Court claim from Civil Enforcement LTD for a parking charge

[abz88]

Hi All,

As im sure there are many, i have received a Claim form for a parking charge that was issued a couple of years ago because i parked in a KFC car park which was free, however i left and went to a different location.

Now my questions is what defense do i have in this scenario or do i have to pay the total sum that they are now reuesting including court fees etc?

Thank you so much!

[des8]

When was the claim issued, and have you acknowledged it?

There are often several different defences for these court claims, but can't possibly advise without seeing the claim, and the car park signs and the original Parking Charge Notice. (If you post them up, redact identifying details but leave in all dates and times)
Have you identified the driver, or did you just ignore the PCN?

[abz88]

Hi Des8

Yes i have acknowledged it, it was submitted on the 25th of June.

I am attaching the claim document here.

I did not identify the driver and yes just ignored it hoping it would just go away.

I will try to find the original notice, it will be somewherein my documents.

[des8]

Ok, now(asap) send a subject access request and a CPR31.14 request to CEL
There are templates in the SHORTCUTS panel on righthand side of this page.
In the CPR request you need to ask for(i) " all the documentation they will rely on in court" and " especially copy of contract authorising them as managers of the car park with the right to issue parking charges and to use all means including court claims for collection purposes"
(ii) copy of the signage at the car park

When you have a response, post up here.
If no response received give us a nudge around 23rd July

[abz88]

I have sent off these requests today so they will receive the letters by tomorrow. Will provide an update as soon as I received any response.

Is there anything else I need to prep for in the meantime?

[des8]

You just have to sit & wait

[abz88]

I have not received a response from CEL so far, what would be my option to proceed from here?

[des8]

You can either pay up, or defend the claim
Your defence needs to be filed by next Monday, so I'll draft something up tomorrow for you to adapt as you want.

[abz88]

Yes please that would be great, i thought i would have to file defence by today?

[des8]

Here is a short defence for you to use or not as you decide.
It is how I would respond, but them I am not a lawyer so you use it at your own risk..
It is difficult to create a more in depth one as we do not have many details, but having said that it is IMO a very poorly drafted claim
You need to fill in the claim number and tidy up the paragraph numbers

This probably won't fit in the mcol box so you will need to send it as an attachment to an email, in the subject line of which you enter the claim number, Civil Enforcement ltd V your name DEFENCE.
Don't file it until the weekend just in case you receive a response to your CPR 31.14 letter,. If you do receive a reply post up immediately all the docs so your defence can be rehashed

.The Defendant received the claim No XXXXXXXXXXXXX, issued 25th June 2025 from Civil Enforcement Ltd

1. .Each and every allegation in the Claimants statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.
2. The defendant avers the Claimant's statement of case firstly fails to give adequate information to enable the Defendant to properly assess the Defendant's position with regards the claim and secondly has failed to properly plead its case in accordance with CPR 16.4(1)(a)
   Specifically the Particulars of Claim state that the claim is for unpaid charges relating to a Parking Charge Notice for breach of contract terms & conditions but does not
   1. state how the terms & conditions of the alleged contract were breached
   2. describe how the defendant is liable for any such charges
3. It is well established that the Claimant must provide adequate pleadings and include all essential ingredients of the cause of action so as to enable the Defendant to understand the case against them. The Particulars of Claim, as drafted, are inadequate which makes it difficult for the Defendant to respond as he does not know or understand the basis of the Claimant's case.
4. It is noted that the Claimant has failed to respond to a CPR31.14 request sent dd.mm 2025 for disclosure of documents on which they intend to rely on in court
5. Accordingly, the court is invited to consider its general case management powers pursuant to CPR 3.1 to:
   1. make an order that unless the Claimant (i) files and re-serves an amended Particulars of Claim compliant with CPR 16.4(1)(a) and (ii) provide the necessary documentation in order for The Defendant to fully plead her case within 14 days of said order, then the claim shall be struck out and judgment entered in favour of the Defendant;
   2. If the Claimant should comply with such an order , the Defendant will then be in a position to amend her defence, and would ask that the Claimant bears the costs of the amendment.
      Or
   3. if the court considers it appropriate, to strike out the claim in whole or in part, as the basis that the claim discloses no reasonable grounds for a cause of action; and
   4. exercise any other case management powers the court sees fit
6. Statement of truth
7. ‘I believe that the facts stated in this defence are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.’
8. signed

[abz88]

I have just seen that the Royal Mail tracking says the letter was redirected back from Liverpool and its been sat in the London central distrbtibution centre since the 18th of July. I can only imagine that the redirection address isn't there or the postal address isn't correct for CEL. So they haven't seem to have received the request. What can i do now?

[abz88]

also many thanks for drafting the defence for me, I will certainly use that to post my defence.

[abz88]

I seem to have now received the letter response from CEL with the deatils requested. However i have made a mistake and as i went on holiday i missed out filling the defence.

Is it now too late to do anything?, I have received the documents quite a bit later than when it was all requested. I will post the pictures of the docs received shortly.

[des8]

Well if you post up those documents we can perhaps produce a better defence which you can file late and hope the claimant doesn't file for a default judgment in the meantime.
Just get a move on!

[abz88]

Attached are the images of what i received, masked out details. Part 1