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Live cases legal advice => Private parking tickets => Topic started by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 02:08:34 am

Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: jfollows on November 29, 2025, 05:55:23 am
Do not have a telephone discussion with anyone, especially not DCB Legal. Hang up if they call you and block their number. Everything in writing, post or email.

They have form for offering to “settle” for a lower amount than they previously demanded, but this is simply a precursor to discontinuing as has been said earlier. Reply #20
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on November 29, 2025, 04:43:20 am
Hi

Thank you so much for the above advice and guidance; it is very much appreciated.

I have completed the N180 form just now and sent as per your instructions to the court and DCB Legal.

In the meantime, I have had a voice mail left by DCB Legal, suggesting that they would like to reach out to discuss matters to do with the case.   I'm going to be away aboard from today, with limited access to my emails due to extensive travel.
What do you advise regards a phone discussion please?

Thank you in advice and ongoing support.
I eagerly will await your further guidance.

Kind Regards.
Noreen
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: b789 on November 11, 2025, 04:02:33 pm
No need for us to see that. It is all boilerplate stuff. Just follow this advice regarding your own N180 Directions Questionnaire:

Having received your own N180 (make sure it is not simply a copy of the claimants N180) or been notified on MCOL that yours has been sent, do not use the paper form. Ignore all the other forms that came with it. you can discard those. Download your own N180 DQ here and fill it in on your computer. You sign it by simply typing your full name in the signature box.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673341e779e9143625613543/N180_1124.pdf

Here are the answers to some of the less obvious questions:

• The name of the court is "Civil National Business Centre".

• To be completed by "Your full name" and you are the "Defendant".

• C1: "YES"

• D1: "NO". Reason: "I wish to question the Claimant about their evidence at a hearing in person and to expose omissions and any misleading or incorrect evidence or assertions.
Given the Claimant is a firm who complete cut & paste parking case paperwork for a living, having this case heard solely on papers would appear to put the Claimant at an unfair advantage, especially as they would no doubt prefer the Defendant not to have the opportunity to expose the issues in the Claimants template submissions or speak as the only true witness to events in question
.."

• F1: Whichever is your nearest county court. Use this to find it: https://www.find-court-tribunal.service.gov.uk/search-option

• F3: "1".

• Sign the form by simply typing your full name for the signature.

When you have completed the form, attach it to a single email addressed to both dq.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and info@dcblegal.co.uk and CC in yourself. Make sure that the claim number is in the subject field of the email.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on November 10, 2025, 04:13:31 pm
Good day,

Thank you for the clarity on the above list of steps.

Seems I received an email (below) from DCBLegal litigation dated 03.11.2025 (it went to junk and I've only picked up on it).

"Having reviewed the content of your defence, we write to inform you that our client intends to proceed with the claim.

In due course, the Court will direct both parties to each file a directions questionnaire. In preparation for that, please find attached a copy of the Claimant's, which we confirm has been filed with the Court.

Without Prejudice to the above, in order to assist the Court in achieving its overriding objective, our client may be prepared to settle this case - in the event you wish to discuss settlement, please call us on 0203 434 0433 within 7 days and make immediate reference to this correspondence.

If you have provided an email address within your Defence, we intend to use it for service of documents (usually in PDF format) hereon in pursuant to PD 6A (4.1)(2)(c). Please advise whether there are any limitations to this (for example, the format in which documents are to be sent and the maximum size of attachments that may be received). Unless you advise otherwise, we will assume not".

Here is the claimant's N180 attached to the email I received:-(REDACTED address details, claim No, etc). https://ibb.co/676jpMtL

I would greatly appreciate if you could review this and confirm what I should respond.

Kind Regards
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: b789 on October 06, 2025, 02:45:19 pm
Not quite in that order:

1. Claimant acknowledges receipt of your defence, tells you their client intends to proceed and sends you a copy of their N180 Directions Questionnaire
2. You submit your own N180
3. Mandatory mediation call (about 5 minutes or less)
4. Case allocated to your local court
5. Local court gives 'directions' and possibly strikes out the claim
6. If #5 does not get the claim struck out, then DCB Legal discontinues before the payment due date
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: jfollows on October 06, 2025, 02:06:12 pm
If you search the forum, you’ll see a lot of similar cases.

But

Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on October 06, 2025, 01:58:53 pm
Hi,

Thank you so much @b789 for your guidance on my court defense paperwork.
I have used MCOL to submit my defence and draft order as per your guidance just now.
I note the summary status confirms this as: Your defence was submitted on 06/10/2025 at 12:41:06.

Would you kindly let me know what are the next steps from here? Is there a particular time-frame in which I should hear back from the courts?

Once again, I appreciate your updates on guidance.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: b789 on September 24, 2025, 11:42:16 am
No, you do not want to counterclaim. All you are doing is defending the whole claim made against you.

If you wanted to counterclaim, on what basis would you want to do so? If your only concern is "costs", what costs are those?

In small claims, the general rule is no recovery of costs for the losing party, but CPR 27.14(2)(g) allows recovery for unreasonable behaviour, such as a claimant pursuing a vexatious claim or a defendant unreasonably refusing to respond to a reasonable request. To be awarded costs, a party must apply to the court, which then considers the conduct against the Ridehalgh v Horsefield test of whether the behaviour "permits of no reasonable explanation". If successful, the court can order the unreasonable party to pay costs, subject to summary assessment.

What constitutes unreasonable behaviour? There's no specific definition, and each case is judged on its own facts. However, examples could include:

• A claimant with no real prospect of success: who brings or pursues a weak case without a reasonable explanation.
• A defendant who fails to provide a reasonable explanation for their actions or refusal to settle a claim.
• Conduct causing unnecessary costs, such as a very late discontinuance.

In order to recover costs under CPR 27.14(2)(g), the party seeking costs must apply to the court to have them assessed. The court will consider if the conduct "permits of no reasonable explanation".

The court will consider the specific circumstances of the case to determine if the behaviour was unreasonable.  If the court finds unreasonable behaviour, it can then assess and order the payment of costs, which can be a substantial amount but unlikely in these small claims.

There are some important considerations to take into account. The threshold for establishing unreasonable behaviour is high, especially in the small claims track where the presumption is generally against costs recovery.

The standard of behaviour expected from a represented party may differ from that of a Litigant in Person (LiP).
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 06:37:07 pm
Thank you for your guidance and noted on the matter of not using 'quote'.

I've begun the defence submission online, using the defence you provided in MCOL.
There are questions on counter claim, please could you clarify this; if this is seeking costs, than I am not interested in that route, but wanted to double check here first on the clarification of this?

Also noted on the amended email to send noting the change from paper to corrected portal submission for AoS.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: b789 on September 23, 2025, 06:26:00 pm
Send a 3-line email asking the CNBC to disregard the paper AoS if/when it arrives, so it doesn’t accidentally overwrite the online one.

Email it to AOS.CNBC@justice.gov.uk and CC info@ dcblegal.co.uk

Quote
Subject: “AoS correction – please disregard paper AoS – [Claim no.]”

A paper Acknowledgment of Service posted on [date] contained tick-box errors. A corrected AoS was submitted electronically on MCOL on [date/time]. Please disregard the paper AoS if received. The Defendant will defend the claim in full and does not dispute jurisdiction.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: b789 on September 23, 2025, 06:19:00 pm
Please don't quote the answers you are given. It just means having to scroll through the same stuff interminably!

If you sent your AoS by post, there it has not yet been processed. As you have managed to submit your AOS through MCOL, you do not need to send the email with the pdf of the defence. Just copy and paste the MCOL defence into the MCOL webform for the defence.

Make sure when you electronically sign any forms, statements etc, you type your full name. Do not use initials.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 05:53:07 pm
Having being advised to put the appeal into UKPC in this format, in the likelihood that they will close the case given a blue badge as evidence can be supplied, along side the confusing and unclear bay markings.

I was further advised to tick 'defend part of the claim' as they believe it would not be a winning case? So if the judgement was to reduce it back to the original PCN ticket cost and take the loss that the blue badge wasn't displayed.  It wasn't something i was happy to do, but I guess I panicked and was worried about the deadline date looming and the high costs.

Oh my, same person advised me on the jurisdiction and said to dispute this! I feel so silly to have submitted this in. Please would you be able to explain to me how this will be handed as all this time I believed it was at court?

Who has given you this duff "advice" and screwed you in the process?

You should have selected the option to defend the whole claim and you do not dispute jurisdiction unless you are resident outside of England or Wales.

Did you submit the Acknowledgement of Service by post or online using the MCOL portal? How did you submit the AoS and did you post it or use the online MCOL portal?

Please confirm whether you put anything at all in the defence box, either online or in the paper form?

Hopefully the claimant hasn't made a CPR 11 application.

With an issue date of 4th September, you had until 4pm today to submit your defence or, if you needed longer, submit the Acknowledgement of Service (AoS) by today and you then have until 4pm on Tuesday 7th October to submit your defence.

I am not sure whether MCOL will let you submit a defence now that you've screwed up the tick boxes, but you can try and submit the following as your defence in MCOL, if it lets you:

Quote
1. The Defendant denies the claim in its entirety. The Defendant asserts that there is no liability to the Claimant and that no debt is owed. The claim is without merit and does not adequately disclose any comprehensible cause of action.

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 adequately comply with CPR 16.4.

3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:

(a) The contract referred to is not detailed or attached to the PoC in accordance with PD 16, para 7.3(1);

(b) 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;

(c) The PoC do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts);

(d) 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;

(e) The PoC do not state precisely how the sum claimed is calculated, including the basis for any statutory interest, damages, or other charges;

(f) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages;

(g) The PoC do not provide clarity on whether the Defendant is sued as the driver or the keeper of the vehicle, as the claimant cannot plead alternative causes of action without specificity.

4. The Defendant submits that courts have previously struck out materially similar claims of their own initiative for failure to adequately comply with CPR 16.4, particularly where the Particulars of Claim failed to specify the contractual terms relied upon or explain the alleged breach with sufficient clarity.

5. In comparable cases involving modest sums, judges have found that requiring further case management steps would be disproportionate and contrary to the overriding objective. Accordingly, strike-out was deemed appropriate. The Defendant submits that the same reasoning applies in this case and invites the court to adopt a similar approach by striking out the claim due to the Claimant’s failure to adequately comply with CPR 16.4, rather than permitting an amendment. The Defendant proposes that the following Order be made:

Draft Order:

Of the Court's own initiative and upon reading the particulars of claim and the defence.

AND the court being of the view that the particulars of claim do not adequately comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a) because: (a) they do not set out the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract which is (or are) relied on; and (b) they do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts that the defendant was in breach of contract.

AND the claimant could have complied with CPR 16.4(1)(a) had it served separate detailed particulars of claim, as it could have done pursuant to PD 7C, para 5.2, but chose not to do so.

AND upon the Court determining, having regard to the overriding objective (CPR 1.1), that it would be disproportionate to direct further pleadings or to allot any further share of the Court’s resources to this claim (for example by ordering further particulars of claim and a further defence, with consequent case management).

ORDER:

1. The claim is struck out.

2. Permission to either party to apply to set aside, vary or stay this order by application on notice, which must be filed at this Court not more than 7 days after service of this order, failing which no such application may be made.

What you also need to do immediately, besides answering the questions above, is as follows:

Send a single email addressed to ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk and you CC info@dcblegal.co.uk and yourself:

Quote
Subject: Tick-box errors – rectify under CPR 3.10; defend claim in full – [Claim No.]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I refer to the AoS filed on [date]. Two tick-box errors were made: “defend part of the claim” and “contest jurisdiction”.
For the avoidance of doubt, no sum is admitted, the Defendant does not contest the court’s jurisdiction, and the Defendant intends to defend the claim in full.

Please correct the record pursuant to CPR 3.10 and accept the attached Defence for filing. If the MCOL system flag prevents online filing, please treat the Defence as filed by email today.

I have copied the Claimant’s solicitor with this correspondence.

Yours faithfully,

[your full name]

As a back up, you also attach the following copy of the defence and draft order to that email. You sign any documents, such as the defence below by simply typing your full name. There is nothing other than edit in the draft order.

Quote
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: [Claim Number]

BETWEEN:

UK Parking Control Ltd

Claimant

- and -

[Defendant's Full Name]


Defendant



DEFENCE

1. The Defendant denies the claim in its entirety. The Defendant asserts that there is no liability to the Claimant and that no debt is owed. The claim is without merit and does not adequately disclose any comprehensible cause of action.

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.

3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:

(a) The contract referred to is not detailed or attached to the PoC in accordance with CPR PD 16.7.3(1);

(b) 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;

(c) The PoC do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts)

(d) 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;

(e) The PoC do not state precisely how the sum claimed is calculated, including the basis for any statutory interest, damages, or other charges;

(f) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages;

(g) The PoC do not provide clarity on whether the Defendant is sued as the driver or the keeper of the vehicle, as the claimant cannot plead alternative causes of action without specificity.

4. The Defendant attaches to this defence a copy of a draft order approved by a district judge at another court. The court struck out the claim of its own initiative after determining that the Particulars of Claim failed to comply with CPR 16.4. The judge noted that the claimant had failed to:

(i) Set out the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions relied upon;

(ii) Adequately explain the reasons why the defendant was allegedly in breach of contract;

(iii) Provide separate, detailed Particulars of Claim as permitted under CPR PD 7C.5.2(2).

(iv) The court further observed that, given the modest sum claimed, requiring further case management steps would be disproportionate and contrary to the overriding objective. Accordingly, the judge struck out the claim outright rather than permitting an amendment.

5. The Defendant submits that the same reasoning applies in this case and invites the court to adopt a similar approach by striking out the claim for the Claimant’s failure to comply with CPR 16.4.

Statement of truth

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:
[

The draft order is here:

Draft Order for the defence (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tcewefk7daozuje25chkl/Strikeout-order-v2.pdf?rlkey=wxnymo8mwcma2jj8xihjm7pdx&st=nbtf0cn6&dl=0)


Hi @b789

Agreed, error on the advice part given to me; point noted for future reference, that's for sure.

In answer to your questions:
1. Did you submit the Acknowledgement of Service by post or online using the MCOL portal? How did you submit the AoS and did you post it or use the online MCOL portal? I did so via post (recorded delivery) dated 19 September 2025.

Please advise if I should proceed with the email / or try online using the MCOL portal first? I suppose I should follow it up with the drafted email you mention below for the error and avoidance of doubt?

2. Please confirm whether you put anything at all in the defence box, either online or in the paper form? No, I left the defence section blank; to be filled in with the extension date.

Should I proceed with how it stands and try upload to MCOL portal right now? given you mentioned the acknowledgement of service deadline to submit is today.

Many thanks and really appreciate your advice.


To add to this, I have since managed to login to MCOL and I have submitted the Acknowledgement of Service via the portal, with the summary page confirming I have done so (HERE):-

https://1drv.ms/b/c/657cd71f0e9ce301/EWDbySA9fsdPsn-H8A4iPGkBOmV_MwE0a7ExjrlDcFlUpA?e=pFT4vo

https://1drv.ms/b/c/657cd71f0e9ce301/EVCeX5Y6s91AijOL0iOh4A8B5do9GUe3Qt3SSrg9h7SBEQ?e=qWjioN

I shall be proceeding to send the email you mentioned in your post to cover my basis on the error in case the postal form also comes through today.


Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 05:19:34 pm
Having being advised to put the appeal into UKPC in this format, in the likelihood that they will close the case given a blue badge as evidence can be supplied, along side the confusing and unclear bay markings.

I was further advised to tick 'defend part of the claim' as they believe it would not be a winning case? So if the judgement was to reduce it back to the original PCN ticket cost and take the loss that the blue badge wasn't displayed.  It wasn't something i was happy to do, but I guess I panicked and was worried about the deadline date looming and the high costs.

Oh my, same person advised me on the jurisdiction and said to dispute this! I feel so silly to have submitted this in. Please would you be able to explain to me how this will be handed as all this time I believed it was at court?

Who has given you this duff "advice" and screwed you in the process?

You should have selected the option to defend the whole claim and you do not dispute jurisdiction unless you are resident outside of England or Wales.

Did you submit the Acknowledgement of Service by post or online using the MCOL portal? How did you submit the AoS and did you post it or use the online MCOL portal?

Please confirm whether you put anything at all in the defence box, either online or in the paper form?

Hopefully the claimant hasn't made a CPR 11 application.

With an issue date of 4th September, you had until 4pm today to submit your defence or, if you needed longer, submit the Acknowledgement of Service (AoS) by today and you then have until 4pm on Tuesday 7th October to submit your defence.

I am not sure whether MCOL will let you submit a defence now that you've screwed up the tick boxes, but you can try and submit the following as your defence in MCOL, if it lets you:

Quote
1. The Defendant denies the claim in its entirety. The Defendant asserts that there is no liability to the Claimant and that no debt is owed. The claim is without merit and does not adequately disclose any comprehensible cause of action.

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 adequately comply with CPR 16.4.

3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:

(a) The contract referred to is not detailed or attached to the PoC in accordance with PD 16, para 7.3(1);

(b) 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;

(c) The PoC do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts);

(d) 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;

(e) The PoC do not state precisely how the sum claimed is calculated, including the basis for any statutory interest, damages, or other charges;

(f) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages;

(g) The PoC do not provide clarity on whether the Defendant is sued as the driver or the keeper of the vehicle, as the claimant cannot plead alternative causes of action without specificity.

4. The Defendant submits that courts have previously struck out materially similar claims of their own initiative for failure to adequately comply with CPR 16.4, particularly where the Particulars of Claim failed to specify the contractual terms relied upon or explain the alleged breach with sufficient clarity.

5. In comparable cases involving modest sums, judges have found that requiring further case management steps would be disproportionate and contrary to the overriding objective. Accordingly, strike-out was deemed appropriate. The Defendant submits that the same reasoning applies in this case and invites the court to adopt a similar approach by striking out the claim due to the Claimant’s failure to adequately comply with CPR 16.4, rather than permitting an amendment. The Defendant proposes that the following Order be made:

Draft Order:

Of the Court's own initiative and upon reading the particulars of claim and the defence.

AND the court being of the view that the particulars of claim do not adequately comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a) because: (a) they do not set out the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract which is (or are) relied on; and (b) they do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts that the defendant was in breach of contract.

AND the claimant could have complied with CPR 16.4(1)(a) had it served separate detailed particulars of claim, as it could have done pursuant to PD 7C, para 5.2, but chose not to do so.

AND upon the Court determining, having regard to the overriding objective (CPR 1.1), that it would be disproportionate to direct further pleadings or to allot any further share of the Court’s resources to this claim (for example by ordering further particulars of claim and a further defence, with consequent case management).

ORDER:

1. The claim is struck out.

2. Permission to either party to apply to set aside, vary or stay this order by application on notice, which must be filed at this Court not more than 7 days after service of this order, failing which no such application may be made.

What you also need to do immediately, besides answering the questions above, is as follows:

Send a single email addressed to ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk and you CC info@dcblegal.co.uk and yourself:

Quote
Subject: Tick-box errors – rectify under CPR 3.10; defend claim in full – [Claim No.]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I refer to the AoS filed on [date]. Two tick-box errors were made: “defend part of the claim” and “contest jurisdiction”.
For the avoidance of doubt, no sum is admitted, the Defendant does not contest the court’s jurisdiction, and the Defendant intends to defend the claim in full.

Please correct the record pursuant to CPR 3.10 and accept the attached Defence for filing. If the MCOL system flag prevents online filing, please treat the Defence as filed by email today.

I have copied the Claimant’s solicitor with this correspondence.

Yours faithfully,

[your full name]

As a back up, you also attach the following copy of the defence and draft order to that email. You sign any documents, such as the defence below by simply typing your full name. There is nothing other than edit in the draft order.

Quote
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: [Claim Number]

BETWEEN:

UK Parking Control Ltd

Claimant

- and -

[Defendant's Full Name]


Defendant



DEFENCE

1. The Defendant denies the claim in its entirety. The Defendant asserts that there is no liability to the Claimant and that no debt is owed. The claim is without merit and does not adequately disclose any comprehensible cause of action.

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.

3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:

(a) The contract referred to is not detailed or attached to the PoC in accordance with CPR PD 16.7.3(1);

(b) 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;

(c) The PoC do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts)

(d) 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;

(e) The PoC do not state precisely how the sum claimed is calculated, including the basis for any statutory interest, damages, or other charges;

(f) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages;

(g) The PoC do not provide clarity on whether the Defendant is sued as the driver or the keeper of the vehicle, as the claimant cannot plead alternative causes of action without specificity.

4. The Defendant attaches to this defence a copy of a draft order approved by a district judge at another court. The court struck out the claim of its own initiative after determining that the Particulars of Claim failed to comply with CPR 16.4. The judge noted that the claimant had failed to:

(i) Set out the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions relied upon;

(ii) Adequately explain the reasons why the defendant was allegedly in breach of contract;

(iii) Provide separate, detailed Particulars of Claim as permitted under CPR PD 7C.5.2(2).

(iv) The court further observed that, given the modest sum claimed, requiring further case management steps would be disproportionate and contrary to the overriding objective. Accordingly, the judge struck out the claim outright rather than permitting an amendment.

5. The Defendant submits that the same reasoning applies in this case and invites the court to adopt a similar approach by striking out the claim for the Claimant’s failure to comply with CPR 16.4.

Statement of truth

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:
[

The draft order is here:

Draft Order for the defence (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tcewefk7daozuje25chkl/Strikeout-order-v2.pdf?rlkey=wxnymo8mwcma2jj8xihjm7pdx&st=nbtf0cn6&dl=0)


Hi @b789

Agreed, error on the advice part given to me; point noted for future reference, that's for sure.

In answer to your questions:
1. Did you submit the Acknowledgement of Service by post or online using the MCOL portal? How did you submit the AoS and did you post it or use the online MCOL portal? I did so via post (recorded delivery) dated 19 September 2025.

Please advise if I should proceed with the email / or try online using the MCOL portal first? I suppose I should follow it up with the drafted email you mention below for the error and avoidance of doubt?

2. Please confirm whether you put anything at all in the defence box, either online or in the paper form? No, I left the defence section blank; to be filled in with the extension date.

Should I proceed with how it stands and try upload to MCOL portal right now? given you mentioned the acknowledgement of service deadline to submit is today.

Many thanks and really appreciate your advice.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DWMB2 on September 23, 2025, 04:51:07 pm
@b789, the OP notes that the AoS was sent by post.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: b789 on September 23, 2025, 04:48:30 pm
Having being advised to put the appeal into UKPC in this format, in the likelihood that they will close the case given a blue badge as evidence can be supplied, along side the confusing and unclear bay markings.

I was further advised to tick 'defend part of the claim' as they believe it would not be a winning case? So if the judgement was to reduce it back to the original PCN ticket cost and take the loss that the blue badge wasn't displayed.  It wasn't something i was happy to do, but I guess I panicked and was worried about the deadline date looming and the high costs.

Oh my, same person advised me on the jurisdiction and said to dispute this! I feel so silly to have submitted this in. Please would you be able to explain to me how this will be handed as all this time I believed it was at court?

Who has given you this duff "advice" and screwed you in the process?

You should have selected the option to defend the whole claim and you do not dispute jurisdiction unless you are resident outside of England or Wales.

Did you submit the Acknowledgement of Service by post or online using the MCOL portal? How did you submit the AoS and did you post it or use the online MCOL portal?

Please confirm whether you put anything at all in the defence box, either online or in the paper form?

Hopefully the claimant hasn't made a CPR 11 application.

With an issue date of 4th September, you had until 4pm today to submit your defence or, if you needed longer, submit the Acknowledgement of Service (AoS) by today and you then have until 4pm on Tuesday 7th October to submit your defence.

I am not sure whether MCOL will let you submit a defence now that you've screwed up the tick boxes, but you can try and submit the following as your defence in MCOL, if it lets you:

Quote
1. The Defendant denies the claim in its entirety. The Defendant asserts that there is no liability to the Claimant and that no debt is owed. The claim is without merit and does not adequately disclose any comprehensible cause of action.

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 adequately comply with CPR 16.4.

3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:

(a) The contract referred to is not detailed or attached to the PoC in accordance with PD 16, para 7.3(1);

(b) 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;

(c) The PoC do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts);

(d) 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;

(e) The PoC do not state precisely how the sum claimed is calculated, including the basis for any statutory interest, damages, or other charges;

(f) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages;

(g) The PoC do not provide clarity on whether the Defendant is sued as the driver or the keeper of the vehicle, as the claimant cannot plead alternative causes of action without specificity.

4. The Defendant submits that courts have previously struck out materially similar claims of their own initiative for failure to adequately comply with CPR 16.4, particularly where the Particulars of Claim failed to specify the contractual terms relied upon or explain the alleged breach with sufficient clarity.

5. In comparable cases involving modest sums, judges have found that requiring further case management steps would be disproportionate and contrary to the overriding objective. Accordingly, strike-out was deemed appropriate. The Defendant submits that the same reasoning applies in this case and invites the court to adopt a similar approach by striking out the claim due to the Claimant’s failure to adequately comply with CPR 16.4, rather than permitting an amendment. The Defendant proposes that the following Order be made:

Draft Order:

Of the Court's own initiative and upon reading the particulars of claim and the defence.

AND the court being of the view that the particulars of claim do not adequately comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a) because: (a) they do not set out the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract which is (or are) relied on; and (b) they do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts that the defendant was in breach of contract.

AND the claimant could have complied with CPR 16.4(1)(a) had it served separate detailed particulars of claim, as it could have done pursuant to PD 7C, para 5.2, but chose not to do so.

AND upon the Court determining, having regard to the overriding objective (CPR 1.1), that it would be disproportionate to direct further pleadings or to allot any further share of the Court’s resources to this claim (for example by ordering further particulars of claim and a further defence, with consequent case management).

ORDER:

1. The claim is struck out.

2. Permission to either party to apply to set aside, vary or stay this order by application on notice, which must be filed at this Court not more than 7 days after service of this order, failing which no such application may be made.

What you also need to do immediately, besides answering the questions above, is as follows:

Send a single email addressed to ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk and you CC info@dcblegal.co.uk and yourself:

Quote
Subject: Tick-box errors – rectify under CPR 3.10; defend claim in full – [Claim No.]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I refer to the AoS filed on [date]. Two tick-box errors were made: “defend part of the claim” and “contest jurisdiction”.
For the avoidance of doubt, no sum is admitted, the Defendant does not contest the court’s jurisdiction, and the Defendant intends to defend the claim in full.

Please correct the record pursuant to CPR 3.10 and accept the attached Defence for filing. If the MCOL system flag prevents online filing, please treat the Defence as filed by email today.

I have copied the Claimant’s solicitor with this correspondence.

Yours faithfully,

[your full name]

As a back up, you also attach the following copy of the defence and draft order to that email. You sign any documents, such as the defence below by simply typing your full name. There is nothing other than edit in the draft order.

Quote
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: [Claim Number]

BETWEEN:

UK Parking Control Ltd

Claimant

- and -

[Defendant's Full Name]


Defendant



DEFENCE

1. The Defendant denies the claim in its entirety. The Defendant asserts that there is no liability to the Claimant and that no debt is owed. The claim is without merit and does not adequately disclose any comprehensible cause of action.

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.

3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:

(a) The contract referred to is not detailed or attached to the PoC in accordance with CPR PD 16.7.3(1);

(b) 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;

(c) The PoC do not adequately set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts)

(d) 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;

(e) The PoC do not state precisely how the sum claimed is calculated, including the basis for any statutory interest, damages, or other charges;

(f) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages;

(g) The PoC do not provide clarity on whether the Defendant is sued as the driver or the keeper of the vehicle, as the claimant cannot plead alternative causes of action without specificity.

4. The Defendant attaches to this defence a copy of a draft order approved by a district judge at another court. The court struck out the claim of its own initiative after determining that the Particulars of Claim failed to comply with CPR 16.4. The judge noted that the claimant had failed to:

(i) Set out the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions relied upon;

(ii) Adequately explain the reasons why the defendant was allegedly in breach of contract;

(iii) Provide separate, detailed Particulars of Claim as permitted under CPR PD 7C.5.2(2).

(iv) The court further observed that, given the modest sum claimed, requiring further case management steps would be disproportionate and contrary to the overriding objective. Accordingly, the judge struck out the claim outright rather than permitting an amendment.

5. The Defendant submits that the same reasoning applies in this case and invites the court to adopt a similar approach by striking out the claim for the Claimant’s failure to comply with CPR 16.4.

Statement of truth

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:
[

The draft order is here:

Draft Order for the defence (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tcewefk7daozuje25chkl/Strikeout-order-v2.pdf?rlkey=wxnymo8mwcma2jj8xihjm7pdx&st=nbtf0cn6&dl=0)
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 02:22:44 pm
The letter of claim will have been from DCB Legal, not from UKPC.

Nothing from my recollection was received. my post has been re-directed and nothing has been received in all that time.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: jfollows on September 23, 2025, 02:18:54 pm
The letter of claim will have been from DCB Legal, not from UKPC.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 02:15:16 pm
Letter of Claim.

The N1SDT claim was deemed served on 8 September and your defence has to be submitted within 28 days, so by 6 October if you submitted an Acknowledgment of Service.

Thank you @jfollows for clarifying the defence submission date for me.

Th only letter notification i received from UKPC was the initial PCN issued, to which I submitted the above mentioned appeal.
Thereafter, I hadn't had any further post from them, which is why I was so surprised to see a court claim form after 7-ish months later.

Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 02:09:41 pm
Letter of Claim.

The N1SDT claim was deemed served on 8 September and your defence has to be submitted within 28 days, so by 6 October if you submitted an Acknowledgment of Service.

Thank you @jfollows for clarifying the defence submission date for me.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: jfollows on September 23, 2025, 01:50:27 pm
Letter of Claim.

The N1SDT claim was deemed served on 8 September and your defence has to be submitted within 28 days, so by 6 October if you submitted an Acknowledgment of Service.
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 01:32:48 pm
To add, i'm sorry I do not know what a LoClaim from a solicitor etc is?
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 01:31:33 pm
Hi,

Thank you for both of your responses. I have since included a redacted version of the claim form.

Regarding argument of appeal pleases allow me to clarify; it was unclear at the time whether the bay was a designated bay due to the rubbed off bay markings and signage, therefore seemed the bay was a 'regular' bay and it was a space closest to the retail shop, as were bays adjacent to those bays.  There was an occupant that is a blue badge holder in the vehicle at the time, and so finding the closest bay was what was the case.

Having being advised to put the appeal into UKPC in this format, in the likelihood that they will close the case given a blue badge as evidence can be supplied, along side the confusing and unclear bay markings.

I was further advised to tick 'defend part of the claim' as they believe it would not be a winning case? So if the judgement was to reduce it back to the original PCN ticket cost and take the loss that the blue badge wasn't displayed.  It wasn't something i was happy to do, but I guess I panicked and was worried about the deadline date looming and the high costs.

Oh my, same person advised me on the jurisdiction and said to dispute this! I feel so silly to have submitted this in. Please would you be able to explain to me how this will be handed as all this time I believed it was at court?

I would be very happy to hear what you advise on this at this current stage (in hindsight I wish I had contacted on here sooner); pls what is the best way to handle this matter as it stands? I sent the acknowledgement form via recorded delivery. would it be an idea to update it via online?

Also, would you kindly clarify for me by what date I must submit my defense in?

Here is the URL Link to the county court claim form: https://1drv.ms/b/c/657cd71f0e9ce301/EWD576UphgNOvkMRouQMozYBMJklqNkMx34BC9DGFlHKoA?e=naJXJn


Many thanks,
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: Dave65 on September 23, 2025, 10:20:26 am
Did you not receive a LoClaim at all from a solicitor etc?
Title: Re: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DWMB2 on September 23, 2025, 07:16:19 am
We could ideally do with seeing the claim form. The following has a guide on uploading images READ THIS FIRST - Private Parking Charges Forum guide (https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/read-this-first-private-parking-charges-forum-guide/)

It would be good to clarify a few things before we proceed. Firstly, I'm unclear from your account what's what. At first your argument seems to be that the disabled bay markings were unclear, but your appeal seems to be based on the fact that a vehicle occupant was a disabled person with a blue badge who was allowed to use the bay?

You say that in the acknowledgement of service you have ticked the box to say you only intend to defend part of the claim... Which part(s) of their claim do you accept?

You mention that you have stated you intend to dispute jurisdiction. All claim forms in England are issued by the Civil National Business Centre. This is not a court and is not where any hearing will be held. Disputing jurisdiction is for if you do not live within the jurisdiction of the court (so, outside of England and Wales).
Title: Pls help draft urgent defense to County Court Claim -Beckton
Post by: DearyDiora on September 23, 2025, 02:08:34 am
Hi,

Request for help drafting a defence to county court pls.

PCN issued for: 'Parked in a disabled persons parking place without displaying a valid badge'.

What happen: Upon entering the car park at Becktn Retail Park (free parking for three hours).
Driver parked the car in a car park bay; the bay itself was unclear as for markings and also the signage not well placed, causing 'confusion' as for the bay status.  Nevertheless, car parked up and went about shopping.  

Appeal made below via UKPC online portal.

Alleged Parking Charge Date: 08.01.2025
Parking Charge Issue Date: 10.01.2025
Date of drivers first and only online appeal to UKPC: 05.02.2025.

Appeal submitted to UKPC on 05.02.2025:-

PCN: (Removed number for this thread)
Relationship to Vehicle: Registered Keeper.

I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I will be making a complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. Since your PCN is a vague template, I require an explanation of the allegation and your evidence. You must include a close up actual photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date as well as your images of the vehicle including the bay markings, since this is unclear.

If the allegation concerns parking within a designated bay, the data supplied in response to this appeal must include the record of clearly marked out designated bay - showing partial/full VRNs - and an explanation of the reason for the PCN, because your Notice does not explain it and the bay the vehicle was parked in is unclear to distinguish if this is a designated bay or not.

Nevertheless and in order to resolve the dispute I attach copies of evidence supporting blue badge holder status.  

I trust there will be no further action of costs and that the Notice To Keeper will be cancelled off the system with written correspondence of such actions.  Of-course, I will be counter-suing both UKPC and the landowner under the EA 2010 under the relevant points should this form harassment for any charges.

Attached was two photo's of blue badge holder (front and back).

End of Appeal.

The driver didn't receive any further letters, therefore given the length of time passed, it could be assumed the case was closed without further knowledge.

Issue Date: 04 September 2025
Claim No. (Removed from thread).
County Claims Court notification issued.

Defendant - Particulars of claim listed as:
1. The Defendant (D) is indebted to the Claimant (C) for parking charge(s) (PC) issued to vehicle (Reg redacted for thread). at Becktn Retail Park.

2. The dates of contravention are 08/01/2025 and the D was issued with PC(s) by the claimant.

3. The Defendant is pursued as the driver of vehicle for breach of the terms on the signs (the contract). Reason: Parked In a disabled persons parking place without displaying a valid badge.

4. In the alternative the Defendant is pursued as the keeper pursuant to POFA 2012, Schedule 4.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS

1. £170.00 being the total of the PC(s) and damages.
2. Interest at a rae of 8.00% per annum pursuant to s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 from the date hereof at a daily rate £0.02 until judgement or sooner payment.
3. Costs and Court Fees.

Costs breakdown on court Form:-
Amount claimed: £178.36
Court Fee: £35.00
Legal Representatives Costs: 50.00
Total Amount: £263.36

As for response pack, driver has submitted via recorded post:-
Acknowledgement of service dated:- 17.09.2025.

Boxes ticked:-
2. I intend to defend part of this claim.
3. I intend to contest jurisdiction (court address:- Civil National Business Centre (Northampton; the distance from London to there is reason for this ticked box).

Attached photo's from UKPC of the alleged contravention (alternative photo also taken by defendant which shows how the bay markings are unclear and create confusion, likewise the signage is broken, un-able to see clearly.

Pictures uploaded via:- https://imgur.com/a/wBJ1YOb

Thank you in advance and I look forward to your response.

Best,