Euro car park court date

hi2695_me

Euro car park are taking me to court for 3 PCN, can someone see if the witness statement is ok please? Having looked on here at what others have done they are longer however the PCN I received looks correct as does the particulars of claim so I don't feel I can argue them.
One thing is the solicitors for Euro car park have completed a witness statement and it has a completely different case number on to the POC and court paperwork, does this matter?
I have signed time in sheets and a statement from my boss to say I was at work on two of the days.
I have attached pictures of the PCN's and POC
(Images removed by Forum Team)

hi2695_me

First Witness Statement of

Introduction

I am  of  and I am the Defendant in this claim. The facts below are true to the best of my belief and my account has been prepared based upon my knowledge.

In my statement I will refer to (exhibits 1-3) within the evidence supplied with this statement, referring to page and reference numbers where appropriate.

This claim arises from an alleged breach of parking terms and conditions at Astle Retail Park on 8th April 2022, 25th August 2022 and 21st December 2022. I wholly dispute this claim for the following reasons:

I was not the driver of the vehicle on 8th April 2022

25th August 2022 extenuating circumstances led to me staying past the grace period

I was not the driver of the vehicle on 21st December 2022

The Facts of the Case 

It is admitted that on the material dates I was the registered keeper of the vehicle XxxXxx

I am a regular user of Astle Car Park and have always made a payment for the time stayed, Euro Car Parks can verify this by searching the vehicle registration plate on their system.

PCN for the 8th April 2022 - The drivers details were sent to Euro Car Parks so that liability could be transferred, I was at work on this date (see exhibit 1)

PCN for 25th August 2022 - Extenuating circumstances led to the grace period being overstayed, I was dropping an individual off who has a disability and uses a mobility scooter. There were problems setting the scooter up and getting it started, I sorted this out before leaving.

The signage on the carpark does not state that a consideration period is not allowed for drop off/pick up, therefore it is not clear this is not permitted. The sign being up high above the payment machine is at a disadvantage to people with sight impairment, it is not clear to read the smaller writing in particular the red writing towards the bottom of the sign (see exhibit 2)

PCN for 21st December 2022 - I originally misread the date as 12th December 2022 when submitting my defence, I made this error as I was at Astle car park on the 12th December and had made a payment for my stay via phone. On 21st Deecmeber 2022 I was at work (see exhibit 3). It is unknown who the driver of the vehicle was on the date of this claimed PCN, given it dates back to 2022. Multiple individuals were authorised by me to use the vehicle at the time of the alleged contravention via their own comprehensive insurance policies, which allowed them to use another private vehicle for which the were covered on a third party basis. 

The Claimant has stated in their witness statement ‘31 A Letter Before Action dated 10th January 2024 was sent to the Defendant’. I would like to make it clear that this letter was not received.

The Claimant has stated in their witness statement ‘36 In regard to the PCNs, the Defendant failed to provide details of a driver to transfer liability should they have not been liable. In absence, the Defendants address was corresponded to’ This is incorrect as the drivers details were submitted within 28 days to Euro Car Parks to the appeal address provided on the PCN.

CRA Breaches

Section 71 creates a duty upon courts to consider the test of fairness, including (but not limited to) whether all terms/notices were unambiguously and conspicuously brought to the attention of a consumer. Signage must be prominent, plentiful, well placed and terms must be unambiguous and contractual obligations clear.

The CRA has been breached due to unfair/unclear terms and notices, pursuant to s62 and paying due regard to examples 6,10,14 & 18 of Schedule 2 and the requirements for fair/open dealing and good faith (NB: this does not necessarily mean there has to be a finding of bad faith)

Conclusion

The claim is entirely without merit and the Claimant is urged discontinue now, to avoid incurring cost and wasting the courts time and that of the Defendant.

Statement of truth

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceeding 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.

Gr1pr

I bet that the issue date is incorrect in the POC on the claim form,  post a redacted picture of the POC below after hiding the VRM details first 

Yes, using the incorrect case details is a huge boo boo

hi2695_me

Thank you, I have put the 2 pages from the POC that detail the breach.
With their witness statement having the incorrect reference is there anything I can do?

Coupon-mad

the solicitors for Euro car park have completed a witness statement and it has a completely different case number on to the POC and court paperwork,

What do you mean, please?

Are you saying that they've put the wrong CLAIM NUMBER at the top of a witness statement just served to you, in January?

What you've shown is a revised POC so I assume a Judge ordered those?  That's not a WS. Is it an actual WS you are talking about?

hi2695_me

Yes, that's correct the witness statement they completed in Jan has the wrong claim number.

The POC I attached has the correct claim number.

Coupon-mad

hi2695_me said:

Yes, that's correct the witness statement they completed in Jan has the wrong claim number.

Did it arrive by an email which stated the  right Claim Number in the subject line and was it cc'd to the local court?

hi2695_me

No it arrived by post, it does say they sent the court a copy but I don't know if that's by post or email

ChirpyChicken

this is how i would play it
submit your witness statement dont mention theirs 
Ring or email the court a week or so before the hearing date and see if DCB have logged their own witness statement
If it isn't down as logged (ie cos the numbers wrong) then you can use this to your advantage in the hearing.... as technically they will have logged no evidence.  Low chance of success though but worth keeping up your sleave 

Coupon-mad

Agreed. We were thinking the same! Absolutely DO NOT mention their WS in yours.

Coupon-mad

I suggest you remove that reply. Don't want to tip off the solicitors.

Also remove the revised POC shown earlier because it shows who they are, to anyone connected.