Court Claim Help - Another One Bites the Dust

FraggleRoxy

Hello all, 

I’ve received and acknowledged a Court Claim. I have taken note of the suggested paragraphs of a defence, but I’d like some help with the rest of my defence. 

Hopefully the redacted Particulars of Claim, and Sign examples are attached below 🤞🏼 and here are further points that may be relevant/helpful for my defence. 

1) I’m the Keeper, but was not the driver. 

2) The PCN arrived 16 days after the alleged overstay. 

3) I’m disabled, was parked in a disabled bay, and displayed my blue badge. 

4) I shopped in stores that are/were part of the retail park. I have credit card statements to back up. 

4) The alleged overstay was not far outside of the 10 minute grace period given to everyone. It takes me longer to shop than an abled bodied person, so I’m at a time disadvantage. Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments to avoid disadvantage to be made. 

5) Having cognitive issues means that understanding and responding to the PCN, IAS and now this, is very difficult and extremely time consuming. It has caused great anxiety, depression and physical pain, which has all impacted my life greatly. I feel persecuted for being disabled, they have no right to do that.

6) The threatening language of the many notices I received added to the stresses mentioned in point 5). 

Oh, and do ‘DRA costs’ mean the Debt Recovery costs? If so, they added £70 for this. 

I hope all this makes sense, and someone will be kind enough to help me. 

Many thanks 🙏 

hxxps://ibb.co/kS32tNX

hxxps://ibb.co/VggqfN5

hxxps://ibb.co/6tSvf53

Coupon-mad

I’m disabled, was parked in a disabled bay, and displayed my blue badge. 

Welcome!  So you were the passenger?

https://ibb.co/kS32tNX

https://ibb.co/VggqfN5

https://ibb.co/6tSvf53

Is this claim filed by Elms Legal for VCS?

FraggleRoxy

Coupon-mad said:

I’m disabled, was parked in a disabled bay, and displayed my blue badge. 

Welcome!  So you were the passenger?

Is this claim filed by Elms Legal for VCS?

Yes, I was the passenger, and yes it’s Elms Legal for VCS.

The driver is also disabled, but I’m the keeper and it was my badge on display. 

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

FraggleRoxy

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?

The issue date is 02/05/24
I filed the AoS on 10/05/24

KeithP

FraggleRoxy said:

KeithP said:

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Upon what date did you file an Acknowledgment of Service?

The issue date is 02/05/24
I filed the AoS on 10/05/24

With a Claim Issue Date of 2nd May, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 4th June 2024 to file your Defence.

That's over three weeks 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'.

FraggleRoxy

Hi everyone, 

I’ve taken note of the defence advice on here, and have the standard paragraphs ready to go. However I’d like your feedback on the “Explain in your own words…” part.

I suspect it’s too long. I have taken into account VCS’s IAS responses, countering their responses, which I might not have needed to do. 
I have not yet numbered my paragraphs, but I know that needs to happen. 

==================

**Edited out due to feedback advising not to give  the opposition any ammunition**

==================

Any feedback would be much appreciated, thank you. 

FraggleRoxy

Coupon-mad said:

I have taken into account VCS’s IAS response

Firstly, please do this (official paid research):

Initial questionnaire done ✔️ 

Gr1pr

Definitely too long, save it for the witness statement later on 

Just write a few short sentences, a precis of the key point's, so that your long statement above can be used at the WS stage in several months time 

With defence statements, they should not be war and peace, but should be concise, people tend to want to explain everything at the beginning, save the explanations for later in the process 

LDast

In your defence, you only need answer the cause of action in the PoC on the claim form. Do not give the Claimant any ammunition that they may either use against you or twist for their own advantage in their WS later on.

Something along these lines:

 The Defendant and the other occupant of the vehicle both have mobility issues that are protected characteristics under the Equality Act and were at the location as patrons of the local businesses. The Defendant is being penalised because of their disability and the Claimant has no cause of action. The claim is vexatious and the Claimant has knowingly discriminated against the Defendant and the other occupant of the vehicle.

Keep it simple at this stage.

Whilst there is a woefully inadequate cause of action stated in the PoC, I would suggest you add the following as a Preliminary Matter after para #1 and then the "Facts as known to the defendant" paras after that.

Para #1 here

Preliminary Matter. The claim should be struck out

2. The Claim should be struck out on the basis that it contravenes Schedule 4, Paragraph 4(5) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA). PoFA clearly stipulates that a creditor may not make a claim against the keeper of a vehicle for more than the amount of the unpaid parking charges as they stood when the notice to the driver was issued. The original Parking Charge Notice (PCN) issued by the claimant was for £100. The claimant's current claim is for £170, which exceeds the amount of the unpaid parking charges as stated in the original notice. The claimant’s attempt to claim an unlawful amount constitutes an abuse of process and should not be allowed to proceed. I respectfully request the allocating judge to dismiss the claim on the basis of the claimant’s contravention of Schedule 4, Paragraph 4(5) of PoFA and thereby CPR 1.1, CPR 3.4(2)(a) and (b) and CPR 27.14 and to award costs to the defendant for having to defend against this improper claim.

The facts as known to the Defendant

Para #3 here

4. The Defendant and the other occupant of the vehicle both have mobility issues that are protected characteristics under the Equality Act and were at the location as patrons of the local businesses. The Defendant is being penalised because of their disability and the Claimant has no cause of action. The claim is vexatious and the Claimant has knowingly discriminated against the Defendant and the other occupant of the vehicle.

Para #5 and the rest of the template defence...

FraggleRoxy

Hello everyone, 

I submitted my DQ a few months ago, and I am now due in court at the end of the month, and need to submit paperwork to the judge and PCS. 

Please can someone advise me what references/documents I need to include, and if they are a long document, do I need to include it all, or just in part? 

I took LDast’s advice on my defence, so it read similar to the post above. 

The following are my notes on what I might need to consider adding, but I really don’t know what needs to go in, and what doesn’t. 

My brain struggles to cope with this kind of thing these days, so any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you. 

• Schedule 4, Paragraph 4(5) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (PoFA)
• Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) CPR 1.1, CPR 3.4(2)(a) and (b) and CPR 27.14
• CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7
• Equality Act
• Proof of purchase at stores 
• POC - particulars of claim
• Proof of disability for both - pip, dr letter?
• i). a strong legitimate interest extending beyond mere compensation for loss, and
• (ii). 'adequate notice of the 'penalty clause' charge which, in the case of a car park, requires prominent signs and lines.
• ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC67 (the Beavis case
• Exaggerated Claim and market failure currently being addressed by UK Government
• The alleged 'core debt' from any parking charge cannot exceed £100 (the industry cap).
• Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities ('the DLUHC) published a statutory Parking Code of Practice in February 2022