SIP Court case help

lafferdog · 28 April 2017 at 1:50PM

Hi There,

I am after some advice or help with a court case I have coming up in June with SIP in manchester.

Quick overview of the case:
Last summer I parked at one of their car parks and parked on some cross hatch markings, the markings were worn out to the point of being barley visible, I was in no way blocking anything or anyone in and I have seen cars on them before. There are no other markings in the car park, it is just a load of baron rubble.

I got a ticket, which on the back said I could appeal, and if the appeal was rejected I could pay £60. So appealed and explained the above. A week or so later I received a letter saying I owed £100, I replied saying I had appealed and resent the appeal. Again this was ignored and a new fine of £150 was sent. At this point I wrote to say they had ignored my appeals and so I was going to ignore them.

In January I was contacted by Gladstones solicitors who had taken on their case and they wanted £240. Explained everything to them and we are now going to court in June.

I have no idea what to do with preparing for a court case. I have tried to get free legal help but not had any luck with that so hoping someone here might be able to help me form my case or let me know what I need to do as it would be a nightmare to lose based on anything technical that I don't understand.

I have applied for mediation, and willing to pay the £60 that was the original fine, but I feel I shouldn't really have to pay anything due to the hassle this is causing. Will have to take a day off work too which is an expense. :mad:

I feel like I have followed all the instructions they offered with the appeal of the ticket, they just seem to hike up the fine at every opportunity and harass and try and scare me to pay up.

Thanks in advance for any help people can offer.

lafferdog · 28 April 2017 at 6:41PM

I have read the newbie sticky now, but still a little lost.
Would really appreciate some help even just to give me some pointers.

I found a case off the newbie thread that is to do with not parking in the bay area but it wont let me post a link. The thread on there doesn't really give me a clear idea as to what i need to do.

I am so out my depth with law and how a court case works, I was planning on just turning up and saying what happened, but I now realise it is a bit more than that.

I have to get my case together for a small claims date in June, I submitted a defence at the stage prior to this which was just a paragraph about the situation, wish I had read more or got some advice before doing that.

Again, any help would be really appreciated.

System · 28 April 2017 at 7:51PM

If you have a hearing in June you've Acknowledged, sent in a defence and completed the Directions Questionnaire.

What else have you done to collect information on the claim. SAR, check Land Registry, asked who pays the rates, checked if the principal can cancel etc.

Coupon-mad · 28 April 2017 at 11:04PM

I am so out my depth with law and how a court case works, I was planning on just turning up and saying what happened, but I now realise it is a bit more than that.

I have to get my case together for a small claims date in June,

And what defence did you put in, exactly? Word for word?

lafferdog · 29 April 2017 at 9:05AM

I am guessing this was not what I should have sent:

On the xx xx xx I returned to my car to find a ticket issued for parking on the hatched area of the car park. When I left the car I wasn't sure if the hatched area was in use or valid as it was so worn out and parking there wouldn't have caused any obstruction. I asked a couple of other people parking if they thought it was ok to park there and they agreed it looked fine and they had seen cars park there before.

Further to that there are no markings anywhere in the car park so I assumed they were redundant and not in use. Wrong to assume maybe, but that was the impression I had.

The ticket offered the opportunity to appeal which I did straight away with photos of the area in question. Around 10 days later I received a letter saying I now owed £100, and there was no acknowledgement of my appeal letter, so I wrote back to say I had appealed and resent the original appeal letter.

On the xx xx xx I received a letter from Gladstones Solicitors saying I then owed £150. I was away on holiday for 10 days after this, and then returned to find the Claim Form I am responding to now.

From my point of view I appealed the ticket which I honestly felt was not fair, I have attached images of the hatched area, which I noticed has recently been repainted. If I was to have had my appeal rejected and offered the £60 that is part of their process I would have paid it. However, my letters were ignored and it was escalated to where it is now despite effort on my part to follow their process. The time and effort this has caused me now feels like it out weights any inconvenience I caused leaving my car where I did which is why I would like to dispute the whole amount.

I have attached all my letters of correspondence and the photos that I took that show the worn out hatched area and that there are no other markings anywhere in the carpark which made me think it was fine to park there.

lafferdog · 29 April 2017 at 9:07AM

IamEmanresu wrote: »

If you have a hearing in June you've Acknowledged, sent in a defence and completed the Directions Questionnaire.

What else have you done to collect information on the claim. SAR, check Land Registry, asked who pays the rates, checked if the principal can cancel etc.

Hi, thanks for getting back, I have done none of the above, is this something I should get started on? I might be able to find cases that were the same car park to answer some of them?

Coupon-mad · 29 April 2017 at 1:59PM

Wrong to assume maybe,

If I was to have had my appeal rejected and offered the £60 that is part of their process I would have paid it.

You had those words in your defence you put on the Court papers? An admission and an acceptance that you are liable and would have paid £60. oh dear, that's not a defence, that's a grovel, reads like an appeal. That makes it a bit harder. Are you sure that wasn't just your appeal, was that the defence?

But these are always worth fighting as Gladstones muck them up spectacularly and you have nothing to lose by putting in a more robust witness statement and turning up in a more informed way.

The fact they didn't reply to your appeal, sent twice, is helpful for you. Can you prove posting of those letters, did you get proof of postage and keep it? Or emailed them have a copy?

I have done none of the above,

You have or you would not be at this stage! As IamEmanresu said:

- I would spend £3-odd on a Land Registry check online now, as suggested, to see who owns the land because the parking firm does not and needs authority to sue people.

- I would send the parking firm a SAR, this is easy and gets you everything they hold on you and the VRN/your data, explained here by the BMPA:

https://bmpa.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/206890469-6-Subject-Access-Requests-Easy-

Finally, read the Court letter that told you about the court date. What's the date on page two by which all parties must file their Witness Statement? Please tell us that date so we know how long you have to work on this so it is stronger.

Like I say, do not doubt that this IS worth the continued fight.

lafferdog · 29 April 2017 at 7:07PM

Hey, oh god I knew I should have done some research before sending that as a defence, I am still happy to pay the 60 is it means they go away, this is causing me so much stress.

I dont have proof of sending the appeal, but I did send it twice.

The date of the hearing is June 15th, but the letter is at work along with all my other papers but I can check that monday for sure.

Coupon-mad · 29 April 2017 at 11:59PM

I knew I should have done some research before sending that as a defence, I am still happy to pay the 60 is it means they go away, this is causing me so much stress.

Do not say that in your WS. And in any case, they will not back down so you may as well fight. Tell us that date and read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread about Witness Statements because we can't write it for you (but will always help a trier!).

The_Deep · 30 April 2017 at 10:53AM

If you pay them £60, you will be funding the importation of drugs into the UK, white slavery, people smuggling, FGM, tax evasion, illegal H.M.O.s, and God knows what else.

Do you really want that on your conscience?

lafferdog · 30 April 2017 at 4:15PM

The_Deep wrote: »

If you pay them £60, you will be funding the importation of drugs into the UK, white slavery, people smuggling, FGM, tax evasion, illegal H.M.O.s, and God knows what else.

Do you really want that on your conscience?

I am going to do what I can to not do that

SIP Court case help

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