UKPC were claiming against Mr Kapasi for 3 tickets.
1. Parked on a double yellow line in an industrial estate.
2 and 3. Parked in a parking place without displaying a valid permit.
Number 1 was a genuine 'mistake' because the parking notice was covered by a trailer who was unloading in the same line.
Charges 2 and 3 Mr Kapasi believed he was parked correctly. There were two car parks on the same piece of land with no distinction between them.
UKPC disagreed and issued a claim through SCS Law.
The hearing
Mr Kapasi reported the hearing was pretty gruelling. He felt very intimidated and out of his depth. Nevertheless he prevailed and all charges were dismissed.
The judge asked Mr Kapasi to accept or deny he was the driver. He accepted, and therefore PoFA keeper liability was not relevant.
The judge went against the Beavis ruling with regard to the BPA code of practice not being followed - the entrance signs to the parking site were missing. He said this only a guideline and does not have legal standing, KADOE contract breaches were between UKPC and DVLA and do not give me a legal standing. The photographs do not need a start and end time. The Beavis case was mentioned in reference to the size of the charge.
The judge ruled that parking on double yellow lines on private land does not create a PCN contract unless sufficient signs are in place and visible. Charge 1 was dismissed.
Mr Kapasi asked for costs. Loss of earnings was capped at 95 pounds per day.
Prankster Notes
It is interesting that parking companies claim and judges rule that their charge are valid because they are within the range of their code of practice.
But then they also claim and judges rule that they don't have to obey any other aspect of the code.
The Supreme Court disagreed and stated that obeying the Code of Practice is an essential part of getting keeper data from the DVLA.
Data Protection
As the charges were not valid, UKPC will have committed a number of data protection breaches pursuing charges which were not fair or lawful. Mr Kapasi was put under extreme stress by the process. Although a minimum claim of £250 per parking charge would seem to be in order, in this case Mr Kapasi may be able to claim a higher sum due to the level of distress caused.
Happy Parking
The Parking Prankster
There is definitely a power differential between the parking companies, who generally used trained advocates, and the individual, who has probably never been near a court room in his life.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of a proper legal system, is to keep people away from court.
Something is very wrong with this grubby parking malarkey.
small claims is set up for LIPs. Maybe its time to move to a postal system, but not everyone can write that well.
Delete"But then they also claim and judges rule that they don't have to obey any other aspect of the code.
ReplyDeleteThe Supreme Court disagreed and stated that obeying the Code of Practice is an essential part of getting keeper data from the DVLA."
In Beavis the court did not even have to find that parking Eye breached the code of practice as it was admitted. Para 97.
Still found for Parking Eye.
The DVLA appear not to give a toss whether they adhere to the rules or not as long as they get their cut.