VCS Ltd - County Court Claim - DEFENCE HELP

lanethomp

Hi all. Days events.

We arrived at court early, by 9am. Usher wouldn’t see us until 09.30 though. Had a bit of an issue asking to be lay rep, see comments above, but then resolved.

The small claims list was pretty big. They started hearings at 10am and by 11am we were told it wouldn’t be long.

I think the representative for VCS was Yasmeen Couser who drafted their witness statement. The case was heard by District Judge Osbourn.

Judge asked YC to commence. She explained VCS are contracted to monitor the car park etc. Said that the vehicle was ticketed because it did not display a permit when their operative attended. She made acknowledged there had been ‘peripheral explanations provided by the defendant’ but claimed this did not mitigate against the fact that the vehicle did not have a permit when ticketed therefore broke the Ts and Cs of the contract entered into when parking.

The judge then asked my father directly what he wished to add. My dad looked at me and I started to speak but the judge made it clear he wantEd to hear directly from my dad.

My dad explained the version of events. He made two clear points - he displayed the ticket as soon as he was provided with one (how could he do otherwise!) and the vehicle was parked in a service yard - the claimants photographs evidenced that the van doors were open and my father and colleagues could be seen in the background carrying items into the unit.

There were other Qs from the judge to both sides. It was clear he wanted to focus on some of the legal elements. Qs were answered by either side.

The judge asked us to leave the courtroom so he could consider.

We were outside for approx 20 mins, the judge decided to hear a case in our break (a bit odd but based on who entered the courtroom I think only one side attended). At this point my dad and I really didn’t know which way it would go.

We were called back in for the summing up.

The judge said this was a particularly interesting case and one which, if higher values were involved, would get a lot of time and interest in the high court (really???!!!!).
In his summing up he was referencing Beavis, he said the amount claimed by VCS was not unreasonable. At this point I thought we had lost.

He then went on to say that the crux of This was the contract VCS held with the landowner (a copy of which was in the claimants bundle). The contract states that VCS are NOT responsible for issuing permits, this responsibility remains with the landowner. Could my father be held liable for the two hour period in which he awaited the permit? No he couldn’t. Case dismissed.

The judge turned to my dad and said I see you have some costs for consideration. He noted the hourly rate of £24 (this was evidenced in our bundle). He suggested 3hrs (it was 11:40 ishby this time). My father tried to object but the judge made it clear it would be no more. We asked for parking charges and he awarded another £5. He ordered this be paid in 14 days.

Despite the excellent news, What did I learn from this?
In hindsight I should have requested documentation, such as the contract, for my own evidence purposes. Indeed this forum recommends to do so. If the claimant had not included it we could have lost. The claimant may choose not to include this in future cases. Prep is key.

Many many thanks to all for the support and advice here on this forum. Pleased we managed To see them off. My dad is just glad it’s over and think he felt quite proud actually as he spoke really well.