Help needed - court claim

GreenPlant

Court claim received issue date 4 Jan 2019, acknowledgement of service done and SAR emailed to NCP.
I urgently need help with defence, any support will be appreciated.

Redx

see post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread at the top of this forum

post the full POC and charges breakdown below

then post your proposed draft defence after looking at the examples listed in that thread for newbies (minus any personal info)

Coupon-mad

As always most can use bargepole's concise template defence from the NEWBIES thread, and add in a point or two about the facts of the case/contravention/why they are not liable.

And a point about no landowner authority as seen in other defences. Unless NCP actually own this car park, which is for you to check out (Land Registry).

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 4th January, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 6th February 2019 to file your Defence.

That's just two weeks away. Loads of time to produce a good 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.

GreenPlant

Thank you.
The POC is a bit vague "for parking contravention which occurred 10/07/2018 in a private car park".
Previous letters have stated parked longer than time paid for. The car is insured for three members of the family and the person driving said that they paid for 1hr but was late by about 10 mins but didn't know how to pay for the additional time. We have been ignoring the PCN and subsequent letters until the court claim.

I have been looking at quite a few threads and will have a go at the defence but need to make sure that I don't make a mess of it!

The claim is for £242 made up of:
£167 amount claimed (inc £7 interest)
£25 court fee
£50 legal rep's costs

Coupon-mad

The POC is a bit vague "for parking contravention which occurred 10/07/2018 in a private car park".

Which bargepole's defence covers perfectly.

£167 amount claimed (inc £7 interest)
£25 court fee
£50 legal rep's costs

They can only claim £100 PCN, and the court fees & interest. No legal costs.

Redx

read this post about the charges that are allowed


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=75348580&postcount=2


clearly their £167 is £100 parking charge + £60 debt collectors fee + £7 interest


as CM says above, there are costs they have added on that are not recoverable

GreenPlant

Today I have received a response to my SAR request and unfortunately the photos show the car entering the NCP carpark at 12:03 and leaving at 13:24 therefore longer the 10 minute grace period. This was going to be my main defence.

I'm not sure now whether I should include this in my defence, what do people here think?

nosferatu1001

There is ten minutes at the start, or there abouts AS WELL AS time at the end.
You must know this by now, as in the last 2 weeks youve had chance to read the BPA Code of PRactice on grace periods.
Given youve given us absolutely no details, its hard to know what else to suggest
I suggest if you want real help, you do your research, see what details others put up, show us your draft defence so far - which you msut have started, surely!? - and then come back and show us some actual details that might help us help you

GreenPlant

Thank you for your help to date.
I have been reading many of the threads on the forum to make myself more aware of the process of defending the court claim.
A summary of my situation is:
A member of my family parked in a car park, paid for an hour but overstayed by what he thought was about 10 mins.
The keeper (who was not the driver) did not reply or take much notice of any of the letters received. As a result of SAR the keeper has now received the copy parking charge notice to keeper which states date of incident as 10/07/18 and date of sending the notice as 20/07/18 and also Keeper liability notice.

I wanted to upload a copy of the claim form (with personal information blacked out) which may be useful but I’m at a loss at how to do this!

One of things Coupon mad suggested was to check land registry to see if ncp owned the car park and I have checked with Land Registry and they do not.
I have also tried to look at the car park online to check their signage but did not find it useful. What was interesting was the number of bad reviews the car park had - including one that said do not use this car park as they fine you for driving in and out of the car park!

Anyway, below is my draft defence


THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No: xxxxxxxxxx

NATIONAL CAR PARKS LTD (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 Particulars of Claim state only that the PCN relates to ‘car make’ under registration XXXXXX and the claimant has failed to identify the driver. The Claimant is put to strict proof.

3. The facts are that the vehicle, registration XXXX, of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, was parked on the material date in a marked bay at [location]. The defendant is unclear who the driver was on this date over six months ago and there is no presumption in law as to who parked a vehicle on private land nor does there exist any obligation for a keeper to name a driver. I choose to defend this claim as the registered keeper, as is my right

4. 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.

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 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.

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 £60, for which no calculation or explanation is given, and which appears to be an attempt at double recovery.

7. 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.