Letter Before Claim

Coupon-mad

It has a section about something being done not later than 14 days before the hearing, it must do. On the back.

Scorpion84

There are only 3 pages. First one mainly about the fee that claimant needs to pay, second one: instructions/info on what happens on the day and the last one: a map how to get to the court

Scorpion84

I am positive it does not. on the previous letter of Transfer of Proceedings (very brief one) it says that the details of the judge's directions would be sent to me in a notice of allocation. The papers I received I received over Christmas say Notice of Trial Date and do not include any directions regarding witness statement therefore I forgot

Scorpion84

It does have a paragraph about the case being struck out unless the claimant pays the fee which I suppose they did as I received the witness statement.

Coupon-mad

I am guessing it's in the instructions on the second page then. Or from this maybe they didn't send you something or the Notice of Allocation never arrived:

it says that the details of the judge's directions would be sent to me in a notice of allocation. The papers I received I received over Christmas say Notice of Trial Date and do not include any directions regarding witness statement

TBH forget that and get on with it; you know what you must do and it's 10.20 at night and you could have this posted to the Claimant's solicitors and to the court, in the morning, if you come off this thread and read what I told you to read to get up to speed tonight and get it done.

You can't win a court case by leaving the forum since August then coming back with 10 days to spare till your hearing, unless you are prepared to read quickly and learn what you've missed.

Others in your shoes have come back to us within an hour, with a WS draft.

See you back here by 11.30 pm and we need you to have read CEC16's thread and other defence threads showing a costs schedule and supplementary WS example (i.e. pick any cases recently won and read back how they did it...).

You can find all the wins by searching for ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST and you will be looking at those latest wins within ten seconds...

Scorpion84

I will try..

I am not that fast though

Thanks for the instructions

KeithP

C-m, we have seen several in the last couple of weeks headed Notice of Small Claims Hearing which do not have that date on them.

Here's one:

https://imgur.com/HyjYvQS - front

https://imgur.com/hHq8wnP - back

from that_girl's thread.

Coupon-mad

Interesting isn't it, and a failure by the local courts if so.

Trouble is, this OP needs to stop thinking about that and just do a WS and evidence, and supplementary WS and costs schedule, and cover sheet, asap!

Scorpion84

I finally put something together. use some points from my defence and rely on things I know.
If anyone can have a look whether it is good enough.

Witness Statement of XXXX– Registered Keeper

I am XXXX , defendant in this matter and deny liability for the entirety of the claim.
1) As the registered keeper of the vehicle in question (XXXX) I am being pursued by XXXX and Gladstones solicitors on their behalf, in relation to a PCN issued at XXXX on XXXX.
I was not the driver at the time the PCN was issued, and therefore XXXX management and Gladstones are pursuing me incorrectly for this claim, as supported by 3. in my defence and (page 1)

2) . On the day in question the driver was an authorised patron of the onsite business, Gambado play centre, where my family spent £359 on a pre-booked birthday party. As supported by the photographic evidence 1, customers of the play centre can extend their stay, free of charge (beyond three hours and thus completely bypassing restrictions) by entering their vehicle registration on to the touch screen pad located at reception. The Defendant has already proved that patronage (evidence 2) and it is the Claimant's own failure, caused by their complicated touch screen system forced on untrained staff at Gambado centre, that has resulted in a penalty .
3) Due to the sparseness of the particulars (evidence 3), it is unclear as to what legal basis the claim is brought, whether for breach of contract, contractual liability, or trespass. However, it is denied that the Defendant, or any driver of the vehicle, entered into any contractual agreement with the Claimant, whether express, implied, or by conduct.
4) It is denied that the claimant's signage sets out the terms in a sufficiently clear manner which would be capable of binding any reasonable person reading them. The terms on the Claimant's signage are also displayed in a font which is too small to be read from a passing vehicle, and is in such a position that anyone attempting to read the tiny font would be unable to do so easily. It is, therefore, denied that the Claimant's signage is capable of creating a legally binding contract (evidence 4 and 5).
5) Additionally, the Claimant appears to be indecisive whether the free parking is 2 or 3 hours, providing different photographic proofs, and at the same time misleading the regular users of the centre (evidence 6).
6) I have recently visited the site myself, to gather evidence for this court bundle and to get a perspective myself, seeing at it is me who is being (incorrectly) pursued for the claim. Even now, over 2 years on from the issuing of this PCN the signage is still very unclear. There is no signage outside the Gambado centre to remind their customers about any parking tariffs. The signage around the car park states 3 hours free parking similar to the one on the map of the evidence sent to me previously by the claimant. (evidence 7 may not get this one by today)

7) In the Defence statement the claimant was put to strict proof that they that it has sufficient proprietary interest in the land, or that it has the necessary authorisation from the landowner to issue parking charge notices, and to pursue payment by means of litigation. I am yet to see evidence of this.


8) Furthermore, the sign states a sum of 100 GBP and yet I am being pursued for additional, non-descript costs (evidence 8). This judgement is being increasingly applied across the country on the basis of:

a. The Claimant knew or should have known, that £160 charge against a registered keeper who was not driving, was in breach of POFA, due to paras 4(5) and 4(6). (evidence 9)

b. The Claimant knew or should have known, that £160 charge was unconscionable, due to the Beavis case paras 98, 193, 198 and 287. (evidence 9)

c. The Claimant knew or should have known, that £160 charge where the signs did not specify a sum for this vague add-on, is void for uncertainty...AND in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2 (the grey list of terms that may be unfair) paras 6, 10 and 14. (evidence 10)

I believe the facts contained in this witness statement are true.

Coupon-mad

That's good, and it covers the false added £60 and CRA 2015 & Beavis case quotes.

I'd remove mention of the solicitors, who are just being robo-claim solicitors:

and Gladstones solicitors on their behalf,

(evidence 7 may not get this one by today)

If you can take one more day to gather all the evidence then take that one more day and get a cheap ring binder to take the court's copy of everything to the court in person, with a contents page and page dividers/numbering, so the Judge can follow it easily.

Is there anything in their WS that you want to reply to, saying they are wrong or that their own evidence is questionable, or have you covered that?

You also need a costs schedule, so search the forum and copy that style too.

You could state near the start that you received only a notice of the hearing and no instructions about filing & serving a witness statement and evidence, and no deadline was set so you are providing this in reasonable time in advance of the hearing.