@morrisons Parking Eye Claimform received - help! **Cancelled**

[InnoSaint]

Hi, all.

 

I have received a court notice by Nottingham County Court, on behalf of ParkingEye.

 

It is for the amount of £175.00, which comprises of £100 amount claimed, £25 court fee and £50 Solicitors costs.

 

A few months ago my mother entered a Morrisons car park and broke down (car wouldnt start).

 

She called me, distressed, and I went out to her and got the car to start.

 

In the midst of the ordeal, she didnt read the signs and did not obtain a ticket (£1 for 2 hours, refundable upon £5 in store spending)

and didnt do any shopping either, as she tended to the car and was trying to obtain help from other shoppers.

 

The total time from entry to exit was 1 hour 39 minutes, so the 2 hour limit was not breached.

 

Although I understand that a ticket should have been obtained, to the value of £1. £100 seems a little excessive and punitive for forgetting to display a ticket,

(which in all likelihood would have been negated by shopping anyway)

during a circumstance that was out of our control and caused my mother to panic and get distressed.

 

when Parking Eye first sent us a parking charge notice,

I wrongly advised my mother to ignore it,

as I recalled some time back reading that they could not enforce it.

Which has now lead to a court notice.

 

I have sent off the acknowledgement of service and need to respond with a defence by this weekend.

 

I wanted to know if I have a plausible case with prospects of succeeding, or atleast reducing the costs to more proportional

or reasonable amounts and if so what should be the basis of my defence? Or whether I should suck it up and pay it off?

 

Also if I contest it, could the charges be increased later on down the line, in court?

Also I thought that at county courts each party is responsible for their own legal costs.

 

I would be grateful if some experience or expertise could be dispensed.

 

If I have made any etiquette errors, then please accept my apologies and point them out to me to rectify.

 

Many thanks.

[SabreSheep]

Take a look around the parking forum, there are plenty of examples there.

 

Although PE have just won a case, it is now going to a higher court, so do nto panic too much yet.

 

Some things also to look for.

 

1) Does Morrisons state that they have to have free parking as part of its planning permission? (Esp if it is an old safeway store?) - You will need to access the local autohority to find out.

 

2) Research Genuine Pre estimate of loss and therefore unenforceable penalty clause. -

 

Draft a defence here so others can help give you feedback.

 

Regards

 

SS

[ericsbrother]

Breaking down is not a breach of contract so PE arent entitled to claim anything in the first place. Because they use number plate capture it is all down to their computers so will automatically send out demands. Likewise, you dont need to purchase a ticket for a broken down vehicle.

As you say, this could have been knocked on the head by writing to them at the time but there are no guarantees that common sense would override the naked greed of these companies anyway.

Thetre are certain things you need to do and they include

1/ demanding sight of contract between PE and Morrisons for this site that allows PE to take legal action in their own name and

2/ ask local council about planning permission for the limitation of hours that a vehicle may be in the car park. Most old Safeway stores had a 3 hour parking period and the planning request or consent normally stipulate the time.

3/ ask local council if PE or Morrisons have PP for the signage that form the contract with the motorist. PE expect the landlord/occupier to apply on their behalf and if there is no PP under the advertising display signs regs then no contract can be formed as the signage is illegal and you cant enter into an illegal contract!

Make sure that you defend using the broken down argument to prevent a contract being formed. Basically it was a neccessity to be there at that point and that overrides the contract offered-you were not in a position to consider and accept their offer.

Lastly the amount calimed does not reflect the loss to PE, the contract for parking has been valued at £1 so PE's losses are £1 not the £100 claimed.

[i hate bailiffs]

I would be making a formal complaint direct to Morrison's

They need all the customers they can get

Create a fuss tell everyone about what happens at Morrison's

 

Stick to the court timelines and defend all

[ericsbrother]

get your AOS and outline defence in by the required deadline, the research can take a while.

[InnoSaint]

Guys, marvellous suggestions.

 

Some true ingenuity.

 

I have submitted my defence (15 minutes past the deadline ) and I incorporated many things that were suggested. I didnt get much time to actively pursue Morrisons but the rest I included.

 

I guess time will now tell what transpires.

 

SabreSheep I'm sorry I couldnt post a draft here for feedback, I only started drafting it an hour before the deadline as I have been extremely busy with work and other commitments. However, if you would like to see it, I dont mind sending it to you for feedback

[InnoSaint]

Hi guys.

 

Upon getting ideas from comments I sent off a defence, which was along the theme of:

 

Denying a contract was formed as defendants car had broken down, rendering her unable to accept or reject the contract. I mentioned 'Frustration of contract', explained the mitigating circumstance, that my mother was distressed and panicked as she had to get home to make dinner for her dependent diabetic husband and reading signs was the last thing on her mind as she was trying to find a fix. I explained that breaking down is not a breach of contract, I claimed that the charge is not reflection of loss to Parking Eye and if my mother would have shopped for an hour and 40 minutes, she would have met the £5 threshold for free parking anyway. I pointed out that the car park was virtually empty as well. I claimed that the charges were punitive.

 

Since then, PE have sent us a 66 page document which is a Notice to Proceed. They have stated other cases such as Barry Beavis and Somerfields etc and have indirected contended all the areas I highlighted, such as their right as agents to collect the money, enforceability of charge, the amount proportionality etc. They also sent an aerial view of the car park with references to location of signs and the sizes of them.

 

I went to the store and spoke to the store manager and he claims that there is nothing he can do about it as the issue has gone to court but told me to give PE a call and ask them if they would be willing to scale the charge back to the original £60. He confirmed that Morrisons were the land owners but said that PE have incurred admin fees, hence he cant/wont get involved.

 

Guys can you help me decide what to do? If I do challenge it, what basis should this be on? If I take it all the way to court, and if I lose, is the £175 charge fixed or will it be higher at that stage? Should I call them up and try and get it settled for £60. I think the only evidence I may have is the registration plate on the other vehicle that I arrived in to help my mothers, the timings of exit of both vehicles would corroborate my version of events, but that evidence only they can find on their system. I asked the store manager to check the CCTV on the day and you would see my mother approaching other customers asking them for help and assistance and some even trying to help but he said that CCTV footage is deleted after 28 days. Other than that I have itemised billing, which shows the time of my mothers call to me (soon after she entered the car park) and then subsequent phone calls backwards and forwards, as we updated one another on our progresses, my mothers with the car situation and mine with getting a lift to her. The itemisation proves that the calls stop soon before the vehicle left the car park, as I arrived. Not sure it will be sufficient and from what PE have said, the contract is formed as soon as you enter, regardless.

 

Please can you help

Edited June 6, 2015 by InnoSaint
added to it

[dx100uk]

IMHO no stand your ground.

 

 

although it might be funny to see the 66 pages of rubbish

unless its already on another site like parking prankster

 

 

use the upload

pop it all in a multipage word doc first mind & PDF that.

 

 

dx

[InnoSaint]

Thanks for responding so soon. I have scanned a few pages of it, which I thought were most relevant so i'll post these up. If you feel you need to see more then pls let me know and I will try and post the rest up.

 

Please see attached.

 

Page 9 onwards is them directly responding to my defence and everything before I believe is generic nonsense.

[i hate bailiffs]

 

I went to the store and spoke to the store manager and he claims that there is nothing he can do about it as the issue has gone to court but told me to give PE a call and ask them if they would be willing to scale the charge back to the original £60. He confirmed that Morrisons were the land owners but said that PE have incurred admin fees, hence he cant/wont get involved.

 

Please can you help

You need to go way above the manager CEO office would be good

Contact your local paper they may do a article and how Morrison's do not care

About their customers

Morrison's can stop this now if there is any reduced fee to pay to end this Morrison's need to pay that not you

[SabreSheep]

Let them proceed to court.

 

You have a solid defence

 

The bevis case cannot be used, it is subject to a further appeal. So you can write off that nonsense straight away.

[SabreSheep]

As for planning

 

Check for yourself with the local authority

Also check that PE/Morrisons have planning permission for their signs. No permission for their signs = no contract to park.

Also the Bevis case is fundamentally different as PE PAID the site owner there to enforce the car parking. May not apply in your case at all.

They do not have the right to claim tresspass either and there are no losses to the landowner (Which PE is not)

 

Do not worry about costs. Costs are heavily restricted in small claims.

 

PLEASE make sure that when things arrive you come here for advice in good time so you can be helped and not "rushed at the last minute" as per your defence.

[InnoSaint]

I've now managed to get this 'Parking Charge' cancelled.

 

Thank you for all your help guys. Couldn't have persevered this far without your support. Keep the good work going.

[ericsbrother]

Morrisons are scrapping all of their deals with PE so I would bet that they didnt have the necessary authority to claim when they issued the proceedings.

Also they know that broken down is not a breach of contract.

[borisbeaver]

Don't forget to confirm with the court that the action has been stopped.