PCN - County Court Claim for received

dewpd

Hi,

I have read post #2 on the NEWBIES thread several times and would like some help.

I have received a county court claim form for a PCN i received in may 2018. The claimant is Horizon Parking and the representative is Gladstones.

I have been ignoring the letters that have been sent but i realise i have missed an appeal period. I have submit my AOS and i am starting to think about my defence and would like some advice.

I have sent Horizon a SAR and let gladstones know.

My company was in the middle of moving buildings around this time and i was displaying a parking permit dated until August 2018. The parking contract was held between my company and the landlord. I received the PCN and so never parked there again. I was under the assumption that my permit was valid until the date stated on the permit. I'm also assuming that when our company moved buildings around this time, the parking contract must have ceased at once rather than the date specified on the permit. I no longer have this permit.

I'm not sure how to put together my defence or what my next steps should be.


thank you for your help in advance

dewpd

For further information, the issue date is 07 Oct 2019.

Thank you

beamerguy

Assume Gladstones have added a fake £60 and maybe called it a contractual COST

Such fakery is dismissed by the courts and as one judge said ...
"The claim contains a substantial charge additional to the parking charge which it is alleged the defendant contracted to pay, This additional charge is not recoverable under the protection of freedoms act 2012, Schedule 4 "

ABUSE OF PROCESS THREAD
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75929156#Comment_75929156

dewpd

@beamerguy
The particulars say that the claimant claims £80 for the PCN, £70 contractual costs pursuant to the contract and PCN t&c's

So i should base my defence on the contractual cost fakery? Do i also add in what i mentioned in my first post regarding the permit?

I'm not sure where to start on this, what defence template i should use or how to proceed.

Thank you for your help

Le_Kirk

Have you read any of the 17 pre-written defence examples in the NEWBIE sticky post # 2? You cannot BASE your defence on the Abuse of Process, that is added to your defence. Your defence has to be what it is, e.g. the company was moving buildings and there was confusion over permits but the permit was still valid.

dewpd

I have, but i'm not sure which case is closest to mine.

I apologise, i'm very new to this.

Should i say that the permit was still valid even though i'm not sure if it was? At the time i believed it was but based on the PCN , im guessing the contract was invalidated around the move? I had a permit that had printed August 2018 on it however during the building move maybe the contract ended?

Thank you

KeithP

dewpd wrote: »

the issue date is 07 Oct 2019.

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th October, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 11th November 2019 to file your Defence.

That's four nearly 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.

dewpd

Hi,

I have read through the NEWBIES sticky, post 2. Could anybody help with my defence below please? I'm very new to this.

In The County Court
Claim No: XXXXXXX
Between
Horizon Parking Limited (Claimant)

-and-

XXXXXXX (Defendant)

____________
DEFENCE
____________

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 at the time of the parking charge (the 'PCN') the Defendant was an employee at a company which held a lease at XXXX, and at the time held a valid parking permit for XXX. At the time that the PCN was issued, the defendant's employer was moving buildings and there was confusion over permits however, the permit displayed in the window was not due to expire until August 2018.

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 £70 costs to pursue an alleged £80 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 £80.

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.

Name
Signature
Date

Thank you in advance

nosferatu1001

What help do you want? DO you understand every element of it? Why is point 5 so short, given "abuse of process" is included in every defence where theyve added addtiional costs?

dewpd

Thank you for replying!

I don't understand every element of it.

I'm not even entirely sure what costs are abuse of process.

The Claimant claims £80 for the PCN, £70 contractual costs pursuant to the contract and PCN terms and conditions plus the £25 court fee and £50 legal rep costs. I think it's the £70 contractual costs that are abuse of process?

I'm not sure how to word point 5 any more or what further information to give.

Coupon-mad

Very good, as long as you replace #5 with the longer version 'abuse of process' wording I posted in post #14 of beamerguy's abuse of process thread.

OR leave your defence like that and use the abuse of process wording later at WS stage. The abuse is the unjustified £70 and the £50 'legal costs' fake add ons.

Easy! That is a good defence draft.