Please delete Thread

JW1994

Please delete this thread. I know people have tried to help but I can't deal with the stress and would rather pay the fine.

Coupon-mad

Did you use the one to drop off?

If not, what caused you to linger in that area for 6 minutes?

LDast

Oh dear. If only you'd discovered this forum before you made the fatal mistake in your first correspondence, you would not have paid a penny. However, that is water under the bridge.

For now, why have you not gone back to whichever credit/debit card company you think you used to make the payment and request copies of past statements?

JW1994

Coupon-mad said:

Did you use the one to drop off?

If not, what caused you to linger in that area for 6 minutes?

I was collecting and waiting for my girlfriend to come out.LDast said:

Oh dear. If only you'd discovered this forum before you made the fatal mistake in your first correspondence, you would not have paid a penny. However, that is water under the bridge.

For now, why have you not gone back to whichever credit/debit card company you think you used to make the payment and request copies of past statements?

I've gone back to each one and couldn't find anything on my statement but it was I think around 6 months later so in my memory this was my best solution. I wouldn't ever knowingly leave without paying as it's just plain stupid +  I've dropped off and collected many times and never had an issue.

As I'm at witness statement point I need some sort of defence but worried I haven't got enough of one.

Coupon-mad

But you do, because the NEWBIES thread tells you what to put and even what exhibits to attach as evidence.

Please go and read the second post there about WS stage.

For example, we've had other threads showing that the yellow signs on the high stanchions above this particular lane are wholly inadequate and 99% of the signs ONLY mention the £5, not £100.

Therefore you cannot be deemed to have accepted a contract to pay £100.

In the case of the Gatwick drop off zone, you can't wait/collect people there, can you?

JW1994

You can wait 5 mins, or it's £5 for 15 mins and more thereafter.

Thank you for the reply, I'm reading through and will try to copy a witness statement there. Just the jargon alone is incredibly intimidating though.

Coupon-mad

Show us your draft, based on one of the 5 exemplars, AND go find some threads with photos of the yellow signs up on stanchions.

Gr1pr

JW1994 said:

As I'm at witness statement point I need some sort of defence but worried I haven't got enough of one.

Your defence has already been submitted, it may have been poor but its already on file so too late to change it

you are at the witness statement plus Exhibits stage ,  so study the advice above carefully 

JW1994

I've  spent a long time looking for photos from South Terminal but can't find anywhere. I've found posts where you -  @Coupon-mad mention you've seen them but they seem to be deleted. Do you think I can write a defence without these? Now I've actually responded (poorly) to the email I assume that gives proof that I was the registered driver?

LDast

Have a look at this perspective from GSV and. Take a drive from the roundabout to the drop off area. Along the whole aapproach, I cannot find a single sign that mentions a £100 charge. Only signs that warn that there is a fee to be paid. The approach images are all from June 2023. Once you reach the drop off in GSV the photos are too old, from 2020, but the point is to show that the signage is inadequate to form a contract.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tso14ThShBzLjLa99

JW1994

I've attached my first draft of the defence below with help from templates on the newbie thread. Any advice is hugely appreciated as I guess it'll need a bit of help.

IN THE COUNTY COURT AT: Central London, RCJ Thomas More Building, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

NATIONAL CAR PARKS (EUK) LIMITED (Claimant)

And

MR .. (Defendant)

CLAIM No: .....

Witness Statement of Defendant:

1. I am .. and I am the defendant against whom this claim is made. The facts below are true to the best of my belief and my account has been prepared based upon my own knowledge.

a. Set aside the default judgment as it was defectively served using an old address and signage is poor/misleading especially when in a moving car

b. Order for the claimant to pay the defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee.

c. Order for the original claim to be dismissed.

DEFAULT JUDGMENT

2. I understand that the claimant obtained a default judgment against me on date unknown. However, it was not served at my current address, therefore I was not aware of the charge against me until months later. At this point, I was being charged over £200. I immediately phoned National Car Parks and explain the situation who said that they would call BW Legal and see if they could help me could bring the case back to them. When I chased this a day later, I found out it was refused and they were pursuing the full amount.

3. I believe the claimant has behaved unreasonably by not ensuring they used my correct contact details. According to CPR 6.9(3) Where a claimant has reason to believe that the address of the defendant referred to in entries 1, 2 or 3 in the table in paragraph (2) is an address at which the defendant no longer resides or carries on business, the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant’s current residence or place of business (‘current address’). 

According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. National Car Parks persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results in an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system.

I suggest the claimant did not make reasonable enquiries as to my current address before perusing the court order especially considering they had good reason to believe they did not hold my current contact details. Furthermore, considering they received no response from me to their correspondence this should have been a clear indication of the obsolescence of the address ....

 Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim with the original claimant.

ORDER DISMISSING THE CLAIM

4. I further believe that the original parking charge notice has no merit and should thus be dismissed. The claimant is a parking company which seeks to claim for parking charge notices which the claimant believes are due as a result of an alleged breach of contract for parking by a driver.

5. The claimant has obtained details of the vehicle for which the defendant was the registered keeper and used those details to raise a parking charge notice. I dispute this charge in its entirety as I do not know the wording of the contract nor do I know the means by which the contract was alleged to have come into force.

6. If the claimant can evidence that the alleged incident relates to the vehicle ... any notice to keeper issued by the claimant must comply with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Otherwise, the claimant is required to prove the driver of the vehicle they claim was involved in the alleged incident. I submit that the claimant cannot provide such evidence and further submit that the claimant does not include Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ; wording on the parking charge notices they issue and therefore cannot hold the registered keeper of the vehicle automatically liable.

7. A requirement of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is that any notice to keeper must be served within 14 days of the date of the alleged incident. Since I have not received any documentation I submit the claimant has not complied with the requirements of the Act and thus cannot claim this charge against me as the registered keeper in any case.

8. I further submit that the parking charge notice is without merit due to substantial issues in law. This is for the following reasons:

a. Lack of Standing by Claimant: The claimant is not the landowner of the car park in question and will have no proprietary interest in it. This means that the claimant, as a matter of law, will have no locus standi to litigate in their own name. Any consideration will have been provided by the landholder and only they would have been able claim for any damages or trespass.

b. No Contract with the Claimant: Any contract must have offer, acceptance, and consideration both ways. There would not have been consideration from the claimant to the driver. Therefore, there is no consideration from the driver to National Car Parks.

9. On this basis I believe that the claimant has not provided any reasonable cause of action and thus the claim should be dismissed in its entirety.

10. In order to make informed decisions and statements in my defence as former keeper of the vehicle I will require copies of all paperwork and pictures of all signs from the claimant.

 

 

 

 

 

11. I have included below a photo of the only visible sign I could see with a moving car. This sign does not mention any of the charges that National Car Parks have mentioned.

 

Statement of Truth:

I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.