Ready to Defend! Southgate Park MET McDonalds

Blobmeister

Hi.

Our MET debacle has now gone on and on since August 2024! I emailed them (on behalf of my wife - who is the registered keeper of the vehicle) to try and get them to see sense. Obviously, over the time I've had to research the fraudulent MET activities, I'm not surprised that they didn't listen to reason.

However, I didn't appeal to POPLA, as at the time I didn't think it was worth it. I have had to deal with POPLA twice before and have previously had no joy with them. I've noticed since that, if tackled the right way, people have indeed had success with POPLA when appealing against MET with regards to Southgate Park 

My wife has recently (Saturday 22/11/25) recieved the 'Response Pack' so wanted to ask some advice:
a)    Will it affect my case that I've not appealed to POPLA?
b)    My defence against the claim had always been that the car parks (Starbucks and McDonalds) are not seperated distinctly enough, That the signage was too small and (at 2am in the morning) too similar to the McDonalds signage to differntiate and that Starbucks was closed. Starbucks being closed means that parking cannot be paid for with a valid purchase. There are also no Pay and Display payment machines in the car park - so their argument that I hadn't paid is invalid as it was not possible. I've noticed that people are now questioning MET's jurisdiction legalities 
c)    I have to complete the 'Acknowledgement of Service. I'm intending to do all of this on behalf of my wife (we haven't given driver details at all as yet). Do I tick that I defend All/Part of this claim or Contest Jurisdiction?
d)    I'm then assuming I have to complete the 'Defence and Counterclaim' but I'm having difficulty grasping my standpoint. Isn't Counterclaiming merely defending in this instance?

I do apologise if I have omitted anything or overlooked something that I should already have researched, but not being used to the legal side of this makes it look so daunting.

Hopefully someone here is able to clarify (and put into simpletons language lol)

Thank you.

Le_Kirk

Is there a thread open about this issue?  What is the date of issue of the N1SDT claim form and can you show us the POC (covering any personal information)?
For the defence you could copy another similar defence about Southgate/MET.

Coupon-mad

a) no
b) yes that can go in as paragraph 3.
c) you should already know this answer from the 'how to do the AOS' dropbox link
d) your wife is defending, not counterclaiming

If your wife wasn't driving, she isn't liable so make that clear in her defence. 

fatbelly

You are not counterclaiming nor contesting jurisdiction

Tick 'defend all' on the aos

Blobmeister

Le_Kirk said:

Is there a thread open about this issue?  What is the date of issue of the N1SDT claim form and can you show us the POC (covering any personal information)?
For the defence you could copy another similar defence about Southgate/MET.

POC as in the detailed particulars on the N1SDT?
Thanks 

Coupon-mad

Yes. Read a few claim threads. Everyone shows the POC (or claim form) with certain redactions.

Blobmeister

This is the N1SDT

[Image redacted by Forum Team for displaying password]

Coupon-mad

You've left the password showing.

Blobmeister

Thanks Coupon-mad....I scoured that countless times and still missed something!!
Thanks, I'll get on with the AOS (...in my defence, I did apologise if I'd overlooked anything! lol
Cheers

Le_Kirk

You've covered up the issue date of the claim form!  Assuming three days for delivery

With an issue date of 19/11/25 and providing you complete(d) the AoS after 24/11/25 and before 08/12/25 your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 22/12/25
If that date of issue is incorrect, please post the correct date.

With a corrected issue date of 20/11/25 and providing you complete(d) the AoS after 25/11/25 and before 09/12/25 your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 23/12/25

Blobmeister

You weren't far away. The issue date was the 20/11/25