URGENT - CLaim form, Advise regarding Defence

cancer29

Good afternoon people,

I received a PCN from an NCP car park as the keeper of the vehicle, the contravention being for overstaying in October. I ignored the letters and unfortunately binned the subsequent letters BW legal taking me to the court, but came back from Holiday on the 7th of april to a Claim form from Nothampton court with BW legal as the claimants legal representative for a sum of 241£ which was issued on the 26th of March. I have sent the AOS on the 7th of April the day I came back from holiday to defend the sum.

I have read the newbies post to a certain extent and the more I read, NCP and BW legal have seemed to followed all the rules, and NCP in the said car park had proper signage with ANPR and the pay and display machines stating the amount of fine that would be sent if found in breach of overstaying. It this was an honest mistake by the driver of not keeping tab of time on the given day. I am at a loss and panicking now as not sure how I could defend as the unfair amount doesnt seem to hold place anymore since the Beavis case, and I have to submit my defense by the 28th of April.

Please advise if I would still be able to defend or do I just pay the 241£ to BW legal and whether I am still able to do this in-spite of having sent the AOS.

kind regards

KeithP

Hi and welcome.

Of course you can defend it. Post #2 of the NEWBIES thread - link below - will guide you through that.

With a Claim Issue Date of 26th March, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 29th April 2019 to file your Defence.

That's a week away. Loads of time to produce a Defence, but please 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 "defence received". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to keep 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.

Redx

it actually came from the CCBC in Northampton (a government office , NOT the court - different address)

even if a judge decides you should pay , it wont be what they are claiming , because they added extra charges on that you will object to , a typical loss is less than £200

most people 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.

cancer29

Thank you KeithP for your prompt reply, will have a read through of the link you have provided asap.

Kind regards

cancer29

Thank you Redx,
I have read somewhere that if the judgement goes against you, there is a possibility of having to pay more as the Claimant could ask for their court and legal charges, in which case I could end up paying 25 - 50£ on top of the 241, I was more worried about this being the case. I will go through your recommended posts to see what best defense I could come with.

Kind regrads

KeithP

cancer29 wrote: »

Thank you Redx,
I have read somewhere that if the judgement goes against you, there is a possibility of having to pay more as the Claimant could ask for their court and legal charges, in which case I could end up paying 25 - 50£ on top of the 241, I was more worried about this being the case. I will go through your recommended posts to see what best defense I could come with.

Kind regrads

No, that £241 includes court costs.

And as Redx says, it includes costs they are simply not entitled to.

Again quoting Redx, even if you lose, £200 is a typical amount to pay.

Now, that's enough talk about losing... get writing that winning Defence.

Redx

please note that there is no S in DEFENCE

the claim is what it is, so is whatever they ask for on the form, or less , charges are already included

here is a breakdown of what is normally allowed

£100 - original parking charge
£25 - court filing fee
£50 - solicitor costs for preparing case papers (maximum, capped)
£25 - hearing fee, if it gets that far
£7 or £8 interest.

So not much more than £200 - IF YOU LOSE!

Anything else they try to add will be spurious and must be challenged with the Judge.

IF YOU WIN - none of the above will be payable by you. But you could claim:

£95 capped maximum for loss of earnings/annual leave for half a day (take pay slips for proof)
Travel costs - public transport or mileage x 45p per mile
Parking costs.

If the PPC has been wholly unreasonable in dealing with the court, then costs awarded against them could be considerably more, but the bar is set very high. We would advise nearer the time if we think this is worth you pursuing.

cancer29

Hi guys,

Is it still worth asking for a SAR at this point, as someone says in the forum, no one bother about SAR esply when I have just a week to provide a defense. Also there is a slight discrepancy in the address, could I use this in my defense although the claim form also has the same discrepancy to my actual address.

cancer29

Sorry Redx, thats my bad for being lousy at typing :P

cancer29

thank you KeithP and Redx for your encouraging words, I will have a look into your recommended posts to work on my defence

Redx

ALWAYS email a SAR to the DPO at the PPC (claimant) , that goes without saying and is a MUST DO, regardless. it will be of more use to you when the WS is due in a few months time

you can also email a data rectification notice to the PPC regarding the address, after checking that your V5C has the correct details on it (then take a picture and use that as proof of ID for your SAR)

ALTHOUGH IT CAN BE MENTIONED, AS LONG AS YOU RECEIVED THE PAPERWORK, ITS NOT VERY IMPORTANT, but needs to be fixed by emailing their DPO and getting it corrected

if your V5C has incorrect details on it, get them corrected by the DVLA asap


your typing is fine , its your spelling that needs improving , lol

your thread title has the correct spelling , so put the american version out of your head , lol