Court Claim - draft defence

NewBornBaby

Coupon-mad said:

Disaster.  As my WS had not been filed in time* Judge struck out my defence and awarded full claim and costs to claimant.  Over £400.  Any experience of whether/how to appeal?  

Hang on.  You attended a hearing by phone on 4th?  And lost?

Or you let this be heard on the papers (not what you would have got from us!).

Was this about one parking charge?  

How is the £400 made up?

Yes it was a phone hearing on the 4th August. And I lost as the judge struck out my defence because he said I did not send a witness statement by the 2nd April as ordered by the court in their papers dated 5th March.
it was one parking charge.
Charge £100
Extra (fake) costs £60
Interest £12
Court fee £25
Legal representative's costs £50
Attendance costs £160ish
Total £400+

NewBornBaby

nosferatu1001 said:

Third time

shen. You. Told. The.  Court. About. The. June. Order,  what. Did. The. Court. Say?

the June order does not override the previous order, not explicitly. It can b e read that it does, but it doesn't actually do so. I know what the orders say, this is my opinion based on the 8c wording not using serve and so does not allow you to ignore the requirement to serve. 

I honestly cannot remember whether or not I mentioned the June order, I possibly did.  But it was an unusual situation for me and whatever I said the judge just kept referring to a court order I had failed to comply with.
Finally, while I appreciate somebody wanting to help me voluntarily, I do not appreciate being typed at as if I am an idiot, in case you are not aware, it is itself coming across as bullying behaviour.  If you would like to help, great.  But please be polite.  I would rather not be helped if it means I am just being bullied by somebody else.

Coupon-mad

NewBornBaby said:

it was one parking charge.
Charge £100
Extra (fake) costs £60
Interest £12
Court fee £25
Legal representative's costs £50
Attendance costs £160ish
Total £400+ 

 But none of that in bold should have been allowed.  Did you mention abuse of process and the CRA 2015, meaning that they could not claim additional costs as double recovery?

Do you qualify for Help with Fees, such that an appeal would be free and not cost the £120 fee?

NewBornBaby

The judge did not let me mention it as he stopped me from speaking and just said I had forfeited my chance to speak in defence.

NewBornBaby

No I would not qualify for Help with fees.

NewBornBaby

NewBornBaby said:

The judge did not let me mention it as he stopped me from speaking and just said I had forfeited my chance to speak in defence.

Even though it was included in my written witness statement, which I sent to the court a week before the hearing date.

Coupon-mad

I would have said you could appeal on the basis that the Judge erred in law by failing to consider the test of fairness under the CRA 2015 (under s71 the court must consider the fairness of the notices and terms whether a D mentions it or not).

But you basically ruined your own chances and got a stickler of a Judge, and even the above would cost you £120 and the best that might happen is getting the £60 fake costs removed - so there is no point.

This is sad but a loss that is not one we count as caused by our advice.  Serving a WS in time is required and we make this very clear. 

So sorry but your case is an example of why not to ignore our advice about 'KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN'.

I think you are going to have to pay it in full (you can't pay in part or you get a CCJ) and take it in the chin.

nosferatu1001

Thank you for finally answering a rather key question
You would have a chance of appeal as the June order could be read as not meaning you need to comply with the april order, but i doubt it would work because by the time the june order came through i reckon yo ushould have already complied - i cant recall the dates right now but that seems right to me. Feel free to correct. 
You must in future err on the side of safety, and precisely comply with the exact wording of an order. 

Redx

Seems to me that the 6 month gap this year did not help , especially not asking for help with the court orders or showing them in that absence

People need to Keep on top of the cases and know what to do and by when , if in doubt , redact personal details and post images , especially of court orders in order to seek further advice

Defeat snatched from victory here , plus an incentive for G24 to try further court claims against other victims , which is a shame because you had a good case , but missed the ship sailing time so were left stranded at the dock

To be clear , you should have come back before July and sought further advice and not doing so has costs you hundreds of pounds , needlessly

You also complain about being a lay person , yet everyone who replied is also a lay person and never gone through the process either , yet gave their time and advice free of charge

Last year you stated you would come back for advice on preparing your witness statement , yet failed to do so until the last minute , long after the deadline given by the court order !!

I am not convinced that people take this process seriously enough , we see similar issues time and again on here

NewBornBaby

Thanks all.  Sounds as though I'm gonna have to suck this one up, and have an Ebay/Gumtree/Carboot clearout to pay for it.
Appreciate all the advice along the way.