Scottish drivers must be sued in a Scottish court

If a private parking company wants to take you to court and you live in Scotland, it must do so in Scotland — in the Sheriff Court — and not through the English online system called Money Claim Online (MCOL), an English County Court or the Civil National Business Centre in Northampton. For an ordinary motorist this is a firm rule, not just a general one. Where the claim arises from a consumer contract — one you made for private purposes with a business that carries on its activities in, or directs them to, the part of the UK where you live, and a car park operated in Scotland is exactly that — the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 says proceedings may be brought against the consumer ONLY in the courts of the part of the United Kingdom in which the consumer is domiciled (section 15B(3); 'consumer' and 'consumer contract' are defined in section 15E; a private parking claim is a civil matter of the kind the section covers, section 15A(2)). A business that runs or enforces parking at a site in Scotland is carrying on its activities there — the usual case; check that it is the operator itself, and not for example a debt buyer, that is pursuing you. The rule can be departed from only by an agreement of the three kinds section 15B(6) allows: one made after the dispute arose, one that gives you (the consumer) more choice of court, or one made when both of you were domiciled or habitually resident in the same part of the UK, giving that part's courts jurisdiction and allowed by that part's law — none of which a parking operator's signs create. You count as domiciled in Scotland if you live there with a substantial connection to it, and living there for the last three months or more is presumed to be enough (section 41). This ground is for private motorists. If you were parking for business, the consumer rule does not apply; the general rules in Schedule 4 then govern (a person domiciled in a part of the UK is to be sued there, subject to exceptions such as where a contract was to be performed), and how those exceptions play out for a parking claim has not been checked — take advice rather than relying on this ground. For claims of £5,000 or less a process called Simple Procedure applies in the Sheriff Court, with its own forms and its own limits on legal costs: where the claim is £300 or less no expenses can be awarded at all; over £300 and up to £1,500 expenses are capped at £150; and over £1,500 and up to £3,000 they are capped at 10% of the claim (Sheriff Court Simple Procedure (Limits on Award of Expenses) Order 2016, as amended in 2019). Those limits can be lifted where a defence is not stated or not pursued, is not put forward in good faith, or a party behaves in a manifestly unreasonable way, and the sheriff can also set them aside for a difficult question of law or exceptionally complex facts (Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, section 81(4)–(7)). If English court papers do arrive, do not ignore them: acknowledge the claim and then, within 14 days of acknowledging it, apply to that court — with evidence in support — for a declaration that it has no jurisdiction and for the claim form and its service to be set aside. That is done under the English court's own procedure, Civil Procedure Rules Part 11, which belongs to the English proceeding and is not Scottish law. If you acknowledge the claim but do not make that application in time, you are treated as accepting that the court can hear it.

Legal basis

Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982: s.15B(3) (proceedings against a consumer may be brought only in the courts of the part of the United Kingdom in which the consumer is domiciled), s.15A(2) (ss.15B–15C apply where the proceedings are within the scope of the retained jurisdiction Regulation, Article 1 — civil and commercial matters, which a private parking claim is), s.15B(6) (departed from only by an agreement made after the dispute arose, one allowing the consumer to sue elsewhere, or one made by parties both then domiciled or habitually resident in the same part of the UK conferring jurisdiction on that part's courts, provided it is not contrary to that part's law), s.15E(1) ('consumer' — a person contracting for a purpose outside their trade or profession; 'consumer contract' — one concluded with a person who pursues commercial activities in the part of the UK where the consumer is domiciled, or directs such activities there), s.16(1A) (Schedule 4 does not apply where s.15B applies), s.41(3) and (6) (domicile in a part of the UK: residence with a substantial connection, presumed after three months' residence); Schedule 4 rule 1 (a person domiciled in a part of the UK is to be sued in the courts of that part), rule 2 and rule 3(a) (a contract claim — the courts for the place of performance of the obligation in question) — the position for non-consumer (business) drivers, NOT verified for parking claims and outside this ground; Schedule 8 rule 1 (persons are to be sued in the courts for the place where they are domiciled). Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 s.72 (simple procedure for claims of £5,000 or less) and s.81(4)–(7) (when the expenses limits do not apply). Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure) 2016 (SSI 2016/200). Sheriff Court Simple Procedure (Limits on Award of Expenses) Order 2016 (SSI 2016/388), as amended by SSI 2019/79. Civil Procedure Rules Part 11, r.11(2), (4) and (5) — the ENGLISH court's own procedure for disputing its jurisdiction, named only so a customer served with an English claim knows the route; it is not Scottish law. Remedies: a declaration that the court has no jurisdiction (r.11(1)); the claim form and its service set aside (r.11(6)).

How to identify this in your case

Check any court paperwork you have received. Does it come from an English court or the Money Claim Online system, but you live in Scotland? Or has a claim been issued in a Scottish Sheriff Court that covers a different area from where you live — for example, a Glasgow court when you actually live in Aberdeenshire? Either of these situations means the case may have been raised in the wrong place. This ground is written for someone who lives in Scotland, was ticketed in Scotland, was parking for private (not business) purposes, and is being pursued by the parking operator itself. It is not for business drivers.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

Dear [OPERATOR / SOLICITOR], Re: Letter Before Action / Notice of Court Action [REF] You have indicated an intention to commence proceedings in [the County Court / Money Claim Online] for £[AMOUNT]. That is the wrong forum. I am domiciled in Scotland at [ADDRESS], where I have lived since [YEAR]. The parking took place in Scotland, at a site where the operator making this claim, [OPERATOR], carries on its parking business, and I was parking for private purposes. [If you were parking for business, delete this paragraph and take advice: the consumer rule below does not apply to you.] This is therefore a matter relating to a consumer contract, and under section 15B(3) of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 proceedings may be brought against me only in the courts of the part of the United Kingdom in which I am domiciled — Scotland. I have made no agreement with [OPERATOR] that would allow any other court to hear this. Should you nonetheless issue proceedings in England, I will apply to that court under its own rules for a declaration that it has no jurisdiction, for the claim form and its service to be set aside, and for my costs of doing so, relying on the 1982 Act. If you wish to pursue this matter you must do so in the Sheriff Court at [APPROPRIATE SHERIFFDOM] under Simple Procedure (for claims of £5,000 or less) under the Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure) 2016 (SSI 2016/200). Please note that under the Sheriff Court Simple Procedure (Limits on Award of Expenses) Order 2016 (as amended) no expenses can be awarded where the claim is £300 or less, expenses are capped at £150 for claims over £300 up to £1,500, and at 10% of the claim for claims over £1,500 up to £3,000, subject to section 81(4) to (7) of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. I will defend any claim on the substantive grounds set out separately. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

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Sources

Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 (ss.15B, 15E, 16(1A), 41; Schedule 4 rules 1–3; Schedule 8 rule 1)
Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, s.72 and s.81(4)–(7)
Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure) 2016 (SSI 2016/200)
Sheriff Court Simple Procedure (Limits on Award of Expenses) Order 2016 (SSI 2016/388), as amended by SSI 2019/79
Civil Procedure Rules Part 11 (the English court's procedure for disputing its jurisdiction — not Scottish law)