Acknowledgement of Service submitted in response to court claim Vehicle Control Services

Le_Kirk

Lord Dunedin's

Lord Denning surely!

Coupon-mad

Good point, was getting muddled up with Lord Dunedin's 4 tests for a penalty.

Nico25

Wow! Thank you so much Coupon-mad! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time and help!

I have made all of the changes that you have suggested and am ready to submit it tomorrow.

I would remove #12, as the overstay was significant and they don't have to prove parking. Was there a reason for it, there wasn't a disabled or elderly person in the party was there?

Or are there lots of shops and 2 hours is simply unworkable for a family visiting more than one outlet?

#12 removed, thanks. The overstay was because I was shopping for a kitchen (a huge purchase for us!). I was on my own with the baby and making lots of notes for my husband. When the baby became fussy, we had to abandon the kitchen search and return to the car. I fed and changed him and he fell asleep. I had thought that if a warden came round, I would be able to move the car. The car park was empty. I went back to the store when he woke up.

I wasn't sure how much detail to include in my defence, so I kept it short and formal - should I add more detail?

Coupon-mad

I see you already have breastfeeding mentioned, but you might want to look at this defence which goes into more detail about the law:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74775209#Comment_74775209

I'd remove the age: '7 month old' from your defence and let the Claimant guess, as the EA maternity provision only really covers a woman/baby for 6 months.

Make it hard for the Claimant.

Nico25

Excellent, thank you! Have altered the section about breastfeeding to reflect the info in thread. I will let you know how i get on...

Nico25

My case is now showing as 'defended' in MCOL and I have received and completed the DQ this morning as per the guidance in the newbies thread. I intend to scan and email copies to the court and claimant as well as getting proof of postage from the post office and posting out first class. Is this the best way to submit the docs? Using the CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk email address and info@vehiclecontrol.co.uk?

Also, would I usually be able to check on MCOL that the DQ had been received?

Many thanks!

Coupon-mad

I intend to scan and email copies to the court and claimant as well as getting proof of postage from the post office and posting out first class. Is this the best way to submit the docs? Using the CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk email address and info@vehiclecontrol.co.uk?

I would just email this, no need to waste money on stamps.

Also, would I usually be able to check on MCOL that the DQ had been received?

Yes MCOL updates in time.

Nico25

Bit of a complex update to my case - I wonder if anyone can help?

I received a court date of 14th Feb and was made aware that VCS had not yet paid the court fee and if they did not, the case would be stayed.

Yesterday at 4pm was the final deadline for the court fee to be paid, so I called today to check and they have paid the fee.

However in the meantime, my situation has changed. I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and will be undergoing chemotherapy and surgery, and will be off work between 6 months and a year. As I'm sure you can emapthise with, I'm hoping to resolve this small claims situation as quickly as easily as possible.

I have spoken to the court who have advised me to submit my sicknote and a medical letter to prove my condition to their email address. Once I have done this, I can either let the court date continue without being present, or I can pay a £100 fee to move the date.

In my current state (emotionally, as well as physically) I don't have the energy to expend collecting evidence/ producing witness statements, etc. and I certainly won't be able to attend court.

I ticked 'no' to mediation, however VCS ticked 'yes'.

1. What's the worst possible outcome if I let the hearing run, don't attend and don't submit paper work?
2. Is it too late to take up the offer of mediation? How would I do this?

Many thanks in advance for your help! Obviously, I feel strongly about this and would love to have the energy to fight! But I need to be honest with myself that it's not going to happen now.

nosferatu1001

Worst possible shoudl be the amoujnt on claim form plus the hearing fee. As long as you tell the court you will NOT be attending, more than 7 days in advance, there should be little chance of you being found to be unreasonable, and as such there should be no costs to pay

If you can still put togehter a WS anyway - even a short one with what evidence you DO have - is 10000x betetr than nothing at all.

Its far too late for mediation, I would suggest.
However if you really cannot face it, you could try to settle out of court. Point out they will have unrecoverable expenses for attending the hearng, and so your offer of X has value. Fix X to be whatever suits.

Coupon-mad

However in the meantime, my situation has changed. I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and will be undergoing chemotherapy and surgery, and will be off work between 6 months and a year.

So sorry to hear that, and here's hoping the treatment does its stuff!

Forget Mediation. Forget offering money.

Compile a WS and evidence like you would have done (before the date the court letter says all parties must do this) and when you file & serve it, attach proof of your medical condition and ask that the case is heard on the papers, in your absence, but that you feel so strongly about parking scams you wish your defence and evidence of no landowner authority and 'no legitimate interest' to pursue the charge' to be considered.

A WS is the story in your own words, ''I did this'' and can be done in an hour. Think about any evidence you have to enclose as well (can someone get photos of the signs showing them in a bad light/unreadable, or dark corners of the site with no signage, or foliage obscuring it).

Plus this as another piece of evidence, of course:

The store manager sent an email on 15th September 2018 stating her wish that the unfair PCN be cancelled, and this clearly nullifies any legitimate interest excuse, and the PCN would have been cancelled earlier had the Claimant openly informed recipients of NTKs of their complaint options.

That's evidence that there was no 'legitimate interest' in the charge and it should have been cancelled, given that the Beavis case was dependent upon the parking firm acting on behalf of the landowner and retailers on site. In your case, once they knew the retail Manager wanted it cancelled for a genuine customer who needed a bit ore time that day, VCS no longer had a commercial justification to continue and it's only that, which can save a parking charge from the penalty rule.

In Beavis it was held that the penalty rule is engaged in every parking charge case, and is only disengaged on compelling facts such as the interest in deterring offenders whose conduct is not supported by the retailers. In your case, VCS know they have no such support yet continued with what can only be an attempt to punish a shopper, against the will of the Store Manager.