Defence advice for a car park legal case

pebblegreyhippopotamus

Hello 

Firstly, thank you for all the advice and help on the forum. Reading the posts on here have helped me sleep at night!

Please can I have some advice for my legal case against Eurocarparks (DCBL)?

The alleged breach of contract is early 2020. 

The Claim Form issue date was the 18/9 and I submitted my AOS online on the 23/09 and so I believe I have until 21/10 to submit my defence.

Regarding the defence itself, and regarding section 3, I have written:

On the day of the alleged breach of contract the defendant was parked at XXXXX for the purposes of work. The defendant, in his capacity as a dentist, was attending a work shift at XXXXX as part of short-term cover work. The defendant was unfamiliar with the car park and arrived early in the day to begin work. When the defendant arrived in the morning the visibility was poor, and the contractual car park signage was not lit up and was readily missed by the defendant. 

Any feedback on this section would be greatly appreciated

Thank you in advance for your advice

PGH

KeithP

pebblegreyhippopotamus said:

The Claim Form issue date was the 18/9 and I submitted my AOS online on the 23/09 and so I believe I have until 21/10 to submit my defence.

Hello and welcome.

You are right with your Defence filing deadline but there might be something useful here...

With a Claim Issue Date of 18th September, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 21st October 2024 to file a Defence.

That's over two 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'.

Coupon-mad

Looks fine as long as you add the rest of the Template Defence. No need to show us.

DCB Legal will discontinue in 2025 anyway.

Le_Kirk

pebblegreyhippopotamus said:

On the day of the alleged breach of contract the defendant was parked at XXXXX for the purposes of work. The defendant, in his capacity as a dentist, was attending a work shift at XXXXX as part of short-term cover work. The defendant was unfamiliar with the car park and arrived early in the day to begin work. When the defendant arrived in the morning the visibility was poor, and the contractual car park signage was not lit up and was readily easily missed by the defendant. 

Suggestion above.

pebblegreyhippopotamus

Thanks both, much appreciated. I will be very happy when this is over! I'll be back in touch if needs be 

Coupon-mad

pebblegreyhippopotamus said:

Thanks both, much appreciated. I will be very happy when this is over! I'll be back in touch if needs be 

At witness statement stage please. You will need us then, in 2025.

Not when you get the first standard letters soon.  All those are covered in the first 12 steps in the Template Defence thread.

pebblegreyhippopotamus

Hi All

I wonder if you would help with a couple of questions:

1) When I submitted my AOS, I wrote my name in the defendant box, as opposed to my wife's name who the letters have been being addressed to (as she is the registered keeper). Despite this the defendant name on the Claim Summary remains hers. I also got an 'acknowledgement of defence' letter from HM Courts, also addressed to her and stating Euro Car Parks V her name. Have I done something wrong here?

2) I received a letter from DCBL asking me to urgently contact them to discuss this case. I am correct that there is no obligation to respond to this?

Many thanks again for all your help

Kind regards

PGH

KeithP

I don't think there is any way to change the Defendant to another person once a Claim has been issued.
It simply looks like your attempt to change the Defendant from your wife to yourself has been ignored.

Your wife remains as the Defendant.

pebblegreyhippopotamus

I see, thank you. In that case I've made an error on the defence where I put Euro Car Parks Vs myself. Do you think this will cause any trouble?

Coupon-mad

pebblegreyhippopotamus said:

I see, thank you. In that case I've made an error on the defence where I put Euro Car Parks Vs myself. Do you think this will cause any trouble?

Yes I do. Sorry but this is snatching possible defeat from the jaws of easy victory & needs her to sort out urgently.

Your wife has not defended the claim.

Did you miss the heading in the Template Defence that clearly says that the Defendant "can't be changed to the driver now"?

Of course the Defendant cannot be changed.  Your wife must sign the defence.

I suggest she signs and dates a copy IMMEDIATELY and emails it to the CNBC saying she has realised that she didn't sign the first version and by mistake, her husband (who was helping with the admin) signed it, so here is a copy signed & dated by the Defendant.  No wording has been changed and she trusts the CNBC will understand, not impose sanctions and (given there is no default judgment in the case) the CNBC will update the record when allocating the case to the local court.

pebblegreyhippopotamus

I did read the bit where the defendant "can't be changed to the driver now". Unfortunately, this was after I submitted the AOS where I completely misunderstood the box "defendant's name if different". I now appreciate this is to do with if there is a maiden name being used etc. Ugh! 

I will do as you have advised and hope for the best...

Thank you for your help once again