I've read the defence links but am left confused! help!

carrionthunder0

Hi guys. We just received our Northampton court letter and will be denying it. We're in the process of getting the hospital to dismiss the claim on our behalf, but in the meantime I have no idea how to write the skeleton defence. I've been through every thread on here, all the links, and am utterly confused. Especially since so many have posts saying that the example skeleton defences are outdated, incorrect, etc.

Basically we went to an A&E in the middle of the night and prepaid for 2 hours in the car park. We ended up staying 3 hours and when we went to pay for the extra hour, realized we had no money on us. We got money out of the ATM but the meters only accepted coins. Nothing was open as it was 1am so we were unable to break the note the ATM gave us. We spent 15 minutes trying and asking every hospital employee until one told us to just leave it.

Basically we want to dispute that they even have the right to impose this claim but furthermore if they insist we entered and breached a contract, our ability to uphold it was impossible and unreasonable given the circumstances.

I am not going to be penalized for forgetting to grab a coin purse before attending to my husband's emergency! ! We have had one horrible thing after another happen to us this year and this has had me in tears nonstop. I don't know how much more I can take.

Can anyone please please help? Thank you.

Stroma

You don't say who has issued this claim, please provide us with that. You also don't say when or how this was issued, on the car or a letter through the door . If on the car did it arrive within days 29-56? If through the post did it arrive within 14 days?

What you need to do is acknowledge the claim, say you will defend in full, ask for 28 days to formulate your defence, and confirm when this is done. Don't rely on the hospital to cancel, you must deal with this as if they are not doing anything

carrionthunder0

I'm trying to deal with this as if the hospital is not going to cancel.

It's Parking Eye. We erroneously ignored the letters they initially sent because of advice on here saying to do so. Obviously that doesn't work anymore. I'm not sure when the first letter came. July maybe? We received the notice from the Northampton court on the 3rd of October via post. I don't understand what you mean by 14 days... 14 days from what?

So in the defence section of the form we send back to the court, do I just write that our defence will be in full and we request 28 days to formulate it?

Thanks.

Stroma

You need to login money claim online (mcol) there should be a reference number on the claim unless it came from the bulk centre. You need to defend this claim in full. If you don't respond within 14 days you will have a default claim in the making.

If you intend to defend this you must act quickly, and you must ask for a further 14 days to defend this, which takes it up to 28 days. Please do this

carrionthunder0

Thank you. I went on MCOL as soon as we got the letter but before sending it off, I'm not sure what to write in the 'defence' section. That is the only part I need help with. Reading posts and following links about skeleton defences have left me confused and overwhelmed. I just don't know what to put in the 'defence' section of my notice of intent to deny PE's claim.

Thank you.

Guys_Dad

Have a look at case 5 here http://www.penaltychargenotice.co.uk/private-land-enforcement/court-cases/court-cases-for-private-parking-tickets/

You may want to Google for the full judgement.

I would base my defence on this point (pre-estimate of loss)with reference to this review case.

Coupon-mad

carrionthunder0 wrote: »

Thank you. I went on MCOL as soon as we got the letter but before sending it off, I'm not sure what to write in the 'defence' section. That is the only part I need help with. Reading posts and following links about skeleton defences have left me confused and overwhelmed. I just don't know what to put in the 'defence' section of my notice of intent to deny PE's claim.

Thank you.

Please could you stop starting a new thread when you want to ask something? This needs merging now with your first thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4784228

You would get so much more specific advice if people could read your whole thread about your case and you just ask a question on it each time. Then posters can see what your case involves. You are asking questions in isolation which doesn't help you, because people are having to backtrack and ask you stuff that is on your first thread (such as who the Operator is, which Stroma had to waste time asking).

carrionthunder0 wrote: »

Thank you. I went on MCOL as soon as we got the letter but before sending it off, I'm not sure what to write in the 'defence' section. That is the only part I need help with. Reading posts and following links about skeleton defences have left me confused and overwhelmed. I just don't know what to put in the 'defence' section of my notice of intent to deny PE's claim.

Thank you.

You CAN write a defence based on the usual links; all the other newbies on pepipoo and here do. It must be in your own words and yes, does involve some work.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=82744&st=0&gopid=862298

How about just reading the threads about the two cases LOST by PPCs this week? They are posted here and on pepipoo where you also have a thread running so you must have read them when browsing other threads. They are on page one or two of both forums so I won't link them - you should be reading a few other threads about court cases that are on the first pages, not hoping for links to be posted that make it easy (no such thing as easy when writing a defence as it requires homework, but I have given you the link above which should help). What did you learn from those two winning cases involving other PPCs, about what might win as a defence?

What happened when you complained to the Facilities Manager or Patient Manager at the Hospital (in writing)? What happened when you complained to PALS as recommended in the sticky thread I started here about successful complaints? It's at the top of the forum so it's there for newbies to see every time you come here and gives advice on how to complain to a Hospital even after court papers were issued.

carrionthunder0

I started ONE new thread because of exactly what I said on this one: I read all the threads and clicked on all the links provided on my first thread ( which I posted when I had no idea what to do about any of this), but have been left quite confused about what the skeleton defence even is. I am not asking anyone to write it for me or for someone to do the work. I've spent hours on here and written down loads of info pointed out to use in defences. All I want to know is: what do I write in the defence section of the mcol form? Is this where I put the bulletpoints or do I just write that I intend to defend this and need time to put my defence together? Also is it worth pointing out in the bullet points that holding up the conditions of this silent contract were unreasonable given the circumstances of us trying to pay?

Rather than having to keep hashing out the particulars of the case and continuing getting lost in links that, while helpful and appreciated, didn't answer my question, I posted ONE new thread focusing on just this, and did so here because I found I was gaining more from this website. I didn't I've realize that posting my original threads simultaneously on 2 websites last night while extremely scared would make me a jerk.

I've already taken loads from here and plan to use more but before I write a novel with all the info I've gotten off the threads here (and read further into the comments about some points in example defences being outdated or wrong), I'd like to send the appropriate information on the form asap. So I wanted a bit of advice about the defence portion of mcol and how much that section requires. Nothing else. Being snarky when people are upset is not nice even on the Internet. Thank you for the bit of advice you actually did give regarding my case though. It's really appreciated.

As it is a weekend I have not heard back from the hospital or PALS. However, I don't want count on the hospital and end up being too late in sending off my acknowledgement of the claim- so that brings me right back to why I posted this egregious thread. I'm sorry if it is really bothering people. I just wanted to make my concern clearer and to the point, without continuing to get advice that wasn't answering my specific question because my original post was written right after we got the letter and were utterly flummoxed about everything.

Although it would seem I've done the opposite of my intention. Everything to do with this is just wearing me out.

Thank you for your time everyone. Sorry.

carrionthunder0

I do feel hopeful about the hospital and PALS helping, especially since seeing that the hospital replies to the reviews on NHS choices. I just don't want to mess up on this mcol form since I already messed up by ignoring the letters we received this summer. And I messed up on here.

HO87

carrionthunder0 wrote: »

I do feel hopeful about the hospital and PALS helping, especially since seeing that the hospital replies to the reviews on NHS choices. I just don't want to mess up on this mcol form since I already messed up by ignoring the letters we received this summer. And I messed up on here.

Don't worry. We've all been there or at least a good number of us have. Messing up is just part of the process as I've no doubt that you are panicking to some degree or other but don't worry about asking a question. How do you think we started? None of us like the prospect of going to court, after all, but there is no need to panic. At the very worst you'll have to pay or you may choose to do so but no one can make you pregnant or lock you up and if you choose to pay no one here is going to think the worse of you. Its a personal choice.

For the moment, concentrate on getting the Acknowledgement of Service dealt with within the time limit and - if you'd like to give this a shot - make sure you've selected the option "I wish to defend this case in full" - this will extend the defence response deadline to 28 days. Then, rather than thrashing around trying to get your defence sorted within 12 hours I suggest you sit down, have a glass/mug of you particular favoured brew/distillation/infusion and chill for a bit - gather your thoughts. Rushing at this will only ensure that something is missed.

Coupon-mad

carrionthunder0 wrote: »

I started ONE new thread because of exactly what I said on this one: I read all the threads and clicked on all the links provided on my first thread ( which I posted when I had no idea what to do about any of this), but have been left quite confused about what the skeleton defence even is. I am not asking anyone to write it for me or for someone to do the work. I've spent hours on here and written down loads of info pointed out to use in defences. All I want to know is: what do I write in the defence section of the mcol form? Is this where I put the bulletpoints or do I just write that I intend to defend this and need time to put my defence together? Also is it worth pointing out in the bullet points that holding up the conditions of this silent contract were unreasonable given the circumstances of us trying to pay?

It is indeed where you put the bullet points of your defence.

This was one of the (many) links leading from the one I gave you above; it tells you what to include in any skeleton defence (just ignore the 'chronologies & indices' heading which is confusing and doesn't lend anything to help you):

http://www.smallclaimsrus.co.uk/guides/SKELETON_ARGUMENT.pdf

By the way you are not a 'jerk'! It just confuses us if people start a new thread when for us it would be better to see your whole thread whenever you have a question. Means we can check back for stuff like who the PPC was, in seconds.

Stick to this one or the other one now, whichever one has most info on it! Just let the other thread lapse.