PCN at County Court defence stage

RobbingWho

Hi, I'm just formulating the defence document after progressing through the newbie threads. The court document was a surprise as we hadn't received anything related to the PCN, so I have no info to suggest whether the claimant acted in a timely manner at the relevant stages etc. We remember visiting the area and the car park, and paying for a ticket (it was over a year ago). The court document states it's for parking over time. The AOS has been submitted and the defence is next.

For the defence, the key paragraphs 2 and 3 need to include relevant edits. Can I run these by the forum here please?

So far I have: 

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The facts as known to the Defendant:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question and it is not known who the driver was on that specific date as multiple drivers are insured on the vehicle.

The defendant visited [location] on Xth Month 2021 with family. The defendant did not receive any letters from the Claimant and only became aware after receiving the County Court Claim Form on 22nd September 2022 (Issue Date 20th Sep 2022). An Acknowledgment of Service was submitted on 5th October 2022. The defendant has requested details of the alleged PCN from the Claimant and their Solicitors via a Subject Access Request and a CPR 31.44 respectively (receipt acknowledged), but has received no information thus far.

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Without them sending us information, photos, etc it's difficult to come up with any more than that.

Many thanks in advance.

Coupon-mad

It's refreshing to see you've read the resources and are so well prepared.

Did they not even send the LBC to the right address?

I think your defence would be better if you search the forum for ''Highview unremarkable day'' and copy one like that.  Very commonly written.

Which PPC?

Which solicitor?

What's the date of issue of the claim?

When exactly did you do the AOS?

RobbingWho

Thank you coupon-mad.

We haven't moved address in that time, and the V5 document has our current address. So not sure what's happened. But we were in the area they indicate on the date they say.

Local Parking Solicitors Limited, with Gladstones Solicitors.

Issue date: 20th Sep

Aos submitted on the 5th October.

Thank you

KeithP

RobbingWho said:

Issue date: 20th Sep
Aos submitted on the 5th October.

With a Claim Issue Date of 20th September, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 24th October 2022 to file your Defence.

That's less than a week away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence and it is good to see you are not leaving 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.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

RobbingWho

KeithP said:

RobbingWho said:

Issue date: 20th Sep
Aos submitted on the 5th October.

With a Claim Issue Date of 20th September, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 24th October 2022 to file your Defence.

That's less than a week away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence and it is good to see you are not leaving 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.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Thanks Keith.

I’ve formulated a defence based on the resources for newbies. My text for points 2 and 3 is included above. Ignorance of or not receiving notices isn’t a defence as claimants don’t need to evidence that they indeed processed and sent anything out. So without any information back from them yet (and I don’t hold out much hope of them doing it anytime soon) about the details it’s hard to write anything more for points 2 and 3 than I have above. If anyone has the time to read the text I’ve pasted and comment on its suitability that would be appreciated. The rest of the defence is effectively taken from the defence template included through the newbies section.

Thank you

Coupon-mad

As I said earlier:

"I think your defence would be better if you search the forum for ''Highview unremarkable day'' and copy one like that.  Very commonly written."

Le_Kirk

RobbingWho said:

Local Parking Solicitors Limited, with Gladstones Solicitors.

Is it Local Parking Security Ltd., as what you have put does not seem to exist!

RobbingWho

Le_Kirk said:

RobbingWho said:

Local Parking Solicitors Limited, with Gladstones Solicitors.

Is it Local Parking Security Ltd., as what you have put does not seem to exist!

Apologies, yes, you’re correct. Local Parking Security Ltd

RobbingWho

Update of the key paragraphs for the defence:

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 insured driver of the vehicle in question and is unable to recall who was driving on that day over a year ago. The Claimant is put to strict proof of their assertions, which are currently indecipherable from the sparse particulars which provide no clarity as to the Claimant's basis of claim

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.  However, the Defendant was not served with an NTK to their knowledge and the burden of proof lies with the Claimant to show good service, POFA compliance and a liability trail. 

4. The defendant has requested details of the alleged PCN from the Claimant and Gladstones Solicitors via a Subject Access Request and a CPR 31.14 respectively, but has received no information thus far.

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More context, or to preemptively answer any questions you may have:

The company is Local Parking Solutions Ltd.

The car park is over 60 miles away, over the border in England from Wales. We haven't visited before, so not a regular location. We recall the car park being a grassy field, but that's about it. Can't get right into it on Google Maps. This is the closest you can get: [maps link]    and a slightly diff angle  [maps link] (edit: can't post links yet as too new a member), so here's grid refs (it's the caravan park direction if using street view) 

51°51'12.6"N 2°38'57.4"W

It's the field to the right in those images. There aren't any visible cameras to record licence plates, it seems. 

I've edited the first post to reflect the exact wording from the County Court claim form.

Given timings, I'm thinking it may need to be sent tomorrow by email.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Coupon-mad

RobbingWho said:

Le_Kirk said:

RobbingWho said:

Local Parking Solicitors Limited, with Gladstones Solicitors.

Is it Local Parking Security Ltd., as what you have put does not seem to exist!

Apologies, yes, you’re correct. Local Parking Security Ltd

But then you've said:

"The company is Local Parking Solutions Ltd."

RobbingWho

Coupon-mad said:

RobbingWho said:

Le_Kirk said:

RobbingWho said:

Local Parking Solicitors Limited, with Gladstones Solicitors.

Is it Local Parking Security Ltd., as what you have put does not seem to exist!

Apologies, yes, you’re correct. Local Parking Security Ltd

But then you've said:

"The company is Local Parking Solutions Ltd."

Coupon-mad said:

RobbingWho said:

Le_Kirk said:

RobbingWho said:

Local Parking Solicitors Limited, with Gladstones Solicitors.

Is it Local Parking Security Ltd., as what you have put does not seem to exist!

Apologies, yes, you’re correct. Local Parking Security Ltd

But then you've said:

"The company is Local Parking Solutions Ltd."

Arghh, apologies. Was writing replying while parenting! The S in LPS is Security , sorry