Hi Mandak, I've not been given a hearing date yet, so it looks like you will be in court before me! What I have found out so far, after a freedom of information request, is, ' The signage at Perry Barr One Stop in relation to traffic signs is excluded from Birmingham City Councils (BCC) direct control and therefore are permitted and do not require planning consent'. And, 'There is no Traffic Regulations Order issued by BCC' currently in place. I've got my fingers crossed for you and hope you have taken the advise given by the guys on here, looking forward to hearing you won! Hi Ericsbrother, Dx, What's your thoughts on their response, as it seems to me that they have evaded my question regarding advertising and the planning permission required for that?. ..BP

Hi Dx, EB, Oddfellow, I've been reading an awful lot of transcripts/cases on the Parking Prankster's site and the issues raised here on CAG over the last few days have come to the conclusion that these parasites, along with their sidekicks (in this case Gladstones), hope we'll remain ignorant of the law and the BPA's code of conduct and just pay up! Thanks all for your encouragement to fight on and your continued assistance....BP

Hi Dx, I'll take a look see, thanks...BP

Hi EB, DX, DQ filled out and sent back to the court and duly served on the Claimant's solicitor. I have requested my local court for the hearing. My thoughts at the moment are to continue trying to get a definitive written answer from my local council regarding PP and to start getting a court bundle together. I could not get through to anyone at the council prepared to tell me anything regarding PP, so I've sent in a FOI request. As for the court bundle, I believe I should gather as much case law supporting my position as I can find! Having said that, I'm hoping that you will be able to advise me on the best course of action at this stage and perhaps give me a bit of guidance on any applicable recorded case law that your aware of, so that I can take my time getting up to speed on it, i.e. well before any hearing date is confirmed?....BP

Hi EB, Thank you for your continued support and advice, it is, as always, appreciated. I've just replied to their email as per your advice and will read up on CPR 27.14 to see exactly what's allowed...BP

Hi Dx, Thanks for the response and your points taken on board. I reckon I'm more than happy to have an oral hearing at my local court... Is it the AQ stage next?

Hi EB, Dx, Earlier today I received an email from Gladstones, your thoughts on this would be appreciated: We act for the Claimant and have notified the Court of our Client’s intention to proceed with the claim. Please find enclosed a copy of our Client’s completed Directions Questionnaire, which will be filed with the court upon their request. You will note we intend to request a special direction; i.That the case be dealt with on the papers and without the need for an oral hearing This request is sought simply because the matter is in our Client’s opinion relatively straightforward and the costs incurred by both parties for attending an oral hearing would be disproportionate. We trust you agree. You will note our Client has elected not to mediate. Its decision is not meant to be in any way obstructive and is based purely on experience, as mediation has rarely proven beneficial in these types of cases. Not with standing this, our Client would be happy to listen to any genuine payment proposals that you wish to put forward. Kind Regards L Litigation Assistant Gladstones Solicitors Limited Enclosed with the DQ was this: REQUEST FOR SPECIAL DIRECTION The matter will be considered on paperwork without a hearing. The parties attendance is not required and the Judge will determine the matter based upon the documents and evidence supplied and any written representations received.

Hi Ericsbrother, I appreciate your help with this, I'll be a little bit more forceful when I call them again, thanks...BP

Hi Ericsbrother, I have tried in the past to talk with an actual person, without success, but based on your thoughts I'll keep on trying! What is the correct PP that they need to have in place?....BP

Hi ericsbrother, I 've requested proof of planning permission and I've been in touch with my local council's planning department for the same, awaiting any response. BP just checked through my junk mail and found an email from my local council showing how to access the PP info. It gives the document ref, date of application and briefly states : 'Landlords advertising for the shopping centre directional signage along Walsall Road and within car park'. It goes on to state that this was approved. I checked through all planning permission applications for the landlord and could find nothing else regarding signage. Would Park watch need their own permission for signage or do they get away with using the permission given to the landlord?...BP

Hi Dx, Thanks for that, I've updated my request and will be posting out today...BP

Hi Dx, I've had a bash at putting a CPR 31.14 request (loosely based on the template in the library, I'm just highlighting here the bits I've changed) together to send to Gladstones, could you take a look and let me know if I'm in the right arena or if I'm barking up the wrong tree? ....BP CPR 31.14 Request. On 17 June 2016 I received the Claim Form dated 15 July 2016 in this case issued by you out of the County Court Business Centre. I can confirm that I have returned my acknowledgement of service indicating my intention to contest and counter claim your entire claim. Please treat this letter as my request made under CPR 31.14 for the disclosure and the production of verified and legible copies of each and every document you intend to rely on. Although, It has been noted that in your Particulars of Claim that you fail to mention any documents, in our opinion the following documents are required in order for you to make any viable claim: 1. Written authorisation of the landowner as per BPA regulations. 2. A photograph, time and date stamped showing arrival and departure of the vehicle. 3. Photographic evidence showing that a Blue Badge was not displayed in the vehicle at the time of the alleged breach. 4. A photograph showing that your contract terms and conditions signage was conspicuous, legible, written in intelligible language, so that they are easy to see, read and understand, whilst seated in a vehicle.

Hi Dx, Thanks for taking a look, I've read the thread you outlined and its almost identical (I'm keeping an eye on it for updates) and several others too. I've acknowledged service, ticked defend in full and sent back (signed for) via royal mail. I will update as and when further info available....BP

Hi All, I'm hoping that someone will be able to guide me through defending the following claim. I have taken a note of the subject information requirements before posting and I believe I've got them listed out correctly, here goes: Name of Claimant: Defence Systems Ltd T/A Park Watch Address for sending documents: Gladstones Solicitors Ltd Date of Issue: 15 June 2016 Timeline: 4 July 2016 (to acknowledge) + 14 Days (to submit defence) = 18 July 2016 Particulars of Claim: Date – 03/08/2015 – Description – Car Registration number/Parking charge notice Ref – Amount - £150.00 – Due Date – 31/08/2015 – Total Due - £150.00. And The Clamant Claims: The claimant claims the sum of £159.48 for parking charges and indemnity costs if applicable including £9.48 interest pursuant to S.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 Rate 8.00% pa from dates above to 14/06/2016. Same rate to Judgement or (sooner) payment. Daily rate to judgement £0.03. Total debt and interest £159.48. Amount claimed = £159.48 Court Fee = £25.00 Legal Rep Costs = £50.00 Total Amount = £234.48 The description reference referred to in their claim relates to ‘stopping in a no stopping area’. I have been contacted by three companies so far regarding this matter. Park Watch (a division of Defence Systems Ltd the ‘Claimant’) on 10 August 2015 (this letter included a photo image of the car in the no stopping area although there is no time stamp displayed on it) and again on 7 September 2015. Then I was contacted by a company called Debt Recovery Plus Ltd on 21 October 2015, 05 November 2015, 20 November 2015, 22 January 2016 and 08 February 2016. Then Gladstones Solicitors wrote to me on 22 March 2016 and then their letter before claim on 06 May 2016. None of the above correspondence gave notice of assignment. However, I have acknowledged service and indicated that I intend to defend. On the day of the alleged offence I had stopped the car outside the front of One Stop Shopping Centre (Perry Barr, Birmingham) to allow my other half to use their toilet facilities. The Mrs is registered disabled and has a blue badge, which was displayed in the car as I waited. I believe I was waiting for about 10 minutes for the Mrs to return. I have since been back to One Stop Shopping Centre and taken a photo of the sign and without zooming in with the camera or photo graph software, the contracting part of the sign cannot be easily read. It was noted that the sign used by Defence Systems Ltd to contract with consumers is about two and a half meters off the ground on a lamp post and on the left of the road. The sign cannot be seen from the driving seat, if your vehicle is right hand drive as mine is. Therefore, I can state that I did not read the sign or knew of its contractual element at the time the car stopped in front of the shopping centre. The sign reads: Park Watch Access Notice Bus Access Only No Unauthorised Access at Any Time Contractual Agreement This Land is Private Property and is managed by Park Watch If you enter this area contravening the above terms and conditions You are contractually agreeing to pay a parking charge to the sum of £100.00 (or the reduced sum of £60.00 if the payment is made within 14 days) should the parking charge remain unpaid you will incur additional costs as a result of further action taken against you Vehicles will be captured on camera the details of the registered owner may be acquired from the DVLA the registered owner will then be notified by post of the issue of this parking charge do not enter this area unless you agree to the above contractual charges Creidt/debit card charges apply, parking control and enforcement action may take place at any time Park Watch and their client accept no responsibility for loss or damage to cars of the contents thereof unless such a loss or damage is caused by negligence of Park Watch. Park Watch is soley responsible for providing space maximisation and is not responsible in any way for the car parks service

Hi Slick, Thanks for clearing that up for me BP

Hi SS, Slick, Thank you both for your guidance on this! Question; would the schedule of charges you mentioned be where I outlline my costs of getting this claim together? Cheers BP

Hi Guys, I'm now looking at putting my 'court bundle' together and could do with some guidance as I've never done one before. Currently I'm thinking I will need the following: Letters from the Claimant Letters from the Defendant Relevant case law - Kleinwort Benson v Lincoln City Council & Sempra Metals v Inland Revenue Commissioners, etc... CCA 1974 Terms & Conditions - 1994 Terms & Conditions - 2001 The one thing I know I cannot add to the bundle is a 'contract', but is there anything else I should add, is there anything I should take out, any help on the above will be appreciated? Thanks in advance BP

Hi SS, Thanks for that! Cheers BP

Hi SS, Thanks for looking through the POC for me and pointing out my error, its appreciated! (3) Interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum on the amount claimed (daily rate of £2.07) until judgment or sooner payment. Is that better? Cheers BP

Hi Guys, Just need a bit of guidance on the POC to ensure everything is covered correctly: New POC Barclaycard (N1) Claim No [ ] IN THE [xxxxx] county court BETWEEN Mr Bigphil61 [Claimant] and Barclays Bank PLC t/a Barclaycard [Defendant] PARTICULARS OF CLAIM 1. The Claimant entered into an agreement (“The Agreement”) with the Defendant on or around xx/xx/xxxx, whereby the Defendant was to advance credit facilities to the Claimant under a running credit account, Account no xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx ("The Account"). 2. The Agreement essentially consisted of the Defendant providing the Claimant with a credit card (“The Card”) which would allow the Claimant to make purchases and receive cash advances on credit. In return the Defendant was entitled to charge interest at the published rate. 3. The Agreement was a Regulated Agreement for the purposes of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. 4. At all material times the contract was subject to the Defendant’s standard terms and conditions which could be varied from time to time. Summary 5. Throughout the course of the Agreement, the Defendant has added numerous default charges to the Account for the Claimant’s failure to make the minimum payment on the due date and or for exceeding the credit limit and or if a payment is returned. (Full particulars are set out in schedule 2). 6. The default charges were applied in accordance with the standard terms of The Agreement which were: a) A penalty payable on breach of contract and thus unenforceable: and b) An unfair term under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (“The Regulations”) and therefore not binding on the Claimant. 7. The Claimant is accordingly entitled to repayment of the sums wrongly added to the Account. The Charges 8. The standard Terms of the Agreement in substance provided as follows: (a) The Defendant would provide the Claimant with the Card. The Claimant was entitled to use the Card to make purchases and receive cash advances up to a credit limit (“the Limit”) set by the Defendant. The Defendant could unilaterally change the Limit by giving the Claimant notice in writing. (b) The Defendant was entitled to charge interest on the purchases and cash advances at the published rate. © The Claimant was to pay the minimum payment of 3% of the amount owed or £5 (whichever was the greatest) by the due date as notified in the monthly statements. (d) The default charges Aug xx – Dec xx were £15.00, Mar xx – Oct xx was £20.00 and Jun xx – May xx was £12.00. Penalty 9.The amount of the Charges exceeded any genuine pre-estimate of the damage which would have been suffered by the Bank in relation to the Claimant’s transgressions. 10. In the premises the Charges were punitive and a penalty and thus unenforceable at common law. The Regulations 11.At all material times the Claimant was a consumer within the Regulations. 12. At all material times the terms of the Agreement providing for the Charges were unfair within regulation 5 of the Regulations in that contrary to the requirement of good faith they caused a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations to the detriment of the Claimant. 13. Without prejudice to the burden of proof, the Claimant will refer to the following matters in support of the contention that the terms are to be assessed as unfair as at the time of the conclusion of the Agreement, and of each revision to the Standard Terms. (a)The terms relating to Charges were standard terms; they would not be individually negotiated. (b)The Charges were a penalty for breach of contract. ©The Charges exceeded the costs which the Bank could have expected to incur in dealing with the exceeding of the credit limit, late payment or returned payment. (d) Accordingly the Charges were a disproportionate charge incurred by the Claimant for their failure to meet their contractual obligation and thus within the ambit of Schedule 2 (1) (e) of the Regulations and indicative of an unfair term. (e) As the Bank knew, the Charges were of subsidiary importance to the customer in the context of the Agreement as a whole and would not influence the making of the Agreement. (f) As the Defendant knew, the Claimant had no means of assessing the fairness of the Charges. (g) In the premises, the effect of the Charges would be prejudicial to the customer who incurred them, and cause an imbalance in the relations of the parties to the Agreement by subordinating the customer’s interests to those of the Defendant in a way which was inequitable. 14. Without prejudice to the burden of proof, the Claimant will contend that the terms’ imposing the Charges are not core terms under regulation 6 of the Regulations and relies on the following matters. (a) The assessment of fairness does not relate to terms which define the main or core subject matter of the Agreement. (b) The assessment of fairness does not relate to the adequacy of the price or remuneration as against the goods or services supplied in exchange (in other words, whether or not the relevant services were value for money). © The Charges are correctly described as default charges by the Defendant in the key information provided to new customers. 15. By reason of the said matters the terms were not binding under regulation 8 of the Regulations. 16. The Defendant wrongly applied Charges to the Account totalling some £556.00 between xx/xx/2001 and xx/xx/2015. Particulars appear from Schedule 2. 17. On xx/xx/2015 the Claimant demanded repayment of the sums wrongly applied. 18. The Defendant has not repaid them or any of them. And the Claimant claims; (1) A declaration that the sums totalling £556.00 have wrongly been applied to the Account. These charges are older than the normal 6 years but are claimed by virtue of s32 (1) (c ) Limitations Act 1980 as per Kleinwort Benson v Lincoln City Council. (2) Payment of the said sum of £556.00 and interest in restitutionof £xxxx.xx as per Sempra Metals v Inland Revenue Commissioners. (3) Interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 29.9% per annum on the amount claimed (daily rate of £7.75) until judgment or sooner payment. (4) Court costs of £455.00. I believe that the facts stated in these particulars, comprising of x pages, are true. Dated Signed Schedule 1 From Barclaycard Conditions in force (as of Dec 2001). 3. Credit limit From time to time we will work out your credit limit and tell you what it is. 5. Repayments each month you must make a minimum payment. This will be; (a)3% of the statement balance for Initial Visa, First Classic and Classic and 2% of the statement balance for Gold Barclaycard and Barclaycard Platinum or £5 whichever is more; or if the statement balance is less, the statement balance; or (b)If a special promotion allows you to put off making repayments for a period, the amount worked out under (a) but with the relevant promotional balance taken away from the statement balance. The minimum payment must be received by us and paid into your account on or before the payment date. Schedule 2 Attach your schedule of charges and head it schedule 2 be sure to include the date that charge was applied to the account, the date you paid the charge, the type of charge e.g. over limit, late payment etc. Cheers BP

Hi Slick, Thanks for that, appreciated! It just felt strange to me that Mercers could send out a default notice and then BC send out a formal notice both stating we had an agreement, when there has never been an agreement, only an application! Anyway, I'll concentrate on the task of getting those penalty charges back...BP

Hi Guys, Yesterday, I recieved a reconstituted copy of my agreement along with a copy of varied terms. In this letter they referred to the Consumer Credit Cancellation Notices and Copies of Documents Regulations 1983. However, when I checked these regulations I found that Regulaton 7 states, if the agreement has been varied then they are obliged to supply a copy of the executed agreement! My understanding of this is they cannot enforce the agreement! Is this fact any use to me moving forward in regards to this claim? Cheers BP

Hi Slick, I agree with you and SS, best way forward! I'll be reading up on Shelley's POC and the Limitation Act, including relevant case law. Cheers BP

Hi Derek, This claim is for credit card charges, I understand that bank charges are approached in a different way. It might be an idea to start your own thread so that you can get assistance. Cheers BP

Hi SS, I agree with your opinion on using 29.99%, as it would mean if they use 'set off', I'll still have something left over for my other creditors! I read your case, most informative! Cheers BP