How to prepare for UKPC court case?

Coupon-mad

Don't be disheartened, this is worth the fight.

Anthony94 won his case last year v UKPC at a University and as you've seen, Bobby2k2 just beat them last week. Even if you lost the hearing, you can object to the add-ons and would pay less than they are demanding now. Got to be worth the experience.

Everything you have just said in bullet points goes into your skeleton argument, so you have just pretty much half written it already. You are allowed to write a skeleton argument now, which tears apart their evidence, so seize the chance! That along with the case transcripts and signage photos you want to rely on, and the witness statement and a draft costs schedule for attending court (loss of leave etc.) goes into a nice organised file, which you might want to deliver in person to the local court (just email the claimant's copy, no need for a pretty file for them).

So, what you've just written above, stick it straight into a word document headed up 'skeleton argument' as you will have seen explained and linked in Britton's thread and KimmyHrunt's thread.

A statement of truth goes at the bottom along with a line for your signature and date. And add any case transcripts you wanted to use, from the Parking Prankster's case law, if you did. E.g. if the signs are forbidding (no contract) you want 'PCM v Bull' and 'UKPC v Masterson' (read it!).

Then copy that same document format into another word document headed up 'Witness Statement' and that one just tells the story of who you are, whether the driver is identified, what happened and which letters were received when (or were NOT received, as confirmed by you). Once you write that I promise it will flow!

Show us, we want to help. You can do this stage once you start, it's easier than you realise.

Remind us of the incident, how many PCNs at stake, and what your defence said as it's on page one as I view this thread and I prefer not to have to look back trawling through the older posts on threads. Reminder please!

And when's your court date (ish) and how long do you have to throw this together, and what evidence were you wanting to use?

Jt16

I've started the witness statement (took longer than expected) everything needs to be done by Friday at the very very latest but I wil, post my first draft on here tonight
in their bundle there is no defence just a witness statement is that normal? Could they send Their defence at a later date to throw me off?

Jt16

There are 3 different incidences that took place at a university car park that took place last year.
As for evidence so far I have nothing that I feel is useful. I would like to use this evidence against them but they have only included blurry photos and a contract.

Coupon-mad

in their bundle there is no defence just a witness statement is that normal?

Yes, that's normal. And it is good they've only shown blurry signs!

I own a permit and during that time my car was in and out the mechanics.

I found this (above) in your first post - say this in your WS, you need the Judge to understand the issues as well as the legal arguments about there being no contract offered. Your WS must JUST be the story of what happened and what letters you received or did not receive.

You need to separate the legal argument OUT of that WS and personally, if I were you, I would argue this as DRIVER and lose stuff about neither confirming or denying who was driving/Henry Greenslade stuff and the POFA. The reason is, UKPC do comply more or less with Schedule 4 and you will find it so much easier to defend honestly and concentrate of the fact that the signs are blurry in evidence and there is nothing showing that the car was in view of clear terms to create any agreement to pay £100.

Then you can write an honest WS, starting with the fact the car was in and out of the mechanics, etc.

Your skeleton argument needs to cover the legal stuff, the transcripts, the forbidding signage argument and objecting to the sum added to each PCN, plucked out of thin air, etc. Search the forum for 'plucked out of thin air defence' and you will find that already written too!

As for evidence so far I have nothing that I feel is useful.

Yes you do! I pointed you to these cases, you must have read them by now, easily found in the Parking Prankster's case law page:

E.g. if the signs are forbidding (no contract) you want 'PCM v Bull' and 'UKPC v Masterson' (read it!).

This is in your skeleton argument and explains the fact that signs that ONLY offer a contract to cars displaying a permit are forbidding to everyone else (i.e. they disallow - do NOT offer - parking to any other driver). Therefore that is not able to be construed as an agreed contract because there is no offer or consideration flowing between the parties.

To find wording about this already written, search the forum for 'forbidding signs Bull defence' or 'forbidding signs Masterson' and I'm sure you will find something to crib from for your skeleton. You need those case transcripts as evidence to support your argument and you must read them both (they will help you see how to argue this and they will help the Judge understand).

Did you read Anthony94's thread from 2016? He beat UKPC at Brunel, on signage I think - go and find his case and find out how he won and concentrate on that aspect.

Jt16

1. In regards to the dates in question ***** the defendant was the Registered Keeper of the vehicle ***** on the aforementioned dates.

2. The Defendant neither admitted nor denied being the driver at the time of the supposed contraventions. The Claimant is therefore incorrect stating that “she denies being the driver at the time of the contraventions”. The Defendant declared that “the Claimant cannot provide evidence that the defendant was the actual driver” to which the Defendant admits to being the driver on the alleged incidences.

3. The Defendant fulfilled the requirements as set by the landowner to be eligible for a student parking permit. In (eg.1) as supplied by the landowner on the date of ******* the Defendant was awarded a permit that expired on *******. One adjustment was made on ******* regarding the vehicle involved in this matter.

4. The Defendant’s parking permit (eg. 2) preserves justification that no trespasses occurred, as the vehicle is registered with the landowner.

5. Due to unforeseen events the Defendant switched cars on the aforesaid dates. Subsequently, the permit was not on display though the vehicle was registered and parked in the permits permitted area.

6. The defendant did not respond to the alarmist Notices sent by UKPC because the mail was believed to be unsolicited mail. Furthermore, as these were not offences or fines obtained from an Authority such as a Council or the Police, there was no reason or obligation upon a registered keeper to ‘appeal’ to what appeared to be junk mail. Upon further research these are non-POFA PCNs, are incapable of holding the defendant liable. No adverse inference can be drawn from the defendant’s decision not to respond to what appeared to be spam impersonating a parking ticket yet with no basis in law.

7. On the ******* out of the blue the defendant received a claim letter, which signify that the Pre-action protocol was not adhered to by the claimant. Within the evidence as supplied by the claimant *** is a letter before claim however this was not received by the defendant.

8. On the ******* the defendant received a letter from ***** in regards to the Particulars of Claim (PoC).

9. On the ******* the defendant submitted a Part 18 request via email addressed to ******* at ******* to provide more information and clarification within this matter.

10. On ******* I received an email from ******* replying to my part 18 request. The response was limited as her “client is under no obligation to respond” to the part 18 request. Though the email states:

(i) a contract exists between the client and landowner although fails to provide a copy of said contract

(ii) Illegible photos of signs, taken at the time of the alleged contravention

(iii) multiple photos of the vehicle in question

(iiii) multi copies of PCN’s and final reminders that were allegedly sent to the defendant

9. The defendant submitted their defence on ******* via MCOL

10. The defendant questionnaire was sent to the County Court business Centre and ******* on the ******* by way of recorded delivery

11. The claim was sent to Court on ******* and subsequently on the ******* the defendant received a Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track.

This is my most recent WS please amend as appropriate the parts in red are the points I am not sure about:

Questions In regards to my skeleton argument:

Having had 3 pcn they make a point of saying I should have aware of the notices from the first breach.

No offer = no contract doesn't this stem direct from POFA I would like to emphasise upon this and the signage

The contract between ukpc and the university means that they cannot act on behalf of the landowner but why?

The contract given has had the commercial information redacted however the beavis case stipulates commercial justification and legitimate interest -can I use this to my benefit

Within their WS they admit that they have been investigated is it worth bringing up again

They claim because of hAving a permit I should be aware of the "breachments"

Just to confirm any cases included must be the entire transcript?

How is reasonable costs calculated or is that for the judge to decide?