Draft defence Civil Enforcement Ltd due for submission 11 April

holseb

Hi, here is my defence which I calculate should be submitted by 11 April (Date of Service 15 March).  I would be very grateful for any help with it.  I have included points 2 and 3 only of the template defence given on this forum; the rest is unchanged from the template.  I am also a bit confused about the SAR which I sent to CEL 19 March.  Can anyone explain what use I can make of this when I have to submit my defence before getting a reply from that?  Thank you very much.

The facts as known to the Defendant:

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 of the vehicle at the time of the alleged incident.

3. 

The driver of the vehicle, who I decline to name, has stated the following:

The restrictions on parking in this area were new.  The driver had not been in the area for the previous 12 months.   

At the time in question, the car park was dark.  In these conditions:

No barriers or warnings were visible on entering the car park.  There was no visible indication of an introduction of new parking restrictions.  The driver of the vehicle has evidence of this.

The car park was inadequately lit and the signs were therefore not visible. The driver of the vehicle has evidence of this.

In addition to inadequate lighting, the car park is overshadowed by trees, reducing light levels still further, particularly in contrast to the conditions outside the car park.

Due to being inadequately lit and its location near to an urban park and pubs, the car park feels unsafe.  The driver feels that her attention was necessarily focussed on potential threats, not on looking for new signs in the dark.

The POPLA appeal was denied on the grounds that the driver entered during daylight hours.  This was not the case, the driver has evidence of this and challenges the validity of the evidence supplied by Civil Enforcement Limited.

The new restrictions were designed to protect the adjoining surgery and pharmacy, both of which were closed at the time in question.  There was therefore no possibility of obtaining a parking permit so I deny that a contract existed and therefore could not be breached.

As both premises were closed, no purpose was served by applying a penalty at this time.

The driver had no intention of parking in a restricted area, and had they been aware that it was such, would have parked in easily accessible free parking adjacent.  The fact that they did not do so supports their claim that the signage was not visible in the dark.

I am the registered keeper but not the driver of the car at the time in question.  I first heard about this charge by post some weeks later and that was the first knowledge I had of the new restrictions or the fact that they had allegedly been breached.  I have suffered harassment by a bombardment of debt recovery letters for more than two years.

I question the Claimant’s compliance with “keeper liability” requirements set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4.

KeithP

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

The information returned as a result of your Subject Access Request is likely to be more useful at Witness Statement time.

There is no place in a Defence for the word 'I'.
Everything should be written in the third person.
E.g. your last sentence should start "The Defendant questions...".

holseb

Hi KeithP, the issue date is 10 March.  Thanks for all the other information, I will alter accordingly.

Coupon-mad

Also remove any ''I am'', or me/my, because a Defence is written in the third person as 'the Defendant'.

holseb

All done, thank you

KeithP

holseb said:

Hi KeithP, the issue date is 10 March.  Thanks for all the other information, I will alter accordingly.

Yes you are almost right with your Defence filing date, but a deadline will never be on a Sunday.
Also that date depends on when you filed an Acknowledgment of Service.
I am going to assume that you filed an AoS sometime after 12th March and before 30th March. Please confirm. Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

With a Claim Issue Date of 10th March, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 12th April 2021 to file your Defence.

That's just a few days 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.

holseb

Yes, AOS filed 25 March.  

Fruitcake

You only have a few days left to file the defence. Do not miss that deadline.

SayNoToPCN

For para 2 and 3 you are told to include a brief background, not multiple para telling the story. The story in long form is left for the witness statement. 

holseb

Thank you all for your help.  The defence is now filed.  I have to be away from home for all of next week but my understanding from the general advice given is that nothing critical will arrive in the post in that time.  If that's not the case do let me know, I don't want to mess up at this stage. 

Le_Kirk

You should be able to log on to your MCOL account to keep up to date but it is only likely to show that/when your defence has been received.  Nothing more until CCBC send your defence to the claimant and they then have 28 days to respond.