Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all,


I posted previously - "PCN for parking w/o any visible signage - Appeal dismissed by IAS" - but the situation has now progressed to claim stage and I'd like some advice on the defence I'm drafting.


To recap briefly:

I received a PCN from Link Parking for parking at Bute Street Car Park, Cardiff on 13 August 2025. I appealed to the IAS on the grounds that there was no adequate signage and no payment facilities at the site, but the appeal was dismissed. I then received a Letter of Claim from BW Legal in February 2026, responded robustly on 27 March (requesting a 30-day hold under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims and asking for disclosure of key documents), and BW Legal issued County Court proceedings without replying to my letter or providing any of the documents I requested.

Claim details:

- Claimant: Link Parking Limited (via BW Legal)
- Amount claimed: £160 (original PCN £100 + £60 "contractual recovery costs") plus £35 court fee and £50 legal costs = £245 total
- I have already filed an Acknowledgment of Service indicating I intend to defend in full

I have drafted my defence and would be very grateful if anyone could review it before I submit. The two main points of the defence are:

1. No adequate signage at the material time — no entrance sign, no visible terms within the car park, and no payment facilities. The Claimant is put to strict proof that compliant signage existed on 13 August 2025.

2. Prohibitive/forbidding contract — even if signage existed, it is prohibitive in nature (restricting parking to authorised persons) and therefore legally incapable of constituting a contractual offer. I am relying on UKPC v Masterson B6QZ4H3R [2016], PCM-UK v Bull B4GF26K6 [2016], and Horizon Parking v Mr J C5GF17X2 [2016].

I have also included a section on BW Legal's failure to comply with the Pre-Action Protocol (they ignored my 30-day hold request and provided none of the requested disclosure before issuing proceedings).

The defence is attached as a PDF document. My deadline to file is approximately 12th June.

A couple of specific questions I'd welcome views on:

- Is my framing of the "forbidding contract" argument correct and sufficiently developed for a small claims hearing?
- Is there anything I should add, remove, or strengthen before submitting?
- Any procedural points I may have missed?

I know this forum runs on goodwill and I'm very grateful for any time members can spare to look this over.

Happy to provide any additional documents (claim form, my LoC response, the BW Legal email of 19 May) if helpful.

Many thanks