UKCPM ticket no NtD, NtK arrived more than 14 days after dated.

Coupon-mad

To clarify, did you mean I have to submit in person tomorrow (or, actually today) morning (exactly 7 days before hearing)? And is an email to Gladstones would be sufficient or I have to post a physical copy as well?

Ideally yes, submit in person today, a signed copy of that WS, plus the 5 pages of evidence mentioned in red in the post, so you can see what to include.

Also submit to both, a 'costs schedule' if you will be having to lose salary or lose holiday, to attend the hearing next week. Costs schedule here (easy to fill out) you send the court this with your WS, and a copy to Gladstones by email, AND take this and a printout of everything, to the hearing and claim your costs for lost wages/leave, your travel, parking(!) etc. if you win:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72079752#Comment_72079752

You CAN claim loss of leave but some Judges do not know this, so have this in your notes re your 'costs schedule': ''27.14.2(e) a sum not exceeding the amount specified in Practice Direction 27 for any loss of earnings or loss of leave by a party or witness due to attending a hearing or to staying away from home for the purposes of attending a hearing'

And yes it is OK to email Gladstones a copy of everything but copy in your OWN email address as well, and print out the proof of sending and receiving that email, and take that with you next week in case the Claimant says they never received it.

You could also post a copy, at the Post Office, ask for free 'certificate of posting' and keep that receipt in your file for court too, to prove posting it.

Do you think it would be any helpful to consult the legal advise clinic by tomorrow evening?

Probably no need. Better to get this WS in today...

You may have to ask a friend or relative to take the file to the court? They may not have an out-of-hours postbox. If really stuck, post it (all paperwork in a lightweight plastic wallet with the claim number and 'witness statement of defendant' on the front, and all evidence numbered, to match the statement) and get proof of posting from the Post Office.

tidegu

Thanks CM! I have quickly read through your draft and it looks really great.

Questions:

1. I noticed that you mentioned their WS #6 and #20. Since this is my WS and supposed to be submitted on the same day as their, is it applicable to defense their WS in my WS, or it should be moved to "Skeleton Argument"?

2. Should the evidence inline or as appendix at the end? Like their WS with a list of appendices?

3. Do I need to include the entire IPC CoP (35 pages), Court judgement transcript(11 pages) and PoFA page in the WS, or only relevant paragraphs in IPC CoP?

4. Do I need to mention their signage does not comply BPA as well?

Thanks!!

tidegu

CM, thanks a lot! I'm formatting up the WS, and do you mind if I PM you my final copy for a final check? I don't mind to share my personal details to you but it is clearly not a good idea to post it publicly...

Regarding to the schedule of costs, do I have to file it now or I can do it after judgement / on the day? if I have to do it now, I think I'd better skip that... It's too complex for me: 1) I don't know how much does it cost to park around the court, 2) my salary is monthly basis and don't know how to calculate the daily rate - monthly / working days, or monthly / calendar days, or find out the hourly rate and multiple 2 hours for the hearing itself?

[Deleted User]

Can I draw to your attention that the witness statement of Miss Sophie Fenn is wholly inadequate. In addition to the usual issues that may be faced (i.e. she is unlikely to grace you with her presence)

1. There is no indication of her status within the Claimant company. She is not a director and is self-evidently not an employee of Gladstones.
2. The statement is chock full of legal opinions and very light on the facts of the parking incident
3. The address of the witness is (bizarrely) a PO Box. That is not the address of the company, it's lawyers or indeed the witness - does she even exist?

tidegu

Thanks for bring this up! Do I have to do anything against these points?

tidegu

CM, I don't know how to express my gratitude to your help. You really helped me a lot. I'm wordless now.

I have just wrapped up the entire WS package, literally as is your draft, including all 5 appendices, it is now 70 pages in total. I have decided to submit this to the court first thing in the morning, followed by the email to Gladstone (I know to CC myself, but I can't find their email address) and forget the clinic. I do believe your help was much much greater than them for sure. I tried to PM you the WS, unfortunately I noticed that you turned off PMs, I truly understand the reason. If you think it is appropriate and possible, would you please PM me any of your contact, email, Skype, Whatsapp, whatever, I would like to thank you in person.

I also decided to fill the schedule of cost. I read a bit the upper limit of the claim, apparently the limit of loss of earnings of £95 per day does not seems to cover my salary if I divide the monthly salary (before tax) by working days in July. So I have to put £95 in that item. For the further costs, I put 5 hours researching and documenting at £19/h for a total of £95, and stationary cost of £30. The total cost is £225.85. Do you think if this is an appropriate figure? Well, I may not have enough time to wait for your reply, but please let me know if I did wrong.

In the mean time, do I need to prepare a SA as well or I should just rely on the WS? Do you have any last minute suggestions or reminders for me before attending the hearing?

My understanding is that, I need to bring all originals to the court, which include all previous contacts, i.e., NTK, my appeals (including proof of post), their replies, LBA, PD, WS, proof of WS email to Gladstone etc. I haven't found a post listing all required documents, would you please refer one to me?

I also noticed one of your post about Right of Audience. However, I am not quite understand the procedure. Does it apply in my case? If yes, what should I prepare apart the exact wording on your post: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72152807#Comment_72152807 I noticed a term "Lay Reps" but not quite sure what it is.

Regarding to keeper liability, will the judge insist on identifying the driver? What should I say in case the judge asks? In case the keeper liability defense fails, do I have to identify the driver at the hearing? and will it affect the result? Also, the grace period defense, is that possible that Gladstone suddenly turns up with additional photos saying the car was stayed more than 10 mins?

At the hearing, should I ware suits or normal cloths? Are there any wording I must use, like my honor etc? It's my first time attend a court hearing, especially not in my native language and culture, I don't know if there's any regulation I must follow... Lastly, should I behave shy and friendly or kinda aggressive? - well, I didn't mean "aggressive", but "confident", "assertive" and "aggressive" sometimes very close to each other. In a non-native language environment, I'm not confident that people won't misunderstand my behavior. Is being shy and acting naive being a safe play or extremely bad and have to avoid?

Sorry for so many questions. Thanks a lot in advance!!

Umkomaas

Super job CM. :T

[Deleted User]

TIPS
1. You'll not get turfed out if you don't but if you've got one, wear a suit. It may be a small claim, but it's still Court.
2. A district judge is always Sir or Madam
3. Respectful but clear as to your own case is fine. Allow the Claimant to finish their point and when prompted to explain your case, do so. It may help to number the issues that the Claimant raises so you can then respond to them in turn:
"Sir, Mrs x has just raised 3 points x, y, Z. I propose to deal with each in turn...."
4. Remember if (for example) 40 mins is booked for the hearing in principle that means you're going to get 20 mins each, so don't go prepared to speak for an hour

AUDIENCE
A technical point. You need to read the threads and familiarise yourself with the law. There is now a separate thread on this dealt with by others, so I won't restate it here.

C's STATEMENT
My point is this. If the witness doesn't attend, how do you understand what her belief is or raise questions relating to the documents exhibited to the statement.

She says she is an employee, but her contact details are not the company address. She provides no job title. Is she in any position of authority to make a statement on behalf of the company? I say no (as do the court rules). See Para 3.4 practice direction to part 22, civil procedure rules

So can we rely on what is said? Well we can't accuse anyone of lying without being able to prove it, but we can invite the court to draw adverse inferences from the absence of any material witness if there is a significant point in the statement that now cannot be clarified.

tidegu

Update: I submitted the DWS to the court in person, the lady in the reception said that they cannot give any receipt, but she can stamp on the first page with date, and give me a photocopy of this page. She did and then dropped it into the drop-off box, told me that the box is opened daily at 4pm and judge (?) will read earliest tomorrow morning. I also asked what should I do on the day of hearing and some court etiquette questions, she replied in an extreme kind manner. She also gave me quite a few booklet so that I can get myself familiar with all the process and etiquette. A lot reading in the nights these days especially the weekend!

I feel so blessed with everyone's great help and kindness, it was so warm! Thank you, CM!

Johnersh: Thanks a lot for your tips, they are very useful! Do you have any link to the threads of audience? I'm not sure which keyword should I put in search for this matter, "audience"? I tried and had lots of threads and don't know which one to start with.. Regarding to your last two paragraphs, I checked UKCPM's website and found her address is their London office. Does she need to physically attend the hearing (as witness) or she can be absent and some solicitor from GS can turn up? Does she need to prove his job affiliation to the court?

Thanks everyone!

Coupon-mad

Does she need to physically attend the hearing (as witness) or she can be absent and some solicitor from GS can turn up?

She should turn up (but does not have to). If she doesn't, then as Johnersh says, you can:

invite the court to draw adverse inferences from the absence of any material witness.

Gladstones won't send a solicitor from their office either. They will likely send a solicitor's agent, and you can then challenge that random person's Rights of Audience, and can even send the BMPA a text to check the person's name out, from outside the court room!

This might hep explain, but it is complicated!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72729186#Comment_72729186