Help with defence

hop130

I wonder if any of the regulars can help with my draft defence to a claim from Excel/Elm for an alleged PCN from 2017?

I received a letter before claim in Feb for £160 principal debt (including £60 debt collection charge) and responded asking for more details required to consider my defence as I was previously unaware of the PCN but never received a reply.  I also submitted a SAR to Excel and received their reply.

The next thing I received was a claim form from CCBC to which I submitted an acknowledgement of service which is now shown on the MCOL website as having been received on 21 September.

I've now prepared my draft defence using CouponMad's template mainly unchanged but with the following 2 additional paragraphs:

16. On receipt of the Letter before Claim on behalf of the Claimant of 7 February 2020 (Appendix B), the Defendant replied on 20 February 2020 (Appendix C) requesting
additional information in compliance with the Claimant’s obligations under the Pre-Action Protocol so the Defendant could respond properly to the alleged claim. The Claimant has not yet responded to the letter to date or provided the information requested.

20. In the letter of 20 February 2020, the Defendant requested that the Claimant provides a copy of the Parking Charge Notice and reinstate any applicable appeal period and discounted payment terms while an appeal is considered. The alleged contravention happened in 2017 and the Letter before Claim was the Defendant’s first awareness of its existence. The Claimant has not responded to this request to date which is clearly in breach of the code of practice.

Thanks for your help.

Le_Kirk

The @Coupon-mad defence requires paragraphs 17 & 18 to be changed (unless she has edited it recently - I know there were changes afoot) and would be rebuttal of the points made in the particulars of claim, which you should find on the claim form from CCBC.  What is the parking company claiming?  It is difficult without the PCN and if they are not responding to SARs you should report them to the ICO.  However, you know what you did and where you parked so you have to come up with legal and technical arguments why you did not follow the terms and conditions of the car park.  What you have written is more suited to a witness statement, which is written as a narrative of what happened on the day and subsequently.  What does it actually say on the claim form as to why they have brought the case?

hop130

Le_Kirk said:

The @Coupon-mad defence requires paragraphs 17 & 18 to be changed (unless she has edited it recently - I know there were changes afoot) and would be rebuttal of the points made in the particulars of claim, which you should find on the claim form from CCBC.  What is the parking company claiming?  It is difficult without the PCN and if they are not responding to SARs you should report them to the ICO.  However, you know what you did and where you parked so you have to come up with legal and technical arguments why you did not follow the terms and conditions of the car park.  What you have written is more suited to a witness statement, which is written as a narrative of what happened on the day and subsequently.  What does it actually say on the claim form as to why they have brought the case?

Thanks @Le-Kirk,

The claim is for a "breach of contract for breaching the terms and conditions set on private land".  They say they identified the vehicle for which I'm the registered keeper and/or driver. That the t&cs were clearely displayed on their sign which constituted the offer and my parking was the acceptance.

What I've done is to insert paragraph 16 above after @CouponMad's paragraph 15 to stress their pre-action protocol breach.  I've also kept @CouponMad's paragraph 17 but replaced 18 with my 20 above.

D_P_Dance

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, sometimes it can lead to cancellation.,

KeithP

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

hop130

KeithP said:

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

9 Sep 2020

Le_Kirk

What they haven't said is HOW you breached the contract.  Did you not pay, did you overstay, did you not display a ticket or permit?

KeithP

hop130 said:

KeithP said:

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

9 Sep 2020

With a Claim Issue Date of 9th September, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 12th October 2020 to file your Defence.

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

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

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

hop130

Le_Kirk said:

What they haven't said is HOW you breached the contract.  Did you not pay, did you overstay, did you not display a ticket or permit?

Sorry, tried to summarise their PoC.  What it says is:

"101) Parked Without Payment Of The Parking Tariff For The Vehicle Registration Mark Of The Vehicle On Site"

The SAR also provided 2 pictures of the vehicle on entry and exit for a duration of 49 minutes.

My main problem is that I have no recollection of having gone in the car park on the day in 2017.  Never recived a PCN or anything else and the first thing I got was a letter before claim in Feb this year.

hop130

KeithP said:

hop130 said:

KeithP said:

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

9 Sep 2020

With a Claim Issue Date of 9th September, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 12th October 2020 to file your Defence.

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

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

Don't miss the deadline for filing a Defence.

Thanks, I've already drafted the defence using @CouponMad's template and will definitely send before the deadline.

Umkomaas

hop130 said:

Le_Kirk said:

What they haven't said is HOW you breached the contract.  Did you not pay, did you overstay, did you not display a ticket or permit?

Sorry, tried to summarise their PoC.  What it says is:

"101) Parked Without Payment Of The Parking Tariff For The Vehicle Registration Mark Of The Vehicle On Site"

The SAR also provided 2 pictures of the vehicle on entry and exit for a duration of 49 minutes.

My main problem is that I have no recollection of having gone in the car park on the day in 2017.  Never recived a PCN or anything else and the first thing I got was a letter before claim in Feb this year.

Have you changed address at any time the vehicle was registered to you?  Please check (no guess) what is showing on the V5C (logbook) if the vehicle is still in your possession.