County claim defence

NB18

Hi all,

I have read many of the threads in some detail the past few weeks and although very informative the legal jargon does go over my head.

I received Claim Form 11/10/19 for 2 PCNs received 23 & 27/3/18 when visiting a no ex boyfriend and parked near his flat where he said it was ok to. When i got them he gave me the incorrect advice to ignore them. When i began getting persistent letters from BW legal i got back in contact with him and he said he spoke to the parking office at his flat and they also advised to ignore.

18 months later here i am regretting taking that advice after reading all the info on here.

I requested a SAR following as i was going to defend based on poor signage in the car park as i could not recall seeing any signs. However since receiving the SAR they have sent pictures of my car next to the signs themselves!!! Which i did not see based on the route from my vehicle into the property but i feel like i haven't really got anything to go off in terms of forming a defense.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Redx

Post the actual issue date on the claim form , if it's not 11 Oct

As the SAR has been done , have you done the AOS online yet ? If so , when ?

Start drafting your defence ( no S in defence )

Post the draft defence below for critique

Read post 2 of the newbies faq sticky thread near the top of the forum for guidance on your defence , there are 17 examples to help you

All newbies who come here have little idea about the topic , but you still need to do the research and learn asap , ignorance of the law and legal process won't help you

NB18

I received the county court claim on 11/10/19 and AOS on 14/10/19

I have drafted a defence about 3 times but i don't know from what angle to take it and after reading the recommended posts it said there's no point arguing that i didn't see the signs, which is the only defence i have.

My defence ends up just sounding like story telling as not sure what supporting arguments i have other than the whole thing is ridiculous and the last thing i need right now.

If anyone could advise on the angle to take with the defence that would be very appreciated.

Le_Kirk

If you go to the NEWBIE sticky post # 2, you will find 17 pre-written defences - one of them will match (nearly) your circumstances, copy and adapt that one, read all of them and add in anything else pertinent. Make sure you have all the usual defence points such as signage and landowner authority. You might even add in promissory estoppel as you were told you could park there. On what basis did the ex-BF say it was OK to park there? If he had a genuine reason for believing it was OK, such as Visitor space, then maybe he could be called as a witness.

Redx

I did not ask when you received the claim

I asked for the Issue date on the top of the claim form

Start with the concise defence by member bargepole

Add the abuse of process paragraphs by coupon mad posted in the thread by beamerguy near to the end , above the statement of truth

Add no landowner authority to it higher up

Then read the particulars of claim and rebut them in one or more paragraphs

Then post the draft below

Meanwhile , post the issue date as I have asked already

NB18

Thank you for the advice.

Apologies for the miscommunication the issue date was the 11/10/19

Umkomaas

What does your ex’s tenancy agreement/lease agreement/deeds say about visitor parking. You’ll obviously need to ask him, and get copy of the relevant parts. The outcome of that may give you a platform for building your defence.

You seem to have avoided telling us which parking company is involved. Who they are is more important than telling us that BWL are chasing you.

NB18

I have previously tried to ask him for assistance in the matter but he has stopped responding.

The parking company was UK Parking Patrol Office.

Umkomaas

NB18 wrote: »

I have previously tried to ask him for assistance in the matter but he has stopped responding.

The parking company was UK Parking Patrol Office.

Copies of deeds etc can be accessed via The Land Registry (small cost involved), but I’m not sure who can legitimately acquire these or what the exact process is. You’ll need to do some digging around.

NB18

Ok i have adapted bargepole's defence slightly

xxxxxx (Defendant)

________________________________________
DEFENCE STATEMENT


1. It is admitted that the Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle in question. 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, received PCN for contraventions which occurred on 23/03/18 and 27/03/18 on land managed and operated by the claimant.

3. The Particulars of Claim state that the Defendant was the registered keeper and/or the driver of the vehicle. 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. Further, the particulars of the claim do not meet the requirements of Practice Direction 16 7.5 as there is nothing which specifies how the terms were breached.

4. Due to the sparseness of the particulars, it is unclear as to what legal basis the claim is brought, whether for breach of contract, contractual liability, or trespass. However, it is denied that the Defendant, or any driver of the vehicle, entered into any contractual agreement with the Claimant, whether express, implied, or by conduct.

5. 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.

6. 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. It is, therefore, denied that the Claimant's signage is capable of creating a legally binding contract.

7. 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.

8. 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 on two accounts so £200. The claim includes an additional £207.60, for which no calculation or explanation is given, and which appears to be an attempt at double recovery.

9. 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.

I believe the facts contained in this Defence are true.

Coupon-mad

xxxxxx (Defendant)

We assume you've also put the usual info & headings above that?

________________________________________
DEFENCE STATEMENT

No, just DEFENCE.

Add here below, some more facts:

2. The facts are that the vehicle, registration XXXX, of which the Defendant is the registered keeper, received PCN for contraventions which occurred on 23/03/18 and 27/03/18 on land managed and operated by the claimant.

Admit to being the driver in this case and state that a genuine visitor or the resident with permission to park there from that person, was not 'unauthorised' under the definition of that word that the sign relies upon. Thus, even if the Defendant had seen the small print on the sign, they would not have taken it to be relevant to a permitted visitor parked correctly.

Were both the PCNs n the windscreen, or sent by post so you had no idea about this scam until both letters arrived, so had no clue the second day either?

Were both PCNs issued in the dark, so the sign is there in the pics, but illegible?

If so, say so in the defence early para about the facts.

IMHO, you need to add, instead of your point #8, ALL the longer wording (minus the links) from post #14 of beamerguy's Abuse of Process thread. Everyone needs to attack the added costs more than just one paragraph.

Finally, there is ONE more UKPPO residential case here, I recall reading it. Search the forum for UKPPO and read the thread I mean, and send a pm to the OP in case it's the same site, given that UKPPO were not infesting many residential sites that I know of. If it's the same site, not only can you be witnesses for each other but they might have the tenancy agreement terms to help you at your evidence stage!