Letter Before Claim - Gladstones [Residential Parking]

otterpanda

So I’ve had an email through from Gladstone’s to advise “their client are withdrawing their notice pursuant of CPR 27.9” and that the client will now be attending the hearing instead. Is this common?

I had notice last week of the court hearing moving elsewhere and now this, so both my witness statement packs have gone to people/places that are no longer involved. I’m now abroad so not in a position to resend anything.

Le_Kirk

I would hope that both parties, having made changes of their own volition, would make every effort to make sure that ALL paperwork is in the correct place in the hands of the correct people.

nosferatu1001

Send them a notice to that effect - state their late change of mind does not alter your compliance with the court order of...
If their client attends, they have a lawyer and you served on their lawyer - thats all that matters to you

Check the new court has the pack
Call or letter or SOMETHING. Dont just hope.

otterpanda

I have written to both courts to advise where the papers were sent to and to ask that they be transferred to the appropriate office. I have done the same with the claimant and Gstones.

I have had the claimants documents through to my service address and they have been scanned in for me to look at. They have submitted false evidence for the signage so some of their argument is wrong too. Is there a way I can submit a rebuttal to this? (I'm not going to be able to attend in the end, both the claimant and the court have been notified.)

NWF were members of the BPA until the beginning of Jan '17, but then changed to the IPC which is when the PCNs were issued. ALL of their signage still showed them as being members of the BPA at the time, but they have submitted examples of their IPC signage which has changes in the wording about 'additional costs'. I would like to think they know full-well none of their signage was IPC branded seeing as they went beyond the BPA deadline to remove their signs - I reported them to the BPA and they know I did (they alluded to it in one of the emails disclosed in the SAR).

They are also trying to say that because the permit wasn't attached to my windscreen I was breaching their terms. What nonsense.

Coupon-mad

They have submitted false evidence for the signage so some of their argument is wrong too. Is there a way I can submit a rebuttal to this? (I'm not going to be able to attend in the end, both the claimant and the court have been notified.)

Oh dear, the fact you can't attend is terrible for your chances and could cost you up to £300. Are you absolutely sure you can't attend? Did Gladstones decide to send a rep when they learned you weren't showing up? Oh dear.

You will need a VERY strong skeleton argument then, with the Consumer Rights Act stuff attached (Schedule 2 with the right paras highlighted) and send that to your local court with a revised costs schedule due to the extra work of having to send more than planned and to a different court than before.

Read CEC16's thread to understand what I mean by using the CRA 2015!

otterpanda

If I were in the EU, I would look into coming back but it's money I can't afford to spend to fly back. I am so annoyed with the courts, I have contacted them so many times about not being able to attend even though I stated this on my directions questionnaire. I even asked if videolink was a possibility and they have not responded to any of my correspondence.

I received an email to say that a representative won't be going, and that it would be the claimant attending - the cover letter to the documents actually said that nobody would be attending so I'm assuming that the email came after the documents.

Aside from the incorrect evidence, I was actually feeling pretty confident, but I guess that was me being too optimistic. I will go and read CEC16's thread now.

Coupon-mad

OK, so as DAMAGE LIMITATION to avoid the sixty quid add on (in case you do lose, and you may well do now) you must quickly email a skeleton argument attaching the CRA 2015 Schedule 2, and highlight paras 6, 10 and 14 and use my 1, 2, 3, from CEC16's case, the words I used that start:

The Claimant knew or should have known...

At least the Court will have to look at the signs as to whether the £60 debt collector words were on there and even if they were, the Beavis case (paras 98, 193 and 198) and the POFA 4(5) and 4(6) stops the sixty quid being added, at all.

Attach them as well, to your skeleton argument and also email it to the Claimant.

Oh, and add in a one liner or two about your best defence points and point the Judge to them and anything important that forms a legal argument that was in your defence.

A Skeleton argument is a bullet point (CONCISE) statement of your legal arguments.

Which court? Did the Claimant get it moved to their home court then?

otterpanda

No, we were both based in the same town, it was originally being heard at Chelmsford but has now moved to Basildon.

I have just finished reading through CEC16's thread. I will try and put something together. It was an interesting read - it's a shame that it wasn't earlier in the year so I could quote it.

*edit* Just to check - the CRA paragraphs, are they to reinforce what I have already submitted as my supplementary witness statement about abuse of process and quoting POFA?

The photos they've provided of their IPC signed are date stamped as being in April - I imagine on the day they actually changed them. Do I bother including my evidence that as of the beginning of April they were still only showing the BPA signs which had no mention of additional costs? Or the emails sent to the BPA reporting them?

otterpanda

I'm rereading the covering letter and the email from Gstones, I've realised it doesn't actually state that they won't be representing the claimant, just that originally the claimant wasn't going to attend the hearing and that they withdrew their notice and the claimant is now appearing.

I've been so confident for almost three years that I could win this and now the timings just haven't lined up.

Coupon-mad

*edit* Just to check - the CRA paragraphs, are they to reinforce what I have already submitted as my supplementary witness statement about abuse of process and quoting POFA?

Yes. And attach the POFA and Beavis case like I said, with paras highlighted to walk your Judge though it.

The photos they've provided of their IPC signed are date stamped as being in April - I imagine on the day they actually changed them. Do I bother including my evidence that as of the beginning of April they were still only showing the BPA signs which had no mention of additional costs? Or the emails sent to the BPA reporting them?

All of it. You have to throw the kitchen sink in now as you aren't attending.