SIP Court case help

lafferdog

Reading the letter again I am not sure what I am meant to be sending now. I posted a witness statement on here and someone said I needed to be making a defence instead. So The letter is a notice of allocation to the small claims track (hearing) and requests a properly formatted Witness Statement which is due in a couple of days. Is what I have posted above not right then?

This I submitted a while ago, it was February I think.


On the xx xx xx I returned to my car to find a ticket issued for parking on the hatched area of the car park. When I left the car I wasn't sure if the hatched area was in use or valid as it was so worn out and parking there wouldn't have caused any obstruction. I asked a couple of other people parking if they thought it was ok to park there and they agreed it looked fine and they had seen cars park there before.

Further to that there are no markings anywhere in the car park so I assumed they were redundant and not in use. Wrong to assume maybe, but that was the impression I had.

The ticket offered the opportunity to appeal which I did straight away with photos of the area in question. Around 10 days later I received a letter saying I now owed £100, and there was no acknowledgement of my appeal letter, so I wrote back to say I had appealed and resent the original appeal letter.

On the xx xx xx I received a letter from Gladstones Solicitors saying I then owed £150. I was away on holiday for 10 days after this, and then returned to find the Claim Form I am responding to now.

From my point of view I appealed the ticket which I honestly felt was not fair, I have attached images of the hatched area, which I noticed has recently been repainted. If I was to have had my appeal rejected and offered the £60 that is part of their process I would have paid it. However, my letters were ignored and it was escalated to where it is now despite effort on my part to follow their process. The time and effort this has caused me now feels like it out weights any inconvenience I caused leaving my car where I did which is why I would like to dispute the whole amount.

I have attached all my letters of correspondence and the photos that I took that show the worn out hatched area and that there are no other markings anywhere in the carpark which made me think it was fine to park there.

lafferdog

Sorry, I have not received anything from Gladstones yet.

Hope you can help, I thought I was ready to send it off

Coupon-mad

I submitted my witness statement a while ago, which I have pasted here previously.

No, as far as I can see, you submitted a defence ages ago, when you got the claim. No evidence at that stage, just the brief defence that you showed us.

You were later sent a court date, and in that letter it will have said the date by which you and the claim had to exchange Witness Statements (WS). Usually not less than 14 days before the hearing.

You MUST file a WS, even if late, and it is easy because the WS is merely the facts as known to you (nothing legalese, nothing special), and your evidence. Such as photos of unclear signs, proof that you had a right to park, or whatever.

Please read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread. It shows you examples of WS.

You MUST draw one up tonight and get it to the court tomorrow with your evidence, and email a copy to the other side, to stay ahead of the game. Don't worry that it's late, just do it.

UNLESS you are saying you have already filed (1) a defence AND LATER (2) a WS and your evidence? Reads to me that you have not yet done (2).

I say again, don't worry that it's late. Just do it and show us! Tell us what your evidence is.

lafferdog

I have till the 15th to submit and the hearing is in July.

so I think I am at this stage?
4. Local court then confirms small claims allocation and sends out an order with a timetable for exchanging witness statements and documents, Lists of Documents, the final hearing and who is to file the court bundle for the final hearing and when.


Is this more like a witness statement?

well here is where I am up to, hope this helps.



I assert that I am not liable to the Claimant for the sum claimed, or any amount at all, for the following reasons:

• I am the registered keeper of the vehicle in question, no. xxxx xxx. The Claim relates to an alleged debt arising from the vehicle having been parked on a hatched are of Islington Wharf Car Park in Manchester, on xx xx xxxx.


• I returned to my car to find a ticket issued for parking on the hatched area of the car park. When I left the car I wasn't sure if the hatched area was in use or valid as it was so worn out and parking there wouldn't have caused any obstruction. Further to that there are no markings anywhere in the car park so it looked like they were redundant and not in use.

• There was no signage near or around the faded hatched area to make it clear that it was an area not to be parked on.

• The ticket offered the opportunity to appeal which I did straight away with photos of the area in question. Around 10 days later I received a letter saying I now owed £100, and there was no acknowledgement of my appeal letter, so I wrote back to say I had appealed and resent the original appeal letter. On xxxxxx I received another letter from SIP saying I now owed £150, I resent the appeal as there was still no acknowledgement of it.

• On the 25th of January I received a letter from Gladstones Solicitors saying I then owed £250. This whole thing has caused a lot of stress and worry, as well as taken up much of my time including the day off work I will need to take to go to court.

I believe the facts stated in this witness statement are true.

Redx

are you sure the letter demanding £150 was from SIP ?

letters demanding that much are usually from a DCA , not from a PPC

and because you have a date in your local court for next month, you are wayyyyyy past the defence stage so are at the WS + evidence stage

lafferdog

Looking back it was £125 and was a notice to keeper from SIP.

I have got mixed up and confused about what I was supposed to send and have sent. It is witness statements they want, and I have till 15th to send. Is the above ok to send you think?

Redx

not if it contains errors because you are signing it as a statement of truth , so you have to be 100% certain that the content is correct

ie:- you dont want SIP or their rep stating they never sent a debt letter for £150

I am not qualified to answer the question but I do know that in court you should tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, especially if signing a statement of truth

think again and alter it such that you know for a fact that everything in it is the truth

Coupon-mad

I have till the 15th to submit and the hearing is in July.

Oh thank goodness, I was going by a previous post where I think you said the hearing was on 15th.

So, don't help their case:

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle in question, no. xxxx xxx. The Claim relates to an alleged debt arising from the vehicle having been parked on a poorly-marked parking area [STRIKE]hatched are[/STRIKE] of Islington Wharf Car Park in Manchester, on xx xx xxxx.

I returned to my car to find a ticket issued [STRIKE]for parking on the hatched area of the car park.[/STRIKE] When I left the car I [STRIKE]wasn't sure if the hatched area was in use or valid as it was so worn out and parking there wouldn't have caused any obstruction. Further to that[/STRIKE] was unaware of any restrictions or terms for parking. Apart from a few very faded lines, there are no markings anywhere in the car park. [STRIKE]so it looked like they were redundant and not in use.[/STRIKE]

What evidence have you got to submit with the WS? Photos of the unmarked/unsigned area? IMHO you need them urgently, and/or a video would be good.

What about adding that there was no entrance sign, so there was nothing to tell you that the car park was 'managed' or restricted. And that you understand this is contrary to the Code of Practice.


Have you already admitted that you were driving? I think you did but no time to keep looking back...

lafferdog

I was going to double check figures and dates before sending along with photos. Will definitely amend that, and it is all true.

So you think that is ok to send as a witness statement?

My argument is that they didnt follow their appeals procedure and that the area I parked on seemed fine, is there anything else I need to add?

The car park has since closed, dont know if that helps.

lafferdog

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Oh thank goodness, I was going by a previous post where I think you said the hearing was on 15th.

So, don't help their case:





What evidence have you got to submit with the WS? Photos of the unmarked/unsigned area? IMHO you need them urgently, and/or a video would be good.

What about adding that there was no entrance sign, so there was nothing to tell you that the car park was 'managed' or restricted. And that you understand this is contrary to the Code of Practice.


Have you already admitted that you were driving? I think you did but no time to keep looking back...

I have photos of the hatched area that is worn out, and other areas of the carpark to show there are no markings anywhere else and it is just rubble. I could go and video tomorrow but it is closed and I think they have started building on it.

I have the original ticket and highlighted the bit about appeals. And I have the ticket I bought that day, do I need to include these?

Will add that there was no entrance sign as there wasnt, I am pretty sure I admitted I was driving as I say I returned to my car.