Help reviewing my defence

Lily091213

Hi everyone,

I really hope you can help me out, even though I think I'm beyond help and I'm getting a bit stressed about it. I'm thinking about just paying it to make it go away, but if someone can offer me some advice, that'd be really great.

Today, I received a court letter from Northampton court relating to a Gladstones case. The Issue Date was 7 October 2019.

The total amount they want is £269!

I have honestly read the Newbies thread, and really tried to take advice from it, but I didn't see anything that matched my circumstances, which I think is the reason I'm screwed.

I've obviously made mistakes in the past with this case, so feel free to call me an idiot.

1. I have absolutely no memory of this case at all. I didn't receive a PCN on my windscreen, I don't remember anything at all about why this happened. An invoice was just posted through my door one day!
2. The location of the incident is somewhere I've been a few times (it's an industrial business park) but I genuinely can't think where I parked that time! I can say for certain it's nowhere unusual, and the 5 or 6 other times I've been there, I'm pretty sure I parked in roughly the same place with no problems. My car is shared by someone else in the house who has also been there a few times so I don't even know for sure it was me driving there. We can't remember that exact date!
3. I've made the mistake of ignoring every single letter. I assumed they were charlatans so I threw everything away. I don't have any copies of any correspondence they sent me.
4. I did receive a letter before claim a few weeks back, and I did, on forum advice, email Gladstones and ask for it to put on hold. I emailed UK CPM with a SAR and they replied to say I wasn't entitled to one. The letter before claim mentioned the £60 addition for time and resource spent by Gladstones.
5. I've now received this claim form.

I'm panicking a bit, as I don't know what my defence is. I don't know how to reply.

If there's a thread I've somehow overlooked, please point me to it.

Any advice is very very welcome!

Thank you.

MonkeyRum

I have honestly read the Newbies thread, and really tried to take advice from it, but I didn't see anything that matched my circumstances, which I think is the reason I'm screwed.

Take a breath! Most cases are fundamentally similar so you will always have half a chance at a defence. Presumably this is your previous thread? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6038004/is-this-a-real-letter-before-claim

You should amend your post to remove any details about who parked.

Lily091213

What post should I amend?

What is the next thing to do? It has a claim form attached, with multiple parts. I'm just a bit lost on what to do, how to do it and when to do it!

I'm really sorry to ask to be spoon-fed but if someone can point me in the right direction, it'd be great. I really don't want to have to pay this huge amount over something I don't remember at all!

KeithP

Lily091213 wrote: »

The Issue Date was 7 October 2019.

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.

Redx

start by editing your post above

the driver parked , the KEEPER received the pcn in the post etc

its DRIVER , KEEPER , CLAIMANT , DEFENDANT , none of the I business

Lily091213

KeithP wrote: »

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.

Thank you, I'll wait a few days, then do the AoS.

Can I ask one question - what sort of defence could I have?

Redx

there are 17 examples in the NEWBIES thread post #2 , especially 2 by member bargepole , please check them out

and for simplicity, here is what coupon-mad said

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.

email UKCPM DPO and insist on receiving a SAR reply under the GDPR or you will report them to the ICO for refusing to supply the data free of charge

use the legal beagles template , attaching a copy of the claim form and also a copy of the V5C as proof of ID , giving them 30 days notice

beamerguy

Lily091213 wrote: »

Thank you, I'll wait a few days, then do the AoS.

Can I ask one question - what sort of defence could I have?

Follow the good people on here, they will help you step by step

Listen carefully ..... Gladstones are scamming you with a fake charge of £60..... it's a scam so part of your defence will be found here in post #14 by coupon-mad
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

Do you really want to be scammed by a incompetent solicitor ?????

Lily091213

Hi all,

I have submitted the AOS and I have a week or so to submit the defence. I have been reading a lot of posts and I think the concise bargepole defence seems to apply to me as well:

---

1. The Defendant was the registered keeper and driver 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 facts of the matter are that the Defendant is an employee at the COMPANY XXXXXXX, and has continued to hold a valid parking permit for COMPANY car parking for the last 10 years. The ‘land’ which forms the basis of the current claim consists of a relatively small number of poorly marked ‘private land’ parking spaces located amongst those forming a much larger COMPANY car park (for which COMPANY parking permits are valid). Given this lack of clarity regarding how or where a COMPANY employee with a parking permit is, or is not, allowed to park in this car park, no contract can be construed from the Claimant's signage, under the contra proferentem principle.

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

4. The Claimant is put to strict proof that it has sufficient interest in the land or that there are specific terms in its contract to bring an action on its own behalf. As a third party agent, the Claimant may not pursue any charge, unless specifically authorised by the principal. 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.

5. The Defendant has the reasonable belief that the Claimant has not incurred £60 costs to pursue an alleged £100 debt. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, in Schedule 4, Para 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.

6. In summary, the Claimant's particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed, and the Court is invited to dismiss the claim in its entirety.

Statement of Truth:

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

---

In order to get some good advice from this forum, I'd like to share the pictures I got from the SAR.

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The first picture shows my silver car parked next to another car, and a tiny parking sign on the floor at the edge of the picture. That is something I just didn't see at all at the time.
The second picture shows the sign nearly on the floor.
The third picture shows other cars parked in the same place as me.
The fourth picture shows a close up of the sign, but I still can't read the small print. It's obviously not readable from anywhere!
The fifth picture shows the PCN on my car but the thing you can't quite see is that my car has a parking permit, but the PCN was put over my permit! I've tried to circle my permit attached to my windscreen but it's hard to tell.


Do people feel I should add any more to my defence?

Thanks

Castle

Lily091213 wrote: »

The fourth picture shows a close up of the sign, but I still can't read the small print. It's obviously not readable from anywhere!
The fifth picture shows the PCN on my car but the thing you can't quite see is that my car has a parking permit, but the PCN was put over my permit! I've tried to circle my permit attached to my windscreen but it's hard to tell.


Do people feel I should add any more to my defence?

Thanks

The picture of the sign, (in the fourth picture), makes no mention of having to display a permit!

Lily091213

I was issued with a parking permit and reasonably assumed it allowed me to park. You're right, the sign doesn't mention a permit. Do you think I can't mention it as part of a defence then? I can't really say "has continued to hold a valid parking permit for COMPANY car parking for the last 10 years" if the sign doesn't have exclusions for permits, can I?