Court Papers received - draft abuse of process defence

MC12345

Hello all,
First time post but used the information on here numerous times, so thanks to everyone for that.
My Girlfriend has told me she has received court paperwork for an alleged parking offence in Nottingham the papers were received last week.
Date of alleged Parking Offence: xxth October 2019
Date letter received advising of PCN : None ever received
Date of Solicitors letters:xx..2.20 and yy.3.20 (she thought these were junk mailed so had not opened the envelopes)
Court Letter Issues Date: 8th June 2020
Solicitors: Gladstone Solicitors Limited.

Claimant HX Car Park Management
Car Park: Marco Island, Huntingdon Street, Nottingham
Amount £242.09

She received the court papers and this was the first she heard of it, went back through her spam envelopes post pile and found the two solicitors letters but no PCN's letters.

She is sure she did park in the car park on the date in question in her new car, the car park is one of these where you pay by call, she did this but the system was playing up, she had parked here before so the number was registered to her old vehicle registration, she made a payment, she has bank statement to prove this. (also attached below). She has phoned the car park people and they have said you have missed the window to appeal (she didn't even get a PCN so couldn't appeal). They couldn't even check if the payment she made was mistakenly against her old vehicle as they dont keep those transactions /data over 3 months apparently  ??

She asked them f they have payment on record for her old car, they said yes, but not new, car, she said is that not enough, they said no, its too far down the process now to stop it. She phoned the solicitors office and they also said no too late to do anything other than pay.

She has upgraded her phone, to text payment history not available, but she swears she selected the option to specify new vehicle, I have no reason to doubt her she is a very clever lady, but she is just too busy to deal with this and tempted to just pay it, I have said I'd pick this up as to me it stinks, no PCN in required time period, no right to appeal, just a strong arm tactic.

I have attached the alleged court papers below, and bank statement that shows payment.

Also attached is the draft abuse of process document with section 17 & 18 edited (are they ok ? - nothing else editied other than the red bits) and also Southampton document (have I got the correct version / document attached)

Thanks for any assistance and feedback / suggestions.

We filed an acknowledgement of service yesterday to get the extra 14 days.

Le_Kirk

I see from the scan of the court claim form this it was issued on 8th June.  @KeithP will be along to give you some deadlines about filing the defence, submitting the AoS, and finding our standard defence template.  Of course, you know that, whilst you are assisting, the claim and defence has to be in the name of the defendant named on the court claim form.

KeithP

MC12345 said:

Court Letter Issues Date: 8th June 2020

We filed an acknowledgement of service yesterday to get the extra 14 days.

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

That's just over two weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create and file a Defence, look at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

MC12345

Thanks very much.

You will see I have prepared a draft defence using the info in the newbie thread - it is attached to my initial post above. I’d welcome your thoughts on the bits add (coloured in blue in attached PDF to original post).

Thanks very much in advance.

Coupon-mad

Very good. 

You don't attach evidence yet though, so not the bank payment receipts.

As she is admitting to being the driver, I would remove the template #17 (none of it is relevant to her case) and replace it like this, with her words:

17.  The defendant attempted to pay for parking using the telephone facility as indicated on the signs in the carpark and has historically done so successfully in the same carpark named in the particulars of the claim. The defendant experienced technical difficulties in attempting to make the payment and tried several times. A fellow driver was also experiencing difficulty also. Eventually it seemed that a payment was taken successfully, and the defendant has evidence of the payment but the Claimant knows that payment was made, so this is not in dispute.  this is confirmed by the 

Page 7 of 9 

 

transaction listed on the defendants bank statement (appendix 2). 
18.  The defendant has not received any parking find  charge documentation and her attention regarding the alleged breach of contract was upon receipt of court papers. As a result the defendant has not been afforded the right to appeal the ticket. The defendant contacted both the acting solicitors and claimant on receipt of court papers but was told it is too late to appeal the process as the court process has been started. The defendant has written to both the acting solicitors and claimant directly asking that they discontinue the claim advising that payment was made and providing proof (bank statement – appendix 2) that the payment was made, no response has been received from either party. 

D_P_Dance

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,

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

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

nosferatu1001

I would change to:
".., the defendant has evidence of the payment, the Claimant knows that payment was made, therefore the fact the payment was made is not in dispute..." - does the claimant acknowledge payment? If so then you can state this fact is not in dispute

MC12345

Thanks for all the replies thus far, much appreciated.

I have read the other threads and seen that people have secured costs when they have won the case, which in this case looks like it will be a no brainer. What happens if they see the defence, and think oh cr*p and discontinue / pull / cancel the claim ? Is there still scope to pursue them for costs in preparing the defence etc ?

This has really miffed me, what they have done and I want to nail them, it has really put my other half under considerable stress, her vocation means she can not have a CCJ against her to hold her position and she has been worried about losing her job, that is why she was going to pay it, she has had sleepless nights about it and not been able to concentrate on work, I would like to pursue them for damages and costs in one way or another, she has read the defence and all the great information on here and really wants to nail them to the wall now also.

Le_Kirk

All of your (and your other half's) reading should have put your minds at rest.  No one can have a CCJ issued against them unless they have been taken to a small claims court hearing (in this case), lost and then failed to pay the judgment within the time scales set by the judge.

beamerguy

This is a very simple process in 3 parts

1: Either they discontinue and then it's all over
2: You go to court and lose ?   DOUBTFUL ?  The judge will tell you it must be paid within say 30 days, you pay and it's all over, NO CCJ and no risk of a CCJ
3: YOU WIN, and you can claim costs up to £100 against them

Make sure you highlight ABUSE OF PROCESS to the judge.  He/She will either dismiss the case or simply deduct the fake £60 off the claim

nosferatu1001

Damages - you woul dneed to file a claim for that, after the conclusion of this claim, or file a counter-claim now. You would need to have a good sets of causes of action, such as - if they apply - breach of DPA, harassment, interference with lease etc. 
Costs - CPR27.14(2)(g) sets limits on the costs on small claims track. You need to show how their behaviour was so unreasonable - a classic would be a doc admitting they know they dont have a claim against you, but are doing it anyway in the hope you wil pay up - that you are due more costs.
Or 
You can, if you have grounds to get it struck out now, get is struck out before it gets allocated to the small claims track. If that happens they lose all costs protection, as the rule i mentioned above was never engaged as it was never on the SCT. However, the most assured way to get it looked at pre-allocation is through a formal application ,which costs £100. If your app. is successful it would be a cost you add to your bill.