Draft Defence - is this ok?

Amaka123

OK, I have now received my claim form and just completed the Acknowledgement of Service. I have put together a draft defence but was wondering if someone could have a look at it for me. I have read lots of other defences and so I hope this is along the right lines. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

IN THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No: xxxxxxxxxx

BETWEEN:

UK CAR PARK MANAGEMENT LTD (Claimant)

-and-

xxxxxxxxxxxx (Defendant)

________________________________________
DEFENCE
________________________________________

1. The Defendant was the registered keeper of vehicle registration number XXXXXXX on the material date. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.

2. 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.

3. The facts of the matter are that the ‘land’ which forms the basis of the current claim consists of a street which changes from a ‘public’ road to a ‘private’ road part way up the street. There are no signs indicating when the switch from public road to private road takes place. Further up the street (of which the defendant did not pass) there are a relatively small number of poorly marked ‘parking conditions’ signs. Given this lack of clarity regarding how or where the public is, or is not, allowed to park on this street, and whereby it switches from ‘public’ road to a ‘private’ road no contract can be construed from the Claimant's signage, under the contra proferentem principle.

4. Accordingly, it is denied that the Defendant breached any of the Claimant's purported contractual terms, whether express, implied, or by conduct.

5. 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. The Defendant didn’t actually drive past any of the Claimant’s signage where they parked. The closest sign to which the Defendant parked is placed at a low height and given that the street is often full of parked vehicles the sign would be obscured from view of any passing driver. It is, therefore, denied that the Claimant's signage is capable of creating a legally binding contract.

6. The Claimant is put to strict proof that it has sufficient proprietary 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. The Defendant has the reasonable belief that the Claimant does not have the authority to issue charges on this land in their own name, and that they have no right to bring any action regarding this claim.

7. 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.

8. 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.

Statement of Truth:

I believe that the facts stated in this Defence are true.

Name
Signature
Date

Le_Kirk

If this is connected to your other threads, you should keep all in the same thread to save people having to go back and forth between them.

Amaka123

I was worried no one would look at that one as the title is no longer relevant...

How do I delete this post then, I can't seem to see the option to delete it anywhere?

Thanks

Redx

You can't, so pm a board guide to delete it

Copy and paste post #1 into your original thread and advanced edit the title for that post #1 with a new title