Received CLAIM FORM for Charge Notice at Bristol Leigh Woods from "Civil National Business Centre"

citizen674907605

Hi folks,
Thought I would bring this here first instead of asking Citizens Advice. you lot helped me out a lot over a similar harassment for having to stop at Bristol Airport and being illegally fined £100 for doing so.
So I parked in a woodland area car park that many in Bristol will know, a simple search will reveal that many Bristolians since 2022 are outraged that you now have to pay and display at Leigh Woods (has always been free parking there).
So, on the day yes I parked there, tried to pay but the machine is defaced and you cant read or use it, so I didn't bother trying. Theres hardly any phone signal there to pay if the meter info could have even been visible.
Obviously I was outraged they installed a pay meter at a public nature walk like that, that isn't even in the city per se.
Received letters from GroupNexus / CP Plus etc, they all looked flaky and scammy so I ignored them. Now, a few months later I have received a claim form saying they're going to fix me up with a CCJ which I obviously don't want on my credit file.
I'm interested in how much power they really have. If it was a proper PCN then why did I never get a proper Bristol Council Yellow PCN on my dash? All they supplied were photos. I didn't keep the letters with the photos but I'll upload the claim forms, after I redact them.
Can they really do me with a CCJ? I thought there had to be a court date set , and been and gone for them to do that.
Any advice on this appreciated. Not sure of course of action. 

LDast

citizen674907605 said:

...and being illegally fined £100 for doing so.

All illegal acts are unlawful, but not all unlawful acts are illegal.

You need to show us the N1SDT Claim Form with the Particulars of Claim (PoC). Just redact your personal information, the claim number, the MCOL password and your VRM. Leave everything else visible, especially the dates.

The location you parked in is controlled by an unregulated private parking company which is why you did not receive a council Penalty Notice. No one can simply just "fix you up with a CCJ" and they are hoping you are low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree and will pay up out of ignorance and fear.

As far as I can make out, Leigh Woods in Bristol is under statutory control as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is owned and managed by Forestry England and the National Trust. This fact makes a very big difference to any defence you will make.

Because the land is under statutory control, it is not relevant land for the purpose of PoFA and so the Keeper cannot be liable for the charge. The parking operator has no idea of the drivers identity unless the keeper blabs it, inadvertently or otherwise.

So, if you've not engaged with them up until now, they still don't know who the driver is and as the Keeper, you are under no legal obligation to tell them. They are not allowed to assume or infer that the keeper must also be the driver. You are being sued as the keeper and cannot be liable. Unless they can prove you were also the driver (they can't unless you blab it to them), the claim is doomed to fail.

So, show the Particulars of Claim (PoC) and tell us the issue date of the claim so that your deadlines can be calculated.

citizen674907605

thanks for your reply, sorry in delay uploading pics, here they are

Fruitcake

The PoC are inadequate and fail to define a course of action. They simply state the vehicle remained on site in breach of terms and conditions, but have failed to state which specific terms were breached.

Was it a failure to pay, failure to display a ticket, a failure to park within a marked bay, failure to park under a tree, failure to stand on one leg and sing I am Australian, or something else?

First, complete the Acknowledgment of Service. You will then have 28 days from today to submit a defence. Do not rush it, but do not miss the filing deadline.

Then, the keeper should complain to the landowner and the keeper's MP. State that since the site is not relevant land as defined by the PoFA 2012, the keeper cannot be held liable. Also complain that the alleged breach of Ts and Cs have not been defined.

Read the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES, and follow the guide to court written by bargepole that you will find there, plus the template defence sticky Announcement that includes a twelve step guide to follow.

Use the whole of the defence template including the Chan transcript, and post your draft defence here, but ONLY the parts you have amended yourself. 
When it comes to filing, submit the whole defence by email.
Do not put anything in the MCOL defence box.

Coupon-mad

Here are the starting paragraphs to the alternative defence below ... TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE REST OF THE TEMPLATE DEFENCE:

(USUAL HEADINGS AT THE TOP)

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 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 draws to the attention of the allocating Judge that there are two persuasive Appeal judgments - by HHJ Murch at Luton and HHJ Evans at Manchester - to support striking out the claim in these exact circumstances of typically poorly pleaded private parking claims. 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 authorities:

3. Two recent persuasive appeal judgments in Civil Enforcement Limited v Chan (Ref. E7GM9W44) and Car Park Management Service Ltd v Akande (Ref. K0DP5J30) 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 Chan case, HHJ Murch held: '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 the Defendant trusts that the Court should strike out the extant claim, using its powers pursuant to CPR 3.4. 

4. The second recent persuasive appeal judgment also held that typical private parking case POC (like this) fail to comply with Part 16. On the 10 May 2024, in CPMS v Akande, HHJ Evans held: 'Particulars of Claim have to set out the basic facts upon which a party relies in order to prove his or her claim'. Transcripts for both cases are linked below to assist the Court to deal with this failure promptly and the two authorities will also be exhibited later, if the claim is not struck out at allocation stage:

Link to the two authorities: Chan_Akande

The facts known to the Defendant:

5. The facts in this defence come from the Defendant's own knowledge and honest belief.  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.

6. Referring to the POC: paragraph 1 is denied. The Defendant is not indebted to the Claimant. Paragraph 2 is denied. Whilst the Defendant did receive what appeared to be a scam 'Parking Charge Notice' this was later and no PCN was in fact "issued on 23/06/2024" (the date of the alleged visit according to the postal notice which was received out of the blue in July). Further, 'Leigh Woods' with no town, County or postcode to narrow it down to a car parking area or roadway, woefully fails the CPRs requirement for Claimants to specify where the alleged incident occurred. Whilst the Defendant is the registered keeper, paragraphs 3 and 4 are denied. The Defendant is not liable and has seen no evidence of a breach of prominent terms. The quantum is hugely exaggerated (no PCN can be £120 on private land) and there were no 'damages' incurred whatsoever, not that the breakdown of these two heads has been provided. The interest calculation also cannot be correct if it is being claimed from 'the date hereof' (i.e. this cannot possibly be the date of parking event because no monies or 'damages' were overdue before the PCN was even issued, so 'the date hereof' must mean the Claim Issue date). Therefore, interest cannot have amounted to over £5 already and cannot apply to imaginary 'damages' at all. In all respects, the claim is an incoherent template mess; an abuse of the court process.

7. The Claimant is put to strict proof of all their allegations in the event that the allocating Judge does not agree with the two appeal authorities above and strike out the claim without a hearing, as dozens of Judges have with similar cases in the past 18 months.

8. (Then put in para 4 of the template defence onwards here 'The Claimant will concede that...' and re-number all paragraphs below this. Your defence will exceed 30 paragraphs). 

See the Template Defence thread.

Gr1pr

I remember this location and problem arising on other forums like the defunct pepipoo or similar 

The area is under the control of the Forestry Commission or Woodland trust or something similar 
If I remember correctly its near Clifton suspension bridge 

Regardless,  its nothing to do with the council or official authorities,  hence why Group Nexus are contractors there 

As its a civil dispute over the alleged breach of the parking contract,  then the claimant can certainly take the Defendant to the small claims court,  if it actually got to a hearing,  which it probably wont

citizen674907605

ok folks thanks for the help. I'm busy today so I'll get my response ready tonight. I'll read the newbies guide.

Le_Kirk

citizen674907605 said:

ok folks thanks for the help. I'm busy today so I'll get my response ready tonight. I'll read the newbies guide.

Don't forget to read the defence template thread and, in particular, the 12 steps.

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 14th January, you have until Monday 3rd February 2025 to file an Acknowledgment of Service('AOS'), but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

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

Having filed an AOS in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 17th February 2025 to file a Defence.

That's over four 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 AOS guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an AOS, nor that 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'.

Coupon-mad

citizen674907605 said:

ok folks thanks for the help. I'm busy today so I'll get my response ready tonight. I'll read the newbies guide.

It was already written for you (above) entirely so did you get it signed, dated and emailed?

(Please don't show us the template words!).

citizen674907605

hi folks just want to say thank you so much for preparing my defence, i wasnt expecting that at all.

So earlier I submitted my AOS via the MCOL site. closed the MCOL site, now Im preparing my defence letter.

Essentially I copied what CouponMad posted, pasted into my Word document, then added everything from para 4 from the template defence as suggested. I will digitally sign it as I don't have a scanner at the moment.

after that, I consult the 12 steps , and thats about it right ?

Who am I emailing this to? the claimants solicitor or the court? yes newb question i know..

also, do I need to write "in the CC at Northampton" etc

IN THE COUNTY COURT

Claim No.:  xxxxxx

Between

Full name of pa etc..