Claim Form - Premier Park Limited

Ineedausername

Appreciate it. I’ll get that wrapped up. Why I thought it was what i did is beyond me! 

Coupon-mad

Ineedausername said: Appreciate it. I’ll get that wrapped up. Why I thought it was what i did is beyond me! 

Just use the Template defence.

Ineedausername

Hi all

I have drafted the defence and would welcome your thoughts

Points 5 to 8 are the facts of my case

Do i need to finish off the defence with a statement of truth?

Thank you! 

IN THE COUNTY COURT

Claim No.:  xxxxxx

Between

Premier Park Ltd (Claimant)

V

XXX XXX (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 Defendant draws to the attention of the allocating Judge that there is now a persuasive Appeal judgment to support striking out the claim (in these exact circumstances of typically poorly pleaded private parking claims, and the extant PoC seen here are far worse than the one seen on Appeal).  The Defendant believes that dismissing this meritless claim is the correct course, with the Overriding Objective in mind.  Bulk litigators (legal firms) 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, private parking firms should not be surprised when courts strike out their claims based in the following persuasive authority.

3. A recent persuasive appeal judgment in Civil Enforcement Limited v Chan (Ref. E7GM9W44) would indicate 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. 

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 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 is unable, on the basis of the POC, to understand with certainty what case, allegation(s) and what heads of cost are being pursued, making it difficult to respond.

5. It is admitted that on the material dates, the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle XXXXXXX. It is unknown who the driver of the vehicle was on the dates of the claimed PCN, given the PCN dates back to 2023.

 

6.   Multiple individuals were authorised by the Defendant to use the vehicle at the times of the alleged contraventions via their own comprehensive insurance policies, which allowed them to use another private vehicle for which they were covered on a third party only basis.

 

7.  The Defendant recognises the site as a car park for a gym which they have previously attended, however, some of the individuals who were authorised to use the Defendants vehicle also attended the same gym.

8. A ticket for the duration of the stay was purchased, the driver left the car park before the allocated time had expired

Gr1pr

The rest of the defence template is always included, including the defence statement of truth too

5 and 8 are at odds with each other, if the driver is unknown, then how does the defendant know 8 to be true . ?

If I am querying this, so will a claimant or a judge 

Ineedausername

fair point thanks

being the owner of the vehicle, when the PCN came through I searched for the ticket in the car and it was there

in your opinion, which section should i remove as both are true?

Thanks

Coupon-mad

Remove 8 because the POC doesn't state any allegations about 'tickets/pay & display' AND at gyms the parking is usually free if you input your VRM.  So I wouldn't elaborate.

Ineedausername

Thanks for the feedback
appreciate it

Ineedausername

Morning all!

Hope we are well

Just an update as to where we are

So, a letter from Gladstones asking for mediation - nope, I'm good thanks

The N180 form has landed, just completing this and sending this to CNBC, Gladstones and keeping a copy for my records. Ill send this by email

Question - Am I right in thinking, the Witness Statement will be presented, by myself, to the county court 14 days before the actual court date?

Thanks for all your help thus far!!

All the best

Ineedausername

Ignore the question, just re-read

'5. The case file will then be transferred to your local County Court, and you will eventually receive a Notice of Allocation, giving you a date and time for the hearing. It will also specify a deadline for you to submit a Witness Statement, and any other documents you intend to rely on, usually 14 days before the hearing but sometimes earlier than that.'

Thanks!

Gr1pr

Follow the 12 steps in the defence template thread 

Download the N180 pdf, fill it in and email it to the CNBC plus cc Gladstone's as well 

Mediation comes after the N180 stage 

Your WS bundle is e-mailed to the local Civil Court, with a copy to Gladstone's too, possibly 2 weeks or more before the hearing date, but your future court order will give you both the same deadlines, which may not be 2 weeks before the hearing but some other deadlines 

Meaning, we cannot confirm or deny the last question, courts differ, but 14 days is a typical deadline, nothing is an absolute