How to write a Defence statement - parking fine

Dhamma

Hello there,

First of all, I am so impressed by this site, thank you so much for your time and work.

I am a nurse with zero legal experience or knowledge, and my first language is not English. However, I managed to have a 'Judgement in Default' set aside and my parking fine is going to tribunal. I have 2 weeks to submit the defence statement. I have found the template here and my questions are related to that.

Template defence to adapt for all parking cases where they add false admin costs - edited March 2022 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

1. can I write 'SHE' 'HER' or only the Defendant? 
2. What does it mean in the bracket? "is denied that this Claimant (understood to have a bare licence as managers) has standing to sue or form contracts in their own name." How would i know if they own the parking lot or just operate the business?
3. Do i need to number the paragraphs like on the template?
4. Do i need to include all of the points raised on the template, with examples etc. or only the ones that are relevant to my case?  (although, it seems all would be relevant as I did not know that they should not claim the' recovery cost' only after reading it in the document
5. Will i need to produce evidence, or the witness statement with my evidence , that i handed to the Judge when the JD was set aside, will be filed and used on the tribunal?
6. Do i need to include this 'The Claimant is urged not to patronise the Defendant with (ironically template) unfounded accusations of not understanding their defence.'?

A lot of questions and more to come. Citizens Advise could not help unfortunately. I would really appreciate some help, please. 

Also, wishing a happy healthy new year to everyone!

Fruitcake

Well done on getting your case set aside before coming here.

Very few of the regulars here have any legal training including the lady who wrote the defence template, so don't worry about having no legal knowledge or experience yourself, especially with what you have already achieved.

It is not a fine, so you should never use that word in a private parking case.
It is a defence, not a defence statement.

I can't answer all your questions but I will do my best, and others will come along I'm sure to help you.


1) In a defence you should normally only refer to the "claimant" or the "defendant" but you can still say things like, the defendant left his/her car at X location. You can also refer to other people such as a parking attendant or witness.

3) Yes, all paragraphs need to be numbered, but you only need to amend paragraphs 2 and 3 to suit your case, and only need to show us those paragraphs. If you do need to add more (numbered) paragraphs then you will need to renumber all the paragraphs that follow it.

4) Include all the points. They are all relevant.

5) Normally evidence and witness statement comes later in the process but may be different for a set aside tribunal. Wait for more experienced posters to answer, but do mention what evidence you have in your defence.

6) Yes.

Forget Citizens Advice Bureau (in England and Wales at least) as they are clueless with regards to parking problems.

Mouse007

Fruitcake said:

Well done on getting your case set aside before coming here.

Second that. Very well done indeed.

If you can share a little about how and where you got your Parking Charge Notice from we can steer you in the right direction. Was it work, or where you live or at the shops? Did you see any signs warning you about parking charges? What is your story?

Fruitcake

Plan A is always a complain t to the landowner and your MP, and it is never too late to do so. As above, please tell us where this alleged event occurred as it may have appeared on this forum before, and please tell us the name of the unregulated private parking company.

Umkomaas

Citizens Advise could not help unfortunately thankfully!

Fixed that for you. They, more often than not, give a bum steer.