Court Claim - Letter attached - Urgent

Burnhill

Nothing putting me off...they requested it be settled on the papers so I wanted to know if I should consent or not. Having now read Bargepole's post 2 from the newbies faq sticky thread I can see it advises NOT to consent. I'm still curious as to why though...?

KeithP

Burnhill wrote: »

Nothing putting me off...they requested it be settled on the papers so I wanted to know if I should consent or not. Having now read Bargepole's post 2 from the newbies faq sticky thread I can see it advises NOT to consent. I'm still curious as to why though...?

They are wanting to reduce their costs - that's why they propose it.

As I said above...

If you do not attend remember that you will be giving up the opportunity to challenge anything the Claimant may say.

Your Witness Statement and evidence will need to be in tip top condition - anticipating all that the Claimant may say.

Burnhill

Also, can I confirm it's ok to email the completed directions questionnaire to BOTH the county court and Gladstones?

Burnhill

Thanks - fully plan to attend!

Burnhill

Hi again,
Just finishing preparing everything for court but struggling to understand what I send and what constitutes a witness statement? Lots of the witness statement on here look the same as defences.

Do I send my defence again? And if not, am I allowed to take a copy for my own reference on the day?
Do I send evidence like pictures of parking land and signage, even if I was not the driver?
What do I write in my witness statement if I was not the driver (so did not 'witness' anything)?
How does the witness statement and my skeleton argument differ from my defence, and from one another?
Do I send an skeleton argument along with the witness statement and evidence?
Do I have to send my skeleton argument to anyone before?
Do case studies, schedules, laws etc count as evidence/documents relied on in court...in other words do I need to send copies of Schedule 4, Beavis v Parking Eye, Pace v Lengyel etc?
Am I allowed to just read from my skeleton argument on the day or do I have to memorise it?

Lastly, are these salient points, if true and argued well, likely to hold in court and win the case?:

- The claimant has not proven consent and authority given by the owner or occupier of the site to enter into contracts with people on their behalf? (Only issuing PCNs)
- The claimant and the defendant did not enter into such contract - no understanding flowed
- It was not a valid or enforceable contract - signage was prohibitive
- The claimant must show legitimate interest for parking charges and has failed to do this - the time of the incident was outside time of trading (Sun afternoon)
- Faded or non existent markings for parking (“No parking outside of a designated area / parking bay”), making it impossible to abide by parking conditions
- Terms and conditions require a permit, but there was no fair way to gain one - Doctrine of impossibility of performance

Thanks

Burnhill

IamEmanresu wrote: »

Further down the line will be the Witness Statement where the facts of the event will be the main part. So why was the car there for 2.5 hours when the store was closed?

This is going to be your biggest hurdle unless you have a reason (invited?) or a "lucky" judge. Defence is looking very "technical" and could be honed down a bit depending on the answer to the question above.

I was the keeper not the driver, so I assume I don't speak to those facts?

Le_Kirk

A defence is written in the third person and is your response to the claims made by the claimant (the PPC) and is using technical/legal arguments. Presumably you have already submitted your defence.


A witness statement (WS) is written in the First Person and is the story of what happened on the day. If you were not the driver, then the WS is what happened to the DRIVER on the day and you have found this by talking to the DRIVER (or you were a passenger in the car?)


In your WS you refer to evidence, for example "a letter was written to the PPC enclosing a copy of the purchased ticket see Evidence Bundle Item marked EB001"


A Skeleton Argument (SA) is for your to use on the day in court so that you know in what order you wish to resent your case.


Then you create two folders containing a copy of your already submitted defence, your WS, Evidence Bundle and your SA. One of these should be delivered (by hand if possible) to the court and one kept for yourself. A copy of it all can be sent by post or e-mail to the claimant. Do not e-mail it to the court as they may not print it (or all of it) for you.

Burnhill

Very helpful, thank you!
Any suggestions for this draft witness statement? (Will obviously polish and add the necessary start and end as directed by the court)...

On XXX the driver parked the vehicle, registration XXXX XXX in the car park at the XXX industrial estate.
The car was parked there for a duration of XXX while the driver attended a church service in the church opposite. The driver recalls that there are spaces on the land that are not prohibited and thought they were parking in an unprohibited area . I refer you to evidence XXX and XXX which shows no markings on the ground to distinguish bays that are prohibited, even though the sign (evidence XXX) suggest such bays exist.
Evidence XXX also shows other vehicles in the vicinity parked as well, even though none of the retailers/businesses where open for business as it was XXXpm on a Sunday evening. The driver also recounts that as the shops were closed there was no way to obtain a permit at that time.
Upon entering the car park there was no clear signage, as per evidence photo XXX, to indicate that the driver was entering into any contract with the landowner.
I, the keeper, was not present at that time and submit this statement as witnessed by the driver at the time, in keeping with the evidence provided.