You have until 4pm on 11th November to submit your defence. As your wife is the registered keeper and assuming you made no previous appeal or transferred liability from the keeper to the driver, this is all being done in her name.
You cannot at this stage change the defendant if it is not you who is named on the claim form. It is too late to do so at this stage.
You can do everything your wife's behalf but it must all be in her name. This is unlikely to go all the way to a hearing as the claim is likely to be struck out due to failure to comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a). However, should it get that far, your wide would have to attend court as the defendant. You could act on her behalf as her lay-representative but she must attend and answer any questions if asked, even if you are representing her.
The defence is straight forward. You will attach to the defence a draft order and two transcripts of case law. All the documents are submitted as PDF attachments to an email which is sent to claimresponses.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and you CC in yourself. The email must contain the claim number in the subject field and in the body you put "Please find attached the defence, draft order and two transcripts in the matter of Private Parking Solutions (London) Ltd v [the defendants full name] Claim No.: L1GF6N4R".
Here is the defence and you only need edit the defendants name and sign it by typing the defendants full name for the signature and dating it:
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: L1GF6N4R
BETWEEN:
Private Parking Solutions (London) 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 Particulars of Claim fail to comply with CPR 16.4(1)(a), lacking any specific terms allegedly breached, the signage locations, or details of the breach. This prevents the Defendant from properly pleading a defence, and the claim should be struck out under CPR 3.4. The Defendant cites the persuasive cases of CEL v Chan 2023 [E7GM9W44] and CPMS v Akande 2024 [K0DP5J30] (both attached), where similarly vague claims were struck out. Should the court not strike out the claim, the Defendant refers to the draft order in paragraph 4.
(b) The contract referred to is not detailed or attached to the PoC in accordance with CPR PD 16(7.5);
(c) 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;
(d) The PoC do not set out the reason (or reasons) why the claimant asserts the defendant has breached the contract (or contracts);
(e) 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;
(f) The PoC do not state exactly how the claim for statutory interest is calculated;
(g) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages;
(h) 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 they face 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:
Here links to the Draft Order and the two transcripts:
Draft Order for the defenceCEL v Chan transcriptCMPS v Akande transcript
