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    • Thanks for all the suggestions so far I will amend original WS and send again for review.  While looking at my post at very beginning when I submitted photos of signs around the car park I noticed that it says 5 hours maximum stay while the signage sent by solicitor shows 4 hours maximum stay but mine is related to electric bay abuse not sure if this can be of any use in WS.
    • Not sure what to make of that or what it means for me, I was just about to head to my kip and it's a bit too late for legalise. When is the "expenditure occured"?  When they start spending money to write to me?  Or is this a bad thing (as "harsh" would imply)? When all is said and done, I do not have two beans to rub together, we rent our home and EVERYTHING of value has been purchased by and is in my wife's name and we are not financially linked in any way.  So at least if I can't escape my fate I can at least know that they will get sweet FA from me anyway   edit:  ah.. Sophia Harrison: Time bar decision tough on claimants WWW.SCOTTISHLEGAL.COM Time bar is a very complex area of law in Scotland relating to the period in which a claim for breach of duty can be pursued. The Scottish government...   This explains it like I am 5.  So, a good thing then because creditors clearly know they have suffered a loss the minute I stop paying them, this is why it is "harsh" (for them, not me)? Am I understanding this correctly?  
    • urm......exactly what you filed .....read it carefully... it puts them to strict proof to prove the debt is enforceable, so thus 'holds' their claim till they coughup or not and discontinue. you need to get readingthose threads i posted so you understand. then you'll know whats maybe next how to react or not and whats after that. 5-10 threads a day INHO. dont ever do anything without checking here 1st.
    • I've done a new version including LFI's suggestions.  I've also change the order to put your strongest arguments first.  Where possible the changes are in red.  The numbering is obviously knackered.  Methinks stuff about the consideration period could be added but I'm too tired now.  See what you think. Background  1.1  The Defendant received the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) on the 06th of November 2020 following the vehicle being parked at Arla Old Dairy, South Ruislip on the 05th of December 2019.  Unfair PCN  4.1  On XXXXX the Defendant sent the Claimant's solicitors a CPR request.  As shown in Exhibit 1 (pages 7-13) the solicitors helpfully sent photos of 46 signs in their evidence all  clearly showing a £60.00 parking charge notice (which will  be reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days of issue).  There can be no room for doubt here - there are 46 signs produced in the Claimant's own evidence. 4.2  Yet the PCN affixed to the vehicle was for a £100.00 parking charge notice (reduced to £60 if paid promptly).  The reminder letters from the Claimant again all demanded £100. 4.3        The Claimant relies on signage to create a contract.  It is unlawful for the Claimant to write that the charge is £60 on their signs and then send demands for £100.   4.4        The unlawful £100 charge is also the basis for the Claimant's Particulars of Claim. No Locus Standi 2.1  I do not believe a contract exists with the landowner that gives MET Parking Services a right to bring claims in their own name. Definition of “Relevant contract” from the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4,  2 [1] means a contract Including a contract arising only when the vehicle was parked on the relevant land between the driver and a person who is-  (a) the owner or occupier of the land; or  (b) Authorised, under or by virtue of arrangements made by the owner or occupier of the land, to enter into a contract with the driver requiring the payment of parking charges in respect of the parking of the vehicle on the land. According to https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/44  For a contract to be valid, it requires a director from each company to sign and then two independent witnesses must confirm those signatures.  2.2  The Defendant requested to see such a contract in the CPR request.  The contract produced was largely illegible and heavily redacted, and the fact that it contained no witness signatures present means the contract has not been validly executed. Therefore, there can be no contract established between MET Parking Services and the motorist. Even if “No Parking in Electric Bay” could form a contract (which it cannot), it is immaterial. There is no valid contract. Illegal Conduct – No Contract Formed  3.1 At the time of writing, the Claimant has failed to provide proof of planning permission granted for signage etc under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Lack of planning permission is a criminal offence under this Act and no contract can be formed where criminality is involved.  3.4        I also do not believe the claimant possesses this document.  No Keeper Liability  5.1        The defendant was not the driver at the time and date mentioned in the PCN and the claimant has not established keeper liability under schedule 4 of the PoFA 2012. In this matter, the defendant puts it to the claimant to produce strict proof as to who was driving at the time.  5.2 The claimant in their Notice To Keeper also failed to comply with PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 section 9[2][f] while mentioning “the right to recover from the keeper so much of that parking charge as remains unpaid” where they did not include statement “(if all the applicable conditions under this Schedule are met)”.    5.3        The claimant did not mention the parking period instead only mentioned time 20:25 which is not sufficient to qualify as a parking period.   Protection of Freedoms Act 2012  The notice must -  (a) specify the vehicle, the relevant land on which it was parked and the period of parking to which the notice relates; 22. In the persuasive judgement K4GF167G - Premier Park Ltd v Mr Mathur - Horsham County Court – 5 January 2024 it was on this very point that the judge dismissed this claim. 5.4  A the PCN does not comply with the Act the Defendant as keeper is not liable.   Interest 6.2  It is unreasonable for the Claimant to delay litigation for four years in order to add excessive interest. Double Recovery  7.1  The claim is littered with made-up charges. 7.2  As noted above, the Claimant's signs state a £60 charge yet their PCN is for £100. 7.3  As well as the £100 parking charge, the Claimant seeks recovery of an additional £70.  This is simply a poor attempt to circumvent the legal costs cap at small claims. 29. Since 2019, many County Courts have considered claims in excess of £100 to be an abuse of process leading to them being struck out ab initio. An example, in the Caernarfon Court in VCS v Davies, case No. FTQZ4W28 on 4th September 2019, District Judge Jones-Evans stated “Upon it being recorded that District Judge Jones- Evans has over a very significant period of time warned advocates (...) in many cases of this nature before this court that their claim for £60 is unenforceable in law and is an abuse of process and is nothing more than a poor attempt to go behind the decision of the Supreme Court v Beavis which inter alia decided that a figure of £160 as a global sum claimed in this case would be a penalty and not a genuine pre-estimate of loss and therefore unenforceable in law and if the practise continued, he would treat all cases as a claim for £160 and therefore a penalty and unenforceable in law it is hereby declared (…) the claim is struck out and declared to be wholly without merit and an abuse of process.” 30. In Claim Nos. F0DP806M and F0DP201T, District Judge Taylor echoed earlier General Judgment or Orders of District Judge Grand, stating ''It is ordered that the claim is struck out as an abuse of process. The claim contains a substantial charge additional to the parking charge which it is alleged the Defendant contracted to pay. This additional charge is not recoverable under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 nor with reference to the judgment in Parking Eye v Beavis. It is an abuse of process from the Claimant to issue a knowingly inflated claim for an additional sum which it is not entitled to recover. This order has been made by the court of its own initiative without a hearing pursuant to CPR Rule 3.3(4)) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998...'' 31. In the persuasive case of G4QZ465V - Excel Parking Services Ltd v Wilkinson – Bradford County Court -2 July 2020 (Exhibit 4) the judge had decided that Excel had won. However, due to Excel adding on the £60 the Judge dismissed the case. 7.7        The addition of costs not previously specified on signage are also in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2, specifically paras 6, 10 and 14.  7.8        It is the Defendant’s position that the Claimant in this case has knowingly submitted inflated costs and thus the entire claim should be similarly struck out in accordance with Civil Procedure Rule 3.3(4).  In Conclusion  8.1        I invite the court to dismiss the claim. Statement of Truth I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement 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. 
    • Scottish time bar: Scottish appeal court re-affirms the “harsh” rule (cms-lawnow.com)  
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VCS ANPR 2015 PCN claimform - Berkeley Centre Sheffield S11 8PN ***Claim Discontinued***


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well in all truth 10am - 4pm is the full 'time window' the case could be heard during.

 

there is no known start time typically for wall notice schedule for the days' cases for the morning session to begin.

 

The main issue being as the local court never knows what other urgent items might come up from the night before etc, those cases HAVE to be dealt with first.

once the schedule begins, their wall notice will tell you the order ...so you should be able to gauge when yours will be.

 

if you have a word with the clerks of the court, most now are quite happy to know (and encourage you to tell them) of any issues on the day and will help with them by having a word with the judge of the day (get you in first or say 1st after the set lunch period).  i've known some to say go away to a local cafe etc if you dont live local and will send you a text just before you are due there.

though it does depend upon the clerks and the courts.

 

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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the courts knowthis is a rubbish claim hearing so wont allocate any tiem for it as they expect to slot it in at some point but if another case drags on then you may not get a hearing that day.

If that is the case you need to have a letter drafted to show your expenses for the day out and ask that the claimant be forced to pay then regardless. Nowthis may well be added to any order for a new hearing and VCS will by them be a good few quid down before they say a word. If that is agreed it shows that the judge has read the papers and your chances of success can be measured accordingly.

 

No letter though and you will get nothing.

commonly both sides will be told to swallow their costs as long as they are not too great but personally I would go for double or quits as a postponement that results in a loss for VCS will see them over £100 out of pocket on top of their costs for bringing the claim.

make them blink first

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Thanks for all that.

We won't be requesting an adjournment and I'm now focussing on the main points for shooting down their statement.

VCS assert that they are only there to manage & enforce, and aren't responsible for the policy.

 

Their attachment Schedule 1 is actually the Parking Policy (a generic one) - it's signed by the leasing agents & includes the statement that wheel clamping may be used!

 

I assumed the policy and terms and conditions would be laid down by VCS - not that it makes any difference really, since VCS is responsible for the signs that advertise the terms and conditions.  So their position is they are simply implementing the landowner's terms and conditions and entering into a contract on behalf of the landowner, without any clear chain of authority, but they get to keep the proceeds. It's a confused picture.

 

Anyway the agent's' policy makes it clear that a minimum grace period of 10 minutes must apply, and the agreement (contract) signed with the agent, stipulates that VCS has to abide by the BPA Code of Practice. Both useful points.

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never assume anything, use this to show that there isnt actually a contract that is lawful in place to allow them to perform to that contract.

 

Likewise they arent members of the BPA and havent been for years so again tht should negate any contract with the public as they cant use the POPLA or Ombudsman Services Ltd as an ADR if you had decided to go down that route.

 

Yes, the chain of authority is a thing to plug at the beginning but you have stronger arguments about the actual contract offered to you, so dont be dismayed if the judge just decides without any evidence to support it that a contract and chain does exist.

 

Dot forget Excel ISNT VCS

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Yes thanks for that Eric's brother.

 

In Para 9 of their statement, VCS say

" The Claimant submits that they have the authority to implement a parking scheme since 1 December 2010.

There has been no notice of termination (actually the agreement is only for 36 months!!) and the Claimant remains contracted to enforce parking to date."

 

This is rubbish as all the current signs are in the name of Excel, who have installed a pay and display machine and changed the rules. I will try to find out when they took over. 

 

Don't know if I mentioned, but I have now established that they have paid the court fee, so looks Simon is keen to continue. 

 

They do go on about their 2 tier appeals procedure, even though they're not members of the BPA.

The first layer is an 'Adjudicator' within their appeals department.

Second tier is the IAS: Independent Appeals Service, which they describe at length. 

 

I've just come across John's case with VCS in the same place from 2018 re an overstay in 2017.

The claimant's statement is word for word the same as mine, including the cases cited, and the photographs attached!!

 

It would be nice to question whether these signs were in place 3 years previously, but I don't have the proof.

It was a sad and an unfair outcome for John in Wrexham.

I hope our judge is more receptive!

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You are missing the point, their contract with LL says they use the BPA appeals system when they CANT because they arent members. read up on performance of contracts.

 

Now the obvious assumption is that the contract was never renewed and they are relying on inertia from the LL but this isnt good enough if you read about such things in other cases where the claim was chucked out ( parking prankster again) they cant offer you a deal which they cant perform and part of that is offering you a chance to follow the BPA code of Practice and appeals procedure.

 

The fact they are members of the IPC and they have their own appeals system is irrelevant,  you jave to be offered the BPA one according to their deal with the landlord

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Does anyone have any clue as yet as to what the  courts will do in the current Corona crisis?

It looks as though I'm to be incarcerated at home from this weekend and there's every chance nurseries and daycare centres will soon close. This means neither I nor my daughter will be able to attend the hearing on April 6th.

 

I'm thinking I should now write to the court and offer a hearing by video link.

It was indicated to me last time I tried to make contact with the courts, that I should write to them as soon as possible if I needed to request an adjournment.

 

It's not possible to speak to the local court direct, so I would be grateful for any guidance from those who may have some inside info. I'm reluctant to take a wait and see approach, since the government's position is that I'm not supposed to have any avoidable contact for the next 12 weeks.

 

don't think that's going to change before the hearing date. 

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No idea, it depends on the government, but ...

 

Here in Italy the court system carried on for a short while, until lawyers and court staff were up in arms asking what was the difference between a crowded shopping centre and a crowded court building.  So all court cases have been stopped.

 

I expect things will change in the UK by the day now.  6 April is still a while off.

 

Probably best to prepare for the absolute worst (as you have been brilliantly doing!), that your daughter has to go on her own and get someone to look after her kids - but it's also possible that courts could be shut down by then.  As I say, things will probably be very, very different by 6 April.

We could do with some help from you.

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Might be a very lean time for the PPC's if less people are parking, and they won't get much joy if army vehicles are being used and are getting double dipped by Simple Simon.  Just waiting for him to invoice a police car like UKPS did to Devon & Cornwall Police on a shout.

 

I can't seer how the County Courts can operate apart from undefended defaults going through Northampton. but as FTMDave says be prepared.

We could do with some help from you.

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The bailiff: A 12th Century solution re-branded as Enforcement Agents for the 21st Century to seize and sell debtors goods as before Oh so Dickensian!

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This is only a call for something, not a decision, and concerns criminal instead of civil courts - but I can't imagine things will stay as they are till 6 April

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51935320

 

We could do with some help from you.

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No I hadn't seen that EmmaTPockets - thanks. It's suggesting we should contact the court then - I was afraid that they would say tough if your lay rep can't come, the Defendant still has to, but this is saying if those coming with you have to self isolate, you should contact the court, so I guess we'd better follow the advice. 

 

That's a very good article FTMDave - thanks for that. I can see that criminal cases must continue, so as to preserve law and order, but I agree there should be some re-thinking of civil cases, especially ones concerning a 7 minute parking overstay!!! Why put people at risk for such an absurd claim! 

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That is a good point RichieBoy56, look for the duration in any contract they claim to have, it might just be the clincher if they cant prove it is still in force.

We could do with some help from you.

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The bailiff: A 12th Century solution re-branded as Enforcement Agents for the 21st Century to seize and sell debtors goods as before Oh so Dickensian!

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RB56 have you never started a thread?

this would be a good one to write up to help others?

?

 

dx

 

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Yes that figures prominently in our comments re Contract and I remember someone on the forum saying the contract had been the clincher so it might have been you Richie Boy.

 

We also have a lot of points on contract but that fixed term one is a no brainer

- I expect they'll present some laughable creation from the agents trying to say there's been a renewal

- let's pray we get a judge like yours Richie Boy! 

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Thank you so much for that FTMDave. That is extremely helpful.

 

I've consulted my daughter and we will now ask for an adjournment as I'm socially isolated and she has no childcare, nor does she have the technology to take part in a remote hearing.

 

I was hoping the court would take the initiative so we wouldn't have to hassle them at this time,

but nothing has been forthcoming,

so we'll have to submit a request.

 

I would have liked to just get it over with, but these are crazy times.

If they agree to an adjournment, the challenge will then be to stay on top of it until matters settle down. 

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Late Monday afternoon we mailed the attached letter to the court and my daughter also emailed it, as we were concerned that the hearing day was getting close.. On Tuesday, she received an acknowledgement and was told she'd get a response from the court within 5 days.

 

Today, Wednesday,  she received in the mail, a letter dated 23rd (so no connection with our letter) from VCS enclosing a Notice of Discontinuance!! My guess is that Simon realised that with thousands of people dying round the world in a global pandemic, it was unlikely that the courts would be sympathetic to a piddling claim for a 7 minute overstay.

 

It could be that the poor Paralegal took fright at our voluminous Defence statement and was scared of our final comment about claiming expenses! Maybe her deal means it gets deducted from salary! We'll never know unfortunately.

 

I would have relished the opportunity to let fly at them in a hearing and had lots of extra points I was working on, like the inability to perform to contract, but heyho, my daughter is delighted it has gone away, and I can now remove all the many files from my kitchen table.

 

It has been a great learning experience and I thank everyone on this site for coaching me and leading me to excellent reference material - I wouldn't have known where to start without your help. I'm very happy to support your site and encourage every other victim to fight the good fight. 

 

Keep safe everyone.

 

 

Letter re adjournment redacted (3).pdf

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simon running 

now that is RARE!!

 

 

 

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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  • dx100uk changed the title to VCS ANPR 2015 PCN claimform - Berkeley Centre Sheffield S11 8PN **Discontinued**

And we've received a very kind donation from you – and I responded with an email. You may need to check your spam folder because Hotmail addresses often give us problems.  🙂

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Absolutely delighted for you @anniebattlemum. On a different group someone else posted a notice of discontinuance they had received. I genuinely think that the looming threat of a court case can not be good for anyone's mental health and stress levels in the best of times (no matter how well prepared you may be) and something as trivial as a 7 minute overstay totally pales into insignificance in the current pandemic crisis. I wish you and all your family well and please keep safe. Sending virtual hugs and high fives!!

 

 

 

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