PCM lose Heath Parade claim

PCM UK v Ms C. 31/05/2017. C1GF92FF. Clerkenwell & Shoreditch

This MSE thread gives the full story.

The motorist stopped in a layby for under 2 minutes when there was an issue with her brakes. PCM claimed she was parked, and filed a claim for £235.50. The motorist filed a counterclaim for £250 for a breach of the data protection act.

PCM UK sent an advocate, Mr Akbol, who attempted to give Ms C more papers on the day; she resisted.

The judge dismissed the claim on 2 counts;

1. The grace period was, according to the claimant's evidence, 3 minutes, which isn't enough time to pull up, get out of the car, read the terms and leave.

2. Forbidding language on the signs - the largest sign saying NO CUSTOMER PARKING AT ANY TIME. This is echoed in the Claimant's sign.

The counterclaim was dismissed "because at the time of the event the Claimant had enough reason to believe a contract existed between the driver and them and it would be unfair to expect the Claimant to first conclude there was a contract agreement before pursuing the DVLA for details"

No costs were awarded to either party.

Prankster Note

The claim there is a grace period at this site appears to be false. All reports to the Prankster are that Ms Sunglasses appears as soon as a car stops and immediately begins snapping. There have been reports for instance, where a car stops, a person immediately alights to read the sign, then immediately returns to the car and leaves - yet still gets a parking charge.

Data Protection breaches occur at all parts of the process, not just the initial enquiry to the DVLA. Moreover, it is the parking companies responsibility to understand the law. So if their signage is forbidding, there would never be a good reason to believe a contract existed with any motorist. Parking companies have lost enough cases on this point (and they all read the Prankster blog) so that it could reasonably bes established they are well aware they are issuing charges which have no basis in law. The Prankster therefore believes the judge got the counterclaim decision wrong.

It seems yet another parking company have been conned into making a no-hope claim by the greedy bunglers at Gladstones. Gladstones are run by Will Hurley and John Davies. Will Hurley and John Davies also run the IPC, a trade association given permission by the DVLA to access keeper details. It beggars belief that two incompetents who have such a poor grasp of the legal issues around parking, (as evidenced by their growing track record of losing parking cases), are allowed to run a parking trade association.

PCM UK, you've been Gladstoned!

Happy Parking

The Parking Prankster