Claim form received from County Court

Redx

Khas said:

Just completed the AoS folks. Thanks for all your support.
Now need to produce the Defence as instructed.
Can I share my Defence here before submitting it, just to confirm I have not missed anything and to get further advice please.

Only the few short paragraphs you have changed , typically 2 & 3 , or maybe a couple more too

It's your homework being checked , not coupon mads !! Lol

Khas

Thanks Redx much appreciated 

Khas

I have drafted my Defence guys and would request you to go through it and provide any feedback please. If any amendments need to be made etc please let me know. I have only altered points 2 and 3 as advised and all the rest is the same as the template.

IN THE COUNTY COURT

Claim No.: XXXXXXXX

Between

UK CAR PARK MANAGEMENT LIMITED

(Claimant) 

- and -  

My Name

 (Defendant)

____________________

DEFENCE

____________________

1.            The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.  It is denied that a contract was entered into - by conduct or otherwise - whereby it was ‘agreed’ to pay a ‘parking charge’ and it is denied that this Claimant (understood to have a bare licence as managers) has standing to sue, nor to form contracts in their own name at the location.

 

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. I, admit that I was the driver of the vehicle when the PCN was issued.

3.            I was going to do my usual school run and I always walk my kids to school but on 16/10/2019 as I was leaving home with my kids, I had a bad attack of asthma, so I decided to drop them to school by car. I could not find any parking space on the road and near the school as it was very busy, and all the spaces were already taken by other cars. The kids were already getting late to school. I saw cars going into Cunningham Close to drop off the children, so I went in and parked my car in the car park. I did not see a sign about private/permit holder parking at the entrance to Cunningham Close. It was cloudy and very windy, so the signs were not clearly visible. There was a parking related sign inside the hedges but the writing on it was too small and unreadable from where I parked my car. I then walked my children to school and rushed back to my car and drove back home. I was parked in Cunningham Close for less than 10 minutes.

4.         The Particulars of Claim set out an incoherent statement of case and the quantum has been enhanced in excess of any sum hidden in small print on the signage that the Claimant may be relying upon.  Claiming ‘costs/damages’ on an indemnity basis is stated to be unfair in the Unfair Contract Terms Guidance, CMA37, para 5.14.3.  That is the official Government guidance on the Consumer Rights Act 2015 ('CRA 2015') legislation which must be considered, given the duty in s71.  The Defendant avers that the CRA 2015 has been breached due to unfair terms and/or unclear notices (signs), pursuant to s62 and with regard to the requirements for transparency and good faith, and paying regard to examples 6, 10, 14 and 18 in Sch2.  NB: this is different from the UTCCRs considered by the Supreme Court, in that there is now a requirement for contract terms and notices to be fair.

As always Thank you for your continued support. 

Coupon-mad

Change 'I' to 'the Defendant' throughout but the story you tell there does you no favours.  You are admitting to trespassing and had no reason to go into a private car park and you don't even say their signs were unclear, you blame the weather. 

Re-draft it without talking about being in a rush or doing the school run, nor following other people into that car park. Did it look like a car park?  Did it look like an unmarked street? Never mind the weather, were the signs unclear?

Change your point #3 so it is more about unclear signs and it not being at all obvious that this Close was being run as if it was a commercial car park.  UKCPM signs are usually badly placed on walls set back from the road so you should be thinking about that trap and saying the signs were scarce and not prominent, and any contract was incapable of being read.

For next time, did you know it is perfectly legal to use double yellow lines to escort a child into premises?  As long as there are no kerb blips, that is one of the allowed exemptions for stopping on street on yellow lines (single or double). 

On this forum we encourage people to stop 'on-street' and be confident about what is allowed, despite popular misconceptions.

There is never a need to use a car park for such brief activity (as long as there is no school gate hanging around chatting). Of course we don't know the location but most schools  are close enough to a small road or two with yellow lines.

Khas

Thank you Coupon-mad for your advice. It’s very helpful and I really appreciate it.
I re-draft the 3rd point as advised and repost it here.
kindest Regards

Khas

I have re-drafted points 2 and 3 from Defence template guys. Could you kindly check and provide your feedback.
Also do these points have to be in bold and Italics as in the template please
Thank you very much for your continued support.

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 also admits that he was the driver of the vehicle when the PCN was issued.

3.            The Defendant parked his car in Cunningham Close on 16/10/2019. The street had no road markings and the signage was unclear and unreadable.  Due to the scarce and unclear signs it was not at all obvious to the Defendant that the Close was being run as if it was a commercial car park. The Defendant parked his car in Cunningham Close for less than 10 minutes. The signs were not prominent and any contract was incapable of being read.

Redx

The bold isn't required

Condense 2 into one sentence , keeper and driver , losing the second sentence , keep it simple and concise !!

In 3 , doesn't say why the defendant was there at all , why 10 minutes ? Loading ? Unloading ? What ? We know what you said earlier was too much but give the judge something , or they will ask you to elaborate in court

Khas

Thank you for the feedback Redx much appreciated.

I have amended both points as per your advice. Could you check and let me know again please.

The facts as known to the Defendant:

2.            It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and the driver of the vehicle in question when the PCN was issued, but liability is denied. 

3.            The Defendant parked his car in Cunningham Close on 16/10/2019 to drop off his children to school as there was no parking available on the main road. The street had no road markings and the signage was unclear and unreadable.  Due to the scarce and unclear signs it was not at all obvious to the Defendant that the Close was being run as if it was a commercial car park. The Defendant parked his car in Cunningham Close for less than 10 minutes. The signs were not prominent and any contract was incapable of being read.

Coupon-mad

to drop off his children to school as there was no parking available on the main road. 

No.

This is repeating your first error and is basically saying "I trespassed on private land because I couldn't park on street so thought I had a right to park anywhere and it wouldn't matter because I wanted to get my kids to school."

Redx

As mentioned above , I didn't want admissions of guilt or you lose straightaway , but to mention that it was a short visit to a local centre or something similar so that the judge understands it wasn't a supermarket or pay and display car park , just what appeared to be a public road where parking is allowed

Coupon mad played devils advocate there very well. 😁😁

The analysis does sum up what many drivers do on a daily basis

Ps , when I were a lad , we walked to school !! Come rain or shine , most parents didn't have a car !

As a child , we had no bathroom and an outside loo , tipple toilet , frozen in winter !! Some aspects of modern life have improved , dropping kids off at their desks is not an improvement however. Walking is exercise !! Lol. ( Rant over )

In order to win this , you need a technica , such as no landowner authority , poor and inadequate signage or markings , etc

Your actions on the day cannot possibly win it