Court claim form - Gateway House

Rhino18

Hi All, Apologies I can see there is a plethora of posts and threads on this subject, but as its important to get these things right and I can't find a post identical to our circumstances I'm going to appeal to the experienced members with newbie patience.

Individual circumstances are as follows.

1. Don't recall ever receiving a PCN (that doesn't mean we haven't because its quite possible my wife disposed of it in a panic without telling me)
2. Received Claim form with an issue date of 15th May on it with the following POC.

The claim is for an unpaid parking charge issued for a breach of contractual terms on a date in May 2023 at Gateway House Piccadilly Manchester etc. The signage displayed at the site set out contractual terms and offered a contractual licence which the defendant accepted by parking. The claimant has the authority to operate the site and issue charges. The breach was No stopping. The defendant is liable as the driver and/or keeper, in contract and/or pursuant to POFA sch 4 and the charge remains unpaid despite demand. And the claimant claims 1. £170 being the total of the PCN. 2. Costs and court fees. The claimant claims interest under sec 69 of the county courts act 1984 at the rate of 8% per year from 26/6/23 to 13/5/26 on £170 and also interest at the same rate to the date of judgement or earlier payment at a daily rate of £0.02.

My wife us the registered keeper but having received the claim form and thinking back, it was i who was driving, following a sat nav to drop her off at the the train station and given I had no idea where I was going I was paying more attention to the sat nav than any signage that may have been present (not a defence in itself I know).

My question is simply, do we have a defence here by virtue that a legally binding contract should have a viable offer and one that states "no stopping' is not a viable offer to park?

Advice would be greatly appreciated and I completely understand there will be a reluctance to repeat yourself where you feel elements of this case match one previously given advice for, but if you could give me the specific breadcrumb trails to find the relevant info i'd really appreciate it.

Just for completeness I have already completed the acknowledgement of service form but the clock is ticking.

Many thanks

Coupon-mad

"My wife is the registered keeper but having received the claim form and thinking back, it was i who was driving, following a sat nav to drop her off at the the train station".

Obviously that's her winning point and she can adapt the exact same one done here just hours ago:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82018560#Comment_82018560

She just needs to change the paras 2 and 3 a bit (a tiny tweak) to state the right date and the fact she WAS NOT DRIVING. She can also add that 'no stopping' is prohibitive and not a contractual offer with any consideration or meeting of minds under an agreed contract.

Le_Kirk

Just for completeness I have already completed the acknowledgement of service form

With an issue date of 15/05/26 and having completed the AoS in a timely manner your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 17/06/26

Rhino18

Thanks guys really appreciate your help, totally understand this may feel repetitive for you.

This may sound like a silly question but I have to ask as legal language really does confuse me.…Are all those paragraphs really required as some don't read as fully applicable to our circumstances.

Can i also ask via what method do i submit the defence? Thanks again for your patience

Umkomaas

Use it as is. You copy and paste the Defence into the MCOL Defence portal.

Car1980

"The signage displayed at the site set out contractual terms and offered a contractual licence which the defendant accepted by parking."

Stopping isn't parking.

Coupon-mad

"via what method do i submit the defence?"

See the Template Defence first post, 8 steps.

🙂

Rhino18

Thanks All, patience appreciated 👌

Rhino18

Sorry me again 🤣 again apologies, I just wanted to check if its OK to paste the draft defence here for comment as I have copied The recommended defence and added some comments in bold? I'm unsure if those sections should be included. I'm checking as i'm sure i've read a comment that you shouldn't post your defence somewhere on the forum but i've obviously seen them. Thanks

Gr1pr

Just post the paragraphs that you changed, not the rest

Umkomaas

No problems copying and pasting here, especially if you’re adding to the template. If there’s any personal/identifying/sensitive data in it, just redact those bits.