Claim form Received, Is this Defence ok?

wonteverpay

Afternoon All

Letter received Yesterday (dated 08/12) relating a parking charge issued back in Feb 2022.

 

Background on this was dropped some friends off at a local restaurant and the back wheels of my vehicle were hanging over a marked bay for a total of 2 minutes 31 seconds. I appealed this on the basis I was checking parking regulations for the area (well friends being dropped off were) as you can clearly see in the video evidence that the brake lights are on throughout this time and the driver does not exit or enter the vehicle.

 Anyway appeal obviously denied as apparently they do not have to give ANY time for you to check, or. may have been 2 minutes but this was a while ago.

 I did go through all of the pre claim advice and followed the directions on here by requesting it be delayed for 30 days whilst they compiled all of the relevant documentation but didn’t hear anything back after this was provided and I thought the problem had gone away until yesterday.

 I have followed the advice in the newbie thread and created an account with MCL and gone through the acknowledgment of service process.

 Next step was downloading the template and adding my defence to which I have done below – would anyone be able to tell me if this is a suitable defence please;

"The Defendant was dropping off some friends to a local restaurant in chigwell on the date of the alleged offence, upon drop off the vehicles rear wheels were in a marked bay for a little over two minutes whilst parking regulations were checked by the passengers. The driver of the vehicle did not leave the vehicle in this time and nor was the vehicle turned off, this can be verified by the claimants CCTV footage. Once the parking regulations were checked the vehicle then moved to a suitable parking location outside the vicinity of the claimants land."

I have also attached the particulars of claim.

Thanks in advance!!

KeithP

wonteverpay said:

Letter received Yesterday (dated 08/12)...

Hello and welcome.

Are you saying the Issue Date on your Claim Form is 8th December?
Please confirm.

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

There may not be many people here who will download a file to their device. Especially a file from a brand new poster. No offence intended but this parking industry makes one suspicious of everything.
Can you host that picture on a picture hosting website - maybe imgur.

wonteverpay

Hi Keith and Thanks.

Correct, Claim issue date the 8th December and acknowledgment of service 13th December.

Being a newbie i cant link to imgur.com however the post ID is /a/Ve281tV this shows the particulars of claim that i have typed out below;

1. The Defendant (D) is indebted to the Claimant (C) for a parking Charge(s) issued to Vechicle XXXXXX 664 690 Chigwell Road, Essex, IG8 8AH
2. The PCN(s) were issued on xxxxxx
3. The defendant is pursued as the driver of the vehicle for breach of the terms on the signs (the contract). Reason: Vehicle Parked On Yellow Lines
4. In the alternative the defendant is pursued as the keeper pursuant to POFA 2012, Schedule 4.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
1. £170 being the total of the PCN9s) and damages.
2. Interest at a rate if 8% per annum pursuant to s.69 of the county courts Act 1984 from ther date of hereof at a daily rate of £.02 until judgment or sooner payment.
3. Costs and court fees

KeithP

Here's your POCs from Imgur...

With a Claim Issue Date of 8th November, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 10th January 2024 to file your Defence.

That's nearly four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence 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'.

wonteverpay

Thanks Kieth.

Have downloaded the template and intend to file WC 8th January, Just to confirm - The part where i have to edit the form and put my own circumstances, does this look ok;

"The Defendant was dropping off some friends to a local restaurant in Chigwell on the date of the alleged offence, upon drop off the vehicles rear wheels were in a marked bay for a little over two minutes whilst parking regulations were checked by the passengers. The driver of the vehicle did not leave the vehicle in this time and nor was the vehicle turned off, this can be verified by the claimants CCTV footage. Once the parking regulations were checked the vehicle then moved to a suitable parking location outside the vicinity of the claimants land."

Having checked the photos i have now noticerd there are double yellow lines however, the car is in the middle of the road - not sure if this bares any significance or not?

Thanks again!

KeithP

Who is the Claimant?

wonteverpay

Capital Car Park Control LTD

KeithP

Did this happen in the service road between Melin restaurant and Costa Coffee?

When did this alleged parking event take place?
I ask because yellow lines have appeared and vanished over the years.

wonteverpay

Kieth you are bang on the money and thats exactly where it took place.

Lines are visible from the CCTV pictures and parking event took place in February 2022.

KeithP

The first few words of your proposed Defence immediately give away the identity of the driver.
Perhaps it should start "The driver was...".

Coupon-mad

this can be verified by the claimants CCTV footage.

Nope. They don't have it.  No CCTV.

It is also not an "offence".

And double yellows are for passenger set down! It's one of the exempt reasons for DYL.

Change your facts paragraphs to this and re-number all the Template Defence after this (and there is no 'form' nor anything to 'download' so I don't know what you mean by that):

3.  The driver was dropping off some friends to a local restaurant in Chigwell. The driver of the vehicle did not 'park', switch off the engine nor leave the vehicle in this short time. The Defendant believes that the Claimant has taken predatory images over a mere two minutes and has breached their Trade Body's Code in terms of grace periods.

4.  Further, there was no fair opportunity to see - let alone read and 'agree' to - the small print on any sign that the Claimant may try to rely upon. Parking signs do not apply to vehicles dropping off passengers, unless a site is clearly marked as a red route/no stopping zone, which this coffee shop location is not.

5.  Accordingly, it is denied that the vehicle was in fact 'parked on double yellow lines' and further denied that this event could be a breach of double yellow lines at all. Setting down or picking up passengers is what single and double yellow lines on-street are in fact there for.  This is, as a matter of fact and law, defined as 'exempt activity' (not 'parking' at all) but it appears this fact is unknown to this ex-clamper Claimant who seems to be labouring under the all-to-common misconception that double yellow lines mean 'no stopping'. This is untrue.

6.  Helpfully, the new incoming statutory Code of Practice defines "2.24 parking period" as:

"the length of time that a vehicle has been parked, i.e. left stationary otherwise than in the course of driving, after any relevant consideration period has expired (excluding instances where the driver has stopped to enable passengers to leave or enter the vehicle). This is not the period between a vehicle being recorded as entering and departing controlled land."  Thus, no erring or improper conduct caused a parking charge to arise on this occasion and there is no legitimate interest in punishing drivers in circumstances where no period of parking occurred.  The charge is an enforceable penalty with the ParkingEye v Beavis case being fully distinguished.  Indeed, with no parking period evidenced, this Claimant had no 'reasonable cause' to obtain the Defendant's data from the DVLA at all.