HX Car Parking Management (Gladstones) - County Court Claim Form Received

[Frankiesays]

My son visits a local car park to pick up a manager of a local business adjacent to the car park, takes her to Bookers Cash & Carry and then brings her back to the same car park with the few items she has purchased for the business. The car park backs on to the rear entrance of her business and there is an HX Car Parking notice there which says it is OK to stay for up to 10 mins without a requirement to pay for a ticket. After one of these occasions he received a parking penalty notice from HX accompanied by a photo of his car entering the car park on his first vist and another of his car leaving the car park on his second visit, total duration 79 minutes. He was only there for a few mins on the first visit and the same on the second which is within the rules stated. The penalty was £120 or pay now for £60. We thought this was a simple ANPR technical error and wrote to HX stating this and advised them to re-examine their photos and find the two missing pictures of him leaving and returning which would be the solution to the issue - no response except for another letter stating that the penalty had gone up to £125 (not the £120 stated?). We wrote again with the same explanation with no response except for a further letter from their solicitors (Gladstones) giving one last chance to pay the full penalty. Upon research I find that HX, Gladstones and their arbitration service are all part of the same group and basically a bunch of shysters operating a cash generating machine. We ignored that letter and have now received a county court claim form inviting him to give a response before being taken to court. Any advice appreciated on how to proceed with this. Do I need to get him a solicitor and if so can I counter-claim for the expense?

[Amethyst]

Was it stay for 10 mins with no return within an hour? Have you got a pic of the signage at all ?

[ostell]

Has he, or can he get, a copy of the time stamped Booker invoice to show that the was elsewhere at the time of the alleged breach?

If the business backs on to this car park is there a right of way in existence?

[Frankiesays]

Was it stay for 10 mins with no return within an hour? Have you got a pic of the signage at all ?

I'll get one today.

[Frankiesays]

Has he, or can he get, a copy of the time stamped Booker invoice to show that the was elsewhere at the time of the alleged breach?

If the business backs on to this car park is there a right of way in existence?

We are currently looking into this but nothing on the invoice will relate to him as he was merely transporting the manager to and from Bookers.

I asked Bookers if they have the car entering their car park on security CCTV but unfortunately the sun was shining directly into the camera on that day making any footage useless.

[Frankiesays]

Was it stay for 10 mins with no return within an hour? Have you got a pic of the signage at all ?

Here are some pictures of the signage and the pathway leading off to the premises in question..

[Frankiesays]

We are currently looking into this but nothing on the invoice will relate to him as he was merely transporting the manager to and from Bookers.

I asked Bookers if they have the car entering their car park on security CCTV but unfortunately the sun was shining directly into the camera on that day making any footage useless.

There is a pathway to one end of the car park for entrance to the adjacent businesses. My son reversed up to the posts which would mean he was blocking in the last few cars, he left his engine running, did not park the car in a bay and took a minute or two to take the boxes through the gateway in the wall behind the blue bins in the picture. There is access to that pathway from the road but there are double yellow lines and it is also opposite the entrance to the bus station and could be an obstruction hence using the car park.

[ostell]

So a witness statement from the person that was being helped and a copy of the Bookeers receipt to show that they were elsewhere at the time and could not have been there for that amount of time.

Who is secure car parks? This looks like a contract with one company but claims by another. Who is trhe alleged contract actually with? The driver thought it was with Secure Car Parks.

Nothing else to do but wait for the letter before claim.

[Frankiesays]

So a witness statement from the person that was being helped and a copy of the Bookeers receipt to show that they were elsewhere at the time and could not have been there for that amount of time.

Who is secure car parks? This looks like a contract with one company but claims by another. Who is trhe alleged contract actually with? The driver thought it was with Secure Car Parks.

Nothing else to do but wait for the letter before claim.

The person being helped is happy to supply a statement but the Booker invoice in question is with the accountants for end of year procedure. The witness no longer works for the company concerned but my son (the defendant) is in touch with them.

The Secure Car Parks sign looks as if it may be an old one, I can find no mention of this on the HX web site.

[Frankiesays]

I now need to put a defence in and send off before time runs out. The witness who was the person being taken to bookers has decided she does not want to get involved so we have no witness evidence. Bookers CCTV we already know is useless due to sun shining directly into the camera on sunny days at that time of the year, the manager of the business concerned as stated that the invoice/receipt for the goods purchased from Bookers on that day is at the accountants for end of year submission so we are on our own here. HX Parking will say the ANPR system only clocked two readings one for the first arrival and one for the last departure, we will say that there was two visits and the ANPR system appears to have missed the middle two readings or HX Parking cant be bothered to look for them as this is clearly a roboclaim. Do we need to prove somehow that there were two visits to the car park? Is my son guilty until we prove him innocent? Any advice on how to proceed with this defence would be gratefully received. The entrance sign clearly states that a parker would be in breach of the terms if they have not paid for a ticket within 10 mins of arriving, my son was only there for two minutes on each of the two vists so was clearly not legally bound to buy a ticket for a two-minute stay. ive alrady asked to see the contract between HX and the landowner giving them the right to make a claim on his behalf, this has not been received.

[ostell]

So the person whjo was beeing ferried around can themselves write a signed witness statement giving their version of events.