LEGAL Claim, HELP Please.

somoneXYZ

Hi all,
I am new to forums. I tried to read lot of NEWBIE stuff before posting this, please let me know if I have missed something. I need help with my defence.

I have received a legal claim form, I appealed against this PCN to POPLA ( was not aware of this forum that time) and lost that. However, I realised now that I did not send all the evidences to POPLA that time.

Ignored all letters and now received claim form. Have done the acknowledgement and in the process of preparing the defence. Finding it very difficult to articulate in COURT language, on top of that English is not my first language.

In a nutshell, I parked my car, paid using their automated line, did not receive any confirmation message, called again and again and finally ended up paying. Parking was one off payment for the whole day. The company is taking me to court because I did not pay in a specific time period which was somehow mentioned on the sign but too small font that I did not even notice.

Following is the defence I have written so far:

IN THE COUNTY COURT

CLAIM No: xxxxxxxxxx

BETWEEN:

UK CAR PARK MANAGEMENT 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 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. The parking charges are £6 for parking whole day.

3. The Defendant followed the instructions on the sign, called the number YYYYY and paid. That is an automated system and everything went fine on the call. The Defendant was advised at the end of the call that he’ll receive a confirmation text message soon.

4. However, The Defendant did not receive any text message from the Claimant’s system.

5. After sometime, The Defendant started calling the automated line again to find out if something is wrong. The automated line was not giving any information whether something was wrong with the payment The Defendant made earlier.

6. Then Defendant searched the number of YYYY company which was mentioned on the sign. After making numerous attempts, Defendant managed to speak to someone. The lady on the other end told that she can't see any payment received for the said parking location for Defendant't vehicle. Defendant paid over the phone there and then.

7. The whole confusion started because the automated call went through OK and no text was received as advised at the end of the first call. Hence The Defendant was under the impression that he has paid and it is actually Claimant’s system which is delaying in sending a text message.

8. 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. The term in question, on the Claimant's signage, is 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.


9. 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.

10. 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. The Defendant made his utmost efforts to pay for parking as soon as he parked his car and did pay for the whole day. 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.

Name
Signature
Date


Any help is much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Browntoa

Are you using the template in the newbies thread ?

Have you read it ?

KeithP

Hi and welcome.

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Did it come from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton, or from somewhere else?

Redx

add the ABUSE OF PROCESS paragraphs to your defence due to the spurious charges they will have added (think Judges Grand & Taylor)


and your defence above looks more like a witness statement to me


the legal arguments are your defence


your "story" is the WS later down the line


has the AOS been done ?


what is the ISSUE DATE ?

somoneXYZ

Thanks All.

Browntoa: I am not using the template, went through the post#2, must have missed the template.

KeithP: 17 July is the issue date. Yes, it did come from County Court Business Centre in Northampton

Redx: AOS is done.
My defence is that I did not receive those texts they claim they have sent. and kept on trying to contact them to pay and finally paid.
In the POPLA appeal, they showed some logs which showed the outgoing text messages from their side. I have got the legal copy of all received text messages on my number from my mobile provider and I did not receive any.

somoneXYZ

Another problem about defence is that they used very vague claim. In court letter, they only said that I was in breach of terms and conditions of car park. They did not specifically said which term. I know which term they are talking about because of POPLA appeal process.

KeithP

somoneXYZ wrote: »

17 July is the issue date. Yes, it did come from County Court Business Centre in Northampton

AOS is done.

With a Claim Issue Date of 17th July, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 19th August 2019 to file your Defence.

That's nearly three weeks away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but please 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.

Redx

your "defence" is actually legal arguments, not your story, many people make this mistake, too eager to tell their side , it may not even get as far as "what happened"

here is what CM said about defences

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 and add the
ABUSE OF PROCESS paragraphs by coupon-mad, and renumber all paragraphs.

your so called defence above is nothing like it


email a SAR to their DPO for all the docs and pics and data

Quentin

Throughout here you are advised never to reveal who was driving

You need to edit your OP to remove details of who was driving

The ppcs monitor this forum and can use posts in your thread against you in Court

[Deleted User]

That defence also doesn't work as the alternative argument (terms too small/unclear) is directly contradicted by the efforts made to comply with them....

somoneXYZ

Redx: could not find the template by bargepole on NEWBIE thread. Have seen a comment regarding the template but could not find the actual template by bargepole, neither could I find "here is what CM said about defences". Could you please paste a link?

Quentin: I have already admitted in the POPLA appeal that I was driving.