County Court Claim

smittenkitten

Hi Please may I have your advise on the defence thank you 

2.       It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied The Defendant was not the driver at the time. The defendant was at work at the time. The defendants wife was the driver taking our son to the Surgery House Medical Centre for a pre booked appointment.

3 The defendant cannot be held liable due to the Claimant failing to comply with the keeper liability requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“The Act”), Schedule 4, including paragraph 9 (2) (f). The Defendant also denies that the vehicle keeper is obliged to name the driver to a private parking firm. Had this been the intention of Parliament, they would have made such a requirement part of The Act.

4,      The Defendant first heard about this parking charge in Apr 2020 (will add date) when they received a "Notice To Keeper", and since that date have felt harassed by the constant bombardment of ‘debt recovery’ letters. 

5.  This car park is for patients at Suthergrey House Medical Centre and users of the medical centre register on a tablet inside the property.    At the time the defendants wife the driver registered at the GP Surgery as soon as the driver was allowed access to the building and has full proof of the appointment and has complained to the surgery who have provided further proof of the appointment.  The Claimant should be aware that this situation means there is no legitimate interest in pursuing the parking charge which is clearly predatory and punitive, unfairly targeting surgery patients.

Do I add her witness statement here?

thank you

Redx

Witness statement time is in a few months after your nominated court is involved , so no , not yet

Ideally you should both be complaining to the practice manager and getting it cancelled , or getting a witness statement from them supporting the defence , nevermind proof of appointments

smittenkitten

Thank you

I have written 2 letters to the practice manager (first manager left)  i have just phoned to see why i have not received a reply the receptionist has said she will chase this ........

I will ask for the witness statement - good point

Le_Kirk

Your defence contains narrative that should be kept for the witness statement (WS).  Keep the defence to legal/technical arguments. Paragraph 2 could be shorter: -

2.       It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but not the driver and liability is denied. The Defendant was not the driver at the time. The defendant was at work at the time. The defendants wife was the driver taking our son to the Surgery House Medical Centre for a pre booked appointment.  The defendant cannot be held liable due to the Claimant failing to comply with the keeper liability requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“The Act”), Schedule 4, including paragraph 9 (2) (f). 

Paragraph 3 should set the scene about the car park including attending a pre-booked appointment and were therefore de facto authorised to park there.  Defence should also refute what the POC states.  Keep the rest as evidence and narrative (the story) for the WS.  You should be able to get it all in one paragraph.  Do not throw the driver under the bus.

Redx

Take out , the Defendant s wife was , too

Just state ,  The driver was taking my son to , etc

Do not assist the claimant , just deny being the driver , make it harder for the claimant , otherwise they may concede and then issue a claim against the Driver

Le_Kirk

Redx said:

Take out , the Defendant s wife was , too

Just state ,  The driver was taking my his son to , etc

Do not assist the claimant , just deny being the driver , make it harder for the claimant , otherwise they may concede and then issue a claim against the Driver

Make sure you keep it in the third person as above.  

Coupon-mad

Suthergrey House Medical Centre

Or 'Surgery House' as you say earlier on in that draft?

I think #5 should be moved up to be #3, so that the stuff about the surgery visit flows better.

smittenkitten

thank you so much for your help,  will re edit and add back here 

smittenkitten

Hi is this better (thank you for your help)

2.       It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied The Driver was taking his son to the Suthergrey Medical Centre for a pre booked appointment.

3 The defendant cannot be held liable due to the Claimant failing to comply with the keeper liability requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (“The Act”), Schedule 4, including paragraph 9 (2) (f). The Defendant also denies that the vehicle keeper is obliged to name the driver to a private parking firm. Had this been the intention of Parliament, they would have made such a requirement part of The Act.

4,      The Defendant first heard about this parking charge in Apr 2020 when they received a "Notice To Keeper", and since that date have felt harassed by the constant bombardment of ‘debt recovery’ letters The car park is for use of patient to the Doctors Surgery called Suthergrey Medical Centre.  The driver was authorised to use the car park as was taking his son (a minor under 16) for a pre booked appointment.  On booking into the Medical Centre for the appointment the driver entered the details onto the tablet inside the property.  Full proof of the appointment has been issued to Civil Enforcement.  The Claimant should be aware that this situation means there is no legitimate interest in pursuing the parking charge which is clearly predatory and punitive, unfairly targeting surgery patients.

KeithP

The less information you give about the driver, the better.

To that end I would adjust the sentence starting 'The driver' in your para 4 to read:
The driver was authorised to use the car park as was taking a patient (a minor under 16) for a pre booked appointment.

A very small point, but worth making the change in my opinion.