PCN from premier park, claim made to court against me, advise for defence please

rokki

Hi all, I feel like I'm on shaky ground here to be honest, but I didn't pay a PCN and now I'm at the stage of a county court claim.  I submitted the acknowledgement of service via MCOL and now need to submit a defence.  The issue date was 18 December 2024 so I need to get the defence submitted soon
This was a premier park at keyway retail park. I overstayed a 3 hour maximum stay period by 31 minutes. I didn't intend to, there are a few really big retailers there and a costa so by the time I did all the shopping I wanted and went to costa I had run over my time. It's not a paid parking area - it has signage to say 3 hours max stay and no return within an hour. To be honest I hadn't realised how long I'd been shopping for until I got the PCN through the post!  It's unfortunate that menopausal brain fog is probably not a viable defence! I feel I'm on shaky ground because I did overstay the 3 hours, albeit not intentionally. As i've now racked up further costs thought I might as well fight it.
I've copied and pasted the defence template onto a word doc and just edited paragraph 2 and 3. Would be very grateful for anyone to have a look over it and give any advice needed.

Amount claimed is £269.66 which comprises £100 for the PCN, £70 contractual costs, stat interest of £14.66 continuing at £0.04 per day.

I've just pasted paras 2 and 3 which I believe are the only parts of the template to need editing?

The facts known to the Defendant:

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. The car was parked for the defendant to shop at the retail park. The defendant exceeded the maximum stay period by 31 minutes. There was no intention to overstay the parking period. The defendant was shopping and the time taken to complete purchases took longer than expected.

Gr1pr

Has the AOS been submitted to the CNBC yet  ? Preferably online,  you say it was, so on what date exactly   ?

Copy your MCOL claim history below if unsure 

You wont be making admissions in your eventual paragraph 3  ( paragraph 2 is correct   )

Monday should be your deadline,  at 4pm

rokki

Yes it has, went through Moneyclaim.gov.uk. Should I have sent it to AOS.CNBC@justice.gov.uk instead?

Gr1pr

No problem,  just copy and paste your MCOL claim history below 

Your paragraph 3 needs completely changing 

Post a redacted picture of the POC on the lower left of the claim form below,  after hiding the VRM details first 

Is the issue date in the POC correct   ?

rokki

A claim was issued against you on 18/12/2024

Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 31/12/2024 at 11:27:39

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 31/12/2024 at 12:05:14

KeithP

rokki said:
A claim was issued against you on 18/12/2024
Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 31/12/2024 at 11:27:39
Your acknowledgment of service was received on 31/12/2024 at 12:05:14

With a Claim Issue Date of 18th December, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service('AOS') in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 20th January 2025 to file a Defence.

That's just a few days away but plenty of time to produce a Defence.

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 AOS has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Those Particulars of Claim that you have shown us don't even state what the driver is alleged to have done wrong.
Saying 'the driver parked in breach of the terms' simply isn't good enough.
Have a look at the suggestion in the template Defence for guidance on how to deal with that.
This will be an easy win.

rokki

thank you so much, I'll look closer at the defence where the POC doesn't state what alleged wrong doing was. I hadn't noticed that in the POC, so again, thank you for pointing this out
It's very reassuring to hear that you think it will be an easy win as I have nearly given in lots of times and to be honest although I didn't mean to, I did go over the max time on their signage
I'll repost with an updated defence if someone wouldnt mind double checking before I send it out

Coupon-mad

No need. Copy one!

This will be easy to defend. Like this one:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6576400/dcb-legal-parkingeye-court-claim/p1

You will be using the Template Defence but with the Chan and Akande links first.

Is the claim from Gladstones? Or BW Legal?

rokki

The claim is from Gladstones

Just a couple of questions:

re paragraph 1, 2nd sentence "it is denied that any conduct by the driver was in breach of any term" - I did go over the max period on the sign though so do I still keep this sentence in? And if so what grounds do I have?

re para 6 sentence 2 "and what heads of cost are being pursued" - as the POC does say the amount they are claiming for do I need to leave this bit out?

And can I just leave out para 6 (adding basic facts etc)

Coupon-mad

No you can't leave out your basic facts, nor any of the stuff you want to drop. Your defence will be the usual template but with Chan and Akande first. Do NOT talk about an overstay in para 6 of course!

You could change the sentence that you noticed to:

"it is denied that any conduct by the driver was in breach of any prominent/known term"

rokki

thank you - the bit I'm still unsure about is this bit

6. (Add basic facts and/or admit or deny the paragraphs in the woeful POC one by one)