Cel ticket

ShirlsP

Hi all


So I now have a claim, letter from Northampton. I need to put my defence in and have put the below together (taken from the examples - thanks!). Can it please be reviewed? is it sufficient?
There is nothing in there about grace period, which isn't stated on the signage. What is the correct wording to use?




IN THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No: xxxxxxxxxx
BETWEEN:
(Claimant)
-and-
xxxxxxxxxxxx (Defendant)
________________________________________
DEFENCE
________________________________________

1. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.

2. The facts are that the vehicle, registration XXXX XXX, of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, was parked on the material date in a bay usable by patrons of The Harvester.

3. It is denied that the claimant's signage sets out the terms in a sufficiently clear manner which would be capable of binding any reasonable person reading them. They merely state that any guest of the Holiday Inn Staying longer than 3 hours must register for a permit inside the hotel. Giving no instructions for patrons visiting The Harvester located on the same site..

4. The terms on the Claimant's signage are also displayed in a font which is too small to be read from a passing vehicle, and is in such a position that anyone attempting to read the tiny font would be unable to do so easily. It is, therefore, denied that the Claimant's signage is capable of creating a legally binding contract.

5. The Claimant is put to strict proof that it has sufficient proprietary interest in the land, or that it has the necessary authorisation from the landowner to issue parking charge notices, and to pursue payment by means of litigation.

6. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, at Section 4(5) states that the maximum sum that may be recovered from the keeper is the charge stated on the Notice to Keeper, in this case £100. The claim includes an additional £82, for which no calculation or explanation is given, and which appears to be an attempt at double recovery.

7. In summary, the Claimant's particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed, and the Court is invited to dismiss the claim in its entirety.

I believe the facts contained in this Defence are true.

Name
Signature
Date




Really appreciate any feedback - thanks.

Le_Kirk

Looks good to my non-lawyerly eye, just compare it to one/some of the concisely written defences by Bargepole and Coupon-mad to be found in NEWBIE thread post # 2. Scroll down until you see: -

Here are some cases won or in progress:

Here is a defence

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially Smart}, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week), hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem become so widespread that MPs agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Hopefully, this will become law by Easter .

The_Napper

Firstly I'll admit to being a total beginner in these matters but I have just been through a similar situation with that PPC (not UK Car Park Management ltd, but I assume they're in the same family?) and had prepared a similar defence in readiness.

In mine (possibly as an alternative?) I was set to include a point to rebut their evidence due to it being very flimsy and also a mention of their failure to comply with the British Parking Association's Code of Practice (and a few other regulations and guidelines). This all dependant on the exact details in the Particulars of Claim which I intended to scrutinise to ensure I correctly included an argument against any and all points I denied and to ensure I requested strict proof of any allegations made against me. Got a lot be thankful of Bargepole for!! or was it KeithP on this ?

My "To Do List" for this stage included ensuring I correctly completed and issued the Subject Access Request (SAR) as specified in the NEWBIES thread and also complete the Acknowledgement of Service (AoS) which is also detailed therein.

No doubt you will get expert help from the big hitters shortly?

KeithP

e10sp, what is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

ShirlsP

KeithP wrote: »

e10sp, what is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

25 February!

KeithP

e10sp wrote: »

25 February!

With a Claim Issue Date of 20th February, you have until Monday 11th March to do the Acknowledgement of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox link from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread. About ten minutes work - no thinking required.


URGENT - You have two days to do the Acknowledgement of Service.


Having done the AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 25th March 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over two weeks away. Loads of time to produce a Defence, but don't leave it to the very last minute.


When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as suggested here:

Print your Defence.
1. Sign it and date it.
   
2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
   
4. Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
   
5. Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive a copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to put you under pressure.
   
7. Wait for your DQ from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

ShirlsP

Thank you.
I have submitted the AOS online and now want to get the defence submitted ASAP.


Is the below sufficient? and advise or examples on wording around a grace period not being confirmed on the poor signage?


Thank you!


IN THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No: xxxxxxxxxx
BETWEEN:
(Claimant)
-and-
xxxxxxxxxxxx (Defendant)
________________________________________
DEFENCE
________________________________________

1. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.

2. The facts are that the vehicle, registration XXXX XXX, of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, was parked on the material date in a bay usable by patrons of The Harvester.

3. It is denied that the claimant's signage sets out the terms in a sufficiently clear manner which would be capable of binding any reasonable person reading them. They merely state that any guest of the Holiday Inn Staying longer than 3 hours must register for a permit inside the hotel. Giving no instructions for patrons visiting The Harvester located on the same site..

4. The terms on the Claimant's signage are also displayed in a font which is too small to be read from a passing vehicle, and is in such a position that anyone attempting to read the tiny font would be unable to do so easily. It is, therefore, denied that the Claimant's signage is capable of creating a legally binding contract.

5. The Claimant is put to strict proof that it has sufficient proprietary interest in the land, or that it has the necessary authorisation from the landowner to issue parking charge notices, and to pursue payment by means of litigation.

6. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, at Section 4(5) states that the maximum sum that may be recovered from the keeper is the charge stated on the Notice to Keeper, in this case £100. The claim includes an additional £82, for which no calculation or explanation is given, and which appears to be an attempt at double recovery.

7. In summary, the Claimant's particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed, and the Court is invited to dismiss the claim in its entirety.

I believe the facts contained in this Defence are true.

Name
Signature
Date

ShirlsP

UPDATED with wording around grace period
Would be really grateful for some feedback - thanks




IN THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No: xxxxxxxxxx
BETWEEN:
(Claimant)
-and-
xxxxxxxxxxxx (Defendant)
________________________________________
DEFENCE
________________________________________

1. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.

2. The facts are that the vehicle, registration XXXX XXX, of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, was parked on the material date in a bay usable by patrons of The Harvester.

3. It is denied that the claimant's signage sets out the terms in a sufficiently clear manner which would be capable of binding any reasonable person reading them. They merely state that any guest of the Holiday Inn Staying longer than 3 hours must register for a permit inside the hotel. Giving no instructions for patrons visiting The Harvester located on the same site..

4. The terms on the Claimant's signage are also displayed in a font which is too small to be read from a passing vehicle, and is in such a position that anyone attempting to read the tiny font would be unable to do so easily. It is, therefore, denied that the Claimant's signage is capable of creating a legally binding contract.



5. If the allegation involves an alleged overstay of minutes, your evidence must include the actual grace period agreed by the landowner. If you fail to evidence the actual grace period that applies at this site or suggest that only one period applies, this will be disregarded as an attempt to mislead. In the absence of evidence, it will be reasonably taken to be a minimum of twenty minutes (ten on arrival and ten after parking time) in accordance with the official BPA article by Kelvin Reynolds about 'observation periods' on arrival being additional and separate to a 'grace period' at the end.

6. The Claimant is put to strict proof that it has sufficient proprietary interest in the land, or that it has the necessary authorisation from the landowner to issue parking charge notices, and to pursue payment by means of litigation.

7. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4, at Section 4(5) states that the maximum sum that may be recovered from the keeper is the charge stated on the Notice to Keeper, in this case £100. The claim includes an additional £82, for which no calculation or explanation is given, and which appears to be an attempt at double recovery.

8. In summary, the Claimant's particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed, and the Court is invited to dismiss the claim in its entirety.

Fruitcake

I would add another that the scammers breached the BPA CoP by not allowing grace periods, of which there are two, thereby breaching their Kadoe agreement with the DVLA.

What happened when you complained to the Harvester manager/CEO?

Have you complained to your MP yet bout this unregulated scam?

Have you taken your own pics of the site and signage yet as you will need them later?