VCS Parking - CCCF Letter Received - Defence helped needed

saarchy

You are correct Bargepole, the incident occurred in Buckinghamshire, not Nottingham. If Adam does not attend the case, I'll certainly be asking the judge to dismiss their WS and their case.

(I'd actually explained the below in greater detail, but accidentally closed the page before submitting because I'm an idiot).

Upon further examination of their documents, they've submitted a load of 'schedules' with various maps outlining exactly where signs were placed. They refer to Unit 3 various times in the WS and have submitted a schedule for Unit 3 with it's own specific map highlighting exactly where signposts are placed. Multiple times in their WS, they argue that I parked in Unit 3's allotted car parking.

Hilariously, all the maps they've submitted are of a totally different area of the business park over 100m away from where the tickets were actually issued. It's a total nonsense and waste of 40 pages. As such, I'll be preparing an overview map with the relevant areas highlighted so they judge can fully understand how woerfully inaccurate their documentation is.

I'll get that shared with you guys once I've done it, as well as a summary of my arguments on the day so I am fully prepared. Regardless of how ill prepared VCS are, I certainly do not want to be.

Could someone cast their eyes over my Schedule of Costs in the below dropbox link and let me know if there's any amendments I should make prior to e-mailing to the court tonight.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jrsuyqpekt1zigy/Schedule%20of%20Costs%20-%20D0QZ924M.docx?dl=0

Umkomaas

Could someone cast their eyes over my Schedule of Costs in the below dropbox link and let me know if there's any amendments I should make prior to e-mailing to the court tonight.

Looks ok. Are you losing any time off work? Maximum allowance £95 or actual loss (whichever is least) - have pay slips to prove salary/wage level. You could try for a couple of hours Litigant in Person (LiP) rate of £19ph for research and work in developing your defence and all subsequent documents required by the court.

Not saying you'll get any of the above, but if you don't ask ....... Some judges will allow a fair chunk, others will dismiss the whole shooting match. All part of the small claims court lottery.

bargepole

saarchy wrote: »

Could someone cast their eyes over my Schedule of Costs in the below dropbox link and let me know if there's any amendments I should make prior to e-mailing to the court tonight.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jrsuyqpekt1zigy/Schedule%20of%20Costs%20-%20D0QZ924M.docx?dl=0

You haven't included loss of earnings (max £95) through attending Court. This comes under Ordinary Costs.

Further costs are only payable if you can establish that the other side have behaved unreasonably - see CPR 27.14(2)(g). The late service of their W/S might qualify for that.

You should, as stated above, set out a schedule of hours spent researching, and compiling your Defence and W/S. I would think 5 hours @ £19 per hour would be reasonable.

saarchy

Thanks guys.

I'm currently (voluntarily) unemployed, given my plan was to go off travelling before this case landed on my doorstep. Not sure I can therefore claim any loss of earnings given that.

I'll put in 5 hours @ £19 litigant in person and get that submitted today. It's worth a chance, and given all the issues with this case in general, I'm hoping a judge might be swayed to fully award in my favour.

Bargepole - When you say 'set out a schedule' is that just adding the '5 hrs @ £19 litigant in person' line to my schedule of costs, or do I actually have to prepare a separate document outlining how exactly I've spent 5 hours on this case? The truth is I've probably spent 10x that so far, not to mention being stuck in the country for 6 months.. But outlining how exactly I've allocated 5 hours to this case sounds like a bit of a childish exercise...

bargepole

No, it doesn't need to be itemised, unless you get a very picky Judge.

5 hours will come to £95, which most Judges will consider reasonable.

Incidentally, that business park is a couple of miles away from me, and I previously provided photos to C-M which I believe she passed on to you?

saarchy

bargepole wrote: »

No, it doesn't need to be itemised, unless you get a very picky Judge.

5 hours will come to £95, which most Judges will consider reasonable.

Incidentally, that business park is a couple of miles away from me, and I previously provided photos to C-M which I believe she passed on to you?

Not that I've seen I'm afraid, but appreciate the helping hand nonetheless. I had a few old colleagues who sent me pictures that I've used in my WS, as well as google maps.

Please do fire over the photos now, although I'm assuming it would be too late to submit?

bargepole

This is the spot. Fieldhouse Lane is a public highway; the side roads off it with the block paving are, I believe, the bits that VCS patrol:


https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5734939,-0.7620036,3a,75y,142h,92.25t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNbJK-nrZ32sjN3Wj1JHTKw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

saarchy

bargepole wrote: »

This is the spot. Fieldhouse Lane is a public highway; the side roads off it with the block paving are, I believe, the bits that VCS patrol:


https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5734939,-0.7620036,3a,75y,142h,92.25t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNbJK-nrZ32sjN3Wj1JHTKw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Thanks. Not strictly true on VCS patrols though. Check my WS, particularly the e-mail from Softcat regarding parking on those roads.

Edit - Disregard the above. You're right, VCS do patrol those side roads even though all information I have points to the fact that they should not be.

Also interesting, if you go to Bucks CC website and look for the 'list of roads' excel document, you'll see that Bucks CC class the entirety of Fieldhouse Lane (from the west entrance of the BP to the east entrance) as public roads. They even kindly provided eastings & northings which reflect this.

Suffice to say, there's a ton of ambiguity over this whole business park that I intend to raise on the day. I'll be posting my summary of arguments tomorrow which will hopefully explain all my points in better detail.

[Deleted User]

No, it doesn't need to be itemised, unless you get a very picky Judge.

5 hours will come to £95, which most Judges will consider reasonable.

If you really want to get an hourly rate claim in successfully (or at least more reflective of your actual time), i'd itemise your time. This is what you'd have to fill in for a fast track trial or normal litigated hearing. I don't suggest you adopt this wholesale, but you will see that it breaks down telephone call time, document time, attendances at court etc. The documents then are individually listed in the schedule at the back (and can be compared with those before the Court). https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/n260-eng.pdf

Not guaranteed to work, but it may improve your prospects of recovery. Further, if you have communicated by post, don't forget to count your letters and claim for paper and/or stamps as your costs, parking at Court etc etc.

Also interesting, if you go to Bucks CC website and look for the 'list of roads' excel document, you'll see that Bucks CC class the entirety of Fieldhouse Lane (from the west entrance of the BP to the east entrance) as public roads. They even kindly provided eastings & northings which reflect this.

This of and by itself is probably enough to kill the claim as it will be difficult to show on balance of probabilities that their entitlements trump the Council - particularly if there are errors throughout their papers.

Coupon-mad

Also interesting, if you go to Bucks CC website and look for the 'list of roads' excel document, you'll see that Bucks CC class the entirety of Fieldhouse Lane (from the west entrance of the BP to the east entrance) as public roads. They even kindly provided eastings & northings which reflect this.

That's in your evidence already filed, we hope?