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County court defence -Gladstones
Comments
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Thank you. I am browsing the forum and have found a further paragraph relating to the failure to provide a letter before claim to me and the failings relating to the lack of claim details being provided prior to the claim being submitted to the court. Should I include something such as this. I have now amended the defence to reflect your previous recommendaion.0
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This is what I intend to add to my defence between paragraph 2&3!
3. The Claimant has failed to issue a Letter Before Action, or provided any details of the claim prior to issuing a claim at court. As such, the Claimant has failed to comply with the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols, para 6 (a) & (c)0 -
Any further guidance would be greatly appreciated0
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Proposed defence including the addition of the absence of the letter before claim.
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, of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, was parked on the material date on XXXXX (location)
3. The Claimant has failed to issue a Letter Before Action, or provided any details of the claim prior to issuing a claim at court. As such, the Claimant has failed to comply with the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols, para 6 (a) & (c)
4. The Particulars of Claim state that the Defendant “was the registered keeper and/or the driver of the vehicle(s)”.These assertions indicate that the Claimant has failed to identify a Cause of Action, and is simply offering a menu of choices. As such, the Claim fails to comply with Civil Procedure Rule 16.4, or with Civil Practice Direction 16, paras. 7.3 to 7.5. Further, the particulars of the claim do not meet the requirements of Practice Direction 16 7.5 as there is nothing which specifies how the terms were breached.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. The Claimant is put to strict proof that it has sufficient prorpietary 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.
9. 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 £60, for which no calculation or explanation is given, and which appears to be an attempt at double recovery.
10. 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
Date0 -
Any guidance or feedback guys? I am conscious the deadline is approaching.
Thanks0 -
I intend to submit this defence as per Keith’s advise so any amendments or pointers before submission would be brilliant.0
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6. 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.
How can that be relevant to a defence against what I take to be a 'no permit' PCN?
Change the stuff about the signs to make sense, i.e. admit you were the driver and say the signage was so woeful and hidden that it was not seen at all, and on further investigation after 2 PCNs arrived, you found a small font sign up on a single wall. No agreement on any parking charge or any contract could be construed from such predatory, hidden terms.PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD0 -
I will be submitting this response tomorrow. Thank you to everybody who has provided guidance and feedback in this defence. I will continue to update this thread.0
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Hi all
My defence has been acknowledged on the money claim gateway site. I have now received a directions questionnaire from Gladstone’s however I have not received my own to fill in as of yet. I will chase with the court howvwe just wondering whether this is standard protocol?
I have read the stickies and know how to respond once it arrives and as advised will be opposing Gladstone’s request for it not to be an oral hearing.
Further guidance would be appreciated thank you0
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