Civil Enforcement Ltd issued court proceedings

waca1878

Didn’t forget - the claim form does have allegations of the breach in it - date/times in out and allegation that the vehicle overstayed, in which case I don’t think I can use CEL v Chan (?) 

Coupon-mad

Interesting.

Please show us the POC, minus the VRM.

KeithP

But those Particulars of Claim do not in any way say what the driver did wrong other than to allege that he/she broke the rules.

And your masking has hidden nothing. The vehicle's registration mark, the PCN number and dates are all clearly visible in that image you have shown us.

waca1878

Not on my screen they weren’t. I have removed. I’ll update tomorrow. I think I follow - looking at the particulars again then it’s just a date/time in and a date/time out - no mention of how much time was permitted or what the alleged breach is. So Chan is in play, right? 

Coupon-mad

I am not seeing ANY allegation of overstay there.  You said to me that it had an allegation of overstay but it doesn't. You are reading something into it that simply isn't there!

I am glad I asked. Of course your Dad uses CEL v Chan!  Did you read the Chan case? You should do.

Then you will see your Dad's case is the same. 

Do either Mum or Dad have a Blue Badge, by the way?

Dad has no recollection of the offence but either him or my mum could have been using the vehicle on the day. 

Good, so your Dad could have this defence:

Claim Number: xxxxxxx

Between

Civil Enforcement Ltd

(Claimant) 

- and -  

Defendant's name                        

 (Defendant)

_________________

DEFENCE

_________________

1.  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 in breach of any term.  Further, it is denied that this Claimant (understood to have a bare licence as agents) 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 boilerplate text in the Particulars of Claim ('the POC').

Preliminary matter: The claim should be struck out

2. The POC appear to be in breach of CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7, and fail to "state all facts necessary for the purpose of formulating a complete cause of action".  The Defendant draws to the attention of the allocating Judge that there is now a persuasive Appeal judgment involving the same Claimant as this case, which supports striking out the claim without a hearing.

3.  The Defendant believes that dismissing this poorly-pleaded claim is the correct course, with the Overriding Objective in mind.  Bulk litigators like this Claimant (which has an in-house legal team and barrister) should know better than to make little or no attempt to comply with the Practice Direction.  By continuing to plead cases with generic auto-fill unspecific wording, this Claimant in particular should not be surprised when courts continue to strike out their claims, based in the following persuasive authority.

3. Civil Enforcement Limited v Chan (Ref. E7GM9W44) holds that the POC fails to comply with Civil Procedure Rule 16.4(1)(e) and Practice Direction Part 16.7.5. On the 15th August 2023, in the cited case, HHJ Murch held that 'the particulars of the claim as filed and served did not set out the conduct which amounted to the breach in reliance upon which the claimant would be able to bring a claim for breach of contract'. The same is true in this case and in view of the Chan judgment (transcript below) the Court should strike out the claim, using its powers pursuant to CPR 3.4. 

In the alternative,

The facts known to the Defendant:

4.  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 Defendant is unable, on the basis of the POC, to understand with certainty what case, allegation(s), what heads of cost are being pursued and how/why the Defendant is being held liable, making it difficult to respond. The vehicle is recognised, as is the shopping park location, but it is not known who was driving. It is a 50/50 chance that it was either the Defendant or his wife and the Defendant expressly denies any 'violation' (the Claimant's word, which they should know is banned under the incoming Statutory Code of Practice linked later in this defence).  In any event, the Equality Act 2010 applies to protect the driver/passenger, and any fixed policy term that may cause detriment to disabled persons 'at large' is illegal (indirect discrimination) under that legislation. 

5.   Due to the age of the alleged parking event - which is nearly 18 months old - and the fact there was no windscreen PCN, the Defendant is unable to recall the circumstances of an unremarkable day.  The Defendant and his wife are both elderly and vulnerable (qualifying for a Blue Badge) and both use this vehicle.  Both occasionally used this local retail site for food shopping around that time and neither were aware of any supposed parking terms or restrictions, despite both visiting the location fairly regularly. The uncertainty about who was driving that day is important because the Defendant takes the point that there can be no 'keeper liability'.

6.  The Defendant will rely upon the persuasive appeal case of Vehicle Control Services Ltd v Ian Edward.  In April 2023, His Honour Judge Mark Gargan sitting at Teesside Combined Court (on appeal re claim H0KF6C9C) held that a registered keeper cannot be assumed to have been driving. Nor could any adverse inference be drawn if a keeper is unable (or indeed too late, post litigation) to nominate the driver, because the POFA does not invoke any such obligation.  HHJ Gargan concluded at 35.2 and 35.3. "my decision preserves and respects the important general freedom from being required to give information, absent a legal duty upon you to do so; and it is consistent with the appropriate probability analysis whereby simply because somebody is a registered keeper, it does not mean on the balance of probability they were driving on this occasion..." Mr Edward's appeal succeeded and the Claim was dismissed.

7.  The Defendant does not believe that the Claimant complied with the strict requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (the POFA) in terms of 'adequate notice' of the parking charge and in terms of serving a compliant Notice to Keeper ('NTK').  The POC is unhelpfully silent about the supposed basis of liability. It does not state whether the Defendant is being pursued under the POFA nor where/how they obtained his data, nor does it even state (as parking claims usually do) that they are pursuing the Defendant as keeper/driver.  These POC seem even more defective than seen from this same Claimant in the Chan case.

8.  There is a further matter negating any cause of action, namely an incorrect 'payment due date' in the POC.  This point relies on Schedule 4 paragraph 9 of the POFA and the Defendant will raise various issues, including probable non-compliant NTK wording and an apparently incorrect statement in the POC regarding what appears to be the alleged date of keeper liability ('payment due date').  This has the object or effect of these pleadings attempting to allege keeper liability wrongfully, and/or earlier than the law would allow. The Claimant's POC has unreasonably shortened the statutory 28 day period by several days or even weeks, which has had the additional unreasonable effect of backdating interest incorrectly.  Even if posted 1st class on the same day as the alleged event (which it cannot have been) a NTK would be deemed served two working days later.  Adding the POFA's statutory 28 days starting with the day after service of the NTK, the soonest that the 'right to recover' might exist would have been several days later than this Claimant states in their POC. That is, if they are seeking keeper liability under the POFA at all, which the Court and Defendant are being forced to guess.

9.  This appears to be unreasonable conduct, and other similar cases in the public domain demonstrate that this Claimant's in-house legal team are stating a premature 'payment due date' calculation routinely, which inflates the interest as well as breaching the POFA. It is denied that the Defendant became liable for the parking charge on the date shown, or at all.

10.  Further, the POC only pleads for 'a parking charge for breach' yet it says 'charges of GBP170 claimed'.  Under the British Parking Association Code of Practice, parking charges are capped at £100 maximum and it cannot have been £170.  It is denied that exorbitant sum was due, properly incurred and/or displayed as the 'parking charge' on prominent signage. 

11.  The Claimant will concede that no financial loss has arisen and that in order to impose an inflated parking charge, as well as proving a term was breached, there must be:

(i). a strong 'legitimate interest' ...
etc.,
etc.
copying from the Template paragraph 4 onwards and re-numbering it all accordingly.

(Rest of the template defence continues ...making  30-something paragraphs).

waca1878

You’re right, I was reading between the lines. There aren’t actually any allegations. Thank you! I’ll update the defence in the morning. Yes I read the Chan case. Yes my parents have blue badge although I’ve been to the CP since and signage does say blue badges don’t apply (I don’t know if this signage was in place at the time of alleged offence)

Coupon-mad

I've written your Dad's defence for him above.

It's illegal not to make reasonable adjustments for disabled persons... so I've added that too, WITHOUT identifying 'overstay' as the alleged breach.  They cannot avoid their duty under the EA 2010.

  

waca1878

Thank you! 

waca1878

Quick question, and thanks again for all the help, it’s really appreciated. Dad is very anxious about prospect of going to court, I’ve explained to him it’s very informal. 

Re the POC’s not actually setting out any allegations, should I explicitly be asking the court to strike out the case per 3.4 of CPR? 

Le_Kirk

This bit: -

persuasive Appeal judgment involving the same Claimant as this case, which supports striking out the claim without a hearing

............. that @Coupon-mad wrote in the defence is asking the court to strike it out!