County Court Claim Form Gladstones/UKCPM

brentmeister2k

Thanks for all the help so far everyone, docs have all be emailed in to the court and copied to claimant. SRA complaint has also been sent.

brentmeister2k

Just want to check as well as sending docs to the court I also sent to enquiries@Gladstonesolicitors.co.uk and copies to info@ukcpm.co.uk i presume that is sufficient but I am suddenly doubting myself. 

Johnersh

Just the court and gladstones. No need to send anything to the ppc now they have solicitors acting. 

brentmeister2k

Thanks, yeah I didn't think it had to go the ppc but thought I'd copy them just in case

brentmeister2k

I've received an email from Gladstones with supplementary witness statement, this doc makes a couple of key points, I can elaborate if needed but essential points are as follows:

• I have attempted to serve documents by email despite this not being agreed between parties. 
• The rest of it is mainly a response to the points raised around the Jack Chapman signature and that the argument is a template from the net with some template text.
• They also state that I would not understand the arguments made in relation to the Civil Procedures Rules an that therefore they are not accepted an denied. 

In respect of me emailing the docs, I did contact the court ahead of emailing and they confirmed I could email docs to them in addition Gladstones have obviously received to be able to respond and they've also sent this next correspondence by email so don't quite get the point in raising.
In relation the the Civil procedures rules, they have a point so any direction on required understanding would be appreciated as I could look a bit silly if questioned on this by the judge.

Is there a response necessary or required from me at this stage?

UPDATE - also just had a further email from gladstones with a copy of correspondence from the court confirming it will be telephone hearing and asking me my phone number. - Should I provide to them? On viewing court docs it states I should provide number to the court. I have not actually received this correspondence from the court yet but assume it will follow over the next few days.

I have read the post on telephone hearings a few days ago but will revisit tomorrow in order to prepare my bundle of docs and get that circulated.

Any further thoughts or guidance welcomed.

Johnersh

brentmeister2k said:

I've received an email from Gladstones with supplementary witness statement, this doc makes a couple of key points, I can elaborate if needed but essential points are as follows:

• I have attempted to serve documents by email despite this not being agreed between parties. 
• The rest of it is mainly a response to the points raised around the Jack Chapman signature and that the argument is a template from the net with some template text.
• They also state that I would not understand the arguments made in relation to the Civil Procedures Rules an that therefore they are not accepted an denied. 

In respect of me emailing the docs, I did contact the court ahead of emailing and they confirmed I could email docs to them in addition Gladstones have obviously received to be able to respond and they've also sent this next correspondence by email so don't quite get the point in raising.
In relation the the Civil procedures rules, they have a point so any direction on required understanding would be appreciated as I could look a bit silly if questioned on this by the judge.

Is there a response necessary or required from me at this stage?

UPDATE - also just had a further email from gladstones with a copy of correspondence from the court confirming it will be telephone hearing and asking me my phone number. - Should I provide to them? On viewing court docs it states I should provide number to the court. I have not actually received this correspondence from the court yet but assume it will follow over the next few days.

I have read the post on telephone hearings a few days ago but will revisit tomorrow in order to prepare my bundle of docs and get that circulated.

Any further thoughts or guidance welcomed.

So read the rules that you refer to in your defence or statement, then come back with any questions.  The CPR can be googled.  

Whilst they can argue that you don't fully understand the rules, the corollary of that is not that those defence points can simply be disregarded or that the claimant need not address them. With the greatest possible respect to UK CPM the civil procedure rules regarding the content of a statement of truth aren't complex, but they appear not to understand those #justsayin'

Put another way, a scattergun may not be ideal, it may not work in all cases, but it happens to raise a complete defence and the claimant fails to address that argument then the DJ will not overlook it - the claimant has overlooked key elements of the written defence. 

brentmeister2k

Thank you will have a read and raise any questions, no response required at this stage from me to the  court/ Gladstones though? 

Coupon-mad

Wait for the court Order about the remote hearing and who to supply your number to, etc.

brentmeister2k

Hi,

I've now received my Order about the Telephone hearing from the court and so am preparing the email and bundle. Wanted to check a few bits, please see my below draft email not sure if I need to change the positioning of it as it seems to be suggesting a telephone hearing is being considred whereas I've received notice of mine, please let me now your thoughts. I'll raise some other points in a seperate post:

Dear District Judge XXXX,

Re: Claim number XXXX - hearing date set for XX/XX/2020

Important Preliminary matter and Witness statement and evidence from the Defendant

(served by email due to COVID_19 measures)

I am the Defendant.  The appended witness statement and evidence bundle, as well as this covering email, has also been sent to the Claimant's litigation team. In the event of directions for a future hearing in person at this court, hard copies will be provided when I have access to a printer.

Preliminary matter

I am aware that there is more than sufficient information available in this case to activate the court's duty, as set out in s71 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 ('the CRA').  

The CRA imposes a duty upon courts in all consumer contract cases, to apply the test of fairness in s71 of the CRA and I draw specific attention to more than one breach of CRA Schedule 2, as explained in my witness statement. Due to this, and to remove an unnecessary burden on the court, I invite the Judge who may at this stage be considering an Order for a Telephone Hearing or adjournment, to instead exercise the court's case management powers pursuant to CPR 3.4, to strike this claim out without a hearing in any format.   

This has already occurred in multiple parking claims in recent months, with duplicate reasons used by Judges sitting at courts as widely spread as Southampton, Warwick, IOW, Caernarfon, Luton and Skipton.  Failed applications with hearings attended by two barristers acting on behalf of parking firms have taken place at Skipton (February 2020, before District Judge Faye Wright) as well as at Southampton, before District Judge Grand.  I refer to my exhibit transcript of the Approved Judgment in Britannia Parking Ltd v Crosby and Anor (11/11/2019) which pays regard to the Supreme Court binding case law and the duty on the courts to invoke s71 of the CRA.

This parking charge claim has been deliberately exaggerated to reach a global sum of £160 despite the Claimant and their legal advisers being well aware by now, that such a sum is unrecoverable in parking charge cases because it is an attempt to go behind case law and statute law, and taints the entire claim.  As such, the Defendant draws attention to the Claimant's continued 'forum shopping' and their clear intention of finding victims who will pay in full without defending, or a less than competent court to allow them to claim a sum far higher than they can lawfully recover. 

Further, there has been no serious attempt to comply with the CPRs and the Claimant's incoherent, stylised particulars do not constitute compliance.  These cases unnecessarily delay and clutter court listings and represent a contemptuous and significant abuse of process.

To assist with the efficient disposal of the case, I attach an editable Word Document Draft Order.

For the avoidance of doubt, should the court decide against striking the claim out, I am not in agreement with the case being heard 'on the papers' because:despite the Claimant and their legal advisers being well aware by now, that such a sum is unrecoverable in parking charge cases because it is an attempt to go behind case law and statute law, and taints the entire claim.  As such, the Defendant draws attention to the Claimant's continued 'forum shopping' and their clear intention of finding victims who will pay in full without defending, or a less than competent court to allow them to claim a sum far higher than they can lawfully recover. 

Further, there has been no serious attempt to comply with the CPRs and the Claimant's incoherent, stylised particulars do not constitute compliance.  These cases unnecessarily delay and clutter court listings and represent a contemptuous and significant abuse of process.

To assist with the efficient disposal of the case, I attach an editable Word Document Draft Order.

For the avoidance of doubt, should the court decide against striking the claim out, I am not in agreement with the case being heard 'on the papers' because:

(a)  this claim is following the usual oppressive parking robo-claim path, with a very sparse statement of case, later followed by a case made by way of ambush, with a tendency to produce prolix witness statements, right at the death.  This places Defendants at a huge disadvantage, given the first time they see any 'evidence' is at completion of the bundle, and their only chance to point out that large parts of the evidence are completely irrelevant, is at trial.  

(b) the case of JD Wetherspoon Plc v Harris and others [2013] EWHC 1088 (Ch.) is an example of the Court using its power to limit the evidence by striking out large parts of a witness statement for abuse, because it was written by a person with no personal knowledge who recited facts based on the documents he had read.  Similarly, parking charge witness statements contain template legal argument, misleading reliance upon ParkingEye v Beavis and even more irrelevant case law, and are more designed to stand in terrorem of defendants  than to assist the Court in determining the substantive issues.  

(c) Such 'witness statements' lack probative value and are very often created by freelance legal writers and 'signed' (or facsimile 'signed') by a third party who is not a witness in the true sense, and who relies upon misleading and irrelevant extracts of case law and undated, old or 'stock' images of signs, some of which are often not even present at the location in question. My witness statement demonstrates this with the signs I was able to photograph on site at the car park very different to those presented in the claimant’s witness statement, which I was not able to find at the car park.

(d) In my case, I strongly believe that I must be afforded a fair opportunity to rebut the inaccuracies in the 'evidence' re the car park location/event and highlight the  failure to demonstrate a prominent/legible contract, or liability, or legitimate interest.  I am the only local witness, in the true sense, and I believe that, if the claim is to be heard, a decision cannot be fairly made without a hearing in my presence.  If the claim is not struck out, I would prefer a hearing in person once the pandemic lockdown is lifted.  However, I understand that to formally ask for an adjournment would be at a disproportionate cost which is not an option for me, so I await the court's Order and Directions.

yours sincerely, 

Brentmeister2k

Documents appended herewith:

- Draft Order 

A single PDF file containing:

- Trial bundle contents page (with page and exhibit numbering clearly set out)

- signed/dated witness statement

- Exhibits A, B and C comparison photos of relevant signs detailed in Witness Statement

- Exhibit D  - Consumer Rights Act 2015 Schedule 2 (with paras 6, 10, 14 and 18 highighted)

- Exhibit E - Britannia v Crosby & Anor - Approved Judgment

- Exhibit F - Jack Chapman "signature" examples.

brentmeister2k

The thread regarding telephone hearings and Coupon mads template email also refers to the below items, but I have not referred to these in what I have submitted these as exhibits with my witness statement previously sent to the court.
So can I / should I look to include now? Thoughts welcomed on this and on my draft email above. Many thanks...

Supreme Court Beavis case paras 98, 193 and 198 (copied onto a page in full, and give this link too):

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2013-0280-judgment.pdf

- ParkingEye Ltd v Somerfield Stores Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 1338 - (quote para 419 re adding £60 & give bailii link):

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2011/4023.html#para419

- the POFA Schedule 4 with 4(5) highlighted plus the link:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/schedule/4/enacted