Preparation of Defence HX / Gladstones

blancswann

I acknowledged the claim today 12th (I only received the claim in the post yesterday)

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th February, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 11th March 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:

1. Print your Defence.
   
2. Sign it and date it.
   
3. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
4. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5. 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'.
   
6. 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.
   
   After filing your Defence, there is more to do...
   
   
7. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire. Nothing of interest there. Just file it.
   
8. Wait for your own Directions Questionnaire from the CCBC, or download one from the internet - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n180-directions-questionnaire-small-claims-track , and then complete it as described by bargepole in his 'what happens when' post linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES thread - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou"]
   
9. The completed DQ should be returned by email to the CCBC to the same address and in the same way as your Defence was filed earlier.
   
10. Send a copy of your completed DQ to the Claimant - to their address on your Claim Form.

Coupon-mad

You need to adapt one of our defences. 

There is (honestly, when you read them calmly) hardly any legal jargon in them but you need to just add your own facts to an existing one.  Recently I wrote one for basher52 and Jellybelly23 so you could look at them and adapt them.
What you want to write will come later; your Witness Statement will cover the story of what happened.

blancswann

Coupon-mad said:

You need to adapt one of our defences. 

There is (honestly, when you read them calmly) hardly any legal jargon in them but you need to just add your own facts to an existing one.  Recently I wrote one for basher52 and Jellybelly23 so you could look at them and adapt them.
What you want to write will come later; your Witness Statement will cover the story of what happened.

Thank you for this, and sorry to be a numpty but how do I find those? I've tried searching the names but I can't find anything!

DoaM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6080926/varley-park-university-of-brighton-county-court-claim/p1
Wasn't hard to find basher52's thread - you want page 13. The Advanced Search makes things easier.

D_P_Dance

they seem very legal jargon which is what is worrying me

I have won five cases at CC.  In none of them did I use legal jargon.

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP., it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and in some cases, cancellation.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

blancswann

blancswann said:

Coupon-mad said:

You need to adapt one of our defences. 

There is (honestly, when you read them calmly) hardly any legal jargon in them but you need to just add your own facts to an existing one.  Recently I wrote one for basher52 and Jellybelly23 so you could look at them and adapt them.
What you want to write will come later; your Witness Statement will cover the story of what happened.

Thank you for this, and sorry to be a numpty but how do I find those? I've tried searching the names but I can't find anything!

Thanks @Coupon-mad, just another question - a lot of the defence statements talk about the signage in the car park. I honestly can't remember what the signage was like, and I didn't request this information. Do I still leave this argument in my defence?

blancswann

Also HX and Gladstones, refer to the ticket that was incorrectly validated as a 'Pay and Display' ticket. However it isn't a pay and display ticket because it says it is a receipt and there is no need to display the ticket. Does this hold any value in the argument?

DoaM

Signage and wording is key ... if the ticket/receipt states that it does not need to be displayed, yet the signs in the car park say it does, then you have ambiguous contractual terms. Thus the doctrine of Contra Proferentem applies ... the meaning which most-favours the party who did not draw up the contractual offer (in this case the consumer) shall apply.

KeithP

...just another question - a lot of the defence statements talk about the signage in the car park. I honestly can't remember what the signage was like, and I didn't request this information. Do I still leave this argument in my defence?

You must mention signs.
It is the signs that form the basis of any contract.
Conversely, the lack of signs, or the poor quality of them, could mean that no contract was ever formed, so there is no possibility of a contract being broken.