Wrong car park address on claim

AureliusM

I've received a claim form in relation to an event in 2020. I've completed the acknowledgement of service per the guidelines here and drafted a defence using the template.

When completing the paragraph "However, it is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle" it occurred to me to check the details of the car park they were naming. The postcode they use for it is not listed with Royal Mail and appears to only exist on ECPs list of car parks. Instead of my intended defence, should my line be that they are claiming I parked somewhere that does not exist? 

Eg: 

3. The POC refers to the vehicle being parked at [street/town/postcode]. This postcode does not exist. It is evident that the car park named in the POC is misidentified or non-existent and that this attempt to claim a contract is invalid.

la531983

Maybe someone on here can sanity check you if you name the car park and the postcode they are claiming is in use.

B789

Welcome. What is the "issue date" of the claim? Which PPC and which location? Can you show us the PoC? Is the NtK PoFA compliant? Does the street exist? Is it a named car park?

AureliusM

Car park is named as Eastgate Louth LN11 9QG, google gives it as LN11 9AA and that seems to tally with surrounding premises.

AureliusM

Issue date of the claim is 7/9/23, will sort out a means of sharing PoC

AureliusM

Details of claim

B789

The postcode error is not likely to alter much. If the car park is named and can be found by that, it will suffice. Have you had any communication with ECP? Did you appeal? Was their NtK PoFA compliant? If so, did they send it within the required timeframe? Please tell us the date of the alleged breach of contract and the date the NtK was issued.

With a claim issue date of 7th September, you must submit your AoS by the 26th of September. That will then give you until 4 pm Tuesday 10th October to file your defence. @KeithP will confirm. You can do the AoS using your MCOL account. DO NOT use MCOL to file your defence. That will be done by email as a PDF attachment.

Please make sure you re-read the second post in the Newbies/FAQ thread for advice on how to file your AoS and Defence. Also, the first post in the template defence thread contains a 12-point checklist that you should keep handy throughout the process.

Interestingly, I haven't seen ECP actually litigate before.

AureliusM

I haven't communicated with them, I buried my head in the sand and assumed all the threats would disappear after a while, but seems they were serious about pursuing me. Unfortunately I didn't hang on to any of the earlier paperwork. The date of the alleged breach was 6/5/20 and my error was in thinking that ALL car parks in the area had ceased to charge during lockdown and not realising that some car parks are council run/owned and others are private.

KeithP

AureliusM said:

Issue date of the claim is 7/9/23

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th September, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 10th October 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'.

Coupon-mad

You will have to remove part of para 2 of the template defence as QDR claims are not "devoid of detail".  You can easily edit that bit; it's your defence and must make sense for your case.

AureliusM

Below follows the actual explanation of why I have received the claim. I don't know if it will stand up as a defence, but this is the reason (to go as para 3 of the template in the sticky post). Any advice on what to cut or include?

3. During the coronavirus pandemic, parking charges were suspended by East Lindsey District Council as part of measures to control the spread of disease. On the date in question the Defendant acted in the understanding that all car parks in Louth were part of this scheme and as there was no signage to indicate that the car park at Eastgate LN11 9QG was separate, exempt or had alternative disease control measures in place the Defendant did not buy a ticket. The driver was under pressure to conduct urgent errands for a vulnerable neighbour and wanting to minimise time away from home exposed to risk of disease. The almost entirely empty car park was selected for its proximity to the shops to keep the trip as short as possible.