Draft Defence - Claim form/ Gladstone Solicitors/One Parking Solution Ltd

Le_Panache

Hi all,
I am happy I got here in the end. I am a newbie to the forum and it has taken me ages to figure out how to post on the forum.
I need urgent help please.

My Case
I received a Claim Form with an issue date of 6th Dec 2019. I have already filed an Acknowledgement of Service and stated that I wish to defend the claim.
I recently called the Court and I was advised that My deadline for filing a Defence is Wednesday 8th Jan 2020. Sorry it looks like I havent got a lot of time left but I have been combing through related posts to find anyone that is identical to my case but it seem there is none. So I have used the information gathered on the forum to the best of my ability to come up with a draft Defence.

Particulars of Claim
"The driver of the vehicle with registration number xxxxxx ( the Vehicle ) parked in breach of the terms of parking stipulated on the signage ( the Contract) at Xxxxxxxx St, P&D Town, Postcode on 4th March 2018 thus incurring the parking charge (the PCN). The PCN was not paid within 28 days of issue. The Claimant claims the unpaid PCN from the Defendant as the driver/keeper of the vehicle. Despite demands being made, the Defendant has failed to settle their outstanding liability. The Claimant claims £100 for the PCN, £60.00 contractual costs pursuant to the Contract and PCN terms and conditions , together with Statutory interest of £21.41 pursuant to S69 of the County Court Act 1984 at £0.04 per day.

Breakdown od costs
Amount claimed £181.41
Court Fees. £25.00
Legal Representative's Costs £50.00

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Total Amount. £256.41

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The Scenario
- I am the registered keeper of the vehicle.
- I was not aware of any breach.
- There was no time a PCN was placed on the windscreen of my vehicle that i know of
- I did not receive any Notice to Driver/ Notice to Keeper letter/s from any Parking company
- with reference to an alleged PCN
- demanding for payment of a parking fine nor
- supplying a photographic evidence of any breach whatsoever.
Surprisingly, I received a Letter before Claim from Gladstone Solicitors dated 11th October 2019 stating they are writing on behalf of their client - One Parking Solution Ltd. Claiming there had been a parking breach on 4th March 2018, PCN no xxxxx, Location: xxxxx St, Post code, Charge amount £160 and demanding payment withing 30days of the letter.
The time period between the alleged offence and this LBC is 18 months !!
I felt they were jokers, so I ignored the letter.
Another Letter before Claim came again dated 13th Nov 2019, same content as the previous one and enclosing a copy of the previous LBC, now demanding payment by 27th November 2019. ie 19 months after the alleged breach.
I ignored them again because I had sometime ago had an experience from a parking company claiming I overstayed at a Lidl carpark and demanding that I pay a fine. I simply ignored them and never heard anything back since then.
So I thought this Gladstone Solicitors and One Parking Solution cowboys will soon back off.
They went on to issue a County Court Claim instead.
N/ B Just found out about SAR on this platform. May be I should have applied for that earlier. Will this have a negative impact on my case?

DEFENCE
1. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed or at all.
2. It is admitted that the Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle
3. It is denied that the Defendant has committed a breach of the terms of parking as alleged by the Claimant.
4. The Defendant was not aware a PCN was served.
5. Notice to Driver had not been served neither by placing it on the windscreen nor by post.
6. The Defendant got to know there was an alleged breach when a Letter before Claim from Gladstone Solicitors dated 11th October 2019 was received by post stating they are acting on behalf of One Parking Solution Ltd in regards to a breach in parking terms on the 4th March 2018 and demanding a payment of an outstanding amount of £160.00 for an alleged PCN OPSxxxxxxx .
7. The time gap between the alleged offence and the Letter before Claim was roughly 18 months
8. The Defendant denies receiving a Notice to Driver.
9. Notice to Keeper - Schedule 4 Paragraph 8(5) or 9(5) of Protection of Freedom Act 2012 specify the time limits for serving a Notice to Driver . Where
no Notice to the Driver has been served e.g if an ANPR is used, Not later than 14 days after
the vehicle was parked
10. The Claimant has acted non compliant to Sec 4 Para 8(5) or 9(5) of Protection of Freedom Act 2012
11. Had the parking compamy ie One Parking Solution Ltd issued a Notice to Keeper with all the relevant information i.e
a) the particular spot on the land the vehicle was parked on
b) photographic evidence of vehicle parked on thie alleged land
c) stated the time the vehicle was parked on the land and not just the date
d) specified the outstanding amount of the parking charge and the added costs
e) Invite the registered keeper to pay OR
f) to provide the name and the address of the driver at the time of the alleged breach and pass a copy of the Notice on to the driver
The Claimant has failed to comply with Para 6 Sec 4, and Para 7 of the PoF Act by not sending a Notice to the Keeper but instesd, the Claimant has improperly obtained the Registered Keeper's details from DVLA
12. The Defendant denies that a contract was formed with OneParking Solution Ltd as there is
a) no photographic evidence of the vehicle on the private land alleged to have resulted in
the breach
b) no notice to driver was issued at the time nor sent later
c) no detailed information given in the Letter before Claim from Gladstone solicitors e.g time
of the breach, the specific location on the private land
13. In summary, the Claimant particulars disclose no legal basis for the sum claimed and the Court is invited to dismiss the claim in its entirerity

Statement of Truth:
I believe that the facts stated in this Defence are true.

Name
Sign
Date

Kindly help peruse and correct my Defence. Im a newbie at this you help will be greatly appreciated considering the short notice. Many thanks

LePanache

KeithP

Le_Panache wrote: »

I received a Claim Form with an issue date of 6th Dec 2019. I have already filed an Acknowledgement of Service and stated that I wish to defend the claim.
I recently called the Court and I was advised that My deadline for filing a Defence is Wednesday 8th Jan 2020.

Yes, your deadline date for the filing of your Defence is correct, but there might be something useful here...


With a Claim Issue Date of 6th December, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 8th January 2020 to file your Defence.

That's tomorrow.


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.

beamerguy

£60.00 contractual costs pursuant to the Contract and PCN terms and conditions , together with Statutory interest of £21.41 pursuant to S69 of the County Court Act 1984 at £0.04 per day.

Breakdown od costs
Amount claimed £181.41
Court Fees. £25.00
Legal Representative's Costs £50.00

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Total Amount. £256.41

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Dear oh dear, the Gladstones boys off on one again.

Only yesterday they were spanked in court again with the judge saying the £60 fake scam was not lawful

ABUSE OF PROCESS
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

If Gladstones cannot comply with the law then the SRA should know about it, they are after all a regulator for solicitors and those who knowingly break the law
https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems.page

nosferatu1001

Just send them a SAR after you file your defence. No, it wont count against you.

Given they had 6 years to claim, 19 months is nothing. So, dont ignore in future
Any reason they might not have sent the NtK to your correct address? Change o faddress? V5C is up to date?

4) Irrelevant
5) NtDs cannot be served by post, by nature. A NtK is the only thing that can come through the post. Just state a NtD was not found on the vehicle to your knowledge.

6) Not a defence. Just state the first the D knew of this was a LBC dated... and leave it at that. No other details needed.
7) Irrelevant
8) A mere repeat of something mostly irrelevant.
9) Horrible wording. They do not specify a time limit to serve a NtD, merely the two DIFFERENT time limits on serving a NtK depending on whetehr a NtD was served or not. Thats it. State that as no NtD was served, the keeper was not liable as no NtK was received within the 14 day period mandated by POFA2012 schedule 4 para 9... and state exactly what POFA stands for the first time you use it. FORMAL docuemnt. Define EVERY acronym the first time it is used.

I gacve up there. Its a horrible mess. You dont understand the points you are making, I would suggest.
CLARITY.
A defence is an argument as to why you are not liable
The D is not liable because the C ahs failed to comply with.. this is because...
Repeat for each argument.

What else happened? Was it a pay and display car park? Free? Overstay? Not parked in bay? What?

You know, we dont.

Le_Panache

Hi KeithP,
Thank you for the vital information.
I am working on amending the body of my Defence to get it ready for tomorrow.

Coupon-mad

Lots of OPS cases are about car parks in my area, Sussex. Is yours the same?

Which car park and what circumstances please?

Was it dark, was it your own residential car park, or where?

Le_Panache

Hi all,
Thank you for your comments/ suggestions and corrections.
Pls take a look at the ammended Defence . Your comments / corrections will be highly appreciated cince I will be submitting it today.
Many thanks.

Defence (amended)

1. The Defendant denies the fact that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed or at all.

2. It is admitted that the Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle.

3. It is denied that the Defendant has committed a breach of the terms of parking as alleged by the Claimant.

4 Notice to Driver was not found on the vehicle to my knowledge

5. The first time the Defendant knew of this was in a Letter before Claim dated 11th October 2019.

6 As no Notice to Driver was served, the Keeper is not liable. As no Notice to Keeper was received within the 14 day period mandated by the Protection of Freedom Act 2012 Schedule 12 Paragraph 9,

The Defendant denies that the Claimant can transfer liability from the Driver to the Defendant because they have not complied with the requirement of the PoF Act 2012 which is the only mechanism for such a transfer in particular, they have not served served a Notice to the Keeper within 14 days or at all

7. The Defendant denies a Contract was formed with the Claimant because the Claimant has failed to comply with the PoF Act 2012 Schedule 4 paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 as no NTD was served and no NTK was received within the mandatory 14 days or at all

Schedule 4 paragraph 7 of the PoFA stipulates the mandatory set of information that must be included on the parking ticket. If all of this information is not present then the Notice to Driver is invalid and the condition set out in paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 has not been complied with. Failure to comply with paragraph 6 means that the registered keeper cannot be held to account for the alleged debt of the driver.
Which car the ticket relates to
What land the car was parked on
The period the car was parked
When and how the parking rules were broken
What the parking charges are for the infringement of the rules, and of the maximum additional costs they may seek to recover, and the date by which those parking charges should be paid
Any discounts for paying within 14 days – which should be at least 40% of the full charge under the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice (applies to BPA Members only)
How to pay and to whom (this must be the person legally entitled to the money – the “Creditor”)
The date the time the notice was issued
How appeals and complaints can be dealt with – for parking companies who are members of the B PA.
Schedule 4 paragraphs 8 and 9 of the PoFA stipulates the mandatory information that must be included in the Notice to Keeper. If all of this information is not present then the Notice to Keeper is invalid and the condition set out in paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 has not been complied with. Failure to comply with paragraph 6 means that the registered keeper cannot be held to account for the alleged debt of the driver.

Which car the ticket relates to
What land the car was parked on
The period the car was parked
Advise that the driver is liable for the parking charge and the amount and that it has not been paid in full
State whether a notice to the driver was given either to the driver or placed on the vehicle and if so to repeat the information in that notice about paying the parking charge and when
Specify the outstanding amount of the parking charge and of the maximum additional costs they may seek to recover, and of the dispute resolution arrangements
Invite the registered keeper to pay the outstanding parking charge or, if he was not the driver, to provide the name and address of the driver and to pass a copy of the notice on to that driver
Identify the “creditor” who is legally entitled to recover the parking charge
Warn the keeper that if the parking charges remains outstanding after 28 days and the name and address of the driver has not been given, or otherwise known to the person entitled to the parking charge, that “creditor” will be entitled to recover the parking charge from the registered keeper.
Details of the discount for payment within 14 days, The Discount should be at least 40% of the full charge under the BPA Code of Practice (applies to BPA Members only)
Date of the notice
Schedule 4 paragraphs 8(5) or 9(5) specify the time limits for serving a Notice to Keeper. If this is not complied with then the registered keeper cannot be held to account for the alleged debt of the driver.


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:

Sign:

Date:

Le_Panache

Hi Coupon-mad,

Honestly, I was not even aware of any breach of Parking terms until I received a LBC
Yes, its in Sussex area. The road mentioned in the LBC is a long road with free parking but towards the end of the road there is 1hr stay.
But it is not exactly known which part of road , the exact location the alleged breach happened and when? since no NTD was found to my knowledge No NTK was received either so its all vague at the moment until I send for a SAR.

Le_Panache

Hi Nosferatu,
Thank you for your detailed reply. Much appreciated .
I have taken the corrections / comments on board and have written an ammended Defence
To answer your questions
"What happened" ........
1. The road mentioned is a long road with free parking ie no pay & display
but towards the end of this road, there are some shops and its 1 hr Stay free parking.
But since theres no NTD nor NTK it is not exactly known which location of the road the alleged breach took place nor the time. Otherwise it would have been a different ball game ie to appeal it or contest it then
The only info I have at the moment is what is on the LBC which is quite vague.
I will be sending for an SAR after submitting the Defence.
Please read my ammended Defence and see what you make of it.
Many thanks.
Defence (amended)

1. The Defendant denies the fact that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed or at all.

2. It is admitted that the Defendant is the registered keeper of the vehicle.

3. It is denied that the Defendant has committed a breach of the terms of parking as alleged by the Claimant.

4 Notice to Driver was not found on the vehicle to my knowledge

5. The first time the Defendant knew of this was in a Letter before Claim dated 11th October 2019.

6 As no Notice to Driver was served, the Keeper is not liable. As no Notice to Keeper was received within the 14 day period mandated by the Protection of Freedom Act 2012 Schedule 12 Paragraph 9,

The Defendant denies that the Claimant can transfer liability from the Driver to the Defendant because they have not complied with the requirement of the PoF Act 2012 which is the only mechanism for such a transfer in particular, they have not served served a Notice to the Keeper within 14 days or at all

7. The Defendant denies a Contract was formed with the Claimant because the Claimant has failed to comply with the PoF Act 2012 Schedule 4 paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 as no NTD was served and no NTK was received within the mandatory 14 days or at all

Schedule 4 paragraph 7 of the PoFA stipulates the mandatory set of information that must be included on the parking ticket. If all of this information is not present then the Notice to Driver is invalid and the condition set out in paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 has not been complied with. Failure to comply with paragraph 6 means that the registered keeper cannot be held to account for the alleged debt of the driver.
Which car the ticket relates to
What land the car was parked on
The period the car was parked
When and how the parking rules were broken
What the parking charges are for the infringement of the rules, and of the maximum additional costs they may seek to recover, and the date by which those parking charges should be paid
Any discounts for paying within 14 days – which should be at least 40% of the full charge under the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice (applies to BPA Members only)
How to pay and to whom (this must be the person legally entitled to the money – the “Creditor”)
The date the time the notice was issued
How appeals and complaints can be dealt with – for parking companies who are members of the B PA.
Schedule 4 paragraphs 8 and 9 of the PoFA stipulates the mandatory information that must be included in the Notice to Keeper. If all of this information is not present then the Notice to Keeper is invalid and the condition set out in paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 has not been complied with. Failure to comply with paragraph 6 means that the registered keeper cannot be held to account for the alleged debt of the driver.

Which car the ticket relates to
What land the car was parked on
The period the car was parked
Advise that the driver is liable for the parking charge and the amount and that it has not been paid in full
State whether a notice to the driver was given either to the driver or placed on the vehicle and if so to repeat the information in that notice about paying the parking charge and when
Specify the outstanding amount of the parking charge and of the maximum additional costs they may seek to recover, and of the dispute resolution arrangements
Invite the registered keeper to pay the outstanding parking charge or, if he was not the driver, to provide the name and address of the driver and to pass a copy of the notice on to that driver
Identify the “creditor” who is legally entitled to recover the parking charge
Warn the keeper that if the parking charges remains outstanding after 28 days and the name and address of the driver has not been given, or otherwise known to the person entitled to the parking charge, that “creditor” will be entitled to recover the parking charge from the registered keeper.
Details of the discount for payment within 14 days, The Discount should be at least 40% of the full charge under the BPA Code of Practice (applies to BPA Members only)
Date of the notice
Schedule 4 paragraphs 8(5) or 9(5) specify the time limits for serving a Notice to Keeper. If this is not complied with then the registered keeper cannot be held to account for the alleged debt of the driver.


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:

Sign:

Date:

nosferatu1001

Thought I recognised this on pepipoo
When cross posting on fora, tell people you are and give links. Means we know what youre doing.

Its still a mess. Ive given feedback on pepipoo, but it fails to challenge:

1) Signage
2) Standing to sue

and is completely reliant on POFA. If they prove they sent a NtK, or the court just finds as fact you were the driver, then youre stuffed.

The_Deep

Total Amount. £256.41


Do not forget to include this in your defence. claims are now regularly being thrown out of court because of such abuse.