Residential parking in allocated bay - Court Claim received

Umkomaas · 11 July 2017 at 10:11AM

You do not want this to be determined 'on the papers'. This is a standard Gladstones ploy. You object to it to the court as the case is far from 'straightforward' (as G's insinuate) and you wish to question the company's witness in person (not that one will turn up - just their gun-for-hire solicitor).

I'm not the court expert here, but I understand that you can download the DQ from MCOL.

Coupon-mad · 11 July 2017 at 5:56PM

I would phone the court at CCBC and ask if they have forgotten to send you a DQ. Be ready for them to be very busy, read this, they are fed up with these scam parking cases:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5677956

HTH

Zita_Z · 16 October 2017 at 8:46PM

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for all your help so far. I have my court appointment scheduled for this Wednesday and I have a few questions/need reassurance I can win this thing.

1. I missed the witness statement submission deadline by a few days. I was supposed to send it 2 weeks before the appt. but completely blanked and submitted it a few days later. Do I still have a chance of the judge accepting it? What happens in this case? Can they simply rule in the claimant's favour by default? I'm hoping they have some compassion for someone with a full-time job without legal representation.

2. Let's assume they'll still hear me out - any general tips on what to focus on and how to conduct myself? Do I need to pretend I'm an actual lawyer and recite case law etc. by heart? Tried to look but couldn't find a lot of threads discussing the actual court hearings.

3. Any areas I should focus on? Just to recap:
I parked in my own bay at a residental car park. I have not directly signed a contract with the parking company. The estate rules of the complex are vague and don't mention them by name either. My sticky permit fell off onto the floor (act of God). Their signs say they don't accept retrospective evidence - I think that is an unfair term. This is a gated PIN-protected car park for residents so permits seem excessive anyway. They could use a more modern vehicle reg number directory - they are putting us at a disadvantage with this outdated system.

Many thanks in advance!

System · 17 October 2017 at 6:56AM

What does their contract / letter of authority say?

This is a simple battle of forms now. The judge will want to compare both your lease / tenancy with their letter of authority (or should do)

Loc also suggests

send them that costs schedule though, 24 hours before the hearing, and file it with the court. Take with you evidence that you have sent the costs schedule to them and when.

There is a template from LoC you can use too.

claxtome · 17 October 2017 at 8:36AM

Let's assume they'll still hear me out - any general tips on what to focus on and how to conduct myself? Do I need to pretend I'm an actual lawyer and recite case law etc. by heart? Tried to look but couldn't find a lot of threads discussing the actual court hearings.

The Judge understands that the defendant, you, is not familiar with court and court procedure. They will probably tell you that small claims procedures aren't very formal. In my case I didn't have to say a lot but it always best to be prepared.

The following is just a suggestion and hopefully will ensure you have it clear in your head your case and defence (I always prefer things written down; hence why I did it):

If it was me I would be tempted to put together a basic Skeleton Argument (not a formal one like I did - too late in your case I am afraid) but just a crib sheet of what you want to say. A 'formal' skeleton argument is a document you send to the judge and Claimant. It contains what you would say when you appear in court to present your case.

In your crib sheet I would just have 2 headings in the document 'Defendant Arguments' and 'Rebutting Claimant Evidence and Arguments'. (or something similar).

Under the first heading I would start with your 'main' defence and work down your other defence arguments. I would put in there references to the appropriate page in your 'defence statement' / 'Witness statement' /evidence or other document.

Under the second heading I would want to put under there all the parts that refute/disagree with what they have sent you as evidence or WS. If they have quoted cases like say Beavis v Parking Eye I would put my arguments against those cases - if you have any.

My skeleton argument is in post 165 of my 'Big Car park' thread->
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5640401&page=9#165

Bear in mind I spent about a week preparing that - yours doesn't need to be that formal.

I hope that helps.

In case you are interested if you read on from post #165 of my thread you will get an idea of my successful experience at court.

claxtome · 17 October 2017 at 8:52AM

Unless trying to prove 'unreasonable behaviour' of Claimant the costs you can claim are:
1) Loss of earnings @£XX per hour for YY hours
max £95

2) Mileage driven to attend court, including return, at 45p per mile

3) Car parking on day of hearing (approx. unless you know)

Loadsofchildren123 · 17 October 2017 at 12:36PM

You could still do a Skeleton, although the other side may fuss and say it's a late document, but you will say it is simply a helpful summary of everything they already have, with helpful page references. But equally, you could do your own informal crib sheet. The importance of page references is that when you say to the judge eg. that their signage was inadequate, you can then refer him/her to the picture(s) of the signage by reference to the page/tab number in the bundle.

Your statement: if anyone says anything about late service (which they may not) you will say that it was still served in good time for the hearing and doesn't disadvantage the C at all - it is unlikely that it will be disallowed (if you tried to serve it tomorrow it might be different). I take it the other side have not complained about its late service?

In court: relax, you are a Litigant in Person and are not expected to perform like Perry Mason or know things off by heart (lawyers refer to notes, they never reel things off by heart anyway - one of the skills of the lawyer is making good notes that are easy to refer to!). That is again why you should have a crib sheet - cross refer it to the legal authorities you are relying on. Take a separate bundle of those to court with you, with a spare copy to hand up to the judge and for the Claimant.

Focus: have you proved firstly that your landlord had the right to park (granted in his lease) and secondly that (s)he granted you this right (granted in your tenancy or in a contract collateral to your tenancy if the tenancy is silent)? You say you have the right but you must demonstrate it.

Loadsofchildren123 · 18 October 2017 at 1:29PM

Best of luck today

claxtome · 18 October 2017 at 1:46PM

Good luck too...

If applying for costs don't forgot to take some proof of your salary. (like a payslip)

Zita_Z · 18 October 2017 at 6:12PM

Hi,
Thank you to all of you for the great tips and all the help you've provided, it is really appreciated.

In summary, we have lost one case and won one. If you remember from the beginning of my story, I actually had two PCNs to defend. Myself and my partner both got dragged to court, the circumstances were almost the same. Despite of all the preparation and research we've done, the judge dismissed pretty much of all my primary defences (primacy of contract, chain of authority, unilateral terms that cannot be complied with - displaying the sticky permit "at all times", uncontrollable events like the sticker falling onto the floor or peeling away from glass due to weather conditions, even the argument that the stickers are not fit for the purpose dueto poor quality). So in the end it came down to a technicality: in my case the sticker fell onto the floor, and in my partner's case it slipped into the crack with the bottom half covered by the window tint.

Luckily, we were able to apply for costs in my partner's case, but I will have to pay 200 pounds...

I have very mixed feelings, I may write a more detailed court report later on if there is interest. I don't feel like justice has been served. And my taxes pay for these courtrooms and judges so that's even more frustrating. My friends and family are saying I should be glad it's over and forget it, but after spending so much time and effort fighting for what I believed would be a just outcome, I just feel miserable.

Residential parking in allocated bay - Court Claim received

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