VCS Claim

Le_Kirk

sogu said:

Currently preparing for the hearing and I've realised that I've not included part of the POFA that I'll be relying upon - specifically subsection 5 of paragraph 8 of the POFA. Will the judge be prepared to look through the whole POFA if I print it out? 

I believe the judge will have access to POFA.

sogu

Hi all, a quick update. Case was heard earlier today and I won!! 
It was quite a brutal hearing but won it on a technicality.

Started off with the judge questioning VCS's rep about the confusing signage, stating that the hearing will end very quickly if not answered adequately. She said that there were never three companies operating there, and VCS had stopped operating there in Nov 19. She also had proof from one of the other companies that they started operating at LGCP after Nov 19. Even though LGCP have been there for a very long time, I had no proof to this effect. My pictures were unfortunately taken after this date.
So, the judge didn't want to hear about signage - big setback as this is what I was counting on!

Then the judge moved onto the fake £60 charge and asked claimant to justify it. She vaguely answered that it was stated on the signs that "additional charges would be payable". At this point, the judge said he never allows this charge and won't do so here. He said not a single rep had been able to justify such a charge.

It was here that I was given the option of another postponement to collect case files with regards to the POFA. He said he would allow an appeal as there were no high court judgements on POFA and inevitably one side will feel aggrieved. Judge said he had read my WS and discarded all the cases there as they were not binding. He asked if I knew any binding cases that were in relation to the POFA - I replied that I didn't. I did say that if it was postponed I could get an email from LGCP to prove that they were there but he didn't react very well to this haha. I chose to proceed as I have had too many postponements.

I started to discuss the lack of adherence to POFA and the fact that the red card in all intents and purposes was a NTD. VCS rep said this was just a warning to bring the offence to the attention of the driver. I then had a bit of a meltdown. Instead of talking about NTK coming too early I mentioned getting keeper details from DVLA (big mistake). We looked through the POFA after 10 minute break so the rep could read through it. Eventually I corrected myself but the judge wasn't impressed. In any case, I just couldn't get the judge to understand the POFA and at one point he said it was as if we were looking at two different Acts. VCS rep mentioned section 9 but although I pointed out this only applies if an ANPR was present, the judge said he knows the two different pathways. Section 8 (5) didn't seem to work either. I was asked if I wanted to concede - I refused.

I then mentioned that the NTK itself doesn't comply with the POFA in terms of the wording. "Beginning with the day after vs on the day" - this was what won me the case. The judge agreed with me and helped me to find it on the NTK ( I was looking at a different letter). The VCS rep just laughed when asked to explain this. She conceded but said that VCS will appeal. The judge refused the appeal and said maybe VCS should modify the wording rather than look for an appeal.

Judge refused costs as he said it was small claims and never gives costs. He said that he had won the case for me by finding the relevant bit on the NTK. I did state that VCS had been unreasonable by way of not accepting WS by email but to no avail. He refused to even pay for postage.

So glad that I didn't lose.
A big thank you to all that helped me!!! I couldn't have got this victory without you. 
Thanks again especially to couponmad, fruitcake, nos, lekirk etc. 

Coupon-mad

Yay, well done for persevering!

ANOTHER VCS ONE BITES THE DUST!

D_P_Dance

Personally, I would complain to the judge's line manager about the costs.  AFAIAA costs are awarded to the winner in nearly every case.  I woud copy the letter to my MP.

Covid_Vaccinator

@D_P_Dance - yes, and I will raise the fact that they sent me a warning letter stating that the CCBC had found in their favour and that debt collectors were involved. This was a lie!

D_P_Dance said:

Personally, I would complain to the judge's line manager about the costs.  AFAIAA costs are awarded to the winner in nearly every case.  I woud copy the letter to my MP.

sogu

How would I find out the line manager's details? Can costs be awarded after the hearing?
Surely this would only be worth doing if there was a material gain to be had. Complaining to my MP sounds reasonable.

D_P_Dance

How would I find out the line manager's details? 

Telephone/write  and ask

Can costs be awarded after the hearing?

Yes

Coupon-mad

You can’t get costs now.

D_P_Dance

You can’t get costs now.

Are you sure?  What if costs were wrongfully withheld?  

Le_Kirk

Well done on your win.  I am just catching up with the forum after a bit of a break.