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County Court Claim form Excel Parking/BW Legal
madpotter
post Sat, 10 Mar 2018 - 11:26
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I am very worried regarding a County Court Claim Form relating to alleged PCN on the 27/03/2012 at the Walk, Ebbw Vale.
The driver was taking an elderly person with mobility problems to the bank. They parked in a disabled space, clearly displaying the blue badge. The driver did not see anything clearly displayed either at the disabled bays or the entrance to the car park stating that disabled persons now had to pay for parking. As I result the driver and disabled person went straight to the bank (which was closed) and returned within 20 minutes to the car and left for home. The driver had parked there on previous occasions and had no letters or complaints. Had the driver known that a fee applied this would have been paid quite happily as the parking fee was only 20 or 30 pence.
The registered keeper received various letters and as the advice given at the time was to ignore these, this was the action taken. These letters were thrown away when the registered keeper moved house. The registered keeper now has a County Court Claim form sent to their new address, issue date 07/03/2018 and would like advice on how to proceed.
In addition, the County Court is in Northampton, which will be difficult to travel to as the registered keeper has no access to public transport and to go by car is a journey of over 3 hours.
Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

This post has been edited by madpotter: Sun, 11 Mar 2018 - 19:09
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post Sat, 10 Mar 2018 - 11:26
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madpotter
post Mon, 6 Aug 2018 - 09:18
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Costs
The Defendant will be claiming the following:
Travelling expenses 57.2 miles @ 25 pence per mile = ₤14.30 (shortest route from Defendant's home to XXXXXXXXXX County Court as identified using Google Maps).
Car parking fees as applicable (receipt will be provided).
Stationary and photocopying ₤10.26 (receipts provided)
Postage ₤10.92 (receipts provided)
In addition the following costs represent a genuine attempt by the defendant to estimate the time and effort in responding to a county Court claim issued against a party that has no liability:
8 hours to research defence @ ₤19.00 per hour = ₤152.00
4 hours to write defence @ ₤19.00 per hour = ₤76.00
6 hours to compile bundle of evidence (including purchasing stationary, photocopying, posting, travel etc) @ ₤19.00 per hour = ₤114.00
2 hours to write skeleton argument @ ₤19.00 per hour = ₤38.00
In total ₤415.48 (plus car parking)

In reality I spent a lot more time knowing NOTHING at the start of the process, but did not want to appear unrealistic.
I cannot claim for lost earnings as I am retired, however I was offered 2 days casual work on the day before and the day of the hearing – I did not think this would apply.
Do I append this to my skeleton argument or send it to court/interested parties as a separate document?
I will post everything on Wednesday which is 3 working days before the court date.
There was no set aside.
Again many, many, many thanks.
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nosferatu1001
post Mon, 6 Aug 2018 - 09:30
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I thought it was 45p per miile, unless you get reimbursed somehow (ie its not your car but a company car you pay mileage but dont get the full 45p)

You wont present the unreaosnable costs as above - you want a lead in, fully seperate section with its own title and everything, and areference to CPR27.14(2)(g) which is the ONLY thing that allows you to claim such costs in small claims. remember, you will need to convince the judge that this has merit - that they HAVE been unreasonable.

Youve missed writing the WS from it

Have a subtotal for EACH SECTION

Always a seperate document, obviously you cna send it at the same time in the same envelope or via the same email (to claimant only, dont send via email to the court - just walk in and hand it in there!)
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ostell
post Mon, 6 Aug 2018 - 09:48
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It is 45p a mile. some companies only pay 25p a mile over a certain limit. HMRC rules.
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madpotter
post Mon, 6 Aug 2018 - 10:05
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Thank you both - I will amend everything accordingly.
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madpotter
post Mon, 6 Aug 2018 - 11:10
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I've had a think about your comments and researched unreasonable behaviour in relation to CPR27.14(2)(g) and will add costs section to skeleton argument thus:

Costs
In accordance with CPR CPR27.14(2)(g) the Defendant believes that the Claimant has behaved unreasonably for the following reasons:
Unreasonable delay in seeking court action. The Claimant waited almost 6 years before issuing a County Court Claim. They have given no reasons for doing so.
The Particulars of Claim are vague and disclose no cause of action which would enable the defendant to prepare a specific defence. It was not signed by a legal person, but by BW Legal Services Limited. This is a failure to comply with CPR 16.4 Contents of the particulars of claim and Practice Direction 16 paras 7.3 – 7.5. Particulars of Claim were obviously cut and pasted. There is no reason why a particular course of action could not have been supplied.
The claim made against the Defendant is unreasonable and without merit. They knowingly pursued the registered keeper of the vehicle without any right to do so.
Claimant's witness statement refers to the Defendant's action at The Walk car park without provision of any proof that the Defendant was there at the time of the alleged contravention. The witness statement is therefore a series of guesses and unfounded allegations and cannot be properly regarded as a witness statement.

I will send costs to claimant alongside copy of SA and submit costs separately in court.
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nosferatu1001
post Mon, 6 Aug 2018 - 11:54
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Seperate documents headed "costs schedule"

You then have TWO HEADINGs as I have already told you

Ordinary costs - the loss of earnings, travel and parking. They can ALWAYS be claimed and are NOT up for usual debate in court smile.gif

THEN you havce a section on unreasonable costs where you list the reasons - bullet point, concise. THEN you list your costs, bullet point
Have a subototal for both sections, as well as a line total
then a grand total.
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madpotter
post Mon, 6 Aug 2018 - 12:40
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Thank you - I think I have pretty much done this and will make any minor amendments as suggested
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madpotter
post Tue, 14 Aug 2018 - 18:10
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Just back from court and thought I had better share the good news. Excel's claim against me has failed. The judge said that he had seen a lot of parking cases and both the defendant and claimant tended to " throw the kitchen sink at these". He felt that there were really only 2 issues relevant in this particular case:

The onus was on the claimant to prove the defendant was the driver (prior to POFA). They cannot presume that the registered keeper was the driver.

Claimant failed to produce evidence that Excel have contractual rights to pursue a PCN on the part of the landowner of the Walk.
The witness statement signed by Excel's Commercial Director stating they had that right was not evidence and they should have produced a copy of the actual contract/agreement.

He said he was sympathetic to my case that this was an unreasonable and vexatious claim and appreciated the time and work I had put in to my defence. However, he was not persuaded it was a vexatious claim and he could not award any costs for unreasonable behaviour. Obviously I got my travel costs.

But all this is OK as it was never about money. I know a lot of vulnerable people were caught by Excel's shenanigans at the Walk. These, sadly are the people who are least able to fight back. Hopefully, the more of us who can fight back will discourage this behaviour by going to court. (rant finished!)

I would not have the confidence or resources to do this without the help of you chaps at PePiPoo. So a massively big THANK YOU to everyone.

In the meantime the wine is chilling...........................................










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Jlc
post Tue, 14 Aug 2018 - 18:16
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icon_thumleft.gif


--------------------
RK=Registered Keeper, OP=Original Poster (You!), CoFP=Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty, NtK=Notice to Keeper, NtD=Notice to Driver
PoFA=Protection of Freedoms Act, SAC=Safety Awareness Course, NIP=Notice of Intended Prosecution, ADR=Alternative Dispute Resolution
PPC=Private Parking Company, LBCCC=Letter Before County Court Claim, PII=Personally Identifiable Information, SAR=Subject Access Request

Private Parking - remember, they just want your money and will say almost anything to get it.
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emanresu
post Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 06:11
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QUOTE
Claimant failed to produce evidence that Excel have contractual rights to pursue a PCN on the part of the landowner of the Walk.
The witness statement signed by Excel's Commercial Director stating they had that right was not evidence and they should have produced a copy of the actual contract/agreement.


That could kill a lot of Excel claims as almost all Excel paperwork has that "contract".

Useful to have a transcript if it could be organised.

Also that site was the subject of a BBC Wales (X-Ray) investigation in 2011. You might want to drop X-Ray a note too.

And well done for continuing with it. It could save a lot of people around a lot of hassle.

This post has been edited by emanresu: Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 06:12
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ManxRed
post Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 08:48
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How many times now has Excel been told in court that the assumption that the Keeper was the driver is utter hokum? And yet, their continued use of this is not perceived as unreasonable or vexatious? Oh dear...


--------------------
Sometimes I use big words I don't understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.
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madpotter
post Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 10:53
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Thank you for your comments.

I did ask the judge if I would get a transcript or summary of the proceedings, but he said all I would get is a letter stating the claim against me was dismissed. I have e mailed BBC X-Ray and also BBC Rip Off Britain (who did a programme about private parking companies a few weeks ago).
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nosferatu1001
post Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 10:58
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If you want a transcript you will have to pay, has to be through an approved court transcription service.
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madpotter
post Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 11:05
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Thank you Nosferatu - I will give the court a ring and see if anything can be arranged.
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emanresu
post Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 12:02
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They will refer you to this link

https://www.gov.uk/apply-transcript-court-tribunal-hearing

X-Ray did a bit on The Walk in November 2011 so it seems BW/Excel are just "washing" their tickets from that site to see who they can rattle.
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madpotter
post Wed, 15 Aug 2018 - 13:13
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Thank you for the link
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