UKPM - County Court Business Centre letter

Berko_lad

My apologies... I confused myself (not difficult as I have another ongoing court case which involves a mountain of paper)! This is the defence filed:


I am XXX XXXXXX and was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question at the time of the alleged incident. This vehicle has now been sold. Due to ongoing ill health, I would not however, have been the driver at the time of the alleged incident.

I deny liability for the entirety of the claim based on the following:

(1) The claimant has not provided enough details in the particulars of claim to enable the defendant to file a full defence. The full details of the contract which it is alleged was broken have not been provided. Photographs provided clearly show that the vehicle is parked in a visitors bay.

1. The Claimant has disclosed no cause of action to give rise to any debt.
2. The Claimant has stated that ‘parking charges’ were incurred.
3. The Claimant has given no indication of the nature of the alleged charge in the Particulars of Claim. The Claimant has therefore disclosed no cause of action.
4. The Particulars of Claim contains no details and fails to establish a cause of action which would enable the Defendant to prepare a specific defence.

The particulars of claim just states ‘parking charges’ which does not give any indication of on what basis of the claim is founded upon. There is no detail around why the charge arose, what the original charge was, what the alleged contract was and the defendant cannot see how this could be considered a fair exchange of information. Due to this the defendant does not consider the particulars of claim to be valid, therefore the defendant invites the court to strike out the claim as the Claimant has no basis for success.

Furthermore, a recent example of case law highlights Gladstones use of ‘roboclaim’ particulars. On the 20/09/16 another relevant poorly pleaded private parking charge claim by Gladstones was struck out by District Judge Cross of St Albans County Court without a hearing due to their ‘roboclaim’ particulars being incoherent and failing to comply with CPR. 16.4 and ‘providing no facts that could give rise to any apparent claim in law.’

(2). The identity of the driver of the vehicle on the date in question has not been ascertained.

1. The claimant did not identify the driver.
2. The defendant has no liability, as they are/were the Keeper of the vehicle and the claimant must rely upon the strict provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 in order to hold the defendant responsible for the driver’s alleged breach.
3. The defendant received no letters relating to this matter prior to the receipt of the County Court Business Centre Claim Form (N1SDT) which was received on 06/10/2017. As a consequence, the 28 day period for early payment as outlined in said documents was not available to the defendant.

(3) The claimant has not complied with the pre-court protocol and have acted unreasonably.
1. No Letter Before Claim was received by the defendant. These were subsequently requested by the defendent following receipt of the Claim Form however, this again highlights the fact that the 28 day period for early payment was not available to the defendant.

(4)
The driver did not enter into any 'agreement on the charge', no consideration flowed between the parties and no contract was established. The driver would not have agreed to pay the original demand of £100.00 to agree to the alleged contract had the terms and conditions of the contract been properly displayed and accessible.

I believe the facts stated in this defence are true.

Coupon-mad

OK so remind us what stage this one is at now? Have you read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread?

logician

Berko_lad wrote: »

My wife has received a claim form from Gladstones via the CCBC in Northants claiming £247.59 for a supposed parking offence in September last year.

This is the first we have heard of this matter which states that the car (which was not being driven by my wife) was illegally parked on land in Watford. Where it was actually parked was in a visitor bay at a block of apartments.

Obviously I want to contest this and have acknowledged receipt online to buy myself a bit of time but how best to go about it? I have no evidence nor proof to support my case but assume that they have photographic evidence to support any supposed offence.

Should I initially contact them and ask for proof? Or should I simply claim that whilst the keeper, the car was not being driven by my wife and we have no way of identifying who was actually responsible (and it wasn't me).

Berko_lad wrote: »

Latest update.

Having been unable to obtain a response from the friend mentioned above, I contacted Gladstone's and informed then that since I only learned of this offence some months after it occurred and was therefore not afforded the 28 day grace period, I am only willing to pay the discounted fee rather than the full amount they are now claiming (£247). They refused to accept this and as I refused to accept the judgment, I now have a court date of 24 April.

I obviously have to submit a defence in advance so would welcome any advice on how best to construct this.

I think the OP means he is at WS stage for this case.

it is concerning though that the OP appears to be conducting his wife's case. the Claim is in his wife's details.

Has there been an application to the court to be a litigation friend?

Berko_lad

No sir, that application will go in today.

Coupon-mad

Berko_lad wrote: »

No sir, that application will go in today.

She's not a Sir, and her post has unfortunately caused you to be misled. You don't have to apply to the Court, if you mean you will be a lay rep. The Defendant has to turn up on the day with you, and all submissions must be in the Defendant's name with their signature, but no 'application' needs to be made for you to turn up as Lay Rep at the hearing (the person who speaks).

You have an automatic right to be a lay rep (although you should take a printout of the relevant law, as proof for a slower Judge).

Read the case yesterday that muleskinner won, as lay rep for (accompanied by) his wife. Read it now!

No action required in advance by a lay rep. Don't put your name to the Defendant's submissions.

I didn't read it that the Defendant is so incapacitated that you have to act as their litigation friend.

logician

Coupon-mad wrote: »

She's not a Sir, and her post has unfortunately caused you to be misled. You don't have to apply to the Court, if you mean you will be a lay rep. The Defendant has to turn up on the day with you, and all submissions must be in the Defendant's name with their signature, but no 'application' needs to be made for you to turn up as Lay Rep at the hearing (the person who speaks).

You have an automatic right to be a lay rep (although you should take a printout of the relevant law, as proof for a slower Judge).

Read the case yesterday that muleskinner won, as lay rep for (accompanied by) his wife. Read it now!

No action required in advance by a lay rep. Don't put your name to the Defendant's submissions.

I didn't read it that the Defendant is so incapacitated that you have to act as their litigation friend.

Please don't try and twist what I was saying.

I did not mention being a Lay Rep in any capacity which is a totally different thing

The OP has confirmed that the claim is in his wife's details and that he has been responding to the documents, using the pronoun "I"

He has also advised that this is due to his wife's ongoing medical and health needs.

Now I have no idea what his wife's needs are medically speaking, however he cannot sign witness statements or conduct the proceedings on his wife's behalf.

Coupon-mad

We all know that but she's compos mentis and a wife and Mum who can drive (albeit she wasn't driving on this occasion). So there was no suggestion of this OP having to patronise his wife by being a 'litigation friend' as if she's incapable of understanding proceedings.

So no need to send the OP on a wild goose chase.

We've already established on this thread that the OP is saying 'I' to make it easier to follow.

beamerguy

Berko_lad

Now is the time to get this right so PLEASE take notice
of coupon-mad as she has all the experience you need