has been filed by the Defendant?

They had a pretty weak case (in my opinion), so maybe thought it wasn't worth their time?

KeithP

It seems to be taking a couple of months before anything is heard at this stage.

When you do receive a Directions Questionnaire, it is back to that checklist you were following when you filed a Defence.
Then items 7, 8, 9 and 10 on that checklist will be useful.

In fact, item 7 on that checklist does state:
YOU MAY HAVE TO WAIT TWO MONTHS OR SO FOR THE NEXT STEP TO HAPPEN

Coupon-mad

I think you should update your address at the time of the DQ and put 'NOTE URGENT CHANGE OF SERVICE ADDRESS' in the email subject line.

ensignia

Long overdue update, but MB are proceeding with the claim via Gladstones, although in the WS they asked to be excused which is a common occurence it seems...

Court hearing is at the end of the month, will update with the outcome once known.

KeithP

Presumably you have filed and served your Witness Statement and evidence?

Coupon-mad

Hope so! Or you are working on it now?

ensignia

KeithP said:

Presumably you have filed and served your Witness Statement and evidence?

Yes, although it was late due to me misreading the section on Directions on Filing of Trial Bundles where it said "email the electronic bundle to the Court and the other parties no less than 3 days and no more than 7 days before the hearing date."

Hopefully the Judge will still accept it, otherwise it could leave my defence in jeopardy. I have sent them via email and post and also hand delivered to the Court.

We'll just have to wait and see what the outcome is.

ensignia

So, had my day in Court and happy to say I won!

As expected, it came down to the Claimant (MB) not having the authority to hand out PCNs as BW were the ones named as having some sort of contract with the land owner. But even this seemed flimsy.

I was worried that my WS wouldn't be accepted as it was submitted late, but the Judge didn't question it and the rep didn't try that angle.

The guy representing them was woeful; unprepared and lacking the knowledge to challenge anything the Judge said. The Judge didn't even ask anything particularly difficult and the chap was tying himself up in knots trying to explain the relationship between MB and BW. If I'm being kind, I don't think he knew anything about the case before today.

He had even brought some additional documentation regarding the land owner contract and the subsequent contract between BW and MB (which they didn't submit in the first instance), but that was pretty quickly dismissed by the judge and actually provided more evidence against them haha.

It was over in about 45 minutes and I was awarded costs of £95 as well.