Court claim form - Horizon Parking

daniellog

Hi,

Today the scammers have submitted a small claims court claim against the keeper.

I am going to submit an AOS tonight but unsure of what defence to use. I'm going to take some pictures after work of the signs in the car park to use in my defence. Could anyone point me in the direction of a good defence to use for signage?

I have attached a copy of the claim against the keeper here: https://ibb.co/gzFJdWn

Date of fine 22/07/19
Date of Small Claims issue 07/10/19

Fruitcake

Edit your post to remove information about who did what. Only ever refer to The Driver and The Keeper, who are two different people.
One has protections in law that the other does not.
Parking scammers read these fora.

There is no "s" in defence.

The advice to ignore has not been given here since the law changed in 2012.

Read the guide to court written by bargepole you will find in post 2 of the NEWBIES.

Also read the "abuse of process" thread by beamerguy where judges have repeatedly thrown out cases where the scammers have added on fake cost like the additional £70 in your case.
When the case is allocated to your court of choice, complain and ask for the case to be struck out and quote the cases mentioned in beamer's thread. Look especially at post 14 by Coupon-mad in that thread.

Do the AoS but do not put anything in the defence box, not even a full stop.

Check the NTK against the strict requirements of the PoFA 2012 to see if they have or haven't transferred liability to the keeper.

Get pics of the site, especially the entrances, as well as signage. Pics where signs are damaged, hidden by bushes etcetera, or high up on poles are useful, as are closeup images that show small font.

Normal defence points are: -

Non PoFA comliant NTK
Not the landowner
No standing (contract) to issue charges or start court.
Inadequate signage

daniellog

Thanks fruitcake, I have edited the post and I will look at those posts. The abuse of the process seems like the best option. At what time do I have to put forward a defence in the process?

Redx

Post 1 doesn't make any sense now , edit it again

The claimant is horizon

The defendant is the keeper

Post the issue date on the claim form

Fruitcake

daniellog wrote: »

Thanks fruitcake, I have edited the post and I will look at those posts. The abuse of the process seems like the best option. At what time do I have to put forward a defence in the process?

You need to re-edit your initial post. Like Redx says, it does not now make sense. You need to read and understand all the different entities involved in this scam

"Today the [STRIKE]keeper[/STRIKE] scammers have submitted a small claims court claim against the [STRIKE]driver[/STRIKE] keeper."

The guide to court will tell you what to do and when.

Fruitcake

This is still not right.

"I have attached a copy of the claim against the driver here:"

You really, really need to get your head around this.

KeithP

daniellog wrote: »

Date of Small Claims issue 07/10/19.

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th October, you have until Monday 28th October to do the Acknowledgement of Service. If possible, do not do the AoS before 12th October, but otherwise there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox file linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread. About ten minutes work - no thinking required.

Having done the AoS, you have until 4pm on Monday 11th November 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.


When you are happy with the content, your Defence could 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.

Le_Kirk

daniellog wrote: »

Thanks fruitcake, I have edited the post and I will look at those posts. The abuse of the process seems like the best option. At what time do I have to put forward a defence in the process?

Have a look at KeithP's post (post # 7 on this thread) as he will tell you your deadlines. Also read the NEWBIE sticky where you will also find invaluable advice about the court process by reading Bargepole's link to "What happens when". While you are in the NEWBIE sticky check out the 17 pre-written defences. You cannot use the abuse of process as your main defence point, it is put towards the end after the items that Fruitcake wrote about.

The_Deep

Nine times out of ten of these tickets are scams so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra work.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, 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

daniellog

I took some pictures of the signs yesterday and one of them under a tree and was very dirty that you could hardly read it, also the tree was in the way of it a bit. Would this be a good argument for my defence?

I'm going to submit the AoS tomorrow to buy some time.

daniellog

Also should I submit an SAR request against Horizon and gladstones? or is that too late in the process now?