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Virgin Defence: Have I ruined my chance?
Skyrage
Posts: 57 Forumite
Hi, only just found about this site of successful help and have already sent a terrible defence in your eyes, what should I do next?
Have parked in a patrons only car park of the village hall. All you use to have to do was enter your car reg on paper at the desk when you used the facilities.
It got took over by parking eye, dropping my son off to his club as normal, I drove in at 17.58 & left at 18.15 missing all the new parking signage. My son never entered our reg into what would normally be the book.
Now I did ignore all letters until I got the Claim Form N1, so I replied what would seem to be a typical rubbish reply explaining i was allowed to be there, I didn't agree with being penalised for actually being there for the correct purpose blah blah blah.
Now have received a 16 page reply to defence & A notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track form, can I do anything now I have submitted a pathetic weak defence?
Thankyou
Have parked in a patrons only car park of the village hall. All you use to have to do was enter your car reg on paper at the desk when you used the facilities.
It got took over by parking eye, dropping my son off to his club as normal, I drove in at 17.58 & left at 18.15 missing all the new parking signage. My son never entered our reg into what would normally be the book.
Now I did ignore all letters until I got the Claim Form N1, so I replied what would seem to be a typical rubbish reply explaining i was allowed to be there, I didn't agree with being penalised for actually being there for the correct purpose blah blah blah.
Now have received a 16 page reply to defence & A notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track form, can I do anything now I have submitted a pathetic weak defence?
Thankyou
0
Comments
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very difficult now
what you seem to have submitted in the defence section is actually a witness statement
a defence is based on legal arguments , the witness statement like you provided comes after the DQ stage
it will cost you a lot of money to resubmit a better defence0 -
So what's my best plan of action?
Ring them & pay the now £175 fees?
Fill out the form to go to mediation or court?
I have never had to deal with a car park charge before so did what I thought best & shot myself in the backside by the looks of it
These companies are wretched & im a stressed out insomniac worrying how I'm going to pay them0 -
even if you lost in court you may pay £175 of less , so pointless paying up
mediation never works
read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread at the top of this forum , it has a timeline of events by bargepole
offering to settle out of court might work, for a sum much less than £175
most people have not been through this legal process either , you are not alone
what surprises me is that you have been a member here 8 years and this is the first time you have posted about it , after the fact and after the time when we could have helped with your defence0 -
When I last got a PE ticket in a hotel, the signs merely said register (not how to register). That may assist.
If you compare that with some of the other PE signs (all freely available on Google images) that say register by typing reg. Into vehicle terminal, you may have the beginnings of an argument on signage.
It's hard to know with small claims: decent statements could salvage it. Frankly amazed they've gone to the cost of doing an optional reply. That's no doubt to try and "make sure" of them winning. Post the links.0 -
even if you lost in court you may pay £175 of less , so pointless paying up
mediation never works
read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread at the top of this forum , it has a timeline of events by bargepole
offering to settle out of court might work, for a sum much less than £175
most people have not been through this legal process either , you are not alone
what surprises me is that you have been a member here 8 years and this is the first time you have posted about it , after the fact and after the time when we could have helped with your defence
The last time I used this site was on the 02/11/2011 :eek:
So apologies after all that time that when I received the county court claim form I let my panic of not replying fast enough come before thinking, I know I will approach the non judgemental guru's of the MSE forum for help.
Had I of thought about it sooner I wouldn't be asking for the help I am now :doh:
I did read the F&Q's but must admit didn't find it an easy read but will read again.
Thankyou0 -
When I last got a PE ticket in a hotel, the signs merely said register (not how to register). That may assist.
If you compare that with some of the other PE signs (all freely available on Google images) that say register by typing reg. Into vehicle terminal, you may have the beginnings of an argument on signage.
It's hard to know with small claims: decent statements could salvage it. Frankly amazed they've gone to the cost of doing an optional reply. That's no doubt to try and "make sure" of them winning. Post the links.
It states ***** village hall patrons must enter their full correct vehicle reg into the terminal at reception to be entitled to free parking for the duration of the stay.
In my defence where I drove in the only two signs about this new parking firm were on the passenger side out of my view as I drove in & where I pulled in. I literally drove into the nearest space as I normally do, made a quick call & sent a text, I was in there for 16 minutes with all the signs behind me which again were all behind me when I reversed & drove out.
What's an optional reply & post what links?0 -
The claimant did not need to do a reply to your defence. They incurred additional cost drafting it, no doubt to try and make the most of your "thin" defence.
Ideally if you scan/smartphone photograph key documents (concealing personal info) it makes it easier to try and help. They'll need to be stored in the cloud - something like Dropbox (Google it if unfamiliar with how it all works).0 -
as the parking contract depended on the signage , which you have queried , then read the BPA CoP about such signage , including NEW signage and any "bedding in" periods0
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even if you lost in court you may pay £175 of less , so pointless paying up
mediation never works
Don't forget the added £25 for the hearing fee.
Mediation can and does work for some PE cases as does making a WP offer separatelyThe claimant did not need to do a reply to your defence. They incurred additional cost drafting it, no doubt to try and make the most of your "thin" defence.
Nothing to do with a 'thin' defence - Parking Eye's modus operandi is to always do a reply to the defence.
I can guarantee that most of this will be templated - many pages seen in every case.0 -
OK so why not find out from the Hotel when PE started there, and if it was mere weeks/a couple of months before the parking event, you can use as part of your evidence with your Witness Statement, the lack of additional signs alerting people to the change of rules. This is a condition of the BPA Code and Practice and something that it seems PE like to ignore (e.g. when they took over Asda sites from Smart parking, and changed various free parking times AFAIK, they didn't put up additional signs to draw the changes to the attention of people familiar with the old rules).
BPA CoP here:
http://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS_Code_of_Practice_October_2015_update_V6..pdf18.11 Where there is any change in the terms and conditions that
materially affects the motorist then you should make these
clear on your signage. Where such changes impose liability
where none previously existed then you should consider
a grace period to allow regular visitors to the site to adjust
and familiarise themselves with the changes.
Also read the Grace Periods section of the Code.PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD0
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