Free Traffic Legal Advice

Our daughter was driving my car during 2019 and she wasn't doing too well mentally at the time and had accrued a fair number of tickets. She collected about 10 tickets for driving into the car park and not paying for pay and display. We have only just become aware of this as we have received a claim form letter from the county court saying we have 14 days to respond and that Euro Car parks is taking us to court for the sum of £1095.16. This is quite a significant sum and unfortunately our daughter who we love dearly but due to being unwell mentally at the time was behaving rather questionably and we have been left to deal with it. I have responded online by acknowledging the claim but I wish to defend against this. What can I say or do that will assist me in getting these fines dropped and left alone. Any advice would be greatly welcomed. Many thanks

I have absolutely no idea why this is the first letter thats made me aware because I would expect that there would have been many letters sent before this. The vehicle at the time was in my name but was sold a few years ago.

You are only liable as the Keeper if the PCNs issued were compliant with all the requirements of PoFA.

You say you know that your daughter has "accrued a fair number of tickets". How were you aware of this? Those "tickets", depending on whether they were windscreen Notices to Driver (NtD) or postal Notice to Keeper (NtK) are crucial to determining whether the PCN is fully compliant in order to be able to hold you, the Keeper, liable for those charges.

You need to dig them out or at leat find one or two if they are all for the same location. There would also have been reminders and debt collector letters, but these are not required. It is sight of the initial NtD or NtK that is important.

Please show us the N1SDT claim form. Only redact your personal information, the claim number, MCOL password and the vehicle VRM. Leave everything else, especially all dates and times visible.

What is the issue date of the claim? Don't do anything else right now if it has been issued within the last days. You only need to submit the Acknowledgement of Service (AoS) by following the instructions in this document:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xvqu3bask5m0zir/money-claim-online-How-to-Acknowledge.pdf?dl=0

As the claim has now been issued, you should send an SAR to the DPO of Park Watch.

As the claim has now been issued, you should send an SAR to the DPO of Park Watch Euro Car Parks.

Doing this would be wise - for this to be the first you have heard of the matter when there are 4 PCNs in play would mean many letters have not reached you. That would indicate a potential issue with the address.

SAR = Subject Access Request
DPO = Data Protection Officer (DPO@eurocarparks.com)

Thank you for taking the time to assist. I sent the acknowledgment yesterday via their MOL GOV website if that is any help

Selecting the option to contest jurisdiction by mistake shouldn’t pose a major problem, but it may cause a small procedural complication. When you select this option, the court will expect you to file an application challenging the court's jurisdiction within 14 days of acknowledging service, and this requires a fee. Failing to file an application could lead to complications. These are your options:

Here is the defence you should submit together with a link to the draft order that needs to go with it. You only need to edit your name, the claim number and to sign it by typing your full name for the signature and dating it. There is nothing to edit in the draft order:

IN THE COUNTY COURT

Claim No: [Claim Number]

BETWEEN:

Euro Car Parks Ltd
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.

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(7.5);

(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 state with sufficient particularity exactly where the breach/breaches occurred, the exact time when the breach/breaches occurred and how long it is alleged that the vehicle was parked before the parking charges were allegedly incurred;

(d) The PoC do not state exactly how the claim for statutory interest is calculated;

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

(f) 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.

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:

Draft Order for the defence

Both documents should be sent as PDF attachments to an email addressed to claimresponses.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and also CC in yourself. The email subject must contain the claim number and in the body of the email put: "Please find attached the defence and draft order in the matter of Euro Car Parks Ltd v [your full name] Claim number [claim number]".

Don't send this before Friday. As it is for more than one or two PCNs, I am seeking clarification on some wording from a District Judge, so it may beed editing before sending. I will confirm.