3. Defending a private parking charge at court
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Defending a private parking charge at court
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Hello,

Hoping someone could help with defence please. The driver recently applied for the AOS so the driver now has 28 days to submit defence.

Fine is £275

In 2024, the driver was playing for a football club who uses the football grounds adjacent to a leisure centre/community centre to play games and train. When signing on for the club the driver provided details including vehicle registration to park in the car park in order to play and train.

Sometime in 2024/25, the driver received a charging notice from the parking company. The driver let the football club know, they said they cleared it and nothing was heard since. The driver currently does not have a record of the original notice.

The driver is living abroad now and recently came to the UK to collect post. Post included letters dated March, April 2026 from the legal team. And a May 2026 letter taking the matter to court. No other letters had been received between the incident and the letters dated March 2026.

Was hoping someone could help the driver with steps to defend the decision?

And also how to manage the process as the driver will be living abroad from June 2026 for a year?

Appreciate this group and any support!

Thanks
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #1 on: »
If you had been going to live abroad permanently then you could have given them your address abroad.

However, as you look like you will return to this country it must be dealt with, otherwise you could see a ccj against you when you return.
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #2 on: »
Cheers Dave. Yes, not living there permanently. Any other suggestions for defence template?
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #3 on: »
The first step would be post up the Claim form redacting only personal details.

We can then advise accordingly.
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #4 on: »
Thanks intercity!
Link to image of claim form can be found here:
IMG 3499 hosted at ImgBB
Image IMG 3499 hosted on ImgBB
ImgBB · ibb.co
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #5 on: »
You’ve obscured dates, which we request you don’t do, but you have 14+5 days from the date of the N1SDT form to file a defence or Acknowledgement of Service and, if you do the latter, you have an additional 14 days to file a defence.
You’ve file AoS, so you have the 14+14+5 days for a defence.

If you want to contest the original notice, you can submit a Subject Access Request to the parking company to obtain it. There may be technical issues with it, especially if the driver has not been identified.

You keep referring unwisely to what the driver is going to do. No, the registered keeper is probably the recipient of the notice and is going to contest this. They know who the registered keeper is, but will only know who the driver is if you tell them. If you tell them that the driver has filed an AoS, and they know that Fred Smith has filed an AoS, then you have told them that the driver is Fred Smith.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2026, 10:49:00 am by jfollows »
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #6 on: »
Apologies. The date on the letter is 19th May 2025. I have filed for the AOS. Would anyone have suggested defences? What I should be quoting? Or a template to use?
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #7 on: »
You have until 22 June to file a defence.

Although part of your defence can be the hopeless Particulars of Claim, you ned to lead with specific points relevant to this case. Clearly part of this can be that the land owner told you it would be cancelled, but you may also want to obtain more information from the parking company as in my previous post.

Recent experience has been that template/boilerplate defences get thrown out by courts as being too vague and not specific to the case.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2026, 10:11:00 am by jfollows »
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #8 on: »
Thanks all. Much appreciated.

Why is it an issue if they know who the driver is? They already know who the registered keeper is…

After defence has been submitted.Is it likely that the case would go to mediation? And at this point the fee could be reduced or refusal to pay after negotiations?
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Re: Defending a private parking charge at court
« Reply #9 on: »
The driver enters into a contract by parking.
The parking company does not know who the driver is.
If the parking company complies with the Protections of Freedom Act 2012, the liability can be transferred to the registered keeper. If they fail to comply, the registered keeper can not be liable.

It may not be an issue here, but as a general rule identifying the driver unnecessarily is a bad idea and can close off the only defence point.

Mediation is mandatory, and you can offer £0 or agree to a payment of a lesser amount. You have obscured the name on the claim form, but if it’s DCB Legal you should know that they almost always discontinue claims in the face of a defence, but not at the mediation stage.

https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/read-this-first-private-parking-charges-forum-guide/ explains a lot of this

Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
An Act to provide for the destruction, retention, use and other regulation of certain evidential material; to impose consent and other requirements in relation to certain processing of biometric in...
legislation.gov.uk
is the relevant part of the legislation
« Last Edit: May 30, 2026, 10:34:16 am by jfollows »
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