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UK CPM Gladstones Claim Form
moto
post Sun, 17 Jun 2018 - 12:21
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My sister has received the CC claim form as reg keeper. She was panicked and wanted to pay the bullies to get it out of her hair lest the costs increase. I have managed to convince her that at most her financial liability is limited to the stated amount and at best she could win with the PCC and their solicitors bearing the costs etc. so that it puts another small nail to the coffin of this despicable industry. I told her with help of experts on this forum I will guide and assist her throughout including attending court if need be as a litigation friend.

Background: a friend was visited by the driver who previously lived at a house on that road and parked behind the cars parked on driveway. Driver did not see any signs restricting any parking nearby. All previous bluff and bluster ignored eg letters from Gladstones etc. She has not retained any communication received.

Typically the particulars of claim are vague: Salisbury Road is an adopted road so what does "land at Salisbury Road DA2 6EJ" legally mean? It could mean Salisbury Road itself! What a joke!

After having read guidance here and previous wins against UKPCM and Gladstones (eg. the case in Leeds) I am encouraged to take this through to its conclusion. The AOS will be filed today and then a defence will be drafted for which I would be grateful to seek pointers from the experts as to the best grounds to fight this on. Many thanks in advance.

This post has been edited by moto: Sun, 17 Jun 2018 - 13:12
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post Sun, 17 Jun 2018 - 12:21
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moto
post Mon, 2 Jul 2018 - 11:37
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Thanks emanresu. I presume you are referring to v5 October 2016 of the IPC Code. I have read this but can't seem to find where it states "that the boundaries between the controlled and the uncontrolled space should be clear and unequivocal" or wording to that effect. Please refer to the relevant part so I may include in the defence. Are you also saying the pics should go with the defence or should these be in the witness stat?
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emanresu
post Mon, 2 Jul 2018 - 12:03
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The particular part is

QUOTE
2.1 Where the basis of your parking charges is based in the law of contract it will usually be by way of the driver of a vehicle agreeing to contractual terms identified by signage in and around a controlled zone. It is therefore of fundamental importance that the signage meets the minimum standards under The Code as this underpins the validity of any such charge. Similarly, where charges are founded in the law of trespass and form liquidated damages, these too must be communicated to drivers in the same way.


You can't know a controlled zone by guessing. It has to be clear. Terms have to be clear. Restrictions have to be clear.

From what Google Street View can see, it looks to all intents like a normal public road and not a controlled one.

As regards when to include the pics, it should be at the WS stage but you might want to show your hand early to indicate to the Claimant (and to the Allocating judge) that the case has no merit. Before these get to hearings, the Allocating judges are throwing some out based on their case management powers. You get two bites in a claim. The hearing itself after 30 weeks and at the Allocation stage at 6 weeks in. Use the first to indicate their lack of case. It might just work if that circuit (South Eastern) is fed up with UKCPM. Some of the courts in the SE already are.
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moto
post Mon, 2 Jul 2018 - 14:08
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Thank you emanresu. I have included the following wording in the edited defence and included part 14.1 of the code for good measure:

10.3 The Claimant has failed to make clear the controlled zone it purports to operate and has failed to make clear the terms and restrictions around the putative controlled zone. This is contrary to part B 2.1 of IPC Code of Practice which states that:
“Where the basis of your parking charges is based in the law of contract it will usually be by way of the driver of a vehicle agreeing to contractual terms identified by signage in and around a controlled zone. It is therefore of fundamental importance that the signage meets the minimum standards under The Code as this underpins the validity of any such charge. Similarly, where charges are founded in the law of trespass and form liquidated damages, these too must be communicated to drivers in the same way.”
10.4 The Defendant submits that its tactics could be construed as predatory and misleading contrary to Part B 14.1 of the IPC Code.

Any other part of the defence I need to amend?
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moto
post Fri, 6 Jul 2018 - 10:22
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QUOTE (nosferatu1001 @ Thu, 28 Jun 2018 - 16:25) *
I'm on holiday, don't have much chance to look,at defences sorry
Can other regulars have a look?


Nosferatu, are you back from holiday? Any chance you (and others) could glance over the defence wording before its emailed to ccbcaq? Many thanks.
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moto
post Sat, 21 Jul 2018 - 12:20
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Update: the defence was filed and acknowledged by court. The court advised that they had written to Claimant asking whether they wished to proceed.

Have now received letter from Gladstones wanting consent for a paper hearing and enclosing copy of DQ in advance of court directions as in photos. How should we respond?
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Redivi
post Sat, 21 Jul 2018 - 12:39
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This is a standard practice by Gladstones

For a suitable response enter the phrase "reasonably straightforward" in the search box in top right hand corner

This is a covering note that I drafted for one of my clients to include with his Directions Questionnaire :

(Claim number): (****** v ******)
Response to N159 : Claimant’s request for special direction

The Defendant has been informed that the Claimant has proposed a hearing on the papers because it considers the matter to be relatively straightforward.
He has also been informed that the Claimant requests to transfer the hearing to the Claimant’s local court if the Defendant does not consent.

The Defendant objects strongly to both proposals and denies that the matter is relatively straightforward.

Issues in dispute include :

1 The Claimant’s failure to disclose any details or cause of action
2 The Claimant’s authority to *********
3 The Claimant’s failure to **********
4 The inadequate signage at the location
5 The Defendant’s denial that any contract has ever existed with the Claimant
6 The Claimant’s addition of Indemnity Costs

The Defendant will therefore wish to question the Claimant regarding its witness statement and other documents.

The Defendant, as a litigant in person would be seriously disadvantaged against the Claimant, a parking company that has employed its Trade Association solicitor to prepare its documents.
The Defendant respectfully reminds the Court that the Claimant has ignored a request, in response to its Letter Before Claim, to provide a copy of ******.

The Defendant has the reasonable belief that the Claimant may attempt to introduce documents and arguments that he will not have the opportunity to dispute.

He therefore requests that the case be listed for an oral hearing at the Defendant’s local court in accordance with the Practice Direction when the Defendant is an individual.

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moto
post Sun, 21 Oct 2018 - 16:56
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Court has given pre-hearing directions so need to prepare and submit witness statement by 1st week November and documents in support. Here is a draft short and sweet WS homing in on the prohibition angle only on which I will appreciate experts' comments or suggested amendments. Thank you.

In the County Court at X
Claim No. XXXXXX
Between
UK CAR PARK MANAGEMENT LIMITED (Claimant)
and
------------- (Defendant)

-------------------------
Witness Statement
-------------------------
1. I, ------------- of -----------------------, the Defendant in this matter, will say as follows:

2. I am not liable to the Claimant for the sum claimed, or any amount at all and this is my Witness Statement in support of my defence as already filed.

3. On 11 November 2016, I visited my friend ---------------------- who lives at -----------------------. A Land Registry map showing the lay of the land is shown at Exhibit 1.

4. Exhibit 2 shows photographs of signs that are sparsely placed around the estate and hidden behind foliage. These allegedly form the basis of the Claimant’s litigation. I did not see any sign outside my friend’s house. These signs bear no comparison to the prominently displayed sign shown at Exhibit 3 that was adjudged to form a contractual relationship in the Parking Eye v Beavis case.

5. Exhibit 4 is a copy of the letter I wrote to the Claimant’s solicitors (“Gladstones”) as stated in my Defence to seek particularity and basis of Claim but I never received a reply.

6. The IPC Code of Practice that I referred to in my defence is at Exhibit 5 with the pertinent parts highlighted.

7. It is my position that the signage that the Claimant relies on to bring this Claim was forbidding and claiming for an alleged parking breach is therefore perverse. There was an absolute prohibition of parking on roadways, yellow lines, paved, hatched or landscaped areas and therefore no contract arose to give cause. I refer to Exhibit 6 which is a County Court transcript of Claim number B4GF26K6 between Parking Control Management (UK) Ltd v Bull dated 21 April 2016. At paragraph 8, the District Judge summarises the parking conditions on the signs which are similar to the parking conditions on the signs in Exhibit 2 in the instant Claim. At paragraph 18, the District Judge ruled that the essence of the signs conveyed a prohibition against trespass dressed up as a form of contract the right to charge a sum of money which would be damages for trespass assuming the claimant had any interest in the land in order to bring a claim for trespass.

7. The solicitors for the claimant in the case referred to above were the same Gladstones. Before bringing this Claim on the Claimant’s behalf they knew or ought to have known the similarities of signage and the precedent set above. The actions of the Claimant and Gladstones are unreasonable, improper and constitute an abuse of process. It is symptomatic of the ‘roboclaim’ nature of claims that the Claimant and their ilk and their solicitors such as Gladstones instigate. Such claims can only clog the judicial system and this Court ought to condemn such practices in the strongest terms possible.

8. I invite the Court to dismiss this claim in its entirety, and to award my costs of attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14.

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
Signature Date

This post has been edited by moto: Sun, 21 Oct 2018 - 21:19
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SchoolRunMum
post Sun, 21 Oct 2018 - 17:52
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QUOTE
4. Exhibit 2 shows the signage at several places including at elevated heights and behind bushes on the roadways in question on the basis of which the Claimant has instigated this litigation.


I would not use the words 'several places' about their signs.

I would include more detail, like this that you said earlier:

QUOTE
the particulars of claim are vague: Salisbury Road is an adopted road so what does "land at Salisbury Road DA2 6EJ" legally mean? It could mean Salisbury Road itself! What a joke!


And here you need to say that you didn't see them/could not have seen these terms, which are so sparsely placed and obscured by foliage that there is no comparison with the 'brief' contractual terms, with the parking charge displayed 'prominently' that saved the ParkingEye v Beavis case from being struck out as an unrecoverable penalty. Exhibit 3 is the sign in the Beavis case:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYdphoIIDgE/VpbC...%2Bsign_001.jpg

Why are you not adducing your friend's tenancy agreement or something useful like an advert for the flat, showing parking was included, or a letter or email the friend might have that talks about a parking space, surely there is something to put forward as Exhibit 4?

Exhibit 5 could be the IPC CoP with the parts highlighted that you included in your defence:

QUOTE
part B 2.1 of IPC Code of Practice which states that:
“Where the basis of your parking charges is based in the law of contract it will usually be by way of the driver of a vehicle agreeing to contractual terms identified by signage in and around a controlled zone. It is therefore of fundamental importance that the signage meets the minimum standards under The Code as this underpins the validity of any such charge. Similarly, where charges are founded in the law of trespass and form liquidated damages, these too must be communicated to drivers in the same way.”
10.4 The Defendant submits that its tactics could be construed as predatory and misleading contrary to Part B 14.1 of the IPC Code.
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moto
post Sun, 21 Oct 2018 - 19:07
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QUOTE (SchoolRunMum @ Sun, 21 Oct 2018 - 18:52) *
QUOTE
4. Exhibit 2 shows the signage at several places including at elevated heights and behind bushes on the roadways in question on the basis of which the Claimant has instigated this litigation.


I would not use the words 'several places' about their signs.

Noted and will amend

I would include more detail, like this that you said earlier:

QUOTE
the particulars of claim are vague: Salisbury Road is an adopted road so what does "land at Salisbury Road DA2 6EJ" legally mean? It could mean Salisbury Road itself! What a joke!


As Emanresu found this road is in fact private

And here you need to say that you didn't see them/could not have seen these terms, which are so sparsely placed and obscured by foliage that there is no comparison with the 'brief' contractual terms, with the parking charge displayed 'prominently' that saved the ParkingEye v Beavis case from being struck out as an unrecoverable penalty. Exhibit 3 is the sign in the Beavis case:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eYdphoIIDgE/VpbC...%2Bsign_001.jpg

Good point will include

Why are you not adducing your friend's tenancy agreement or something useful like an advert for the flat, showing parking was included, or a letter or email the friend might have that talks about a parking space, surely there is something to put forward as Exhibit 4?

Friend owns freehold house so I don't know where the rights of access to the private road would be - probably in some conveyance. She has her own space outside her house where her car was already parked.

Exhibit 5 could be the IPC CoP with the parts highlighted that you included in your defence:

QUOTE
part B 2.1 of IPC Code of Practice which states that:
“Where the basis of your parking charges is based in the law of contract it will usually be by way of the driver of a vehicle agreeing to contractual terms identified by signage in and around a controlled zone. It is therefore of fundamental importance that the signage meets the minimum standards under The Code as this underpins the validity of any such charge. Similarly, where charges are founded in the law of trespass and form liquidated damages, these too must be communicated to drivers in the same way.”
10.4 The Defendant submits that its tactics could be construed as predatory and misleading contrary to Part B 14.1 of the IPC Code.



Yes will include this and edit the WS - thanks schoolrunmum.

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SchoolRunMum
post Sun, 21 Oct 2018 - 19:20
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QUOTE
Friend owns freehold house so I don't know where the rights of access to the private road would be - probably in some conveyance. She has her own space outside her house where her car was already parked.


Then can the friend provide a signed/dated WS to accompany yours, saying she owns the adjacent freehold house and as well as a demised parking space, she has rights of way to pass and re-pass to access her house, and that on xx/xx/xx (date) her friend the Defendant parked with her full permission, behind the cars parked on the driveway. And can the friend add that she no longer lives there but that she is aware that residents' peaceful enjoyment of their properties was ruined by this predatory parking firm who had no agenda to uphold the residents' comfort and use of the property, and were widely considered to be causing a private nuisance to the landowners, freeholders and leaseholders and issued PCNs on any old excuse, with no clarity as to the boundaries where they could or could not operate and no consent from freeholders. People like herself had rights of way and easements and the Claimant in this case paid no regard to the primacy of contract arising from such rights and easements.
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moto
post Sun, 21 Oct 2018 - 21:33
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Thanks for that suggestion schoolrunmum.

I have checked LR data and the friend's title has a deed linked to the freehold title of the access roadways as shown in the attachments. Before I ask and prepare a 2nd WS, would it not be easier to download the titles and the deed to learn exactly what the relationship is for access rights and then include it in own WS?


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SchoolRunMum
post Sun, 21 Oct 2018 - 23:03
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Yes, do both!
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moto
post Thu, 22 Nov 2018 - 13:11
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Success at today's hearing! £107 costs awarded.

No one from Claimant showed up - they had given 7 day notice to court. Was attending as lay rep for and with sister but judge started by saying he was exercising discretion in denying lay rep rights of audience (which surprised me as don't believe in judge's gift to do deny in small claims of party present). Anyhow he said my sister had put in a solid defence and statement and he needn't even consider that because claimant needed to prove their case. He then went straight to judgement, with punch after sucker punch into the claim. He ripped apart almost literally the so called contractual agreement that gave UKCPM authority from some managing agent to enforce parking. He then said if he was wrong in that, then the site map was non specific and if he was wrong in that then the signs were defective and hidden behind shrubbery such that no contract. It was just a joy to watch the judge from up high do all the talking while the 2 of us just sat arms folded as the blows landed on the claimant - it felt like being in a Roman amphitheatre!

Thank you everyone.
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nosferatu1001
post Thu, 22 Nov 2018 - 13:31
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INdeed, he doesnt have any discretion in that - however good job it wasnt needed!

Well done smile.gif
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