County Court Defence - Overstay

nosferatu1001

If the D cannot attend, why wasnt that on the DQ? Thats the point of it
You may have to apply for it to be adjourned. You cannot be a lay REP (not lay witness) without him being present.

Costs schedule is half a days lost earnings OR loss of leave, capped at £95 (yes, capped. No matter what, most is £95) plus parking and mileage / 2nd class rail.

There should be half a dozen - are you searching by "POST" as always advised? That way you can see the actual posts where the WS are mentioned.

wizzybee

It was on the DQ that he couldn't attend. It was only by phoning last Friday that we found out it was a mistake by the court to schedule the hearing for a date when he couldn't attend and that if he got in touch they should change it. He did phone before when he first got notice of the hearing date and was told it would cost £225 to get it moved.

I wasn't aware I was supposed to search by POST. I'll give it another whirl.

Umkomaas

I wasn't aware I was supposed to search by POST. I'll give it another whirl.

HOW TO USE THE FORUM SEARCH FUNCTION:

Hit your 'Back' button to get back to the forum thread list. On the bar just above the threads you'll see the 'Search' function. Click on the 'Advanced Search' button and on the following page place your keyword(s) in the 'Search By Keyword(s)' and make sure the 'Show Results As' button (at the foot of the window) is changed from 'Threads' to 'Posts'.

wizzybee

Thank you - I found one!

The costs - do they have to be itemised? I don't know how much parking etc is. And can I claim half a day's pay as a lay representative or is it just for my son?

Umkomaas

Check out nearby parking availability via a website like Parkopedia, or check the local council car parking spots. You should get an idea of prices. Lots of people put down an estimated £5, clearly showing as an estimate, allowing the opportunity to say at the end of the hearing what the exact costs were. It's not going to be a mind-numbing difference so I wouldn't fret about the minutiae.

As the LR, you can't claim anything, only the Defendant.

wizzybee

Thanks....
If the hearing is re-scheduled then I don't even know what job my son will have, if he has one at all! . I'd just be glad to win the case tbh.

RobinofLoxley

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Then there is the important point (which I think you can find examples of in Google images) that I seem to recall at some point in recent years, one of the large signs there said EXCEL manage it, not VCS...can you show that as evidence?

You need that important issue evidenced too, as it means a driver can't be deemed to have contracted with VCS if a completely different company (and they are different) is on the signs offering a parking licence. Also it shows untruth in their WS, if they've said VCS were running this place without interruption since 2010.

And surely a 2010 contract was a clamping contract (now illegal?!) Can't be current.

To reiterate comments made by Coupon-Mad.

The signage is very ambiguous as to which company is operating the car park and offering the licence to park.

All the signs are in the style of Excel Parking Services and clearly state the car park is managed and operated by them, an entirely different company to VCS.

You need to strongly challenge this in court along with the expired contract issue.

I don't know if you've seen the thread by gumgirl who recently defeated VCS in court.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6025104/advice-needed-on-defence-already-submitted-going-forward-to-contest-vcs

She won on inadequate signage, the judge didn't see the contract as a problem, though another judge might have a different view.

Redx

If the son cannot attend and if the hearing cannot be moved , your son will have to write to the court and claimant a couple of weeks before and say so , asking for it to be heard on papers

Coupon-mad

wizzybee wrote: »

Thank you - I found one!

Found a costs schedule (i.e. itemising your son's costs), or found an example SUPPLEMENTARY WS (attacking THEIR costs?).

Your son needs both.

And a contents page, as all pages must be numbered & easy for the Judge to find as you speak.

And your son OF COURSE needs to put a covering front page asking the Court to move the hearing date as 18th was stated on his Directions Questionnaire as unavailable so he thinks this must be an oversight and he asks for the next available January/February hearing date.

Clearly the Judge won't do anything unless your son seizes this chance to ask again.

wizzybee

Thank you for your comments and help you have all given over the last few months. - I got banned from the forum at about 2:30pm (don't know why!) so I wasn't able to read or respond to the later ones yesterday.
I handed the papers in at the court and sent copies to the claimant. I wish I'd know to include another request to move the date of the hearing with the WS. Oh well. It's out of my hands now.

On to the next case against Excel parking....

:doh: