Napier Parking County Court Claim

Hi all,

I have drafted a defence letter below, please let me have your feedback.

I am a little confused - do I need to send any letters to Napier?
Where do I send this defence to?
Can I email it to the court?

1. I am xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, the defendant in this matter. My address for service is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

2. This is my statement of truth and my defence.

3. As an unrepresented litigant-in-person I seek the Court's permission to amend and supplement this defence as may be required upon full disclosure of the claimant's case.

4. For the avoidance of doubt on the relevant date I was the registered keeper of a XXXXXXXXX, registered number XXXXXXXXXXX.

The claim is denied in its entirety except where explicitly admitted here. I assert that I am not liable to the Claimant for the sum claimed, or any amount at all, for the following reasons:

5. The Claim Form issued on the XXXXXXXXXXXXXX by Napier Parking Limited was not
correctly filed under The Practice Direction as it was not signed by a legal person but signed by “BW Legal Services Limited (Claimant’s Legal Representative)”.

6. This Claimant has not complied with pre-court protocol. And as an example as to why this prevents a full defence being filed at this time, a parking charge can be for trespass, breach of contract or a contractual charge. All these are treated differently in law and require a different defence. The wording of any contract will naturally be a key element in this matter, and a copy of the alleged contract has never been provided to the Defendant.

A) There was no compliant ‘Letter before County Court Claim’, under the Practice Direction.

This is a speculative serial litigant, issuing a large number of identical 'draft particulars'. The badly mail-merged documents contain very little information.

C) The Claim form Particulars were extremely sparse and divulged no cause of action nor sufficient detail. The claimant has 1080 characters yet has chosen to use only 792 (including spaces) of them.

D) The particulars of claim give no information on the alleged “parking contravention”, nor the “FCN Terms and conditions”, signage or location maps upon which the claimant relies.

E) The claim shows no basis for the alleged liability or as to why the claim has been brought against myself as merely the registered keeper of the vehicle.

F) The Defendant therefore asks the Court to strike out the claim as having no reasonable prospect of success as currently drafted.

G) Alternatively, the Defendant asks that the Claimant is required to file Particulars which comply with Practice Directions and include at least the following information;


(i) Whether the matter is being brought for trespass, breach of contract or a contractual charge, or to state another reason entirely, and an explanation as to the exact nature of the charge
(ii) A copy of any contract it is alleged was in place (e.g. copies of signage).
(iii) How any contract was concluded (if by performance, then copies of signage maps in place at the time).
(iv) Whether keeper liability is being claimed, and if so copies of any Notice to Driver / Notice to Keeper.
(v) Whether the Claimant is acting as Agent or Principal, together with a list of documents they will rely on in this matter.
(vi) If charges over and above the initial charge are being claimed, the basis on which this is being claimed.

H) Once these Particulars have been filed, the Defendant asks for reasonable time to file another defence.

7. The defendant refutes that they were the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged “parking contravention”.

8. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4 has not being complied with. The registered keeper has not been proven as the driver, as such the keeper can only be held liable if the claimant has fully complied with all of the strict requirements.

9. The defendant asserts that no ‘notice to keeper’ was received, and therefore it is clear that the claimant has not complied with The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The registered keeper cannot be held liable.

10. The defendant refutes that fact that any contract was made with the driver, in the absence of any proof of adequate signage that contractually bound the driver then there can have been no contract and the Claimant has no case.

11. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 does not permit the Claimant to recover a sum greater than the parking charge on the day before a Notice to Keeper was issued. The Claimant cannot recover additional charges. The Claimant claims a sum of £80 as a “Fixed Charge Notice (FCN)” (for which liability is denied) plus The Particulars of Claim include £54 that the claimant has untruthfully presented as contractual charges, which cannot be lawfully recovered. The defendant also has the reasonable belief that the charges have not been invoiced and/or paid.

12. This case can be distinguished from ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67 (the Beavis case) which was dependent upon an undenied contract, formed by unusually prominent signage forming a clear offer and which turned on unique facts regarding the location and the interests of the landowner. Strict compliance with the BPA Code of Practice (CoP) was paramount and Mr Beavis was the driver who saw the signs and entered into a contract to pay £85 after exceeding a licence to park free. None of this applies in this material case.

13. The Defendant denies any liability whatsoever to the Claimant in any matter and asks the Court to note that the Claimant has, sent a template, well-known to be generic cut and paste 'Particulars' of claim.

The vague Particulars of Claim disclose no clear cause of action. The court is invited to strike out the claim of its own volition as having no merit and no reasonable prospects of success.

I confirm that the above facts and statements are true to the best of my knowledge and recollection.

Hi again,

Ok, defence submitted online, court has sent me a letter confirming they have my defence.

Today I've received another letter from BW Legal, stating;
'Our client intends to continue with the claim, we confirm that we have notified the court of the same"

Is this a generic letter sent to everyone? Or is it an acknowledgement that they have seen my defence and will contest it?
Can they view my defence before the court date?

Any info appreciated
Thanks