Appealing BW Legal/NCP Defence

AshCash

Hi all. Can I start by saying I appreciate what all of you do. I was a little late to the party and my initial communications with both NCP and BW Legal were me explaining the situation as I saw it rather than following the guidance on this forum. They changed the letters from my partner (the keeper and passenger) to me (the driver). Long story short:

- I was driving and pulled up to the payment machine nearest the exit
- My partner (the keeper) jumped out and attempted to pay. Payment machine was out of order. She tried to call staff using the button. There was no answer. Several other people also tried to pay. Nobody had any success.
- Meanwhile, I was approached by someone who worked there and they told me to pull the car up outside the exit because I was potentially in the way (I wasn't)
- After a few mins of trying my wife came out to the car and we were spat out onto a one way system. We downloaded the app and tried to pay via that but couldn't find the facility when searching (there may be Apple or provider logs of this?)
- I have not stated this in my previous communications but the signage was (of course) inadequate and I am also dyslexic so probably worth mentioning in my defence? I have yet to make a return trip to the facility to get pictures but I will before filing. 

Can I just check, this is what I've put for paragraphs 2 & 3 as a starting point. Is this okay?

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

3. The defendant's partner (the keeper) was unable to pay due to the payment machine being out of order. The defendant was asked by a member of staff to park outside of the facility while his partner attempted to make payment as the vehicle was potentially obstructing traffic. There was no answer when the keeper attempted to contact a member of staff using the payment machine. The facility was poorly lit and the signage was inadequate. There were no payment barriers in place and no indication that there was another way to pay other than the machine that was out of order. The driver suffers from dyslexia and it is unreasonable to expect to him to read the protracted terms of service laid out on the signage at the exit of the facility. The defendant has asked both NCP and their legal representative multiple times for either CCTV or logs from the payment machine to form part of this defence and these requests have been either denied or ignored.

I have just filed the AoS today so the clock is officially ticking. Thanks in advance. 

Coupon-mad

What's the date of issue on the Claim form?

Change this bit if I am right that you in fact left without parking there?

The defendant was asked by a member of staff to park outside of the facility while his partner attempted to make payment as other vehicles were manoeuvring in and out.  The whole set up appeared shambolic and the Defendant and his wife left without accepting any parking contract.

AshCash

Coupon-mad said:

What's the date of issue on the Claim form?

Change this bit if I am right that you in fact left without parking there?

The defendant was asked by a member of staff to park outside of the facility while his partner attempted to make payment as other vehicles were manoeuvring in and out.  The whole set up appeared shambolic and the Defendant and his wife left without accepting any parking contract.

No - apologies for the confusion. We did park there for a number of hours. We didn't see a payment machine so we got in the car and drove towards the exit looking for one. The first and only payment machine we found was very near the exit but was not working.

AshCash

The date of issue is 20 Dec. I was a little confused about dates due to all the bank holidays we've just had plus the RM strikes. I tried to calculate +5 days as per instructions.

KeithP

AshCash said:

The date of issue is 20 Dec.

AshCash said:
I have just filed the AoS today... 

With a Claim Issue Date of 20th December, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 23rd January 2023 to file your Defence.

That's nearly three 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 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'.

AshCash

KeithP said:

AshCash said:

The date of issue is 20 Dec.

AshCash said:
I have just filed the AoS today... 

With a Claim Issue Date of 20th December, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 23rd January 2023 to file your Defence.

That's nearly three 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 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. Any thoughts on my summary of events in Section 3.?

AshCash

Little bump. If anyone could tell me if my Paragraph 3 is suitable before filing, I'd really appreciate it.

Coupon-mad

Why not just adapt the change that I suggested already? e.g. this (below) or your own version, if I am still going a bit wrong:

The defendant was asked by a member of staff to park outside of the facility while his partner attempted to make payment as other vehicles were manoeuvring in and out.  The whole set up appeared shambolic and the only payment machine we found was very near the exit but was not working.

AshCash

Coupon-mad said:

Why not just adapt the change that I suggested already? e.g. this (below) or your own version, if I am still going a bit wrong:

The defendant was asked by a member of staff to park outside of the facility while his partner attempted to make payment as other vehicles were manoeuvring in and out.  The whole set up appeared shambolic and the only payment machine we found was very near the exit but was not working.

I didn't see a response after I explained that we had stayed at the car park. Appreciate the amendment! 

AshCash

I submitted my defence on time during working hours to the email address provided but I have not received any form of confirmation. What should I do??

KeithP

AshCash said:

I submitted my defence on time during working hours to the email address provided but I have not received any form of confirmation. What should I do??

You should've received an automated email receipt within minutes.
Check your email spam folder.
Also check your email sent folder to confirm you sent it to the correct address.

Also your MCOL Claim History should show a line like the following but that may take a week or two...
Your defence was received on dd/mm/yyyy 

...then query the situation with the CCBC - phone number on your Claim Form.

Also worth noting that the CCBC have recently reported being a couple of weeks behind with this sort of thing.