ECP/DCB Legal court claim

paulh1983

KeithP said:

paulh1983 said:

Update. 

Claim form arrived just before Xmas (was away but thankfully caught it in time). 

Will acknowledge service of the claim tomorrow morning first thing and work on my defence.

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

18th Dec

Day of Service = 23rd Dec. 

That means respond before 6th Jan? As said, was away so not ideal but just glad got it in time. 

KeithP

paulh1983 said:

KeithP said:

paulh1983 said:

Update. 

Claim form arrived just before Xmas (was away but thankfully caught it in time). 

Will acknowledge service of the claim tomorrow morning first thing and work on my defence.

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

18th Dec

Day of Service = 23rd Dec. 

That means respond before 6th Jan? As said, was away so not ideal but just glad got it in time. 

Yes that does mean you need to make your first response by 6th January and these details may help...

With a Claim Issue Date of 18th December, you have until Monday 6th January 2025 to file an Acknowledgment of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 20th January 2025 to file a Defence.

That's over two weeks 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 again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that 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'.

paulh1983

Thank you Keith, incredibly helpful and useful.  

AOS submitted.  I'll get on with my defence and share draft in this thread.

Gr1pr

Only show the few paragraphs that you adapt here,  not the whole defence,  thank you 

paulh1983

Draft defence as below, just the paragraphs that are adapted - rest to be from the template.  Feedback very welcome.

The facts known to the Defendant:

2. The facts in this defence come from the Defendant's own knowledge and honest belief.  Conversely, the Claimant sets out a cut-and-paste incoherent and sparse statement of case. The POC appear to be in breach of CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7, and fail to "state all facts necessary for the purpose of formulating a complete cause of action". The Defendant is unable, on the basis of the POC, to understand with certainty what case, allegation(s) and what heads of cost are being pursued, making it difficult to respond. However, the vehicle is recognised and it is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver.

3.1 The defendant entered the car park on the date in question at 14:40, as per the ANPR images shared by EuroCarParks and proceeded to purchase a 1hour ticket (purchase time of 14:43). 

3.2 Owing to the considerable time passed since the incident, the defendant is not able to recall exact timings.  However, before the allotted hour of 15:43 the defendant returned to the car park to top up an additional hour in order to continue with their shopping.

3.3 The defendant attempted to pay using their mobile phone but upon doing so lost charge from their battery before payment was complete.    

3.4 At this point the defendant returned to their vehicle to see if they had any loose change to make a coin payment on the machine.  The defendant found they had no suitable change available.

3.5 The defendant then spent approximately 10 minutes asking other patrons in the car park if they had either some change they could provide or a mobile phone charger to allow a battery boost to make a contactless payment.  Neither attempt were successful.

3.6 Unable to make any payment, the defendant returned to their vehicle and left the car park, time record as per ANPR cameras as 15:59.

3.7 Upon returning to their home, the defendant e-mailed EuroCarParks to inform them of the situation and requested information on ways of making the payment retrospectively to cover the extra time.  An automated response e-mail was received immediately.

3.8 No further correspondence was received with advice or guidance on how to make the retrospective payment.

Gr1pr

Too much info,  save most of it for the witness statement 

Use the recent ECP numbered rebuttal response for paragraph 3, changing the date to suit 

Add a concise 3.1 about the difficulty in making payment so a prompt exit

paulh1983

Thank you!  Didn't clock that the POC says PCN issued on the date of incident as opposed to when it was actually issued!  Amended to the below - still too much?

3. Referring to the POC: paragraph 1 is denied. The Defendant is not indebted to the Claimant. Paragraph 2 is denied. No PCN was "issued on 19/08/2021" (the date of the alleged visit).  Whilst the Defendant is the registered keeper and driver, paragraphs 3 and 4 are denied. The Defendant is not liable and has seen no evidence of a breach of prominent terms.  The quantum is hugely exaggerated (no PCN can be £170 on private land) and there were no damages incurred whatsoever. The Claimant is put to strict proof of all of their allegations.

3.1 The defendant had difficulties in making payment on the alleged date and having made unsuccessful attempts to do so, made a prompt exit from the car park.

paulh1983

Just to keep the thread updated - will submit my defence tomorrow when I get a spare moment.  Thanks again for contributions to support.

Keen to see the back of these shysters and hopefully share a success story from it!

paulh1983

Letter received in the post today from Courts & Tribunals Service:

Standard template stuff.

Acknowledgement of defence.  Copy served on the claimant, may contact me directly etc. etc. They must contact court within 28 days if wishes to proceed.

As a slight side note, I'm moving house and it waiting for the actual date to be confirmed but it could be anytime in the next few weeks, of course I'll use Royal Mail Redirect service but is there anyway of updating the court on a change of address?  Don't want to be caught out and it go to the wrong address.

Le_Kirk

I think there is an email address for just this on the list of addresses from CNBC on the template defence thread. Will check it.
ETA It is CaseProgression.CNBC@justice.gov.uk
Doh or rather dot!  Added above