VCS PCN - Help Needed

Coupon-mad

AB_Express wrote: »

Few questions...

Do I put anything in about the reg they got wrong on some of their correspondence? A reg that didn't exist.

On the claim form the amount claimed, court fee and legal fees doesn't add up to the total amount? And this amount differs to what they say I owe on the letters.

I would add both of those either at this stage or at Witness Statement stage, or both, to expose the slapdash robo-claim and to demonstrate that their details are unreliable.

Your defence looks good, it covers the bases and sets the scene at the start.

AB_Express

Added a few extra paragraphs following Coupon-mads's feedback




I am XXXXXXXX, defendant in this matter.

1. It is likely to be a matter of common ground that this claim arises as the result of an alleged infraction brought about by the stopping of a XXXXXX motor vehicle registration number XXXXX on XXXXXX at the International Business Park, Liverpool that in turn resulted in the issue of a parking charge notice by the Claimant.

2. As the Defendant in this matter, I wish to bring to the courts attention case XXXXXXXX which was successfully defended by myself for a vehicle stopped in the same location a week after this alleged infraction took place. The vehicle, on both occasions was stopped for a matter of minutes outside of what VCS have outlined as the ‘no stopping zone’. Additionally, the alleged contravention of ‘stopping on a roadway where stopping is prohibited’ cannot be applied here as the vehicle was clearly not stopped on a roadway but an unused piece of land.

3. As an unrepresented litigant-in-person I respectfully ask that I be permitted to amend and or supplement this interim defence as may be required following a fuller disclosure of the Claimant’s case.

4. My final correspondence with BW Legal (prior to the recent court order) regarding this matter was over a year ago. BW Legal had sent a letter quoting a vehicle registration number that hadn’t appeared on any other correspondence. I informed them that I had never been the registered keeper of that vehicle and in fact that registration number didn’t exist.

5. I would also like to draw the courts attention to the amount the Claimant is pursuing as it varies depending on which document you look at. On the Claim Form dated XXXXXX, the Claimant has entered the following amounts;
Amount claimed £176.84
Court fee £25.00
Legal Rep Cost £126.00
Total amount £251.84

I calculate the total amount to £327.84, not £251.84. On the most recent letter dated XXXXX, BW Legal state the balance due is £273.84.

6. I deny any liability in respect of the claim.

7. In his Particulars of Claim the Claimant fails to disclose the head or heads of action in which these proceedings are based and in any event no cause is disclosed that has a realistic prospect of success. Furthermore, the lack of detail prevents my being able to respond in more detail.

8. The Claimant is a well-funded company with a dedicated legal staff and is a serial litigator. I submit that his issuing Particulars of Claim lacking in usable detail or that do not disclose a clear cause of action is not only remiss but smacks of a “Cut and Paste” approach to the issuing of proceedings. I further submit that this demonstrates a disregard for the dignity of the court and little concern for the Claimant’s duties in supporting the court to achieve the overriding objectives.

9. Additionally such scant Particulars leave Defendants to respond to what are at best vague details.

10. It is denied that the Claimant is the landowner of the property in question or that they have any other right or proprietary interest in the land or any demonstrable intention to occupy it sufficient to support this claim.

11. The Claimant is therefore put to strict proof that they were at the time of the alleged event in possession of sufficient authority to issue parking charges and institute proceedings in their own name and can demonstrate a clear chain of authority from the landowner.

12. I will seek to argue a more detailed rebuttal should the Claimant plead the case cited but in any event submit that the case cited be disregarded.

13. If the court is minded to accept that the Claimant has standing then I submit that the signs on site at the time of the alleged event were insufficient in terms of their numbers, distribution and wording to reasonably convey a contractual obligation and did not in any event at the time comply with the requirements of the Code of Practice of the Independent Parking Committee’s Accredited Operators Scheme a signatory to which the Claimant was at the relevant time.

14. I further submit that anybody would struggle to read the terms, let alone agree to a charge. Such is the complexity and density of the text on the Claimant’s signs that the most onerous term – the £100 parking charge notice – is buried amongst a mass of small print and does not even begin to comply with Denning MR’s “Red Hand Rule”.

15. In the absence of any signage that contractually bound the Defendant then there can have been no contract and the Claimant has no case.

16. The Claimant is put to strict proof of all his assertions.

17. The Court is invited to dismiss the Claim, and to allow such Defendant’s costs as are permissible under Civil Procedure Rule 27.14.

I believe that the facts stated in this Statement of Defence, 10/09/2016, are true.

Signed

AB_Express

Any advice on my defence please?

AB_Express

Approaching my submission deadline. Any advice please?

AB_Express

Need to submit this week so would be extremely grateful if I could get some feedback before I sent it please?

AB_Express

Morning All

At DQ stage with this at the moment. Mine has been submitted and I have received the one from BW.

I have now received a letter from BW with a special offer to avoid any further action. Do I respond saying something along the lines of thanks but no thanks or should I ignore it?

DoaM

If they're suggesting a "special offer" then it likely means they are about to fold and withdraw the claim.

As to whether you should respond (and if yes, how) ... I'll let others advise on that.

nosferatu1001

Is it their usual without prejudice offer nonsense?
You are under no obligation to respond. You could respond, under "without prejudice save as to costs", offering a drop hands, otherwise you will seek your full costs for their unresaonale behaviour (list what theyve done) under rule CPR27.14(2)(g). Your time is charged to them at £19 per hour.

AB_Express

Received the court papers yesterday. In the special offer letter they said I had 14 days to pay however the court papers arrived within the 14 days.

Still cannot believe that they are taking this to court when I have on numerous occasions reminded them of the case I have won for a vehicle in the exact same spot.

Will crack on with my defence.

System

Still cannot believe that they are taking this to court when I have on numerous occasions reminded them of the case I have won for a vehicle in the exact same spot.

It's what they do.

Will crack on with my defence.

Have a look at the references here to res judicata (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=73741233&postcount=92) Put at the top the reference to the earlier case so that at the DQ stage, hopefully the allocating judge (AJ) will pick it up and throw it out.

Essentially what is happening is that they are simply abusing the court process to keep hassling you. If the AJ does not pick it up the process will grind on and the only chance you have of getting your costs back is if it goes to a hearing and you can argue "unreasonable" behaviour.

So it is no more than playing the system with their push-bottom scams.

If you have the time, the energy and the finances you counterclaim to ensure it does go to a hearing so you can have the issue of their behaviour examined at court. But Will Hurley at Gladstones has been prosecuted for PCoJ (not proven) so this is nothing to them.