Court Claim Form received from County Court Business Centre for Parking Fine unpaid

[des8]

Why not take a photograph from closer to the sign?

because the site is now fenced off (post 9)

[des8]

Yes sorry, tried to get best picture i could.

Will start on my defence now. However any idea on deadline? Document says 28days from claim date, however on forum, some mention you have extra days for postage etc.

Also you said...



Do i just put my defence as I have not been supplied with the documents or do i put my argument in and the above?

Thanks again for the support.

The time limit for serving /filing a defence is 28 days AFTER SERVICE, which is taken to be 33 days in total

Write as full a defence as possible and if you want post the draft up for tweaking if necessary

[atticus]

OK, thanks

[Patel0121]

Hello,

OK so writing a defence is an alien concept, so of course a template and experience from others was looked at.

Please can you see attached to see if this is something that is usable? This seems a little too wordy.

Things to note, the Claim date is 5th May so worried about timing for defence.
Also I have not had the SAR and CPR requests back to me. So harder to build a defence. (Where should that be fed into the attached?)

Thanks

[MIKE770]

State in such. Date request for xxxx no responses

[Patel0121]

Hi Mike770,

I'm sorry, i don't understand what you mean by "State in such". I am not familiar with this term.

Also, do you feel the rest of the document is fit for purpose?

Thank you

[MIKE770]

On such a date etc

[des8]

That defence is much too long, and in parts reads more like a witness statement than a defence.
A quick scan also showed that in para 2 you identify the driver.. not a wise move so suggest you delete the attachment.

Later I'll post up a draft which you can work on, but busy at the moment

[Patel0121]

Thanks both,

Yes i thought this was too long, however just didn't want to cut anything as knowing the defendants luck, would have removed key legal wording :-)

Thanks DES8, the defendant is grateful for the support!

Thanks

[des8]

IMO you ned something more on the lines ofthe following (but others might have different opinions!):

1.The Defendant received the claim [Claim Number] from the [Name of Court – often Northampton or Salford] County Court

on [Date you received the claim]

2.Each and every allegation in the Claimant's statement of case is denied unless specifically admitted in this Defence.

3. The claim is not sufficiently particularised to enable the Defendant to fully understand the case to be defended, but it

seems to be a claim for breach of contract

4. The Claimant has failed to supply to the Defendant the documents on which the claimant intends to rely

5. The Defendant admits he is the registered keeper of vehicle with registration number XXXXXXXXX

6. The Defendant denies the driver of the vehicle with registration number xxxxx contracted to park at xxxx on dd.mm.yy.

7. The claimant does not state a period of parking.

8.The signage at xxxx is not capable of forming a contract

9. The signage was not viewable from the road

10 The Driver entered the site and read that parking was for Permit Holders only, There was no offer to park.

11.Not having a permit, the Driver immediately drove out of the site, thus there was no acceptance of an offer and no contract

to park

12..Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) where the claim includes a money claim, a Defendant shall be taken to require that

any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore, it is

expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed.

13.The Defendant respectfully requests the court orders the Claimant to provide the necessary documentation in order for

The Defendant to fully plead his case else the Claim should stand struck out.

14.In the event that the relevant documents are received from the Claimant, the Defendant will then be in a position to amend

his defence, and would ask that the Claimants bear the costs of the amendment.

15..It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

Statement of truth etc...........


Re point 10, I have not been able to read the T7C's but if it said permit holders only (as your defence suggested) it was a forbidding sign.
You cannot contract to do something that is forbidden.

[Patel0121]

Thanks DES8! That looks great.

Will re look at the sign to confirm, otherwise will remove.
Simply put there is no payment machine, number to dial to pay or even parking tariff visable.

Do you add photo evidence too at this stage? Or is the statement above enough?

[des8]

That statement should be sufficient

The defence is that there was no contract.

The evidence supporting that (poor signage etc) comes later in a witness statement, so no added on photos or documents

[Patel0121]

Ok great. Thanks.

Is a judgement made on the statement or does the defendant have to go to court to defend?

Someone could be nervous depending on just a word doc to put this matter to rest.

[des8]

Hopefully Gladstones will discontinue when they realise there isa good defence.
However that might only be on the day of the hearing, when they decide not to turn up!

Defendant should expect to go to court, altho' it might be a telephone or zoom call now a days due to Covid!

[Patel0121]

Sorry DES8, just reviewing this all up now realised what was said in point 9, 10 and 11.

the sign (outline of a white notice board with markings) can be seen from the road, however the text is not legible and have to enter the car park to read.
Also that the sign is above head height so even when driving hard to spot the sign above.

Therefore should I amend the following? ...

"
9. The signage was not viewable from the road.

10 The Driver entered the site and read that "This Land is private property" and "£100 Parking Charge" with no offer to park at an hourly rate.

11.Having read the sign, the Driver immediately drove out of the site, thus there was no acceptance of an offer and no contract to park.

OR

9. The signage was not viewable from the road.

10 The Driver entered the site and read the sign.

11.Having read the sign, the Driver immediately drove out of the site, thus there was no acceptance of an offer and no contract to park.
"

Also Statement of truth, is the below good? I did read somewhere on forum there are different versions?

"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."