Northampton Court Claim arrived (MCOL)

JackBasta

Ah - that's good to know. I thought that once the Northampton Court Papers arrived then it was likely to go to a court date.

My plan of attack is..

1. Send a Part18 request(for information on contracts with landowner etc.) and also a 31.14 request to Gladstones for all documentation they intend to rely on. However I'm unlikely to get anyting back from that.

2. Formulate my defence - I have a template from the BMPA, along with countless examples on these forums. The main defence is based on the event being pre-PoFA and the onus being on the PPC to prove who the driver is. However I will include all the other standard defences too, where applicable.

3. Fill in the Directions Questions and ensure that any court date happens in my local court.

4. Send a Subject Access Request to the PPC for all the information they probably won't send me after the Part 18/31.14 requests.

5. Have my day in court, if it gets that far.

Sound like the type of things I should be doing?

Coupon-mad

Yes sounds great and I'm in the BMPA so I am glad people use that free resource!

henrik777

JackBasta wrote: »

Ah - that's good to know. I thought that once the Northampton Court Papers arrived then it was likely to go to a court date.

My plan of attack is..

1. Send a Part18 request(for information on contracts with landowner etc.) and also a 31.14 request to Gladstones for all documentation they intend to rely on. However I'm unlikely to get anyting back from that.

2. Formulate my defence - I have a template from the BMPA, along with countless examples on these forums. The main defence is based on the event being pre-PoFA and the onus being on the PPC to prove who the driver is. However I will include all the other standard defences too, where applicable.

3. Fill in the Directions Questions and ensure that any court date happens in my local court.

4. Send a Subject Access Request to the PPC for all the information they probably won't send me after the Part 18/31.14 requests.

5. Have my day in court, if it gets that far.

Sound like the type of things I should be doing?

If they refuse to answer a part 18 and/or 31.14 would you lodge an application at £255/£100 to force compliance ? No. A simple letter/email does the same.

What is important, for me, is to set the thing up. I would suggest asking them to replead their case in accordance with the rules as well as asking for information. They'll probably refuse but you'll gain evidence of their unreasonable behaviour.

A subject access request allows 40 days for compliance, so you really need to do it soon rather than later. They may claim exemption due to legal proceedings, although again that's good evidence of unreasonable behaviour.


It really is an abuse of the court process to conduct cases like Gladstones do but unless a defendant is fee exempt nobody will lodge the applications that you'd file in a larger case to stop this abuse. Some judges are good and throw this crap out but others couldn't care less, sadly.

JackBasta

So, they basically can ignore my Part 18/31.14 requests, and not send me anything. I can put in a SAR, asking for the info and documents, but they have 40 days to reply to that, and I need to submit my defence within the next fortnight.

So I need to submit my defence without actually knowing what they plan to use against me? I don't know details of the PPC's contract with the landowner, or their signage, how they came up with the outrageous amount, or if they have actual evidence to who the driver was? And once my defence is submitted, I can't change it?

Seems a bit unfair that?

henrik777

It's not supposed to work like that, but unless you make the relevant applications or the court intervenes, it can.

It's absurd.

I can put in a SAR, asking for the info and documents, but they have 40 days to reply to that

A SAR is for personal info. Likely to be little more than the PCN.

So I need to submit my defence without actually knowing what they plan to use against me?

Pretty much, unless you fancy making an application to force compliance with CPR 16.4 and PD 16 7.5 at a cost which is prohibitive in a case for such a small sum. It pays to be on benefits for this as you pay no fee for applications then.

And once my defence is submitted, I can't change it?

Well, that's the big point right there. They have a statement of case which is worse than useless. In theory they need to amend it as you would your defence in reply.

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part17

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part17/pd_part17

So the question is, if the court allows them to run a parking case against pleadings which do not state a parking case then they'd be hard pressed to refuse you to also run a parking case defence. The biggest issue is that you'd have to submit your evidence within the timeline set by the court and if they submit theirs on the deadline it's impossible to reply in kind within the time.

However, Judges are unpredictable.

JackBasta

Ah, so the situation is, Gladstones have everything stacked against them, especially the pre-Pofa issue, they have a useless statement of case but will still try and persuade the PPC to continue as Gladstones will get paid regardless.

If they choose to take it to the court date, then I should be ok, but I may just be screwed over by dodgy tactics from Gladstones (such as changing their PoC on the deadline), and an unpredictable judge?

henrik777

JackBasta wrote: »

Ah, so the situation is, Gladstones have everything stacked against them, especially the pre-Pofa issue, they have a useless statement of case but will still try and persuade the PPC to continue as Gladstones will get paid regardless.

If they choose to take it to the court date, then I should be ok, but I may just be screwed over by dodgy tactics from Gladstones (such as changing their PoC on the deadline), and an unpredictable judge?

What they usually do, is send a witness statement to essentially replace the statement of case. This is not allowed even if they might get away with it if the judge lets them.

You have to be prepared for a parking case as soon as you have enough info. Don't forget to send anything you have that you'll need (including your witness statement ) before the deadline, then add another bunch if required if they send theirs last minute.

JackBasta

I don't really have anything to send?

The parking event took place in July 2012. They resurrected this in Jan 2016 after beavis, I guess. I requested documents - they sent a few images of the car with a ticket on, plus signage. I then didn't hear anything until September. By then I had binned the documents thinking they'd dropped it.

I got a poor attempt at an LBC whic said very little, which I questioned, asking them to submit another that complies with the Practice direction, and then next I heard off them was the court papers.

So all I can do now is ask them for all documentation they plan to use in the case. I'm doing this through Gladstones via a Part18/31.14 and I will do so to the PPC themselves via a SAR. Without that documentation I can only really use a templated defence of the standard stuff and hope that's enough. I can't do anything else, because I have no idea what they plan to rely on.

henrik777

You can send a witness statement listing the actions taken to illicit information etc

I do feel your pain though, this abuse utterly sucks. I hate judges who let this !!!! fly. They should be retrained or sacked.

JackBasta

OK - does that witness statement get submitted alongside the defence?