The main issue was, I had no real idea what I was doing. I didn't understand most of what I was reading on this site, and didn't know how to use it. So I didn't understand most of the arguments I relied on. It seemed that the judge didn't even really look at much of that. She mentioned where I brought up that they didn't have right to manage the car park, and referred to the document I sent you, which showed that they did have a right. Aside from that, she didn't mention anything else as such from my defence. it's done now. Lesson for me to learn is not to to ignore it. I can see that in my case, if I had contacted the parking company and explained what had happened, it would have given me a better chance. Then if it got to court, it would look like I had tried to resolve the issue beforehand, and that I had tried to avoid going to court. But as it stood, it looked like I did nothing to explain myself, forcing the claimant to rack up unnecessary costs in order to take me to court. She didn't take kindly to that and felt I should compensate them with something. Unfortunately that's just how my case went. Given that my defence at that stage was so weak, I needed assistance from someone more familiar with these matters, because I clearly was not.

Yep, And she definitely said 14 days!! I thought she’d got that wrong too. maybe she tried to stitch me up?

Well, to be honest, I felt they had me bang to rights from the start, so I should have tried to plead with them. In this case, If I had contacted the parking company and said I made a genuine mistake from the off, and they had continued to pursue it in the courts, the judge I had today would have acknowledged that and would have said you tried to explain and would not have ruled in their favour. But who knows, it might not have made a blind bit of difference to another judge. Anyway, I know better if it ever happens again.

Hi all, as I figured, my defence wasn't so good. They took my mitigating circumstances into account so that let me off with filing late witness statements. They accepted my defence but what went against me was the fact that I did not state that earlier to the parking company. The judge said, if I had stated that earlier, she would have viewed the matter differently, but the fact that I had let it get to this stage without asking them to consider the reason why I had got the ticket, she has to rule in their favour. Also, that they provided all the info I had asked them for and showed clearly that all the usual arguments had been met e.g. clear signage, authority to manage the parking area etc. However, she said I only needed to pay the ticket price, solicitors and admin. She was not going to allow all the cost they asked for or the interest. Which is still a lot cheaper than what I had expected. The lesson I learnt was not to ignore the ticket. The judge didn't like the fact that I did nothing, which forced the parking company to take it all the way to court, which cost them unnecessary expenses.

Thank you

Hi again, My case is due to be heard tomorrow. What can I expect to happen? I'm just checking that I can turn up in person. Anyone available to advise?

Sorry, I was not able to do work on this case on Saturday as I had so many things to do and was out that evening as well. I picked up your last message about being available on Sunday late. In the meant time, I have sent the court a mitigating email to ask for an extension, so will see what happens, but will continue to work on the WS and submit it anyway. As you've already stated, at this late state, I have nothing else to lose anyway. I can continue working on this later tonight if anyone is available then, I would appreciate the help.

I would appreciate your help on Sunday afternoon. I will try to get the witness statements in by then for you to review. Re: being pessimistic, it is because I cannot really prove that I was not there at the alleged period of the contravention, other than the people who were there with me, saying we did not arrive at 7am. I think the Judge will look at everything and think, why did i not respond when initially notified, and why I had let it go all the way to court. It is a waste of everyone's time and money. If Gladstones is aware they are less likely to win if absent, why would they not attend? Just my thoughts but I will be here Sunday for any support on offer.

Probably Monday. Is the judge likely to take the testimonies of two of my friends anyway? It hardly seems worth the bother now, although I will continue since I've come this far. Is it worth considering mediation? Apparently I still have the option.

I hope so, but so far, it looks like I have lucked out. They seemed to have dotted all the I's and crossed all the Ts on this one.

Hi all, Yes, I contacted the courts yesterday and they confirmed that the court date is 23rd June. They advised that they would be posting out another 157 form but stated that they had already sent one. They cannot email it to me to get it any quicker. They also confirmed that the deadline for WS was 11th April, but that I can let the judge know I did not get the original 157 form. Not a good start. The tenant will be out of the country come the court date but has agreed to provide me with a witness statement to confirm that my car did not arrive on her estate until 7pm that day and not 7am. Also, a friend that was also in the car when it arrived on the estate will provide a witness statement to confirm that the arrangement that day was to pick her up and then go to the estate. We are wondering if phone records that day can show that there was call made on the day which would collaborate with the events of the day e.g. call to witness being picked up to say the driver was downstairs waiting for her, and calls to the tenant to advise of ETA etc whilst on route to her address in London. Other than that, I have no other defence I can think of. Apparently it is still not too late to agree to mediation but at this late stage, I reckon Gladstones would not accept. They have paid out all costs now so no point them turning back, just to give me a lighter penalty so to speak - if you get my drift. Anyway, that's the update so far. Unfortunately, nothing that I have provided so far seems sufficient enough to win. The fact that Gladstones will not be at court does not seem to be a win in my favour by default because they have provided enough pictures etc to show they have met their requirements. My failing is, that I did not respond to the parking company earlier. Had I done so, I could have proved that the car was on my drive at the time of the alleged contravention. Any other suggestions at this 11th hour? I note there has not been any feedback following production of the tenancy agreement.

These are the only other relevant paperwork I've got to hand. Will contact the court to get a copy of the other document Finally got a copy of the Tenancy agreement. It is 16 pages long so I have only uploaded the section on parking as the other sections don't appear to be relevant. I'm just wondering whether the court had actually sent me a N157 Notice of allocation to small claims track? I assumed they did because I knew I saw a date somewhere. However, I may well have been referring to the date from the claimant's Witness statement. I will check with the courts anyway. GS letters+Court N271+my tenancy parking.pdf

I had the letter and now have misplaced it somewhere among the mountains of papers all around me. I am trying to deal with a number of other legal matters aside from this situation, hence the feeling of being overwhelmed. I will have to contact the courts to see if they can send me another but I remember the date was 23 June.

I have checked all my paperwork received and I don't seem to have a N157 Notice of allocation to small claims track still trying to send what I do have I hope this one goes through Claimants WS.pdf

Hi, You said to send everything which I tried to do but it said the file was too large. I hadn't even included all the pictures because I had previously sent them. I will try again. It took me hours to do and I still hadn't done it properly.

I hope I have done this correctly. It has taken me the last few hours do figure it out again, but the attached is mainly what was sent. The other items included in their witness statement are a repeat of what they had sent previously i.e. photos of the ticket on the car, copy of ticket sent to my house etc. I have previously uploaded all that information. Please can someone have a look and let me know what you think. In the meant time I am waiting for Peabody to reply. They insist that the request for a copy of my friend's tenancy agreement is not a request that would be handled via a SAR. They have referred her back to the advisor that sent the incorrect Tenancy agreement who is away from work until 17th April. I don't know why they don't agree with the request being an SAR Any help will be appreciated.

Ok, I will do. In the meant time, I have requested a copy of the document granting PCM authority to manage the car park under freedom of information and received an email contacting the following: "Thank you for your email.  The Freedom of Information Act doesn't apply to Peabody as we are a not a public body.  We can provide copies of any personal data we are processing for individuals as part of a Subject Access Request, however your request does not fall within this remit as this is not your personal data and therefore not disclosable to you." I'm just checking, is this correct? Peabody have also responded to the latest email re: copy of Tenancy agreement SAR I sent to them on behalf of my friend saying: "A request for a copy of a tenancy agreement on it's own, is not a Subject Access Request, and is therefore handled by the appropriate team within Peabody." I have explained that she is not asking for a copy of "a" tenancy agreement, but is asking for a copy of her own which would include her name, address, and other particulars pertaining to herself including her signature. Surely that is permitted under SAR?? Can anyone concur? 

Hello again all, I'm still around. Still have a lot on but not yet thrown in the towel...at least not until I've had an update from you guys. My friend and I have been chasing Peabody since February 16th for a copy of her tenancy agreement. They sent her one for a former address but it went to her spam box. We only found out yesterday and have been chasing them again relentlessly since. I have a court date for late June. Also, PCM has sent me a load of papers which I think is the particulars of their claim. They have included something which says they are "authorised to operate a parking management and /or enforcement service" at the place my car was ticketed. However, that postcode is not exactly the same as my friend's postcode where I think the car was parked. I don't know if such a small detail as the actual postcode would make any difference, as they have sent a photo of an area within which they are permitted to operate. However, the Authority to Operate document appears to be on their own headed paper. I would have thought it would need to be something on Peabody paper as they are the ones supposedly granting the permission?? My view is anyone can write anything on their own headed paper saying they have permission to do something on someone else's land, or am I thinking incorrectly in your experiences?? They have blacked out the name and signature of the authorising person. Can anyone help re the above. Also, I have read a lot of posts and have not found anything solid which I could use to defend my particular case. Perhaps I have not been looking at the correct postings? Also, the information pertaining to parking on the old tenancy agreement they sent, didn't seem to suggest a right to any parking, so I'm thinking the correct tenancy agreement for her current address will not be much different. My case is beginning to look pretty hopeless to me. Does that mean I am liable to spend another £75 for issuing and cost on top of their current asking price? Hope you guys can break down the above and respond so I can understand clearly. I am not the sharpest tool in the box.

Thank you. I will upload and try to read what I can. I am sorry, but I am quite overwhelmed with all my existing commitments right now, which doesn't give me much time to read much else. Please believe me it is truly not a cop out.

Good morning Honeybee13, Thanks for your fast response. Yes, the claim has been transferred to the county court nearest where I live. It is saying it will then be referred to a procedural judge who will allocate the claim to track and give a case management directions. This will then be sent to me in a 'notice of allocations'. I have to admit, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all now, as I really don't know what I am doing. Please, do you think I will end up with a county court judgement once this is all dealt with in the court? I'm assuming they will make a judgement for me to pay Gladstones as I don't think I have a strong case at this moment in time. Any advice welcomed. Thanks

Hello again all. I managed to get my friend to request a copy of her tenancy agreement via SAR from Peabody Trust. They have given her a reference number so hopefully they will send it soon. In the meant time, I've received correspondences from Gladstones. However, I don't think they have provided me with all the information I actually requested. They sent me copies of the ticket and relating information that I already had from the Parking Management company. They went on to say something about the doctrine of "privity" applying, and that the contract between "our client and their client" being commercially sensitive. They then made reference to cases of VCS v HM Revenue & Customs (2013) and Parking Eye v Beavis (CA 2015) stating that "it was made clear that a contracting party need not show they have a right to do what they have promised in the performance of a contract nor is (in the case of a parking operator) the agreement between Operator and Landowner of any relevance." In a nutshell, they appear to be saying they do not have to provide any proof to me, to say they have the authority to operate as a parking management agent/company on that estate. Also, I believe I made my request to them in December but they have only responded on 2nd February, which is outside the 14 days period for them to respond, which was in my request to them. They also sent me a copy of the 'Notice of Transfer of Proceedings'. I am not sure what will happen next, or if there is anything else I should be doing at this stage. Please, is there any guidance available from anyone on what to do next? I am out of my depth with all this and appreciate any help I can get. Many thanks

I've not given up asking. I have sent her the link to request it via the website's SAR procedure. I will be seeing her on Saturday in Taiwan so will pin her down to sort it out then...hopefully.

Unfortunately not yet, and I have not heard back from Gladstone's with the request made to them either.

The tenant said MET parking was the previous company.

I am going to try again. She is just convinced it won't help but I will get her to obtain a copy or her agreement.