Free Traffic Legal Advice

Last April the driver was doing a removals job in my van, at a pub. The pub's front door opens immediately onto a health centre car park operated by ParkingEye. Rather than block the pub entrance, the driver drove my van into the nearest space, still very close to the front of the pub, which was a disabled bay. He waited in the van for the client, who was (unbeknownst to the driver) delivering essential medication to his partner in another part of the city. He arrived perhaps 20 minutes later, they loaded the van, and left.  The driver was there for around 40 minutes total. 

The driver was either inside the van, or very close to it, the entire time. He was ready to move it at any given moment. The car park was empty, and the health centre wasn't going to open for another 40 hours or so. I believe the driver acted reasonably and the threats being made are cruel and unfair.

ParkingEye rejected the appeal, and the opportunity to appeal to POPLA was missed. I haven't heard anything from them for so many months I assumed they had dropped it. Then, nearly a year later, I received a "Claim Form" from HM Courts and Tribunals Service, demanding £210.

I (perhaps unwisely) admitted part of the claim in my response.  I hope this shows I am not unreasonable or stubborn.  I would pay the original fine of £60 at this point simply to alleviate to the stress and anxiety this is causing me.  I recently discovered my brother's corpse after his suicide and have been experiencing PTSD symptoms.  I just want this to go away, but I am also so outraged I refuse to simply roll over and hand over such a sum.

The driver truly didn't know he was entering a legal contract at the time.  The health centre was closed.  The area is covered in graffiti and signs may well have been too.  I assume there is some sort of access right to the pub for deliveries etc. but I'm awaiting news on this.

Nearly everyone on r/LegalAdvice told me I have no chance and will only end up paying more.  I am willing to risk this, but I need to know the best way of going about it.

Any advice whatsoever appreciated.  Thank you.

Without seeing the correspondence, it is impossible to provide the advice you need.

READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide

A court claim is a good thing as it is the ultimate dispute resolution service. Don't fear it. If you can, get sone photos of the location including any signs. Close ups of any signs and general views of the location. If any signs are covered in graffiti get pictures too.

Also, has the claim been issued by ParkingEye themselves or DCB Legal?

Thank you all, here is the letter. 

I haven't made my defence yet.  I filled out an "acknowledgment of service" form but ticked "I intend to defend part of this claim."

I was extremely stressed about it and was willing to pay the original £60 just to get them to leave me alone, and my partner convinced me to tick that box instead of "defend all of this claim".  I assume this cannot be changed.

The sequence of events from memory, and I have no clue where the original paperwork is as I have since moved house and had a general chaotic time.

I appealed the initial fine, which was rejected.  At some point later in the summer I think I received a "letter before county court claim," or of very similar wording.  I don't remember responding to this.  I believe that's all the correspondence I had before the letter I just posted.

In my appeal, I was extremely naïve, and based my argument on what I consider to be reasonable and rational, rather than anything legal.  I explained the purpose of the visit, that the van wasn't left unattended, that the car park was empty and health centre closed all weekend, etc. 

Re: the driver, that was me, and I admitted this in the appeal.

Sorry I can't be more specific.  I think it's safe to assume I did everything wrong until I sought advice on here.

OK, so assuming your AoS isn received before 4pm on Monday 7th April, you now have until 4pm on Tuesday 22nd April to submit a defence.

Here is the suggested defence. You only need to edit your name and the claim number. You sign the defence by typing your full name for the signature and date it.

When you're ready you send it as a PDF as an attachment in an email to claimresponses.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and CC in yourself. The claim number must be in the email subject field and in the body of the email just put: "Please find attached the defence in the matter of ParkingEye Ltd v [your full name] Claim no.: [claim number]."

Quote

IN THE COUNTY COURT

Claim No: [Claim Number]

BETWEEN:

ParkingEye Ltd
Claimant

- and -

[Defendant's Full Name]

Defendant

---

DEFENCE

1. The Defendant is the registered keeper and was the driver of the vehicle in question. The Defendant denies liability for the entirety of the claim and puts the Claimant to strict proof.

2. The Defendant confirms that the selection of “I intend to defend part of this claim” on the Acknowledgement of Service was made in error. The Defendant defends the claim in full.

3. The Particulars of Claim (PoC) fail to comply with Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) 16.4 and Practice Direction 16 paragraph 7.5. The PoC are vague, incoherent, and lack the necessary detail required to adequately understand the case being brought. In particular:

(a) No copy of the alleged contract or signage is annexed;

(b) The terms said to have been breached are not stated;

(c) The conduct giving rise to the alleged breach is unclear;

(d) There is no specification of the exact duration of the alleged contravention;

(e) There is no explanation for the additional £25 added to the £100 parking charge;

(f) The PoC fail to state whether the Defendant is pursued as the driver or under keeper liability provisions.

4. The claim is therefore embarrassing as pleaded and discloses no reasonable cause of action. The Defendant reserves the right to seek an order under CPR 3.4 to strike out the claim.

5. It is denied that any contract was formed. The Defendant will provide evidence that the vehicle was not parked in the conventional sense but was briefly present in connection with loading and unloading goods from a neighbouring premises. The driver remained with the vehicle throughout and was willing and able to move it at any time.

6. These facts are analogous to those considered in Jopson v Homeguard Services Ltd [2016] B9GF0A9E, in which HHJ Glen confirmed that a temporary presence for the purpose of loading/unloading is not “parking” in the ordinary sense and does not fall within the scope of prohibitive parking terms unless expressly and prominently stated.

7. The signage relied upon is not admitted and is put to strict proof. It is the Defendant’s position that the terms were not clearly or prominently displayed, nor were they capable of forming a binding contractual agreement with a motorist engaged in a short-term, attended delivery in an otherwise empty car park while the site was closed.

8. The amount claimed exceeds the sum specified on the signage and in any Notice to Keeper (NtK). The Claimant seeks £125 when the signage and NtK referred only to a charge of £100. Pursuant to Paragraph 4(5) of Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the maximum sum recoverable from a registered keeper is the amount stated in the NtK. Any claim for an additional £25 renders the notice non-compliant and invalid for the purposes of establishing keeper liability under PoFA. The Defendant puts the Claimant to strict proof of the legal basis for this additional charge, which appears to be an unrecoverable and unlawful surcharge, contrary to both statute and the principles established in ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67.

9. The Defendant avers that this claim is speculative and improperly inflated. It is a standard form, mass-issued claim lacking in case-specific detail, issued many months after the alleged event and with no explanation for the delay. The Defendant has suffered significant personal distress during this period and views the Claimant’s conduct as aggressive and oppressive.

10. The Defendant respectfully invites the Court to strike out or dismiss the claim in its entirety.

Statement of truth

I believe that the facts stated in this Defence are true. I understand that proceedings 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.

Signed:


Date:

1. As long as your client would be prepared to sign a statement that you were there for the stated purpose, that is enough. No need to change it otherwise.

2. The term is "loading and/or unloading" so it really doesn't matter.

3. They cannot use CCTV to try and evidence that. Don't overthink this.

When I wrote this post I also wrote to the health centre, explaining the situation and pleading for help.  I've just received the following:

"Our Facilities Manager has had a response as follows from Parking Eye. We will notify them that you will accept this charge, as it cannot be completely cancelled, and this is the best they will offer you:

I can offer a reduced charge on this case of £70. Due to the charge being out standing for so long I can not cancel this charge."

What would you do?  My partner desperately wants me to just pay 70 for simplicity so we can just move on from this.  I understand where she's coming from, but from a position of legal ignorance.