Free Traffic Legal Advice

I have been sued by a law firm for parking at car park for a retail park and leaving the site. In the correspondence leading up to issuing the claim they alledged that I had "accepted" some "terms and conditions" and by leaving the site I am in breach of those terms and conditions.

I am the registered keeper and assumed it was a free car park as it is a retail park. It seems from the correspondence that it is free but you are not allowed to leave the site.

It was the first time I went to the park, I have no idea what they are talking about and replied to them twice explaining this. All I got back was standard, computer generated letters and then they went to court.

In the "Particulars of Claim" on the court papers it just says:

“The defendant is pursued as the driver of the vehicle for breach of the terms on the signs (the contract). Reason:Driver Left Site Designated For Customer Parking Only”

I wrote filed an "Acknowledgement of Service" and wrote to the law firm asking them to provide more detail as to what the terms are and how I agreed to them but they have not bothered to respond.

They are claiming £263 which seems ridiculous given it was a Sunday morning and the car park was virtually empty.

The question is what do I do next?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

..and

When a driver parks then provided that entrance notices have put them on notice that the land is private and subject to parking conditions they should find out what these are by actively looking. These would detail the Ts and Cs of use of the land and form the basis of a contract deemed entered into by the driver consequent upon their actions i.e. parking. They would also specify breaches and their contractual consequences e.g. a parking charge etc.

If the signs state 'Free Parking for Customers Only' or similar then so be it.

From what you've posted you've identified yourself to the operator as both the keeper and driver and also in this thread and their claim is against you as 'driver'.(but still post the claim form just in case the PoC also state '..or in the alternative as keeper..').

So, was there a breach?

Until we see the Ts and Cs signs it's not possible to say. It's possible that GSV could give us what we need...so what's the address?

Was the driver a customer on that day while the car was parked or did they just take advantage of the landowner's generosity and park but not patronise any of the retailers?