UKPC & county court business centre form received

UPDATE:

Ok, so in relation to my hearing something happened that I was unexpected.. I was in court for approx 30 minutes until the judge adjourned again but this time to my benefit (I think)...

I arrived slightly early and sat outside the court where the solicitor for UKPC was also seated. He greeted me and handed me a thick document that after closer inspection read:
'Judgment - Cavendish Square Holding BV (appellant) v Tala El Makdessi (Respondent) / ParkingEye Limited (Respondent) v Beavis (Appellant).
I asked if this was submited in their original bundle (which I knew it wasn't) and he said that it didn't need to because it was 'an authority' I acted like I knew what he was meant and carried on waiting to be called in.


The judge began with a summary of what documents he had received thus far and in the process made the following remarks:

He noted that the particulars of claim from the claimant were very brief
He noted that I had sent at part 18 request and in their response they refused to produce a contract (he was not impressed)
He also noted that I had submitted my defense & witness statement (but seemed to be ok with the fact I had addressed the points in the original MCOL defense as well as added some new ones)

The judge then asked if the claimant responded to my defense to which they said they hadn't - This seemed to displease the judge.

He then asked to see the contract to ensure that the claimant had the right to bring the claim..I have to say the solicitor tried his hardest to persuade the judge that the contract wasn't needed and that the witness statement from UKPC is enough. He sited 'commercial sensitivity' again but the judge wasn't having any of it and demanded that it be shown to both he and I. Reluctantly it was then produced (unredacted) with the terms and conditions and the judge and I started to read. Admittedly, I wasn't sure where to start and the judge could see that..the solicitor tried to direct us to a particular clause but judge declined his offer and said he wanted to go through it all.

The judge asked him who the contract was with - it was the managing agent.
The contract had no end date to which the judge asked how he could be sure if it was still place.
He also asked who the landowner was and if it was in fact the managing agent - the solicitor said he didn't know to which I said I knew it wasn't as I had completed a land registry check that can be found in my bundle.

Within their contract with the managing agent, there was a clause that said they could bring court proceedings to recover money but at their own expense. The solicitor referred to POFA 2012 and said that the managing agent would be the 'occupier' of the land and therefore this allows them to bring the claim in their own name. I argued that this related to a contract and argued how we would know if the managing agent had the authority to to this and that the only way we could be sure was to see evidence of the landowner giving authority to them to do so. The judge looked like he thought I had a point...

The judge then had enough and said that he had a number of issues and there were a lot of points to go through and it could possibly be done in the two hour allocation. He said he had hoped to resolve the at least one descrepancies but could see that he couldn't (think he was refering to UKPC's right to bring the claim).

Their side asked if we could at least go through some of the issues but the judge refused and said he wanted it done all at the same time and not as a 'piece meal'

The judge then went on to say that it was wholly unaccepable that the claimant only produced the contract on the day of the hearing! He could see no reason why they couldnt have produced it sooner. He said it was not fair and obstructive to me as I was under represented (on my own) and could not possibly be expected to review it on the spot (I agree).


He then gave the following directions

1) The claimant has to serve a response to my defense together with a copy of the contract awarding parking services to the claimant as well as the terms and conditions that were applicable to the contract. He then granted permission for them to redact any commercially sensitive information (after asking if I was ok with that)

2)The claimant has to serve a trial bundle and the hearing be relisted for an allocation of 1 whole day!

The solicitor tried again and said he thought half a day would be sufficient but the judge said no, we need a full day.

I have to say the judge seemed very thorough but fair. I think he wants to review the content in its entirety. The contract will be interesting indeed.

Surely the additional 1 day hearing will cost UKPC even more money now?

Please let me know your thoughts and any other ideas that I can use to be even more prepared for the new date.