CCJ from a private car park

Coupon-mad

Do you mean you knew it was pay & display, and what you did wrong was you didn't go to the machine & pay for parking? 

JaySH

I payed for parking, but I lost control of the time and came back later than the the ticket issued.

B789

But you have succeeded in getting the CCJ removed. You are now back at the claim stage. You have a good opportunity to defend the claim. Whatever they claim (£100 initial charge, £70 fake add-on damages, interest, £35 hearing fee and £50 fixed legal fees) is not what they would get even if you lost the claim. The £70 and the interest are not normally allowed in a small claim.

What was the signage like at the car park? Was there anything out of your control that caused you to overstay such as traffic congestion, a breakdown/puncture?

JaySH

Yeah, exactly. The added interest, hearing fee, legal fees etc in total is 270 and then in the next page it says total amount 250£ which  I don't understand why is different. I need to make a decision as I am a bit overwhelmed about losing more money.
Is a beach carpark, the beach is big and takes sometimes 10-15 min walking back (I lost control of the time in the sea) and also the machine to pay is even further away.

Coupon-mad

You don't need to make a decision. There is no dilemma here. This is all normal and we advised you what to do next to finish the job.

Let's see your draft paragraphs 2 & 3 going by the Template Defence we already told you to use.

JaySH

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 is devoid of any detail and even lacks specific breach allegation(s), making it very difficult to respond. However, it is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle. **This was copied, but not sure whether talk here about the ridiculous amount claimed by BW Legal maybe?

3.The defendant got a PCN on xx. The defendant was not aware of the claim until he applied for some credit in April 2023 when the defendant found out that had obtained a default CCJ to the wrong address as more than 12 months had passed since the PCN. The Claimant failed to comply with the International Parking Community (IPC) code of practice which requires a soft trace to be undertaken. 

The defendant was surfing at the local beach and based on the evidence given by the Claimant the defendant got a PCN for exceeding the time paid which was 30 minutes. The Defendant agrees that the address of the PCN shown by the Claimant was the right one, but the Defendant moved to another address in xx. The Defendant recalls a PCN,  but he never recalls having any letters with a hearing as he was living in between two addresses until he officially moved to the following address in xx.

The Defendant never had the opportunity to defend this matter, as the CCJ was issued to a previous address. The Defendant showed evidence of the change of address via DVLA and other documents (including bank letters). The Claimant claims to do three soft traces including in xx to the right address but the evidence given by the Claimant (which it was wrong) also showed that the Defendant was living at xx which he was already living at since xx so even so the Claimant failed to follow the procedure by sending it to the right address.

The defendant does not think is fair the amount claimed therefore he decided to go to court.

Not sure if this is okay. Sorry just been doing long shifts so will be editing as much as possible before Monday (hearing was previous Monday). I also need to answer to the claim, based on the threads I should do trough the gov.co website instead the documentation sent by BW Legal then?

Thanks a lot, I wouldn't know what to do without your help.

Coupon-mad

You aren't going through the gov.uk website; you are not dealing with the County Court Business Centre.

You already know which court to send it to by email = the one that set aside the CCJ.  And you just copy in BW Legal.

 **This was copied, but not sure whether talk here about the ridiculous amount claimed by BW Legal maybe?

Well no, because if you read the rest of the Template Defence you'll see what it already says.

Remove all of this (below) and instead talk about how inadequate the signs are (small print and nothing obvious about any contract to pay £100) and how long it took you to get to the machine to pay, due to the P&D machine being a very long walk from the parking area.

3.The defendant got a PCN on xx. The defendant was not aware of the claim until he applied for some credit in April 2023 when the defendant found out that had obtained a default CCJ to the wrong address as more than 12 months had passed since the PCN. The Claimant failed to comply with the International Parking Community (IPC) code of practice which requires a soft trace to be undertaken. 
The defendant was surfing at the local beach and based on the evidence given by the Claimant the defendant got a PCN for exceeding the time paid which was 30 minutes. The Defendant agrees that the address of the PCN shown by the Claimant was the right one, but the Defendant moved to another address in xx. The Defendant recalls a PCN,  but he never recalls having any letters with a hearing as he was living in between two addresses until he officially moved to the following address in xx.
The Defendant never had the opportunity to defend this matter, as the CCJ was issued to a previous address. The Defendant showed evidence of the change of address via DVLA and other documents (including bank letters). The Claimant claims to do three soft traces including in xx to the right address but the evidence given by the Claimant (which it was wrong) also showed that the Defendant was living at xx which he was already living at since xx so even so the Claimant failed to follow the procedure by sending it to the right address.
The defendant does not think is fair the amount claimed therefore he decided to go to court.

JaySH

Okie, so I will finalise this over the weekend and send via email cc the solicitors as well. This will be 7 days post initial hearing.

2. Shall I leave paragraph 2 like the template or edit it?

What about this?

3. The Defendant is a key worker and remembers the quarantine being lifted around that time, so most probably was surfing at the beach by Sandy Acres car park (and most likely one of the only sessions due to the Pandemic). The car park is well known for the distance between the car park and the P&D, needing to drive back to the P&D if you don’t know there isn’t one at the place of parking. The road is bumpy and not always in good condition and the signage is small and not very clear (small print). There isn’t anything obvious about any contract to pay £100 or warnings about any grace period at the car park either at that time. On a busy day if you don’t want to lose your parking space it can easily take more than 10 minutes walking to the P&D and back to display a valid ticket in the car. The Defendant couldn’t get back in time to the car park as there was no signage from the beach to indicate where the car park was due to the location (step dunes across the whole beach), making the Defendant arrive later than expected. As explained before, the only and best possible way to get an extended valid ticket at the time of the PCN (as at that time there was no app for payments) was via P&D which is not nearby. Also the phone signal is not always good, making it difficult to call if there are any issues.

Shall I also talk about the amount claimed?

 **Edited

Thank you

Le_Kirk

Paragraph 2 only needs editing as far as keeper only, keeper and driver. Your paragraph 3 reads a bit like a witness statement, in that it is quite long.  You don't need the amount claimed as that will be on the claim  form.

Coupon-mad

And the Template Defence already deals with it being extortionate.  No need to add stuff about that.

change this:

The car park is well known for the distance between the car park and the P&D, needing to drive back to the P&D if you don’t know there isn’t one at the place of parking. 

to this:

The car park has one Pay & Display machine and there is a significant distance between the car park and the machine.  The Defendant had to walk a long way back to it at the entrance, from the place of parking (lower down by the beach).