Court Claim Form N1 Received for PCN 18 months ago

tonkasdog

Hi guys,

Hoping I can get some help regarding a county court claim form received on the 16 Feb from County Court Business centre in Northampton. The claimant is "Civil Enforcement Limited"

It relates to one of our drivers (we are a Ltd company operating minibuses) who inadvertently parked at a retail park for just under 3 hours between jobs on the 27 Aug 2016

The claim form has been issued to our company but they have the company name slightly wrong, for example:

joe bloggs services Ltd instead of joe bloggs services (NW) Ltd (thought I'd mention this in case it could result in a get out of jail free card!)

I have done an "Acknowledgement of service" online this morning to buy extra time and have stated that we dispute the whole claim.

They are claiming £338.76 in total. I have made a note that I need to submit a defence by the 16 March 18, does this sound right?

Any advice on how to compile our defence or what we should/shouldn't include would be very much appreciated.

Look forward to any help you can offer.

Thanks

nosferatu1001

Have you read the obvious Newbies thread as yet?
Post 2, from memory, deals step by step with court

You could then do an obvious search on cel discontinue or similar.
Given a strong defence you!!!8217;ll find they discontinue, but will take it to the wire.

The_Deep

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences. £320+ seems extraordinary high if this was for one event, even it you lost in court, the likely cost would be under £200[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Parking Eye, Smart and a smaller company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Lega;, (who take hundreds of these cases to court, and nearly always lose), who have also been reported to the regulatory authority. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind most of these companies may well be put out of business by Christmas.[/FONT]

tonkasdog

Thanks guys, I will have a good read through the threads, probably dedicate a whole morning to it (which is why I guess some people pay up as it's a time V's cost thing but for me it's the principal)

System

The principal is that if you do a defence from the many on here then they fold and not you.

Coupon-mad

Yes, CEL cases all discontinue and you could pretty much copy a generic one, and still win!

tonkasdog

Thanks, I have been concerned that I!!!8217;d need to understand every aspect of my defence & after looking at some examples it!!!8217;s mostly legal jargon! Is this not the case? If it does go to a hearing would I be expected to talk through my defence points as I doubt I!!!8217;d even understand them?

System

If it does go to a hearing

It won't and if you honestly think it will then I'd take out more life insurance as the chances of you being hit by a falling tree are higher

Coupon-mad

As IamEmanresu says, and as I said, you don't even have to understand a CEL defence! You will NOT be presenting the argument at a hearing.

It will be SCAM OVER soon, if you follow other CEL threads & copy. And if you read IamEmanresu's signature too, and realise there are other stages to hop past, not just defence.

tonkasdog

Hi guys,

After reading bargepoles court claim procedure could you check the following looks correct:

1. Receive claim form and acknowledge that will be defended in full

2. Send in defence that's as relevant to mine as possible

3.Wait to receive Directions Questionnaire, complete and send to court and claimant (in bargepoles post it states - D1 = name of your local County Court unless you are a Ltd company, the case files will be transferred there but we are a LTD company??)

4. Wait to receive a Notice of Allocation which will have a deadline to submit a witness statement (attach to witness statement any evidence to support assertions) and a date and time of hearing

Would this be basically everything? With the chance it could be dropped by CEL at any point? i.e not paying the court hearing fee?

Many thanks for all your help so far

nosferatu1001

1) yes, which you do without delay. So have you done this yet, remembering to put NOTHING in the defence box, NOTHING not even a full stop? This is done online. NOT on the form!

2) No, you send in a defence that is EXACTLY relevant. Print, sign, scan to PDF and EMAILED to the court
3) So put your local court anyway, and explain that as you have no liabiltiy and will be looking to claim costs, your local court is more appropriate - to minimise costs payable by the other side
4) No, it will have a deadline to submit DOCUMENTS. They do not use the term "witness statement", because "documents" as a type includes WS, other evidence etc.

CEL can discontinue at any point. They have done every time so far.