Court Claim Northmapton - Gladstones

pastacolg

Hello everyone,

I have just received a Claim Form from County Court Business Centre in Northampton.

It's from Parking and Property Management represented by Gladstones.

The incident, which was overstaying a couple of minutes after the allowed time, happened early this year. The keeper has ignored all communication with the Gladstones.

I thought that my first line of defence should rely on the graceful period but I read in the Newbie FAQ that I should just use a standard template for defencing against Gladstones.

I have got two questions:

1) What is the chance I, as a keeper, will be summoned to a hearing? Northampton is just under 100 miles away from me and I wouldn't like to go to the court as it's too much hassle for me.
2) Can the defence still be based on a poor signage even though the keeper lives nearby?

Thank you for reading my case. I'll be completing my skeleton for a defence letter shortly and post it here as well.

Le_Kirk

I do like the idea of a "graceful" period! You won't be summoned as it is not a criminal case but you might end up in the small claims court - if you do, you get the chance to pick your local court. If you read the NEWBIE sticky at the top of this forum you will find a whole load of advice, including initial appeal, POPLA appeal, ignoring phase and small claims court walk-through.

Redx

as above , there willl be no "summons" as this is not a criminal offence , but the "hearing" will take place at your local court, usually in a small room with the judge and opposition present (if the opposition turn up)

your local court will be allocated if the PPC or Gladrags pay the court fee after the DQ stage once they see your defence (see the bargepole walkthrough and timeline) - so no going to Northampton, which is a government office, NOT a court (its a CCBC)

the word is DEFENCE , with a C, not defense with an S

always question the signage , its rarely adequate (unlike the BEAVIS case)

there will be no skeleton anything at this stage

do the AOS online and do not write anything in the defence box

prepare your defence by adapting a typical template defence

if grace periods are involved, make that one of the defence points

pastacolg

Thanks for your replies Le_Kirk and Redx.

Is there a risk that the total claimed amount would rise (they've already added £50 as legal representative's costs to the claim form) if it goes to a local court? The keeper would not want to incur any more penalties in case he/she is not successful at the court.

The keeper will now do acknowledgement of service which will give 2 more weeks to prepare a defence.

Regarding the grace period this case is a tricky one. As the car was parked in a place where no parking is allowed except for residents for x mins. And the time it overstayed was actually much less than 5 minutes. So would the judge see the grace period as a sum of the granted x mins + 5 mins (that would be not favorably as it's more than 11 minutes in total) or just the actually overstayed period which is well within the 11 mins grace period (it's a high-rise residential area one could blame lifts for being late).

Redx

there will be no penalties , nor any fines , as they are not possible in civil cases

however, the claimant can add on certain costs , mainly the court fees and so if the pcn was for £100 , then they can add court fees and filing fees of say £75 on top if they win and if a judge agrees with them and their costs schedule , so say £175 in total

the parking charge stays the same and is capped at say £100 maximum , possibly less depending what the signs and the pcn said

if the defendant wins the case then they can usually claim up to £95 in costs

so it is the costs that add to the overall cost , but if you win you pay nothing and claim costs , if they win they can claim the parking charge plus costs

waamo

You really need to read the thread that tells Newbies to read it first. It's at the top of this board.

All the questions you've asked so far are answered in that thread.

KeithP

What is the Date of Issue on your Claim Form?

pastacolg

First week of July. I can PM you the exact date though.

KeithP

No need to be that paranoid. Please post the exact date here.

In return, I will supply you with a lot more useful information.

pastacolg

OK. July, fifth.

Thanks. Not yet, just about to. I was awaiting your response before AOSing.

KeithP

As the Issue Date on your Claim Form is 5th July, and if you do the AoS before next Tuesday, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 7th August 2018 to file your Defence.


When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as described here:

1) print your Defence
2) sign it
3) scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
4) send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5) just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.