DCB/NEXUS Parking Charge @ Strensham Services Small Claims intiial letter/defence

Coupon-mad

Number 4 starts ‘following on from 4’ (should say ‘following on from 3’).

and ‘Not only does the POC’ should be number 5 to break the paras up.

peterkgb1

Coupon-mad said:

Number 4 starts ‘following on from 4’ (should say ‘following on from 3’).

and ‘Not only does the POC’ should be number 5 to break the paras up.

Thanks, and do you think that is good to go as my defence, then?

peterkgb1

These are the amended sections of the template for my defence, going off tonight.  Hopefully I have listened and understood correctly all of the much appreciated advice given here.  Many thanks

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 identity of the driver at the material time is unknown to the Defendant. The Defendant was not the only potential driver of the vehicle in question and is unable to recall who was or was not driving on an unremarkable day nearly 3 years ago.

3. The Defendant believes that the Notice to Keeper was not compliant with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ('PoFA'), and therefore incapable of holding the keeper liable with the ‘keeper liability’ requirements set out in the PoFA, Schedule 4.

4. Following on from [3] where it is noted that the Claimant has elected not to comply with the 'keeper liability' requirements set out in the PoFA, Claimant has included a clear falsehood in their Particulars of Claim (‘POC’) which were signed under a statement of truth by the Claimant's legal representative who should know (as the Claimant undoubtedly does) that it is untrue to state that the Defendant is 'liable as keeper'.  This can never be the case with a CP Plus Limited claim because this parking firm, same as any Group Nexus company, have never used the POFA 2012 wording, of their own volition. 

5. Not only does the POC include this misleading untruth, but the Claimant has also added an unidentified sum in false 'damages' to enhance the claims.  So sparse is their statement of case, that the Claimant has failed to even state any facts about the alleged breach or the amount of the parking charge that was on the signage, because it cannot have been over £100. Which then leads to the question, how does the Claimant arrive at the Amount Claimed for a Total of £190.07. The Defendant has excluded the £35 Court Fee & £50 Legal representative's costs from the Total amount for the purposes of this defence point.

Le_Kirk

Don't ask a question in a defence, rather use "the claimant is put to strict proof of how they calculated a total of ........."
Don't forget to add back the rest of the defence template before you send it.  Not suggesting you would but I've seen it happen!

Jenni_D

And make sure you renumber the subsequent paragraphs

peterkgb1

All done and submitted with these suggestions.  Thanks everyone

peterkgb1

Following submission of my defence, I have now received a letter from DCBLegal requesting to know:
1. who was legally entitled to drive the vehicle
2. how many people frequently drove the vehicle at the time
3. an address for the driver

Do I just ignore this letter?  Thanks

Redx

Yes , ignore it , it's standard fodder to trap the unwary

They can ask in the hearing , if it gets that far

You have no legal liability to answer , so no comment , I decline to answer , etc , in the USA it's pleading the 5th. It shows that they know their client has not complied with POFA and so the keeper has no liability in law , so are hoping that the defendant will help them out

There were some replies on here some time ago , which went something like this

1) every adult over 21 in the UK who has fully comprehensive insurance , plus police , garage mechanics and various other professions

2) more than one

3) ask your client , it was their job to identify the driver and only claim from them , nobody else

peterkgb1

It looks like this is going to court - date set for next week.  any more advice from anyone?  Thanks

KeithP

You filed a Defence at the end of August and we've heard virtually nothing from you since.

When was your Witness Statement and evidence filing deadline?
Have you filed and served your Witness Statement and evidence?