Private PCN on residential estate

[Deleted User]

Write to the judge and send a copy of that letter to the other side. It is a requirement of the court rules to copy in your opponent to stop "back-channelling"

squire1234

Appreciated, thanks will do

squire1234

So I contacted the court about the fact that I had not received the Witness Statement from the opposing party by the deadline (it has now come through about a month before the hearing) and also about consolidating the two hearing dates for the three cases. This is the response I got and do not fully understand it, the hearing date is 12th Feb. Any advice?

Coupon-mad

Do you qualify for help with fees (Google it, a scheme not just for those on benefits)? It's the District Judge being pedantic IMHO, especially given they already consolidated two claims for you!

A formal application uses form N244 and will cost a court fee of £100 (except for people who get help with court fees) and is not worth it IMHO.

Better to make sure you ask the Judge on 12th Feb when you win, to order the other (two?) claims to be struck out as a result because a competent court has made a decision on the same facts. Ask that the hearing for a month on, which you cannot attend due to being abroad, be vacated or that the Judge makes a decision on the papers and notes your advance warning that you cannot attend again.

So, show us your WS and evidence and supplementary WS and costs schedule (see all other recent cases at the same stage for tips to save us typing!). Or have you already filed all that earlier for this one?

If not, in this WS now, IMHO you should include mention of the other hearing/claims and serve notice that you cannot attend that one, so that this WS acts as your WS and evidence for all three (if that works in your case, if they are so very similar on all facts except date of PCNs)?

All 3 claims depend on you really nailing this one.

squire1234

Thanks for taking the time for a detailed reply ! I looked into the scheme but unfortunately don't qualify.

I have already filed my WS for all 3 cases, I used a very similar one for each and did make reference to the other two hearings in my Defence, the DQ and my WS. All the cases are identical except in PCN. This is the WS specifically for the case that is being held on 12th Feb (I didn't upload the exhibits because the document is 100 pages long including those).

squire1234

Hi, so my 1st hearing is next week on Wednesday. I'm a bit tentative on what to expect so I've been reading other people's posts on their experiences to get more insight. Based on my Defence and WS, is it worth me submitting a skeleton argument? I am especially concerned as I never received my Claimant's WS.

Is there anything else I should be doing to prepare for the day? I have read the "Newbies" thread and Bargepole's "Court Claim Procedure" thread quite a few times now. Thanks for the help.

Half_way

There was a case lost that was reported on here a week or so ago,

here : https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6097635/bw-legal-win-in-court-today-31-01-2020/p1

you should win, however as with all court cases you should go in fully prepared, skimming through that post, it doesnt appear that derogation of grant was mentioned, that is a third party can not come along and the take away something you have a right to do.

 There were offers on there to see if an appeal would be worth the effort, however without the information from the Original Poster then this is an impossible task.

REad the case in the link, try and figure out what went wrong, and how your case differs

squire1234

That was interesting reading, thanks for the link.

Is derogation of grant not similar to primacy of contract?

Fruitcake

squire1234 said:

That was interesting reading, thanks for the link.

Is derogation of grant not similar to primacy of contract?

Yes, I believe it means virtually the same thing. Your lease/AST "Grants" you certain rights which is the same as having primacy over anything a third party scammer says. The scammers cannot take away your rights (derogation) that have been granted to you. 

squire1234

Well as the vehicle was not actually parked within the designated residential spot (parked by an unmarked curb, e.g. a communal area), the crux of my argument is that the AST/Lease grants access to and over communal areas and makes no mention of parking charges. These areas are often used for the purposes of loading/unloading (stopped but not necessarily parked) and the timestamp on the photographic evidence does not show that the vehicle was there for any longer than a minute. PPC cannot take away the resident's right for communal access. I am hoping that this is a valid argument.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find many similar cases where a vehicle had been parked in their estate but not within their bay so doing the best with what I have. I am just not too sure what a skeleton would add to my case at this point.