Letter of Claim despite McDonalds cancellation

KeithP

Belly_8uster said:

The letter is dated 07 July 2023. It is from Northampton which just happens to be relatively local to me.

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th July, you have until Wednesday 26th July 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 Wednesday 9th August 2023 to file your Defence.

That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave the preparation of it to the last minute. However, you should leave the filing of it as late as possible.

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'.

Coupon-mad

 Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave the preparation of it to the last minute. However, you should leave the filing of it as late as possible.

This is why:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80169203/#Comment_80169203

Belly_8uster

Thanks for the help. I have acknowledged service through MCOL and will work on (but not send yet!) my defence.

Belly_8uster

Here is my draft defence, any comments would be appreciated.

Headings, sections 1 and sections 4 to 27 taken verbatim from:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76880595/#Comment_76880595

Sections 2 + 3:

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

3. On 20th August 2022 the Defendant met with a friend to have a meal at the McDonalds <LOCATION REDACTED> restaurant. Being a Saturday lunchtime, the restaurant was exceptionally busy, with the service being extremely slow.

The Defendant’s only business while parking was to have a meal at the McDonalds restaurant.

On 25th August 2022 the Defendant received a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) number <PCN REDACTED> from the Claimant stating a parking duration of 1 hour 41 minutes, just 11 minutes in excess of the supposed maximum stay time of 1 hour 30 minutes.

Following receipt of the notice the Defendant spoke with the Duty Manager in person at the restaurant and explained the circumstances of the visit on 20th August. At the time the Defendant had receipts showing they had been eating at the restaurant, and with this information the Duty Manager agreed they would contact the Claimant to cancel the Parking Charge Notice. The Defendant believed this was the end of the matter.

In September 2022 the Defendant received a Debt Collection Notice from ZZPS Limited dated 23rd September 2022 quoting the PCN reference number and referencing the Claimant.

On 7th October 2022 the Defendant again visited the restaurant and spoke the Duty Manager. The Duty Manager again agreed to contact the Claimant to cancel the PCN. This time the Defendant requested that the Duty Manager provide a copy of the email to the Claimant, so that the Defendant had a written record of the cancellation. The Defendant duly did receive a copy of the email, confirming the cancellation had been sent to the Claimant.

Following a Subject Access Request made to the Claimant by the Defendant, the Claimant’s Data Protection Team acknowledged that they had records of the 7th October email sent by the McDonalds Duty Manager.

The Claimant can therefore be in no doubt that the Claimant’s client (McDonalds) required the Claimant to cancel the PCN. Furthermore, the Defendant could not possibly be expected to have incurred any debt, not least any costs, having been assured, twice, that the PCN would be cancelled.

The Claimant has pursued this frivolous case to court with no expectation of a successful outcome but merely as a vexatious route to try and pressurise an unjust payment from the Defendant.

B789

That's War & Peace. Shorten it to a single paragraph if possible. You will expand on the brief but punchy "hook" in your defence when you come to prepare your WS.

You were a patron. You received an unfair PCN and the landowner agreed to get it cancelled. However, the claimant ignored the cancellation order and vexatiously pursued a claim thus wasting the court's time. The Defendant respectfully requests that the court strike out the claim as it is without merit and for unreasonable behaviour by the claimant.

...or something short and sweet along those lines.

Every paragraph is to be numbered sequentially.

Belly_8uster

Ok understood - thanks. At least the wordage will come in handy for the WS!

Belly_8uster

Ok I've revised my Defence. Points 1 - 2 and 4 - 35 from Johny86's template https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79886196/#Comment_79886196

Point 3 trimmed down to:

3. The Defendant was a patron at the restaurant. The landowner wrote to the Claimant to cancel the PCN. However, the Claimant ignored the cancellation order and vexatiously pursued a claim thus wasting the court's time. The Defendant respectfully requests that the court strike out the claim as it is without merit, and for Claimant’s unreasonable behaviour.

Is there anything new to add based on the recent consultation updates?

Coupon-mad

Yep.

The Template Defence has been edited.

Belly_8uster

Quick one. I got a letter request a N180 DQ, which I emailed about 10 days ago (and got an auto-reply confirmation).

An entry for it hasn't appeared on MCOL and the deadline for the response is today. Should I resend it, or are delays pretty normail?

KeithP

Belly_8uster said:

Quick one. I got a letter request a N180 DQ, which I emailed about 10 days ago (and got an auto-reply confirmation).

An entry for it hasn't appeared on MCOL and the deadline for the response is today. Should I resend it, or are delays pretty normail?

Yes, delays are pretty normal but it seems a bit to quick. Is this request from the CNBC?
It was perhaps a mistake to file your completed DQ before the request for it from the CNBC.
Send it again.
Did you remember to send a copy of your completed DQ to the Claimant?