There is no need to identify the driver. As above, In whose name is the claim? That is the person that will be responding. If it is in your wife's name but you want to do all the work, that is OK but it has to be in her name.
I forgot to add to the bottom of the suggested defence the Statement of Truth which should be as follows:
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.
So the defence you will be sending should look like this with the appropriate bits filled in:
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: [Claim Number]
BETWEEN:
[Claimant's Full Name]
Claimant
- and -
[Defendant's Full Name]
Defendant
DEFENCE
1. The Defendant denies any liability for this claim.
2. There is a lack of precise detail in the Particulars of Claim (PoC) in respect of the factual and legal allegations made against the Defendant such that the PoC do not comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a).
3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:
(i) The contract referred to is not attached to the PoC in accordance with CPR PD 16.7.3;
(ii) The PoC do not state the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract (or contracts) which is/are relied on;
(iii) The PoC do not set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts);
(iv) The PoC do not state with sufficient particularity exactly where the breach occurred, the exact time when the breach occurred and how long it is alleged that the vehicle was parked before the parking charge was allegedly incurred;
(v) The PoC do not state exactly how the claim for statutory interest is calculated.
(vi) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages.
(vii) The PoC states that the Claimant is suing the defendant as the driver or the keeper. The claimant obviously knows whether the defendant is being sued as the driver or the keeper and should not be permitted to plead alternative causes of action.
4. The Defendant has attached to this defence a copy of an order made at another court which the allocating judge ought to make at this stage so that the Defendant can then know and understand the case which he/she/it faces and can then respond properly to the claim.
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.
Signed:
Date:
And then the draft order:
Before District Judge [Name] on [Date]
Of the Court's own initiative and upon reading the particulars of claim and the defence
AND the court being of the view that there is a lack of precise detail in the particulars of claim in respect of the factual and legal allegations made against the defendant such that the particulars of claim do not comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a)
Order
1. Unless the Claimant do by 4pm on (insert a date here 14 days from typing the order) file at court a further particulars of claim which complies with CPR 16.4(1)(a) and which sets out:
(i) the precise and concise factual allegations it makes against the Defendant and
(ii) the factual or legal [or both] basis of its claim and
(iii) exactly how its claim is calculated (if there is a claim for a fixed sum)
then the claim shall be struck out.
1. For the avoidance of doubt the further particulars of claim must refer to and have attached to them the contract (or contracts) between the claimant and defendant relied on [marked "A"] and must set out the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract (or contracts) which is/are relied on.
2. For the avoidance of doubt the further particulars of claim must, in respect of each and every alleged breach of contract, set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts that the defendant was in breach of contract.
3. For the avoidance of doubt the further particulars of claim must, in respect of each and every alleged breach of contract, set out the full postal address of where the breach took place, the precise date and time of the alleged breach, and exactly how long it is alleged that the defendant had parked his/her/its/their vehicle before the parking charge was incurred
4. For the avoidance of doubt the further particulars of claim must set out a precise calculation of any claim for statutory interest up to the date of issue to include the date when it is said that interest started running.
5. Permission to either party to apply to set aside, vary or stay this order by an application on notice which must be filed at this Court not more than 5 days after service of this order, failing which no such application may be made.
The defence statement can be signed electronically by simply typing the full name of the defendant where it says "signature".
Have you acknowledged service (AoS) of the claim yet? If not, you have until Monday 5th August to do so. There is no advantage to delay the AoS so follow the instructions here to get that out of the way. DO NOT file your defence using the MCOL website. Your defence will be submitted as a PDF attachment to an email.
How to do the AoS on MCOL:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xvqu3bask5m0zir/money-claim-online-How-to-Acknowledge.pdf?dl=0
By filing your AoS you will then have until 4pm on Monday 19th August to file your defence.
I suggest that because the Particulars of Claim are so woefully inadequate that you file the following as your defence:
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: [Claim Number]
BETWEEN:
[Claimant's Full Name]
Claimant
- and -
[Defendant's Full Name]
Defendant
DEFENCE
1. The Defendant denies any liability for this claim.
2. There is a lack of precise detail in the Particulars of Claim (PoC) in respect of the factual and legal allegations made against the Defendant such that the PoC do not comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a).
3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:
(i) The contract referred to is not attached to the PoC in accordance with CPR PD 16.7.3;
(ii) The PoC do not state the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract (or contracts) which is/are relied on;
(iii) The PoC do not set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts);
(iv) The PoC do not state with sufficient particularity exactly where the breach occurred, the exact time when the breach occurred and how long it is alleged that the vehicle was parked before the parking charge was allegedly incurred;
(v) The PoC do not state exactly how the claim for statutory interest is calculated.
(vi) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages.
(vii) The PoC states that the Claimant is suing the defendant as the driver or the keeper. The claimant obviously knows whether the defendant is being sued as the driver or the keeper and should not be permitted to plead alternative causes of action.
4. The Defendant has attached to this defence a copy of an order made at another court which the allocating judge ought to make at this stage so that the Defendant can then know and understand the case which he/she/it faces and can then respond properly to the claim.
You also attach the following document, preferably as a Word document but as a PDF.
Before District Judge [Name] on [Date]
Of the Court's own initiative and upon reading the particulars of claim and the defence
AND the court being of the view that there is a lack of precise detail in the particulars of claim in respect of the factual and legal allegations made against the defendant such that the particulars of claim do not comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a)
Order
1. Unless the Claimant do by 4pm on (insert a date here 14 days from typing the order) file at court a further particulars of claim which complies with CPR 16.4(1)(a) and which sets out:
(i) the precise and concise factual allegations it makes against the Defendant and
(ii) the factual or legal [or both] basis of its claim and
(iii) exactly how its claim is calculated (if there is a claim for a fixed sum)
then the claim shall be struck out.
1. For the avoidance of doubt the further particulars of claim must refer to and have attached to them the contract (or contracts) between the claimant and defendant relied on [marked "A"] and must set out the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract (or contracts) which is/are relied on.
2. For the avoidance of doubt the further particulars of claim must, in respect of each and every alleged breach of contract, set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts that the defendant was in breach of contract.
3. For the avoidance of doubt the further particulars of claim must, in respect of each and every alleged breach of contract, set out the full postal address of where the breach took place, the precise date and time of the alleged breach, and exactly how long it is alleged that the defendant had parked his/her/its/their vehicle before the parking charge was incurred
4. For the avoidance of doubt the further particulars of claim must set out a precise calculation of any claim for statutory interest up to the date of issue to include the date when it is said that interest started running.
5. Permission to either party to apply to set aside, vary or stay this order by an application on notice which must be filed at this Court not more than 5 days after service of this order, failing which no such application may be made.
The defence will be emailed to claim responses.cnbc@justice.gov.uk. You CC in yourself. The subject of the email should be "Defence to claim No: [claim number] and in the body you just say please find attached the defence to claim: [claim number]. You should receive an immediate auto response which is your receipt of delivery.