Help with Defence - Claim Form received from BW Legal

IronWolf

Hi

I have recently received a Claim Form related to an unpaid PCN from NCP and am at the stage of preparing my defence. I have filled in the online form acknowledging receipt of the legal papers, and have read through the stickies in this board to draft my defence.

The incident was last year, when I parked in a car park for under 2 hours and paid for 3 hours parking. For some reason, they issued a PCN and I have appealed and refused to pay. I didn't keep a receipt for the payment, but my bank statement shows the required amount charged to my account (with the name of the car park on the statement) the day after the incident. I sent this to both NCP and BW Legal over the last 6 months but they refused to accept it as proof I paid and said I needed a receipt.

I have implicitly admited I drove and parked on the day in question in my correspondence with them, so have prepared my draft defence accordingly. I submitted an SAR to NCP last year and received photos of my car entering and leaving, but they did not give me any records of payments at the machine on the day in question to use.

Do I have a chance of winning this? My draft defence is as follows:

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. This claim relates to a period of parking on 4th July 2021 at the National Car Parks (NCP) XX car park of 1 hour 46 minutes. The Defendant parked at this location on the date in question and paid in full the required amount for this duration of stay. But for reasons unknown to the Defendant, a parking charge notice was issued on 7th September 2021 claiming penalty charges. As evidence of making the required payment, the Defendant supplied his bank statement to the Claimant showing the debit card payments during the month in question. On 4th July 2021, the parking fee at NCP XX was £Y for up to three hours, and this exact amount can be seen deducted from the Defendant’s bank account the following day. But when the Defendant supplied this evidence, the Claimant rejected it and continued pursuing penalty charges.

4. The facts in this defence come from the Defendant's own knowledge....[rest of the template defence will be included]

Other questions:

- Do I need to fill in the (online) defence form or can I print out and submit the template document by email like the stickies advise? Just asking because the entire defence won't fit on the form and the stickies suggest emailing the defence.

- Should I include the evidence with my defence? I have a photograph of the parking fees from that day as well as my bank statement showing the amount deducted the day after (hoping that it's enough even if it took a day for the payment to clear).

- Should I counter claim for some amount? The end of the template defence includes something that looks like a counter claim but no amounts are there. Do I need to set a figure?

Not_A_Hope

You have an excellent chance of defeating this scam in court if the PPC is daft enough to take it that far.

You do not fill out any on line forms. Email your defence only to the address given in the Newbies.

No evidence is submitted at this stage. That will come later with your witness statement.

What term or condition exactly is the PPC stating you failed to comply with?. Did you have to enter your vehicle reg at this site? 

Have you submitted a SAR yet?

IronWolf

Not_A_Hope said:

You have an excellent chance of defeating this scam in court if the PPC is daft enough to take it that far.

You do not fill out any on line forms. Email your defence only to the address given in the Newbies.

No evidence is submitted at this stage. That will come later with your witness statement.

What term or condition exactly is the PPC stating you failed to comply with?. Did you have to enter your vehicle reg at this site? 

Have you submitted a SAR yet?

Thanks for the info.

This is what they say I breached:

This notice serves to inform you that an outstanding Parking Charge of £100 remains unpaid.
This charge relates to the period of parking specified in this document, the charge having been
incurred due to the following breach of the car park terms and conditions of use: Parked without
payment of the parking charge and liability for the same having been brought to the attention of
the driver by clear signage in and around the site at the time of parking.
The breach relating to the period of parking was recorded by an approved ANPR camera.

If i remember correctly, I had to input my vehicle reg at the machine and pay. It could be I input it incorrectly, I'm not sure.

I did submit an SAR and all they sent me where the PCN letters they'd issued along with bigger photos of my car reg. The lawyer also sent me photographs of the signs at the car park along with the fees.

Not_A_Hope

I suspect that a VRN had to be inputted and a machine error may have occurred. They are supposed to look for close matches in case a minor typo has occurred but that doesn’t earn them any money. 

What is the name of the car park? It may have cropped up on here before. 

Did the ‘lawyer’ actually send photographs of the signs or are they a stock photo of a sign on a desk. What does the sign actually say as that is the basis of the contract they allege you broke. Post a photo on here.

It would be useful to get your own photos of the signs, location and visibility as these often provide additional defence points.

IronWolf

Not_A_Hope said:

I suspect that a VRN had to be inputted and a machine error may have occurred. They are supposed to look for close matches in case a minor typo has occurred but that doesn’t earn them any money. 

What is the name of the car park? It may have cropped up on here before. 

Did the ‘lawyer’ actually send photographs of the signs or are they a stock photo of a sign on a desk. What does the sign actually say as that is the basis of the contract they allege you broke. Post a photo on here.

It would be useful to get your own photos of the signs, location and visibility as these often provide additional defence points.

It's NCP Sidney Street, Sheffield.

They are actual photographs of the sign at that car park.

Coupon-mad

If i remember correctly, I had to input my vehicle reg at the machine and pay. It could be I input it incorrectly, I'm not sure

Add a paragraph stating the above and point out under the BPA Code of Practice 2020 (and reiterated in the incoming new statutory Code Appeals Charter) if there had been a keying error, then NCP were required to carry out human checks to identify it and cancel the PCN but they failed to do so. The Defendant is still in the dark about what they are being accused of and how the system/keypad failed them that day.  The Claimant is put to struct proof of verified machine logs and to explain their reasons for failing to follow the mandatory Code of Practice.

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

IronWolf

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Issue date is 6 Jan 2023 and I did the AOS today, 13 Jan 2023.

KeithP

IronWolf said:

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Issue date is 6 Jan 2023 and I did the AOS today, 13 Jan 2023.

With a Claim Issue Date of 6th January, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 8th February 2023 to file your Defence.

That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence and it is good to see that 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'.

Not_A_Hope

It is still worth getting your own photos of the signs. Their first photo suggests the camera was pointing skyward. How high was the sign? How big is it? Is it readable? What are the instructions on the pay and display terminal? Would a judge agree that the requirement to enter the full and correct registration number is part of the ‘terms and conditions’ for parking? It doesn’t seem to be mentioned on the Terms and Conditions sign which forms the basis of the contract they are trying to suggest you broke.

A relative of mine had a PCN recently for not providing a VRN. Despite still having the ticket to prove he paid they still took him to court. With support from the regulars on here to provide a good defence and witness statement they chose not to bother turning up at court. My relative was awarded £95 in costs.

Le_Kirk

IronWolf said:

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. This claim relates to a period of parking on 4th July 2021 at the National Car Parks (NCP) XX car park of 1 hour 46 minutes. The Defendant parked at this location on the date in question and paid in full the required amount for this duration of stay. But for reasons unknown to the Defendant, a parking charge notice was issued on 7th September 2021 claiming penalty charges. 

Do not refer to them as penalties, at best it is a speculative invoice.  Sometimes it is OK to defend as admitted driver as you can then given an honest in-person account to the judge if it comes to a hearing.