Liverpool business park PCN - We won!

Redx

I have no idea what you should be doing because you never came back with any information during this pandemic , a lot has changed over the summer as Umkomaas pointed out above

We don't know if you have a face to face hearing , video hearing , telephone hearing or papers only hearing for a start

You haven't told us what any recent Court orders have said

You haven't said if you have read the telephone hearings thread or any of those 2020 cases !!

Pointless asking us questions when you have provided no recent updates

I suspect that you should have sent in a supplementary witness statement.  Especially if you have not received theirs ! There is a well known saying

Fail to prepare , prepare to fail !!

Tinyteague

Umkomaas said:

Tinyteague said:

Redx said:

I hope you have completed all your steps prior to next week's case ??

Witness statement plus exhibits plus summary costs assessment ??

Usually exchanged 2 weeks before the hearing or on a timeframe set on your court order , with the court and claimant being sent copies ?

I have to resend these? This is a restoration of the trial, and all of that was sent for the initial trial. For example I have not received another witness statement from VCS.

I'd do a belt and braces job with the court and double check everything. You not having received another WS from VCS doesn't necessarily mean the court hasn't. 

There have been numerous cases (too many to be coincidental) where there have been foul-ups at the WS end of things with VCS - which you've no doubt missed during your absence. 

Am I glad I took your advice. Called the courts, couldnt find any paperwork for the initial trial (despite at the time callign ahead and ensuring they did).
Emailed them directly as requested with the copies.
She also wasnt sure which of the cases on that Monday were face to face and which were phone only. We eventually found it was indeed a face to face hearing.
She confirmed that no additonal documentation has been sent in by VCS.
The only correspondance I have received is a shortened Notice of trial.

Redx

Chances are that VCS will say they have had nothing and want an adjournment , ensure you email them with copies and provide proof on Monday , read recent threads where this has happened because it's their standard response at the moment , you want to be trying to get the judge to strike out the claim due to their incompetence 

Coupon-mad

Yes you MUST be ready to prove you emailed or posted your WS & evidence to VCS because their reps try this trick at hearings.

Tinyteague

The original copy was sent to them and I have proof of postage(for the original trial).
I have done as recommended here, and sent them the witness statement, so they should have 2 copies in total, both being the same. As for proof, print out of the sent email is all I can really offer.
It is beyond me why they would want to adjourn the trial, being as they're the ones making a claim. Stringing it out for no reason?
As for the courts, their copy of our witness statement was ahnd delivered. Ohh well...

Redx

The main point here is be prepared for skulduggery , underhanded obstructiveness

Tinyteague

Damnit, after reading some recent VCS threads, Ive noticed they do indeed play the 'we didnt receieve docs', card.
An automated response to my email contained "Please note that we do not accept service of documents by email.".
Hopefully the judge will not adjourn this again because of this, especially since the emailed copy is identical to the original copy that was posted with proof of postage back in July 2019.

Coupon-mad

 the emailed copy is identical to the original copy that was posted with proof of postage back in July 2019.

Have that proof of postage ready.

Redx

Tinyteague said:

Damnit, after reading some recent VCS threads, Ive noticed they do indeed play the 'we didnt receieve docs', card.
An automated response to my email contained "Please note that we do not accept service of documents by email.".
Hopefully the judge will not adjourn this again because of this, especially since the emailed copy is identical to the original copy that was posted with proof of postage back in July 2019.

Then you would mention to the judge that in these covid times there is no excuse for them not having a valid email address for legal documents when other parking companies and courts and the CCBC do so , plus I have proof of postage for the mailed bundle here , posted on XX/XX/2020 ! So please strike out their claim !!

Now you see why you cannot disappear for months on end and then return a few days before the hearing

Tinyteague

So an update, went to court, and we won!

Many thanks to all who have helped on this forum.

Notice of trial stated 2pm, arrived outside the court at 1:30, however the parking meters were out of order but had a notice on them saying payment was still expected for parking - So we had to download the relevant app, register, save a card, set the reg and pay that way, the irony!

We entered court at 1.45pm, informed the usher that we had arrived and waited in the waiting area (masks expected in here if anyones got this experience coming up soon!). 

There was just us in attendance. We got called in at roughly 2:10.

Didn’t quite catch the judges name, very nice chap. 

He started off by summarising the trial, then said that the claimant was absent, however they may of thought it was a phone hearing, as that is common currently, and they had left a phone number. 

He then said ‘however, I have the notice of trial here stating todays date, time and location, I am here, you are here, they are not, and I am to strike it out if that is what you want”

Needless to say it was.

He did mention that they may have the right to resume, but the reasoning must be valid, and that thinking it is a phone hearing is not reason enough (he retraced that sentence slightly, most likely because it was not his call to say whether that is 100% fact, but insinuated that it isnt by anyones standards).

He then came to the summary of costs that we had sent in. Deliberated on it for a while going through each of the breakdown, he really seemed to be thinking hard on it, and when he mentioned “you’ve put £3 down for estimated parking” I replied that parking actually came to £2. He then decided to award all costs minus that £1 extra for parking, and gave them 2 weeks to pay it. £106.58.

I guess my final question on this rough journey is, do I have to tell the claimant how to pay us? Or is it expected that they post a cheque?