Preparation of Defence.

mukach72

Hi forum,
Just checking-in to enlighten you all of our situation and seek some advice possibly.!
My partner received, out of the blue, notification of some parking charges relating to a small number of overstays at a well-known super market car-park, from August to December last year. My partner had no memory of parking there so a sudden demand for over £300.00 was a shock, to say the least! We wrote to PPC and their solicitors demanding SAR's, fearing personal data had been breached. Both replied eventually with details of my partners name and courtesy of DVLA, address details from our old address, from where we moved from, nearly 4 years ago, as well as information about the private land in question! This forum has been very informative since receiving these communications. I sent an adapted template letter from the forum as well as a photo copy of V5C showing our current address etc.
Having received photos of the car, post SAR, their poor quality meant that the driver(s) cannot be identified. There were two people who had access to the car during the period of the alleged parking infringements and neither are owning up so we just gave them each a copy the paperwork and the claim amount.
We received a County Court claim, issue date 14 May 2019 which we will defend fully. The acknowledgment of service was sent within 14 days and I am now forming the defence. I have been reading the 'Newbies' section of the forum and have a reasonable idea
of what will form the basis of the defence but was curious as to what the more-learned members of the forum would suggest? Your opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks. Mukach 72

Redx

the basic defence is considered to be

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.

the examples are linked in that thread, so that people can form their own or adapt one from the examples

if the PPC can prove keeper liability, then who was driving becomes irrelevant , the fact that the keeper has given copies of the paperwork to all potential victims is irrelevant now that a court claim has been issued against the keeper

KeithP

mukach72 wrote: »

We received a County Court claim, issue date 14 May 2019 which we will defend fully. The acknowledgement of service was sent within 14 days...

With a Claim Issue Date of 14th May, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 17th June 2019 to file your Defence.

That's two weeks away. Loads of time to produce a good Defence, but don't leave it to the 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.

Of course everywhere I have written 'you' or 'your' I mean the Defendant.

mukach72

Thanks for the replies thus far!
As the driver identity is unknown, I have done some research and it appears there could be a breach of the European Court of Human Rights if someone is incriminated without proof? I understand we should have passed the driver details over by this stage, to not have keeper liability but we feel we're in a 'catch 22' position by not knowing!
The SAR response included more than one, 'Parking Charge Notice', The last was sent late December 2018. Our first communication from the PPC is dated early March 2019. Does this make it non-compliant with PoFA Schedule 4 paragraphs 8(5) or 9(5)? Also, does the fact that these notices are titled as "Parking Charge Notice' and neither 'Notice to Keeper' nor 'Notice to Driver'?

Coupon-mad

I have done some research and it appears there could be a breach of the European Court of Human Rights if someone is incriminated without proof?

No, where did you read that rubbish? Some Freeman of the Land site?

The SAR response included more than one, 'Parking Charge Notice', The last was sent late December 2018. Our first communication from the PPC is dated early March 2019. Does this make it non-compliant with PoFA Schedule 4 paragraphs 8(5) or 9(5)?

You can check the deadlines for yourself, as I don't know whether you are talking about a windscreen PCN followed by a postal PCN/NTK, or two separate letters about the same event.

Also, does the fact that these notices are titled as "Parking Charge Notice' and neither 'Notice to Keeper' nor 'Notice to Driver'?

Does it matter? No.

The_Deep

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so complain to your MP.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

mukach72

The PCNs were all issued via ANPR. I've checked the dates of issue & they're all postal NTK's, sent within 14 days of the pics being taken BUT to the wrong address! This and not knowing the driver(s) identity are our main points of defence and also the lack of diligence before issuing court papers seems extremely unreasonable. Doesn't seem much of a defence compared to what other people have compiled but its the truth.

mukach72

The SAR response included more than one, 'Parking Charge Notice', The last was sent late December 2018. Our first communication from the PPC is dated early March 2019

From my post #4

Coupon-mad

Show us your draft defence and you will get help.

mukach72

Thanks! Will be working on it over the next couple of days!

mukach72

The Claimant also claims £160.00 contractual costs pursuant to the PCN Terms & Conditions

Can anyone explain what these are, please?