Civil National Business Centre Defence for Parking Ticket

ohnono

Hi everyone. Please are you able to help? My mum received a claim form for parking for longer than the maximum period. I was driving her car at the time and initially I just told her to ignore all the letters and throw them away, and now 7 months after the offence, she has now received this claim from the Civil National Business Centre. 

It is my fault as I got talking to a friend and I didn't notice the time, however, initially the parking time used to be 3 hours and now they have changed it to 2 hours which I was not aware of and most of all, I am unable to pay the amount of £255 as I'm a student.

I got the letter on 31st Oct and I made an Acknowledgement of Service on 10th November. I now need to write the defence but I am getting so confused with the defence thread and I am unsure what to write. Please are you able to help? I don't want my mum in trouble for something I did, but equally I have no way to pay for this.

Also, I should mention the initial parking fine didn't arrive until after a month after I had parked there (I can't remember the exact date but i remember discussing this with my family at the time), and both my mum and I genuinely could not even remember that we had parked there on the day, but they do have photos of the car. 

Thank you.

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

What is the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form?

When you filed an Acknowledgment of Service, did you do it in the name of the named Defendant?
You can of course help, but everything must be done in the name of the named Defendant.
The Defendant cannot be changed to another person.

Coupon-mad

Please tell me what's confusing about the Template Defence?  The keeper writes what the Defence tells her to write in paragraph 3, and it gives a link to wording for most cases, with the CEL v Chan case in it.

And which PPC and which solicitor?

ohnono

KeithP said:

Hello and welcome.

What is the Issue Date on the County Court Claim Form?

When you filed an Acknowledgment of Service, did you do it in the name of the named Defendant?
You can of course help, but everything must be done in the name of the named Defendant.
The Defendant cannot be changed to another person.

Hi KeithP, the issue date is 31st October 2023. And yes, I filed the Acknowledgement of service under the name of the named defendant. I feel obliged to help as it wasn't her fault at all. I've put her in this situation.

KeithP

ohnono said:
Hi KeithP, the issue date is 31st October 2023.

ohnono said:

I made an Acknowledgement of Service on 10th November. 

With a Claim Issue Date of 31st October, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 4th December 2023 to file a Defence.

That's a little over a week away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence but please don't leave 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'.

ohnono

Coupon-mad said:

Please tell me what's confusing about the Template Defence?  The keeper writes what the Defence tells her to write in paragraph 3, and it gives a link to wording for most cases, with the CEL v Chan case in it.

And which PPC and which solicitor?

I'm so sorry @Coupon-mad I just don't understand all the acronyms and what they mean. So do I copy the Template Defence exactly as it is? But as its from ELMS and they have mentioned that we overstayed, I should just say the Defendant was not driving? Thank you.

KeithP

The fifth post of the NEWBIES thread explains most, if not all, of the acronyms you are likely to need. 

Coupon-mad

ohnono said:

Coupon-mad said:

Please tell me what's confusing about the Template Defence?  The keeper writes what the Defence tells her to write in paragraph 3, and it gives a link to wording for most cases, with the CEL v Chan case in it.

And which PPC and which solicitor?

I'm so sorry @Coupon-mad I just don't understand all the acronyms and what they mean. So do I copy the Template Defence exactly as it is? But as its from ELMS and they have mentioned that we overstayed, I should just say the Defendant was not driving? Thank you.

But the Template Defence explains what to do, and the Chan case is only an optional link (for cases where the breach isn't stated).

You haven't said which PPC is the Claimant.

ohnono

Thank you @KeithP and @Coupon-mad Sorry I am just very overwhelmed with this. 

The PPC is Vehicle Control Services Limited. 

Coupon-mad

Ok, and is the claim filed by them or does it mention Elms Legal?

Please show us a pic of the bottom half of the claim form with your VRM and MCOL Password covered.

ohnono

Coupon-mad said:

Ok, and is the claim filed by them or does it mention Elms Legal?

Please show us a pic of the bottom half of the claim form with your VRM and MCOL Password covered.

@Coupon-mad the Claimant are Vehicle Control Services and the 'address for sending documents and payments (if different)' are Elms Legal Limited.

I need to send the defence before 4pm today. I'm just really worried. Ideally I would just pay for this but I genuinely don't have the money which is why I am fighting for this.

If I can find the money from somewhere, would I be able to stop the court process?