CCBC Claim for CP Plus at Moto services

Notagain51

Hi Guys,

I received a claim form from the CCBC the other week. Since then I've been delving into this site to try and find out my options.

The PCN was originally issued because I was parked for 2.5hrs at a Moto services for a coffee and recovery sleep due to excessive tiredness to the point of it being dangerous to drive. 

The old PCNs and debt collector letters were binned as they appeared to be nothing more than bullying spam.  Now I have this court claim form which needs attention.

I have emailed the CEO of Moto directly and was fobbed off a number of times by his assistant and parking queries. They just washed their hands of the whole incident and wanted me to engage with CP Plus, which I refuse to do.

The details of the claim are: 

Amount Claimed	£195.36
Court Fee	£35.00
Legal representative’s costs	£50.00
Total Amount	£280.36

Issue date is the 08 Nov 2022


If I'm right in thinking then my next option it to construct a defence which I'm currently doing as per your Newbie thread. I'll post sections 2 & 3 on here once completed for your analysis.

Thanks again guys for all the help you've offered to everyone needing it. You must find it rewarding to help so many.

KeithP

Notagain51 said:

I received a claim form from the CCBC the other week.

Issue date is the 08 Nov 2022

If I'm right in thinking then my next option it to construct a defence which I'm currently doing as per your Newbie thread. I'll post sections 2 & 3 on here once completed for your analysis.

Hello and welcome.

You make no mention of it, but have you filed an Acknowledgment of Service?
If so, upon what date did you do so?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Hopefully you filed an Acknowledgment of Service some time after 11th November and before 4pm last Monday 28th November.

I'll wait for your answer to that before commenting further.

Notagain51

Hi Keith

Yes I did file the AOS on the 18th Nov.

KeithP

Notagain51 said:

Hi Keith

Yes I did file the AOS on the 18th Nov.

With a Claim Issue Date of 8th November, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 12th December 2022 to file your Defence.

That's a little over a week 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.

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'.

Notagain51

Cheers Keith. I'm on it.

Notagain51

Plenty of helpful info out there for the defence. I found one in particular which seems to cover my situation quite well so have amended that one. 

Am I right in thinking that all the other paragraphs in the template from 4 on are to remain the same and unchanged? 

Between

CP Plus Ltd T/a Groupnexus

(Claimant) 

- and -  

xxxxxxxxx

 (Defendant)

_________________

DEFENCE

 

1. The parking charges referred to in this claim did not arise from any agreement of terms. The charge and the claim was an unexpected shock. The Defendant denies that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.  It is denied that any conduct by the driver was a breach of any prominent term and it is denied that this Claimant (understood to have a bare licence as managers) has standing to sue or form contracts in their own name. Liability is denied, whether or not the Claimant is claiming 'keeper liability', which is unclear from the Particulars.

 

The facts as known to the Defendant:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle in question.

3. On the material date the defendant was returning home from working away in Scotland. 
Whilst approximately 1.5 hours away from home, the defendant felt dangerously tired so stopped at Wetherby Moto motorway service to rest in accordance with the government's Tiredness Kills and Take a Break campaign, warning motorists not to drive when tired.

4. The defendant pulled into a parking bay close to the entrance of the main building at the back of the carpark, went inside for a coffee, returned to the car and fell asleep for a short while to allow the caffeine to stimulate. On waking, the defendant continued his journey home.

5. No signs with parking contractual terms limiting the time a motorist should rest when tired were present where the defendant's vehicle was parked, and the claimant is put to strict proof that the contrary is true.

6. The defendant was surprised later to receive a parking charge notice (PCN) from a company called CP Plus, but did not respond because they believed this to be a scam since forcing a tired motorist to drive whilst tired directly contradicted the Department for Transport's “THINK! Fatigue” driving tiredness campaign encourage motorists to “take breaks and rest rather than drive when tired” and to “Make time for a break”.

7. The facts in this defence come from the Defendant's own knowledge and honest belief.  To pre-empt the usual template responses from this serial litigator: the court process is outside of the Defendant's life experience and they cannot be criticised for adapting some pre-written wording from a reliable advice resource. The Claimant is urged not to patronise the Defendant with (ironically template) unfounded accusations of not understanding their defence. 

I have renumbered the paragraphs so what was 4 in the template is now 7. I hope that's the right thing to do.

Coupon-mad

Looks good to me.

Notagain51

Cheers. That bit of reassurance is always welcome. Next step submission.

Umkomaas

Im assuming that DCB Legal are representing CP Plus, if so, I thought I'd draw your attention to this fairly recent thread which you might have missed. You must keep going through all the necessary court procedure phases, but the hope is that your case will follow the same pattern as all those detailed in the thread. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations/p1

Notagain51

You're correct in your assumption about DCB Legal. I had missed that thread, but it's good to see. Thanks for highlighting.

Hopefully this will follow that same path. If not, then I'll be singing "hi ho, hi ho, it's off to court I go". 

Notagain51

Hi guys and happy new year.

Just an update. My defence was received on the 7th December according to the moneyclaim site. Since then I have received the SAR which contained three parking letters from CP Plus. 

I have not received any other correspondence from anyone else.

What is the usual response timescales from the defence being received?