NEED ADVICE - Claim Form - Civil Enforcement Limited.

Triggosaurus

Hello, 

I have been following the steps as detailed in teh Newbies guide in my dispute with Civil Enforcement Ltd. This has gone back and forth over the last nearly two years and resulted in a claim form being recieved last week. 

I have copied the template for my defence and under section 3 "my defence" listed the following. 

On the date in question the defendant parked their vehicle at KFC Kings Norton Business Park for the intention to conduct an end of year appraisal with a colleague whilst using the restaurant facilities.

After completely the appraisal the defendant received a parking charge notification. On inspection post alleged breach the defendant noted that the signage in the area was not clear and the majority of signs in the area were extremely weathered and barely eligible. The claimant has listed in the particulars of this claim (point 3.) The defendant is pursued as the driver of the vehicle for breach of the terms on the signs (the contract). The Defendant denies that any such contract was in place due to the forementioned condition of the signage.

 The claimant is a listed member of the British Parking Association (BPA) as listed on the BPA’s website December 2024 and therefore falls under that organisations code of the practise.

The latest edition of the British Parking Association code of practice – version 9 dated 27th June 2024 lists the following under section 3.1 Signs.

3.1.6 - Signs must be designed and installed so as to be conspicuous and legible in all lighting conditions during which the controlled land may legitimately be accessed, at a height that takes account of whether the signs are intended to be viewed from the vehicle (including by headlight in the hours of darkness) or having left the vehicle by a driver on foot or in a wheelchair.

3.1.7 - Signs must be designed and maintained to withstand and remain legible, subject to normal exposure to conditions where they are located.

It is further noted that at the time of this alleged breach of contract the British Parking Association code of practice – version 8 was in place, dated January 2020. Similar guidance was in place under section 19.3. The header of which is Operational requirements in England and Wales.

The defendant maintains that if the forementioned points where been adhered to as per industry guidance and expectation the defendant would have not been in breach of the terms of the alleged contract and therefore this claim is null and void.

The defendant has repeatedly expressed this to claimant with evidence.

Id appreciate any feedback or advice or any addtions or removals to this section. Due to work commitments the clock has ran down on my response. The letter was dated 26th November. 

In the particulars of claim they note the location of the offence. The breach of the terms of the signs (the contract) Reason Maximum 90 Minutes Free parking. 

The total charge is £196.24, with £50 for Legal Costs and a £35 court fee totalling £281.24.

Any Help Appreciated. I am looking to submit this evening or tomorrow.

Gr1pr

Paragraph 2 also needs extra wording, I have no idea why people omit paragraph 2 

Your paragraph 3 is not concise, far too wordy and reads like a witness statement would, with the full story, 

Stick to rebutting the POC with concise legal points, leave the war and peace story for your WS next year 

Adapt paragraphs 2 & 3 concisely and post them below for critique 

Please post the issue date ( 26th November. ?  ) and the AOS date, plus a redacted picture of the POC, hiding the VRM details first 

Triggosaurus

Hello

Issue date is 26th November.
AOS date - I have yet to do this as believed this process was part of that and needed to be completed and submitted at the same time 

Amended paragrah 2 and 3 below.

2. 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. However, the vehicle is recognised and it is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver.

3. On the date in question the defendant parked their vehicle at KFC Kings Norton Business Park.

After leaving the area the defendant received a parking charge notification. On inspection post alleged breach of contract, the signage in the area was identified to be not clear and the majority of signs in the area were extremely weathered and barely eligible. The Defendant denies that any such contract, as listed in the particulars of claim by the claimant was in place due to the forementioned condition of the signage. 

[Image removed by Forum Team]

Examples of signage.






Any help appreciated.

Triggosaurus

Exammples of signage.

Gr1pr

Your claim form picture needs to be reported for removal, too much private data on show, breaking the forum rules 

Use the report button and ask for removal 

CEL via DCB Legal claim form, issue date 26 November, £281 , maximum 90 minutes free parking, so presumably an overstay 

No you don't do the AOS and the defence at the same time, stop rushing ( but do complete the AOS online if not done already. )

Le_Kirk

Signage cannot be "barely eligible" but should be "barely legible".  You write as though you received the PCN just after you left the parking area.  I don't believe you need to mention it at all, as the judge will know that is why you are in court. What does "on inspection post alleged breach of contract" mean? You need to make it clear to the judge.

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 26th November, you have until Monday 16th December to file an Acknowledgment of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 30th December 2024 to file a Defence.

That's well 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 again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that 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

DCB Legal claims (non-ParkingEye case): little or no discussion of the defence is needed.

Copy any other one that denies the POC paragraph by paragraph. Read some.

We can't keep doing these by unnecessarily chewing over paragraph 3. It's just not needed.

Copy others you see by skim-reading down page one or two of the forum right now.  See my signature for how to click straight to page one in a nano-second.

Job done.

Here's one but please look around and read more (saves us from having to reply with the same stuff on thread after thread):

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81139187/#Comment_81139187

Nothing about the detail is needed except if there's something specific like a double dip or a broken pay & display machine.  Otherwise the generic para 3 is fine (please don't ask for a link. Read a few cases like yours. We have hundreds).

NB: for the other regulars:
I'm saying this so we can easily cope with the Xmas claims onslaught. I strongly suggest we stop looking at paragraph 3 on thread after thread of DCB Legal claims (ParkingEye ones are different as they normally lend themselves to the Chan defence).

We should ALWAYS have a quick look at the POC, KeithP - or others - can give dates (always needed) then we can just say something like the above and leave the poster to copy the generic POC denial para 3 from others. That's it.