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Help with defence for court claim
robby29
Posts: 59 Forumite
Would really appreciate if someone with better knowledge then myself could look over the defence I have drafted up before I sent it to the courts.
First to keep it short I have received 2 parking fines from Britannia parking on the same day for not displaying a valid ticket on the 13/04/2018. I moved address on the 23/04/2018 so did not receive any correspondence from Britannia parking, the first I heard about it was a letter to my new address from BW legal asking for 2x £160. I wrote back to them asking for various documents evidence and received none of the information I asked for. I then requested a SAR from them which I have received, following that I now have the court claim forms.
On the last letter i recieved there responce was there client is pursing me as the registered keeper and they are not relying on schedule 4 protection of freedoms act 2012, so this i believe will be my main defence as they can not pass liablity to the registered keeper.
I have logged on and made the acknowledgement of service and left the defence blank for now, and also send a SAR request to britannia which im waiting on. I will add this is for only one PCN notice i have no idea whats happened to the other one i may end up with a court claim through the post for that one.
This is what i have written so far is it worthy any advice good or bad would be helpful.
DEFENCE
1. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.
2. The Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle in question. The particulars of the claim, state the legal basis is brought against the Defendant for ‘breach of terms of parking’ by the driver. 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 when parking at Southampton- New Road Barnardo Gardens on 13/04/2018 at 10:04
2.1. Any breach is denied, and it is further denied that there was any agreement to pay the Claimant's £60 'Parking Charge Notice ('PCN')' or £100 if not paid within 28 days from the PCN notice.
3. The Particulars of Claim state that the Defendant; was the registered keeper and/or the driver of the vehicle; Peugeot under registration xxxxxxx. 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.
4. The Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle. ‘Keeper liability’ under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“the POFA”) is dependent upon full compliance with that Act. It is submitted that the Claimant’s Parking Charge Notice and/or Notice to Keeper failed to comply with the statutory wording and/or deadlines set by the POFA. Any non-compliance voids any right to ‘keeper liability’.
5. Futhermore the claimant has confirmed that they are not relying on Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA) and pursuing me as the “Registered Keeper”, liability can not be transferred to the “Registered Keeper” and they can only pursue the “Driver”, as the driver has not been identified there should be no grounds to purse me as the “Registered Keeper”, and would suggest that this case is withdrawn with immediate effect.
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 Claimant is put to strict proof of full compliance that it has sufficient proprietary interest in the land under the correct address, or that it has the necessary authorisation from the landowner to issue parking charge notices, and to pursue payment by means of litigation.
8. In addition to the original PCN penalty, for which liability is denied, the Claimants have artificially inflated the value of the Claim by adding purported added 'costs' of £60. Not only are such costs not permitted (CPR 27.14) but the Defendant believes that the Claimant has not incurred legal costs.
9. The Claimant may try to rely upon ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67. However, with no 'legitimate interest' excuse for charging this unconscionable sum given the above facts, this Claimant is fully aware that their claim is reduced to an unrecoverable penalty and must fail.
10. The Claimant may try to rely on Combined Parking Solutions Ltd v AJH Films Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 1453.. However the vehicle is not registered to the Defendant as a company vehicle and there is no Employer liability holding the Defendant liable for the actions of the Driver.
11. I have not received any notice from Britannia Parking relating to this (PCN) whatsoever. I would suggest there should be solid evidence of this notice been sent i.e (recorded delivery, tracking details, proof of postage) to show this has been delivered to my current address which is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, I moved to my current address on 23/04/2018, 10 days after the (PCN) issue date.
12. 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.
First to keep it short I have received 2 parking fines from Britannia parking on the same day for not displaying a valid ticket on the 13/04/2018. I moved address on the 23/04/2018 so did not receive any correspondence from Britannia parking, the first I heard about it was a letter to my new address from BW legal asking for 2x £160. I wrote back to them asking for various documents evidence and received none of the information I asked for. I then requested a SAR from them which I have received, following that I now have the court claim forms.
On the last letter i recieved there responce was there client is pursing me as the registered keeper and they are not relying on schedule 4 protection of freedoms act 2012, so this i believe will be my main defence as they can not pass liablity to the registered keeper.
I have logged on and made the acknowledgement of service and left the defence blank for now, and also send a SAR request to britannia which im waiting on. I will add this is for only one PCN notice i have no idea whats happened to the other one i may end up with a court claim through the post for that one.
This is what i have written so far is it worthy any advice good or bad would be helpful.
DEFENCE
1. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.
2. The Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle in question. The particulars of the claim, state the legal basis is brought against the Defendant for ‘breach of terms of parking’ by the driver. 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 when parking at Southampton- New Road Barnardo Gardens on 13/04/2018 at 10:04
2.1. Any breach is denied, and it is further denied that there was any agreement to pay the Claimant's £60 'Parking Charge Notice ('PCN')' or £100 if not paid within 28 days from the PCN notice.
3. The Particulars of Claim state that the Defendant; was the registered keeper and/or the driver of the vehicle; Peugeot under registration xxxxxxx. 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.
4. The Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle. ‘Keeper liability’ under Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“the POFA”) is dependent upon full compliance with that Act. It is submitted that the Claimant’s Parking Charge Notice and/or Notice to Keeper failed to comply with the statutory wording and/or deadlines set by the POFA. Any non-compliance voids any right to ‘keeper liability’.
5. Futhermore the claimant has confirmed that they are not relying on Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA) and pursuing me as the “Registered Keeper”, liability can not be transferred to the “Registered Keeper” and they can only pursue the “Driver”, as the driver has not been identified there should be no grounds to purse me as the “Registered Keeper”, and would suggest that this case is withdrawn with immediate effect.
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 Claimant is put to strict proof of full compliance that it has sufficient proprietary interest in the land under the correct address, or that it has the necessary authorisation from the landowner to issue parking charge notices, and to pursue payment by means of litigation.
8. In addition to the original PCN penalty, for which liability is denied, the Claimants have artificially inflated the value of the Claim by adding purported added 'costs' of £60. Not only are such costs not permitted (CPR 27.14) but the Defendant believes that the Claimant has not incurred legal costs.
9. The Claimant may try to rely upon ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67. However, with no 'legitimate interest' excuse for charging this unconscionable sum given the above facts, this Claimant is fully aware that their claim is reduced to an unrecoverable penalty and must fail.
10. The Claimant may try to rely on Combined Parking Solutions Ltd v AJH Films Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 1453.. However the vehicle is not registered to the Defendant as a company vehicle and there is no Employer liability holding the Defendant liable for the actions of the Driver.
11. I have not received any notice from Britannia Parking relating to this (PCN) whatsoever. I would suggest there should be solid evidence of this notice been sent i.e (recorded delivery, tracking details, proof of postage) to show this has been delivered to my current address which is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, I moved to my current address on 23/04/2018, 10 days after the (PCN) issue date.
12. 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.
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Comments
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You say "I now have the court claim forms".
Then mention "I will add this is for only one PCN notice i have no idea whats happened to the other one i may end up with a court claim through the post for that one".
How many Claim Forms do you have?
What are the Issue Dates on each of your Claim Forms?
Were they sent from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton, or from somewhere else?0 -
Yes that’s correct I have only one claim form related to one pcn notice, the other pcn they have been chasing me on I’ve not heard anymore on so I could end up with another court claim.
So just one claim form issue date 12 feb and it was from county court business centre Northampton.0 -
With a Claim Issue Date of 12th February, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 18th March 2019 to file your Defence.So just one claim form issue date 12 feb and it was from county court business centre Northampton.
That's a month away. 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 suggested here:-
Print your Defence.
- Sign it and date it.
- Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
- Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
- 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'.
- Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
- Do not be surprised to receive a copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to put you under pressure.
- 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.
0 - Sign it and date it.
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Ok great thanks I have some time to go yet. What do you make of my defence good or bad or needs more work?0
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Please help! This is my first time using this forum so apologies if I come across green! I have read various defences etc but what I currently need help on is the SAR. I made a request for (amongst other things) copies of the signage used on the day but Manor parking have refused saying that they don’t need to send me copies of that as it is not for my personal data. Is this correct?0
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Hi I think you need to start a new thread on this.0
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Robbishon of course the signs are not your personal data. They never have been and should not have been on any template anywhere.
Start your own thread.0 -
11. The defendant has not...........11. I have not received any notice from Britannia Parking relating0 -
What do you make of my defence good or bad or needs more work?
You might like to consider including a paragraph shooting down Elliot v Loake, Without relying on POFA, I struggle to see how they hope to win this.
The whole industry is a scam, relying on threats of court, and the public's ignorance of the Law, A bill is currently before parliament which will regulate the scammers, many of whom are ex-clampers.
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 has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers.
Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Second Reading in the Lords this month, and, with a fair wind, will l become Law later this year..
All five readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 7-8 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.You never know how far you can go until you go too far.0 -
The defence is good but has 'me' and 'I' several times. Always have 'the Defendant'.
You main defence should be about the contravention, so what do they mean by 'not displaying a valid ticket? What happened?On the last letter i recieved there responce was there client is pursing me as the registered keeper and they are not relying on schedule 4 protection of freedoms act 2012, so this i believe will be my main defence as they can not pass liablity to the registered keeper.PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
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Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD0
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