Civil Enforcement LTD County Claim court

Bulli79

hi guys

i know theres been a few cases on here with CEL i have looked through but im abit unsure what to do.

i have recieved a county claim for parking in a morrisons car park.
Details:
"claim for monies relating to a parking charge for parking in a private car park managed by claiment in breach of the terms and conditions(T+C's). Drivers are allowed to park in accordance with T+Cs of the use. ANPR cameras and/or manualpatrols are used to monitor vehicles entering + exiting the site Debt + damages claimed the sum of £170"
Violation Date:14/12/2017
Time in: 14:58 Time out 15:17


Amount claimed: £180.73
Court Fee: £25
Legal representative: £50 ( I always thought small claims court you couldnt recliam Legal Fees???)
Total amount:£255.73

I remember this date it was near christmas there was no parking we went into the car park waiting for a space but it was so busy we couldnt find a space and didnt actually park then drove out as soon as we could. As you can see the time in the car park was 19mins but like i sais we didnt even get to park. Prior to today i dont recollect recieving anything although im presumming they will claim they did infact send something.

How shall i go about responding. should i just fill out "defence and counter claim section" and explain that i hadnt actually parked and send?should i bother explaing i hadnt actually recieved anything by mail????


Any advice will be appricated

Thank you

ozzie

Bulli79

just a quick update:-


i have completed the acknowloagment of service as suggested in the threads so ive gain some more time will go through some of the defence examples. to see if there is anything similar.


but if anyone can help me out it would be great i havent done this before.


Thank you

The_Deep

Amount claimed: £180.73
Court Fee: £25
Legal representative: £50 ( I always thought small claims court you couldnt recliam Legal Fees???)
Total amount:£255.73


That is at least £50 more than the law allows, copy the correspondence to the Solicitors regulatory body, the SRA,

http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

complaining that they are attempting to obtain monies in excess of that which the law allows. Complain also to your MP

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 House of Commons recently

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

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

KeithP

What is the Date of Issue on your Claim Form?

Bulli79

I just realised i didnt really make myself clear in regards to the amount of time it took us to leave.

What happened was we went into the car park and it was full also with cars waiting the cars park is not that large so when theres a cue your forced to wait for the cars ahead to clear before you can exit. so we actually had to wait for some of the vehicles in front to get into a space untill there was enough space for us to exit. which is why it took 19 mins.

The Date of Issue is 1st october 2018

Bulli79

can anyone guide me to a good defence template i can follow and adjust according to my situation?

KeithP

Bulli79 wrote: »

The Date of Issue is 1st october 2018

With a Claim Issue Date of 1st October, and having done the AoS in a timely manner, you have until until 4pm on Monday 5th November 2018 to file your Defence.

Loads of time to produce a perfect 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 described here:

1) Print your Defence.
2) Sign it and date it.
3) Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
4) Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5) 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'.
6) Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
7) Wait for your Directions Questionnaire and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

Bulli79 wrote: »

can anyone guide me to a good defence template i can follow and adjust according to my situation?

yes, post #2 of that NEWBIES thread mentioned above has good guidance, with many examples, on how to write a Defence.

Bulli79

Here is a draft ive done using the info in the newbies thread can anyone let me knwo if it seems ok to go ahead and file this as a defence


IN THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No: xxxxxxxxxx

BETWEEN:

Civil Enforcement LTD (Claimant)

-and-

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (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, registrationxxxxxx (xxxxxxxx), of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, did not actually park at all in the location Because there were no bays available at the time due to the Christmas rush. Once the vehicle had entered the car park it waited for a while for a space but there was other vehicles in front of the defendant’s vehicle waiting as well so the defendant decided to leave without using the parking facility. The defendant also had no choice but to wait for the vehicles in front to move into a spaces as soon as they became available to make room for the defendant to leave the Car park. The car park has limited room to manoeuvre. Vehicle was at the location for only 19mins.

3. Due to the sparseness of the particulars, it is unclear as to what legal basis the claim is brought, whether for breach of contract, contractual liability, or trespass. However, it is denied that the Defendant, or any driver of the vehicle, entered into any contractual agreement with the Claimant, whether express, implied, or by conduct.

5. Further and in the alternative, 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 vehicles must be parked correctly within their allocated parking bay, giving no definition of the term 'correctly parked', nor indicating which bays are allocated to whom.

6. 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.

7. 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.
8. 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 £70, for which no calculation or explanation is given, and which appears to be an attempt at double recovery.

9. In summary, it is the Defendant's position that the claim discloses no cause of action, is without merit, and has no real prospect of success. Accordingly, the Court is invited to strike out the claim of its own initiative, using its case management powers pursuant to CPR 3.4.

I believe the facts contained in this Defence are true.

Name
Signature
Date

KeithP

You would be wise to remove your vehicle's registration number from your post.

It uniquely identifies you.

Parking companies routinely trawl this forum and can use your posts against you.


Are you admitting to being the driver, or are you defending as the keeper?
Your paragraph 2 talks about 'the defendant had no choice to wait', yet paragraph 8 seems to imply that the keeper is the defendant.

Bulli79

KeithP wrote: »

You would be wise to remove your vehicle's registration number from your post.

It uniquely identifies you.

Parking companies routinely trawl this forum and can use your posts against you.


Are you admitting to being the driver, or are you defending as the keeper?
Your paragraph 2 talks about 'the defendant had no choice to wait', yet paragraph 8 seems to imply that the keeper is the defendant.

Thank you for advise i have removed VRM . keeper is the defendant

KeithP

Further to your PM I would suggest paragraph 2 be adjusted to something like:

2. The facts are that the vehicle, registrationxxxxxx (xxxxxxxx), of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, did not actually park at all in the location Because there were no bays available at the time due to the Christmas rush. Once the vehicle had entered the car park it waited for a while for a space but there was other vehicles in front of the driver’s vehicle waiting as well so the driver decided to leave without using the parking facility. The driver also had no choice but to wait for the vehicles in front to move into a spaces as soon as they became available to make room for the driver to leave the Car park. The car park has limited room to manoeuvre. Vehicle was at the location for only 19mins.