Parking Charge Notice in work car park

that_girl

I've spoken with the court and they were absolutely useless. I said i haven't received a letter which tells me about any documents i need to submit and a date to submit this by - why this hasn't been sent and when i will receive it and she said 'i can see you've received the only letter that we will send out, no further letters are due to be sent.'

So then i asked if there are further documents that i need to bring with me or submit to the court beforehand and how i'm supposed to know what the deadline is and she said 'i'm just an admin, i'm not legally trained so if you want to bring supporting documents or submit them to the court before then i guess you can but up to you'

i asked if i could speak to anyone else who does know exactly what the protocol is but she said there isn't anyone else legally trained who can help.

completely unhelpful conversation. shall i just proceed as normal and submit the witness statement etc. and then raise is it up in court that i wasn't informed of the correct procedures?

Le_Kirk

If you've searched your paperwork for the (non) advice of your submission deadline then I would do as you say, get it all in as soon as possible. I would also be writing to the court explaining what I had done and why. For an employee of the court to state that "he/she is just an admin" when it is exactly the admin that you were complaining about leaves me flabbergasted. You don't need to be legally trained to know about deadlines, it must be on every (except your) letter he/she sends out unless they have a new system which leaves the defendants to check their crystal ball before submitting their documents.

Coupon-mad

Go to the court, sign in and go and speak to the usher in person and ask them to photocopy the letter for you, from your case file, and tell them you are happy to wait in the waiting room because you need to see what the court directions are.

Take ID and a copy of the claim form to prove this really is you, the Defendant.

The other advantage of doing that on Monday, is it will show you what is involved and how to sign in with the usher, where the main entrance, the waiting room and the loos are and the water machine etc., and how long it takes to get through the security.

Just tell him (security guard, usually male) that you 'are here for a county court hearing' and you will get through. Don't say anything different to him.

Be friendly and polite, as court staff are lovely in person!

that_girl

Thanks for your help. I don't know if i'm going to have time to hand deliver my witness statement and documents prior to the deadline on Tuesday (if that even is the deadline) but I'm going to email the court beforehand. With work commitments and personal life it's going to be difficult.

I've been working on preparing documents today. i've done my costs schedule, i've copied and pasted from the 'abuse of process' thread for the 'supplementary witness statement' and i've added a bit more to my witness statement. Please let me know if this is ok.

In the County Court at XXXXX
Claim No. XXXXXXXX
Between
[PARKING FIRM] (Claimant)
and
[NAME] (Defendant)

---

Witness Statement

---

1. I am ****, of *****, the Defendant in this matter. I will say as follows:
2. I am unrepresented, with no experience of Court procedures. If I do not set out documents in the way that the Claimant may do, I trust the Court will excuse my inexperience.
3. I was an employee at ****at the time of the alleged contraventions.
4. On the claimed dates, I arrived at work, and parked my vehicle registration no, *******in the car park.
5. My **** sticker can be seen on the passenger side of my car, attached as Exhibit A.
6. Upon receipt of a parking charge notice from the Claimant, it was stated that I had breached the terms and conditions of the parking for ‘unauthorised parking’.
7. The terms and conditions of the car park are attached as Exhibit B and there is no evidence that my car is in breach of any of these terms and conditions on the signage.
8. According to Protection of Freedom Acts, Schedule 4, Section 9 para. (4) & (5), the notice must be given within 14 days. All parking charge notices were received more than 14 days after the date of the alleged contravention which is against this statute.
9. I received a Claim Form on the 5th July and submitted my defence in a timely manner despite The Particulars of the Claim not specifying what Terms and Conditions I had breached.
10. I received Notice of Small Claim Hearing on the 13th December 2019 stating the date and time of my Small Claim Hearing along with a paragraph stating the claimant must pay the court fees by 31st December 2019 or the claim will be struck out.
11. I have not received any further correspondence from the court with information on what documents I need to submit or a deadline to when I should submit this by. I contacted the court on the 10th January 2020 to advise I had not received this letter and if they could let me know what I need to send and when I need to send it by. I was advised that I can send documents if I felt it could support me, but no further letter is due be sent to me with instructions and I just need to turn up to court on the date of the hearing.
12. At the time of submitting this Witness statement, I have not been made aware if anything needs to be submitted, if there is a deadline and I have not received a witness statement from the Claimant.
13. It is my position that the Claimant has no standing, or course of action, to litigate this matter as no contractual agreement was broken, therefore there are no costs to claim.
14. I invite the Court to dismiss this claim in its entirety, and to award my costs of attendance at the hearing, such as are allowable pursuant to CPR 27.14
Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.

Signature
Date


couple of other points i wanted to raise;

- i ignored all pcn's so i don't know if my point about the pcn's arriving after the 14 day period will be discounted if i didn't respond to them in the requested 28 day period?
- i've noted in the 'abuse of process' post that the £60 fee refers to 'damages/ costs'. i've re-checked my claim form and they've added on 2 fees. A £60 court fee and a legal representative's cost of £70. Do I need to change the wording in my supplementary witness statement to include both costs or leave it as it is? I've seen the £60 fee mentioned in almost every thread i've read but not the £70 fee - not sure if this is because it is a relevant cost? or if i'm just overthinking and nit-picking?

Feedback as always is much appreciated!

Coupon-mad

Just to say do NOT email the court; they WILL NOT print endless pages out. You do realise anyone can drop your papers in for you?

that_girl

Didn't realise that but I'll have to sort something out. I thought it would be okay to email it for now and then bring a printed version on the day of my hearing?

Redx

courts usually have printing limits and onerous charges for printing

what you SHOULD be doing is 3 bundles , posting one to the claimant with free certificate of posting , dropping one off IN PERSON to the court , and taking one bundle in with you on the day (even if emailing is allowed) - there are CPR rules on this

too many people think they can just email their way out of these things, for little effort, but any solicitor or legal eagle I have spoken to tells me they still use mountains (or rain forests) full of paper

that_girl

Thanks Redx, will have to work out getting that sorted. I suppose if no specific deadline has been given then i can get away with handing it in past the usual 14 day deadline.

Have you any feedback on my witness statement and questions?

thank you

Coupon-mad

that_girl wrote: »

Didn't realise that but I'll have to sort something out. I thought it would be okay to email it for now and then bring a printed version on the day of my hearing?

Absolutely categorically, NO.

The only case law exhibits you can do that with are:

- quotes from the Beavis case (you know, the 3 quotes you need as per CEC16's thread)

- the two statute laws you are relying on as per CEC16's thread about the added £60.

However, aren't you still guessing about your deadline, which makes no sense?

that_girl

- quotes from the Beavis case (you know, the 3 quotes you need as per CEC16's thread)

- the two statute laws you are relying on as per CEC16's thread about the added £60.

I've got these in my supplementary witness statement

However, aren't you still guessing about your deadline, which makes no sense?

According to the 'court admin' there is no deadline as no documents are required from me unless I choose to submit them. I have no idea what to do tbh. I just assumed the best thing would be for me to get something over to them, even if they're telling me nothing is needed?