County Court Claim for parking outside Debenhams - Parking Control Management

qwertyoffice

Hi all

I got the court claim through and filed the AOS and now need to email my defence. 

It was for parking in the Debenhams staff parking in Chelmsford back in July 2021.
They closed down in May that year which is why I parked there and ignored the signs.

Not sure what to say on my defence since I parked there knowing it was private property so don't have much of an excuse!

Attached is the photo of where I parked from Google Earth and a copy of the particulars of their claim.

For paragraph 2 and 3, is this worth a try? I am sure the signage was on the wall at the time but this is all I can come up with. 

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

3. At the time the PCN was issued, there was no visible signage or markings showing any prohibition or contract in relation to parking. Although signs have recently been installed, at the time of the PCN there was no signage at all at the entry point to the area and there were no markings or signs visible indicating that there was any restrictions or contracts in relation to parking. Considering there were no other signs, this is clearly inadequate signage. Clear, unambiguous signage on entry points and at point of parking is required by the Private Parking Code of Practice and would obviously be required as a minimum to make any claim of a contract. The fact that signage has recently been installed in this area underlines the fact that at the time of this PCN there was not adequate signage.

Thank you!

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.

Coupon-mad

Looks fine.  It's their burden to prove what the signs were like at the time.

What's the date of issue of the Claim Form?

We are telling people not to rush their defence this month, as long as you have done your AOS and have time on your side during July.

A DLUHC draft Impact Assessment is due to be published any week now that I will incorporate into a fresh edit of the Template Defence...

qwertyoffice

Thank you both, claim history as follows...

A claim was issued against you on 16/06/2023

Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 09/07/2023 at 21:18:47

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 10/07/2023 at 08:05:12

Castle

qwertyoffice said:

Thank you both, claim history as follows...

A claim was issued against you on 16/06/2023

Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 09/07/2023 at 21:18:47

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 10/07/2023 at 08:05:12

Based on those dates, your deadline is 4.00pm today (19th July).

qwertyoffice

Ok thanks Castle, i will have to submit my defence today then

KeithP

I agree with @Castle.

There might be something useful here...

With a Claim Issue Date of 16th June, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 19th July 2023 - today - to file your Defence. 
Just two hours to go.

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'.

Coupon-mad

qwertyoffice said:

Ok thanks Castle, i will have to submit my defence today then

Did you email it in time and get an auto-acknowledgement?

Do come back in a couple of weeks to join us in the anticipated Public Consultation.  You won't want to miss showing your evidence to the Government to stop this litigation culture.

KeithP

@qwertyoffice, what happened next?

qwertyoffice

Court hearing is 20th of Sept.

i have received the following in the post today…..

Gr1pr

In that case your WS bundle must be due to be submitted to the lawyers and to that local court, so you better get on with it