PCM UK lose case on Heath Parade scam site

Parking Control Management (UK) v Mr X 28/1/2017 

As reported on MSE

Mr X was helping his brother move into his new flat in London at Heath Parade. He followed and parked up behind the moving van outside his flat in a spot marked "Loading Bay". Just after he pulled in the PCM operator started taking photos of the car. He left the car and asked if it was Ok to park here but got no response,  He read the sign on the wall and decided not to park so promptly moved.

The Hearing

Mr X represented himself. PCM UK used a local solicitor hired by Gladstones.

The judge had already reviewed all the papers submitted and tore into the solicitor.The Judge started by asking him where the facts of case were as they were nowhere to be found in the bundle they had submitted. He said the only details which explained properly what happened were in Mr X's bundle.

He went on to grill them about why Mr X had been fined when he was unloading in a loading bay.     He then pointed out that the signs are inadequate and unreadable from the car; the sign is too far up on a wall and not legible. He explained you cannot charge somebody who can't read the sign and know the terms on the site. He dissected PCM UK's evidence, showing they had proved nothing - just a car with Mr X inside for 2 minutes and 14 seconds. There was no time noted when Mr X came into the bay and no time when he left and that 2 mins 14 sec was not enough time to read signs as the driver was still in the car.

He stated that as Mr X hadn't been given the opportunity to read the terms at the site there is no claim here and dismissed the case.

Everything was over and done with in 10 minutes.

Mr X was not allowed costs.

Prankster Notes

This Heath Parade spot is a well known scam site patrolled by Mrs Sunglasses and has previously been blogged about several times.

It is surprising that Mr X was not allowed to claim costs, but he does have a potential data protection claim against PCM UK as his data was not used fairly or lawfully in pursuing a charge. A reasonable amount would be £250-£750

Parking Cowboys has an article explaining this.

http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/data-protection-act/

It was amusing that the judge expected a Gladstones bundle to contain any actual details about the parking event. Gladstones use template "statements of case"** and witness statements which do not explain anything but waffle on in general terms about the legitmacy of parking charges.

This is known as a 'Roboclaim'

The BMPA site contains useful articles on roboclaim, together with the templates used by the main roboclaim companies

https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/203127289-Roboclaims

Happy Parking

The Parking Prankster

**in the loosest sense of the word.