County Court Defence Assistance Please

winterbeats

Good evening,
I have written a defence to a case that has been brought against me and I was hoping the kind souls on this forum wouldn't mind helping by confirming a few things to me?

A claim was issued against you on 30/11/2020

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 08/12/2020 at 08:06:22  - Am I right in thinking this means I have until the 27th December to submit my defence by email?

Furthermore would you mind checking over prepared paragraphs two and three? I have used the template that was kindly posted by coupon-mad.

The Facts - The signs in this car park are not prominent, clear or legible and there is insufficient notice of the sum of the parking charge itself.

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied. The defendant further admits her car was in Floats Road Car Park on the 30th March 2020 but denies they were in breach of the advertised terms and conditions on this day due to a lack of clear and readable signage. The defendant was attending an anomaly scan at Wythenshawe Hospital during her pregnancy and turned up at the exact time requested but both the maternity and the children’s hospital car parks were full. The defendant noted this could be due to the fact each machine had a sign on it stating that the machines were not in use and no charge was necessary for parking at this time during lockdown (evidence to be supplied in witness statement). The defendant noted another car park on Floats Road and parked here and walked up to the machines which were covered and ‘not in use’ was printed directly on to the covers as per the other hospital machines. It was not made clear on the covers of the machines that alternative means of payment needed to be made and as all other car parks were free during this period, it was assumed this one to be included as there was no clear signage directing the defendant where to pay and there was no obvious easy to read signage stating otherwise.

3. Upon returning to the car park after receiving a demand for £100 from VCS due to non-payment for parking at Floats Road the defendant noticed that there was still no clear signage advising where to pay for parking but a sign had been sellotaped to the side of the main sign directing customers to pay by telephone quoting a car park code (evidence to be provided in witness statement). Again this was not made clear or obvious to the customer using the same colours as the brightly covered main sign that did not clearly draw the customers eyes to it. The signs needed to inform the customer of the parking charge were not obviously placed and clearly placed where the eyes are not drawn to (for example on the cover of the machines). Furthermore it was noted they are unremarkable, not immediately obvious as parking terms therefore drastically reducing the legibility of a sign, especially one which must be read before the action of leaving the car.

Does this sound about right? I have photo evidence that the machines did not have signage on them directing where to pay for parking but just said machine not in use. 

Many Thanks

KeithP

winterbeats said:

A claim was issued against you on 30/11/2020

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 08/12/2020 at 08:06:22  - Am I right in thinking this means I have until the 27th December to submit my defence by email?

 You are mistaken. You have more time than you think.

With a Claim Issue Date of 30th November, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 4th January 2021 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.

nosferatu1001

Concision is an art. Please learn it. 

If you need to write that much - and you don't - then use more para. 

KeithP

winterbeats said:

Am I able to email the questionnaire back to the court as well as the claimant or do they need to be posted?

Look again at that list you used when filing your Defence - the bit following item 6 on that list:

6. After filing your Defence, there is more to do.

Items 8, 9, 10 and 11 on that list answer the questions you now have.

winterbeats

KeithP said:

winterbeats said:

Am I able to email the questionnaire back to the court as well as the claimant or do they need to be posted?

Look again at that list you used when filing your Defence - the bit following item 6 on that list:

6. After filing your Defence, there is more to do.

Items 8, 9, 10 and 11 on that list answer the questions you now have.

Thank you Keith, I was looking in the Newbies thread rather than the defence template one.