county court claim - gladstones solicitors

[Guest]

Hi

I'm after a bit of help please.

I have a claim form from the county court which is regarding a parking charge. I received a parking charge from parking in a restaurant carpark (and was actually looking to book a table). The car was left untended for less than 2 minutes, but on my return there was a ticket. I did contest the charge with the firm , stating that the offence hadn't occurred etc, but this fell on deaf ears. I now have a county court claim for £249.18 (£100 for the pcn, £60 for contractual costs and interest of £14.18. I had 14 days, but have asked for an extension to prepare my defence.

Can anybody help with how i should word my defence?

Thank you!

[MIKE770]

ostell

[Pricey69]

Thanks Mike

I also have the wording from their rejection of my appeal:

Dear xxxxx,
Re: Parking Charge Notice Number 000000 (Vehicle: GGGGGGG)
Site: XXXXX
Issue date: 06/08/2019
Thank you for your recent correspondence. In line with our policies, an appeal was logged and this matter
investigated.
The signage across the site unambiguously states that the land is privately owned and subject to the
parking conditions as displayed. These conditions state that a charge will be due by the driver of any
vehicle satisfying the conditions as displayed.
The chargeable condition that applies to the manner in which your vehicle was witnessed to be parked
would be covered by the term “Invalid Permit”. After reviewing the photographic evidence from our
records we can confirm that there was in fact no permit on display. The charge was therefore correctly
issued.
After liaising with our enforcement officer at the time, it appears that your vehicle was observed for a
period of 10 minutes before the parking charge was issued.
We are confident that you have been given the same opportunities to accept the conditions of use, and
indeed dispute the issue of the charge, as every other user. It would be a gross injustice if we were not to
apply the same criteria to yourself as we have done for the other motorists subject to the charges.
For the sake of consistency we must apply the law uniformly and therefore the charge must stand. In line
with our appeals policy we are prepared to offer a further 14 days from the date of this correspondence to
pay the discounted rate of £60. On expiry of this period the charge will revert back to the full amount of
£100.

Payment can be made by credit/debit card by telephoning 01785 336780 or via our website www.district-
enforcement.co.uk. Payment lines operate 24 hours a day. Alternatively you can arrange for a bank

transfer of funds to the following account (please ensure you add your PCN number as the reference or
the payment will not be reconciled and will remain outstanding): Name of Bank: Barclays Bank Plc
Account Name: District Enforcement Ltd Sort Code: 20-81-00 Account No: 33329143

If you believe this decision is incorrect, you are entitled to appeal to the Independent Appeals Service
(IAS). The Independent Appeals Service (www.theIAS.org) provides an Alternative Dispute Resolution
scheme for disputes of this type. As you have complied with our internal appeals procedure you may use,

and we will engage with, the IAS Standard Appeals Service providing you lodge an appeal to them within
21 days of this rejection. In order to appeal the IAS will need your parking charge number, your vehicle
registration and the date the charge was originally issued. For further information please visit
www.theias.org. It should be noted that in the event of the decision being awarded in our favour we will
expect the full rate of £100 to be paid.

Yours sincerely,
Appeals Department
District Enforcement Limited

[ostell]

So they know the identity of the driver?

What did the sign say? Perhaps Permit Holders Only?

Have you contacted the restaurant.

What time is on the PCN? Was a Notice to Keeper issued?


Not impressed with them stating the apply the "law" uniformly. What law?

[Pricey69]

So they know the identity of the driver?

What did the sign say? Perhaps Permit Holders Only?

Have you contacted the restaurant.

What time is on the PCN? Was a Notice to Keeper issued?

Hi

I've not confirmed the nae of the driver, they got details via a dvla request. The signage stated no parking without permit, but we'd parked there to ask about making a reservation during the day and found them shut (the carpark is at the back and we'd walked to the front and back).
I did contact the restaurant at the time, they said they were were happy to tell he parking firm that we should not have to pay and i included this in the appeal letter. The restaurant has since changed hands, so i have no way of contacting the previous owner.

Thanks for looking in to this and for any help.

[ostell]

Will the current owner not help you? Was there documentation about the previous owners agreement to cancel?

What does the sign actually say? If it was just "Permit Holders Only" then:

The signage in the car park is of a “forbidding” nature. It is limited to cars displaying a valid permit only and therefore the terms cannot apply to cars without a permit because the signage does not offer an invitation to park on certain terms. The terms are forbidding. This means that there was never a contractual relationship. I refer you to the following case law: PCM-UK v Bull et all B4GF26K6 [2016], UKPC v Masterson B4GF26K6[2016], Horizon Parking v Mr J C5GF17X2 [2016] – In all three of these cases the signage was found to be forbidding and thus only a trespass had occurred and would be a matter for the landowner.


I would add that forbidding parking for non permit holders and then saying a contract was created to do something that was expressly forbidden is perverse.

[Pricey69]

Hi

I'm after a bit of help please.

I have a claim form from the county court which is regarding a parking charge. I received a parking charge from parking in a restaurant carpark (and was actually looking to book a table). The car was left untended for less than 2 minutes, but on my return there was a ticket. I did contest the charge with the firm , stating that the offence hadn't occurred etc, but this fell on deaf ears. I now have a county court claim for £249.18 (£100 for the pcn, £60 for contractual costs and interest of £14.18. I had 14 days, but have asked for an extension to prepare my defence.

Can anybody help with how i should word my defence?

Thank you!

can i send you their correspondence to have a look at? It's in a format where i can't easily hide the personal detail.

[ostell]

Print it, black it out and rescan it

[Pricey69]

[Pricey69]

[Pricey69]

[ostell]

Can't read the docs. Really need the original PCN/ NTK

[Pricey69]

ostell i hope that these are a bit clearer?

[Pricey69]

I hope these are a bit clearer.

[ostell]

Unfortunately They have got it correct as far as POFA goes.

I think follow it up with the new owner, if they are just starting they will not like to lose potential business, especially at the moment