County Court form received

umbroshinpad

Hello everyone, any help would be greatly appreciated. I received a postal parking charge from ES Parking for my car. I was not driving and I should be able to prove it easily. I thought it was a bluff so ignored it, thinking it'd go away. I was wrong. I got a letter from Gladstones, which I googled and saw numerous reviews from people saying they were bluffers, so I ignored that too.

I have now received an MCOL (I think.) I have followed the guidance on the newbie thread by replying online and saying I will defend the claim. I have also made a subject access request. I am now emailing Gladstones to inform them of this and ask for a hold on the case whilst this is processed. I was wondering if it is worth mentioning in this letter that I was not the driver and that I would not be able to disclose who was?

Additional question, if I was able to say who had been driving at the time, would the better defence be to maintain I was not driving therefore the contract was not with me, or transfer to the possible driver and let them make a defence based on unclear signage?

For context, this ticket is for using a disused car park, that was not blocked off and there was no obvious signs or deterrence from using this car park. Thanks for any help.

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

You should be sending the SAR to the parking company's Data Protection Officer, not to their solicitor.

The letter to the solicitor should ask for a delay in processing because you 'are seeking debt advice', not because you are waiting for the SAR results.

umbroshinpad

The 6th of December.

Yeah, I've sent the SAR to the parking company and I'm sending that letter to the solicitor.

KeithP

umbroshinpad wrote: »

The 6th of December.

When did you file an Acknowledgment of Service? Depending on that, the Defence filing date shown below may need adjustment by a few days.

With a Claim Issue Date of 6th December, and having done the Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 6th January 2020 to file your Defence.

That's 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. No need to do anything on MCOL, but do check it 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 trying to keep you under pressure. Just file it.
   
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.

umbroshinpad

I did that today, first chance I got.

Redx

if the PPC followed POFA then as keeper you can be held liable for the charge, driver or not

if this is an actual MCOL court claim from the CCBC in Northampton, then asking the solicitor to place it on hold wont work, that is for an LoC

if you have a live court claim, the clock is ticking and it wont be placed on hold, plus its too late to name the driver once a court claim has been issued

the person named on the MCOL has to deal with it , too late for passing the buck, should have been done beforehand

KeithP

umbroshinpad wrote: »

I did that today, first chance I got.

OK, then you have slightly less time to file your Defence.

This is because the default time for service of the claim is five days from the Issue Date. By filing the AoS before that five days were up you have effectively told the CCBC that the claim was served today.

I have adjusted my earlier post to show that you have until 4pm on Monday 6th January 2020, rather than Wednesday 8th January 2020, to file your Defence.

Coupon-mad

Don't send a letter to the solicitor, as above. This is NOT that stage.

umbroshinpad

My bad, from reading the Newbies post I thought that I could still do that.

Plus I'd seen a post saying that using the defence that I wasn't driving can work as part of a court defence? If that's not true what am I supposed to build my defence around?

Redx

poor signage , no landowner authority , the CRA 2015 , POFA , contract law , etc


POFA covers a non driver if the claimant failed POFA


read the 17 defence examples in that newbies thread, plus read other ongoing and concluded court cases on this forum

naming the driver works up until the court claim is issued , not after , because it is your name on the claim

Coupon-mad

umbroshinpad wrote: »

My bad, from reading the Newbies post I thought that I could still do that.

Plus I'd seen a post saying that using the defence that I wasn't driving can work as part of a court defence? If that's not true what am I supposed to build my defence around?

Why not just read other threads like yours, and the example defences?