Pls help civil enforcement ltd, Northampton claim form

Cherryblossom17

Hi I am looking for advice after looking at other claims similar to mine.

I have received a claim form from Northampton business centre following a parking charge from civil enforcement limited.

I am the registered keeper of the car but was not the driver, I have messages confirming I was elsewhere on the date of the parking charge. I did not receive a notice to keeper, the first letter received was demanding £100.

Since then I have received letters from CEL, ZZPS and QDR solicitors all stating inflated amounts, with a different times stating the vehicle was parked but on the same dates. These letters have not been signed by individuals.

I have looked at other drafts and what I have “put to paper” in my defence in comparison now looks “basic”, can I leave my defence as not being the driver and not believing it was a bonefide claim due to the sporadic letters? As I have never been to the location would I have to go back and check for signage or would this not apply?

Many thanks!

KeithP

You post appears to say you have already filed a Defence.
Have I read that right?

If so, can you please post here exactly what that Defence said.

nosferatu1001

Indeed, please be exactly specific with this

Have you filed a defence with teh court? Yes or No
If Yes, state exactly what that defence IS

THis is only CEL. They dont, so far, turn up to hearings.

Cherryblossom17

Sorry! I have been drafting a defence but have not filed anything.

KeithP

You might want to consider basing your Defence on one of the hundreds already written about CEL here this year.

There is a good example linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

Please post your draft here for appraisal when you're ready.

Have you done the Acknowledgement of Service?

What is the date of issue on your Claim Form?

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

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.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

Redx

"not being the driver" is not really a defence UNLESS CEL failed POFA2012, plus if the defendant had proof of not being the driver

it may be one of a number of legal arguments in this defence, but it is not a guaranteed defence in itself for pcn,s in England & Wales , certainly not since 2012

post your draft defence below for critique

Cherryblossom17

I have not done an acknowledgement of service as was going to go straight to defence. Is this the wrong thing to do?

Looking back I believe I may have been sent a !!!8220;letter before action!!!8221; however it is not obvious that it is one and does not include any specifics surrounding my claim. Just a link to a website if I would like to view their information sheet etc.

I have not been sent any proof that my vehicle was parked, is now too late to request this information as from my limited knowledge I understand the claim form is not a summons?

Thank you so much, I will get working on a defence, I am a bit nervous to just cut and paste from the newbies faqs hence started my thread!

Cherryblossom17

The issue date was 13th April! (Friday 13th)

Redx

AOS should be done FIRST, preferably online but leave the defence box blank

post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread explains all this , guides you through it and tells you why (it extends the 14 days to 28 days to prepare the defence, so why not do it when it doubles the time to prepare your defence ?)

then start to draft your legal defence , using and adapting one of the many examples of defences honed by other people who have been in your position previously

nobody expects you to do it from scratch, you read and adapt and crib from somebody else who has already been where you are now

the claim form is an MCOL, not a summons

you get to see their evidence later on after the DQ stage, at this moment you do the AOS and draft your defence and post it for critique

stop getting ahead of yourself

ps:- you were CORRECT in starting a new thread, now just do what the regulars here are telling you to do, basing the advice given around that NEWBIES thread , post #2 (you wont get better advice anywhere else, certainly not for free)

you should assume that their LBC was not compliant with the new oct 2017 PaP protocols too

calm down , and carry on

KeithP

I would suggest you do the AoS in the next few days. It gives you another fourteen days to prepare your Defence.

There is a Dropbox link in post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread which guides you through that - in pictures.

Once you've done the AoS you have until Wednesday 16 May 2018 to file a Defence.