Leisure Centre PCN Defence Help - Paragraph 3 Help

WinstonArchibaldII

Hello all, 

I was hoping to get some feedback on the defence I'm preparing, in response to a claim for money sent to me from a private parking company. 

I've read the newbies thread and the template defence, so I think I've got a good idea on what to do. However, I have a newborn and I'm back to work full time now so I've not had as much time to spend on this as I'd have liked! My plan is to use the template defence and just edit paragraph 3. Here are the details of the claim:

• Claimant - Civil Enforcement
• Amount claimed - £197.31 + legal fees (£282.31 total)
• Location - Leisure centre car park

Here's how the parking incident occurred:

• I've regularly played squash at this leisure centre for years, both before and after the parking penalty.
• In June 2023, the leisure centre changed their car park from free parking to permit parking, requiring customers to input their reg on a machine inside the centre when using their facilities. 
• My regular squash partner and I played squash at the leisure centre in August 2023, and this was the first time we'd played there since the parking rules had been changed.
• We both got caught out by the parking as neither of us noticed the changes to the system.
•  The existing 'free parking' sign had been changed, but it was of a similar style to the original, and as a regular customer,  I'd never have noticed the change. 
• Additional signs had been put up in the car park, but we didn't notice them (it might be worth noting extra signs have been put up here since the initial change in system). 
• The reg input machine was installed away from the usual route we'd take to the squash courts, and no member of staff informed us of any changes. 

And here's what's happened with the fine so far:

• I received a fine shortly after the parking incident.
• I made an initial appeal with POPLA (without reading this forum), based on lack of knowledge on changes in the system. This was rejected.
• I ignored the multiple reminders until I eventually received the court claim for money.
• Issue date was the 18th of August 2025, I submitted my AOS after the five days following this, so my defence deadline is 20th September.
• Since receiving the claim for money, I've contacted the leisure centre via email. They admitted that many customers had been caught out by the change, and they had managed to get some customer's fines quashed. 
• They also confirmed there was a two week 'free pass' period when the changes were first implemented. And that they have added more signage, to further help customers, since the initial changes. 
• My squash partner hasn't received a court claim for money. I'm assuming this is because they happened to pay for the session on the day of the incident, as we'd take turns to do this, and they used evidence of that as part of their initial appeal. 

Here's my draft paragraph 3:

The Defendant is a genuine patron of the leisure centre in question, attending regularly to play squash. On the material date, the Defendant was using the facilities and will provide proof of attendance. The Defendant relied on the longstanding arrangement of free parking for users and was unaware of any change to a system requiring registration entry. The signage at the material time was confusing and misleading: the new signs were of similar colour and design to the old free parking signs, and the registration machine was not located on the route the Defendant used to access the squash courts. No staff gave any warning or notice of the change. The Claimant is put to strict proof that the signage was adequate, prominent, and capable of forming a contract. Furthermore, the leisure centre has since confirmed in writing that many patrons were caught out by the sudden change, and that complaints were numerous, with many appeals upheld. This demonstrates that the system and signage were inadequate and failed to meet the requirements of transparency under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

So, I was hoping to get some feedback on this please. The three main questions I have are:

1) Am I thinking paragraph 3 is the only item from the template I'd need to edit for my case?
2) Is my paragraph 3 suitable?
3) What could be used as evidence of me using the facility, if required? Would some form of written statement from my squash partner be sufficient?

Thanks in advance for any advice given here. It will be greatly appreciated!

Coupon-mad

• Claimant - Civil Enforcement

Show us the POC as the defence para 3 is meant to be the special one linked in the Template Defence thread, if CEL issued this claim in-house.

WinstonArchibaldII

Hello. Thanks for the response. Here's the POC:

Gr1pr

Did CEL file the claim   ?  Or is DCB LEGAL named as well,  top left of the claim form   ?

Post the Issue date from the top right of the claim form below and the date that the AOS online was completed   ?

Coupon-mad

CEL did. Can tell from the POC.

Use the special para 3 linked in the Template Defence thread for these cases.