Advice after receiving Final Demand

Le_Kirk

austin2014 said:

Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track received , court date set and agreed. I have until May to provide my  witness statement. Which leads me to my next question, any advice on the Witness Statement? I am going to look at some today on the Forum. But feel free to point me in the right direction. Thank you all for your continued support. 

If it is Witness Statement (WS) time, look at the NEWBIE sticky second post and you will find links to some WS examples that you can use for style and format help.  A WS is "in support of my defence as already filed" and is a narrative of what happened on the day and subsequently.  It is written in the First Person ("I") in your own words.  It is also the opportunity to provide evidence in support of arguments you have used in your defence and in your WS.

austin2014

nosferatu1001 said:

NEWBIES thread is of course your FIRST stop!
Yes, you write the facts starting at the start, and going to the end. 
So whats so important about RETRIEVAL, as mentioned above? Explain please. 

There was a phone call that was made to the police half an hour before the ticket. The police state that the site was unsafe to the general public and gave a good description on the seriousness of what was going on. When the car received the ticket, its questionable whether the attendant should of been on site as I wasn't made aware it was safe to retrieve the car till 1.30am. It gives it real good insight to the seriousness of the events that unfolded that day. And I have it all on record. 

Coupon-mad

Very good.
Make sure you read current WS & evidence examples, as some in the NEWBIES thread are old & need weeding out.  What I mean is, it is better to read 2020 'court claim/WS stage' threads on the first 100 pages of the forum, as you will see what to include about the added £60 and the fact some Judges are now summarily striking PPC cases out without a hearing.

nosferatu1001

So you have the obvious defence that the driver was instructed NOT to return to the car until... 
As such the alleged contract was voided due to frustration. 

austin2014

I have a statement from the Police Acting Inspector who was in charge at the scene of the incident explaining why the car needed to be moved and that it was under police instruction. VCS replied that the police are a third party source and they cannot instruct parking on private land. How crazy is that? So essentially VCS said to ignore police instruction. I was told the site was unsafe still at 9.30 pm, I received my ticket at 10 pm. What makes all this worse is the photo they uploaded of my car even has the fire engines in the background. I had confirmation to collect my car at 1.30am. All on record.
Thank you @Coupon-mad, I have to have my WS in for May, I would say i'm 60% complete and the template i'm using was one from here from a case that was won in November. Once complete I will upload and let you guys critique and advise. As usual thank you. I would be lost without your input

Coupon-mad

I would find the bit in the local Council 'on street' enforcement document for the area - the nearest Traffic Order. 

Now I know this is private land and NOT within any Traffic Order, but it's quite compelling to show a Judge what REAL traffic enforcement rules (not made up ones!) look like.  So, I would use the Traffic Order to show the Judge, that if you follow instructions given by a Police Officer in uniform then you are not liable for PCNs, even when in contravention of signs. 

This exemption is normal/countrywide and should be stated in the local Traffic Orders and you can then say in your WS and in court:

''Does this Claimant think they are above the law and actually want to Court to make a truly absurd finding in this case, that contract law trumps a relevant Police instruction?  Even the local Council don't give themselves that level of authority, and I take you to section xx of the local Traffic Order to show the Court and the Claimant, what REAL parking enforcement looks like''.

Ralph-y

I am sure the press would love this one ...

Ralph

austin2014

Coupon-mad said:

I would find the bit in the local Council 'on street' enforcement document for the area - the nearest Traffic Order. 

Now I know this is private land and NOT within any Traffic Order, but it's quite compelling to show a Judge what REAL traffic enforcement rules (not made up ones!) look like.  So, I would use the Traffic Order to show the Judge, that if you follow instructions given by a Police Officer in uniform then you are not liable for PCNs, even when in contravention of signs. 

This exemption is normal/countrywide and should be stated in the local Traffic Orders and you can then say in your WS and in court:

''Does this Claimant think they are above the law and actually want to Court to make a truly absurd finding in this case, that contract law trumps a relevant Police instruction?  Even the local Council don't give themselves that level of authority, and I take you to section xx of the local Traffic Order to show the Court and the Claimant, what REAL parking enforcement looks like''.

This is very helpful! It will be going in my Witness Statement 100% 

austin2014

Ralph-y said:

I am sure the press would love this one ...

Ralph

They would!!! I have been approached twice, at one point I was going to go ahead with it but they started asking me to pose with the RED This Is Not a Parking Notice with a sad face. It's a bit out of my comfort zone to be honest. I decided to put my focus into this, and at times nearly gave up and paid. It can get quite overwhelming at times. I think on reflection, once it has gone through court, I may re-visit that route. It would be worth it, even if it just helped one person.

Coupon-mad

 at one point I was going to go ahead with it but they started asking me to pose with the RED This Is Not a Parking Notice with a sad face. 

Not the sad face pic!  Next they would be asking how much your house is worth...