WS/ evidence for 12 minute overstay UKPC ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Cbay27

any thoughts before I submit my defence?

Coupon-mad

Cbay27 said:

Here is my defence after tweaking. Any more thoughts appreciated. Aiming to submit next Monday. TIA ( I know I need to format before sending.)

3.

a] The PCN was originally issued due to an overstay of 12 minutes. According to the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice (2020) this is well within the recommended consideration and grace periods.

’13.1 The driver must have the chance to consider the Terms and Conditions before entering into the ‘parking contract’ with you. If, having had that opportunity, the driver decides not to park but chooses to leave the car park, you must provide them with a reasonable consideration period to leave, before a driver can be bound by your parking contract. The amount of time in these instances will vary dependant on site size and type but it must be a minimum of 5 minutes.’

‘13.3 Where a parking location is one where a limited period of parking is permitted, or where drivers contract to park for a defined period and pay for that service in advance (Pay & Display), this would be considered as a parking event and a Grace Period of at least 10 minutes must be added to the end of a parking event before you issue a PCN.’

Kelvin Reynolds, Head of Public Affairs and Policy at the BPA  has also stated that ‘No time limit is specified. This is because it might take one person 5 minutes, but another person 10 minutes depending on various factors, not limited to disability.’

 

At the time in question, the driver had 3 young children; a 4 year old and 1 year old twins.

This involved negotiating a double buggy and securing 3 children safely into car seats so it

is acceptable for it to take longer than the recommended time in this instance. The Shopping

park in question is large and includes 9 retail outlets including Tesco which would also

suggest more than the minimum suggested grace periods.

 

b] It is denied that the vehicle was in fact 'Parked for Longer Than the Maximum Period Permitted'. On the balance of probabilities the actual 'parking period' was less than that.  The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities ('DLUHC') published in February 2022, a Private Parking Code of Practice (blocked only by the moneymen in the parking industry - and only due to objections about an unrelated clause -  but being reintroduced this year).  That statutory Code stated in the definitions in point 2.24: "parking period : - 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. [...] This is not the period between a vehicle being recorded as entering and departing controlled land."

 

4. The ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis (2015) UKSC 67 case is distinguished

The justification of the decision in this case for their private PCN of £85 was based on prominent and clear signage with the parking charge itself in the largest/ boldest text. The claimaint’s signs have vague/ hidden terms and a mix of small font, such that they should be considered incapable of binding any person reading them under common contract law, and would also be considerered void pursuant to Schedule of the Civil Rights Act (CRA 2015).

Looks fine. Except typo (in bold) at the end.

New email address is shown in the Template Defence thread.

Cbay27

hi me again! Got my date for court case for the above. Now starting my witness statement and evidence. Just checking on my claims form it states the reason for the charge- parked for longer than max period permitted, so I don't include the CEL v Chan stuff?
Planning on including signage/ Beavis case and BPA code of practice re grace periods 13.3. My overstay was 12 minutes, where BPA states at least 10 minutes is acceptable so a mum with 3 children under 4/ double buggy etc would take longer.
So I will be including a, b, g and i from the newbies thread as the other items aren't relevant to my defence.
Should I include stuff re disproportionate added sums, abuse of process etc or is just repeating the defence?
As always thanks for your input

Coupon-mad

Great preparation.  You appear to be on track.

As you can see from very recent witness statements - e.g. there's one with a post in it today, by @Milliered - most people put a preliminary matter about Chan at the top and pretty much copy the standard defence at the bottom.

But in your case, neither if those are needed, albeit I would concisely pick out and repeat key reasons why the C should not get away with adding a false and disproportionate unjustified 'late penalty' (for that is what they are doing) of £70 that has never been incurred.

There was also a good (only look at the final version) WS by @Defendant911 a few weeks ago and his/her case just got discontinued. Claimants gave up! 

Use the ones linked above for info about how the WS looks (top and bottom) and the conclusion about costs and the exhibits he/she included.

Don't forget to include a separate sheet Costs Assessment with your emailed WS bundle.

Bazarius

If this applies in your case  -  you should include a section with a paragraph underlined as ” Preliminary matters” at the start of your  WS.  That you have  noted that the Claimant’s witness statement bundle includes a copy of the PCN which denotes a different issue date to that is on the Particulars of Claim (on the claim form) . In the light of that you seek the Court to dismiss the claim in its entirety . 

The claim cannot survive based on those statements of facts relied on . 

Cbay27

Claim has been discontinued (after one last attempt to get me to settle pre court) ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST. I will post on the DCB legal discontinations thread later. Thank you once again for all your help ! 

Coupon-mad

Cbay27 said:

Claim has been discontinued (after one last attempt to get me to settle pre court) ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST. I will post on the DCB legal discontinations thread later. Thank you once again for all your help ! 

Congrats! Well done on your win.

Coupon-mad

Cbay27 said:

Claim has been discontinued (after one last attempt to get me to settle pre court) ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST. I will post on the DCB legal discontinations thread later. Thank you once again for all your help ! 

Calling  @Umkomaas so it doesn't get missed.  We will need a screenshot of the NoD please.