Help please received county court claim form and unsure how to defend

chinners

Hi I have been allocated a telephone hearing on the 16th of April and also received WS form HPL/Gladstones. Need help with reviewing my WS please?

Le_Kirk

If you write your WS based on the fact that it is "in support of your defence as already filed" then your WS needs to do exactly that.  Read your defence, pick out the salient technical and legal arguments and write the narrative (the story of what happened on the day and subsequently) in your own words in the First Person such that your story relates to each of the points and provides evidence.  for example if you are claiming lack of signage, you go into detail about where the signage is, and more importantly where it is lacking and also the state of readability, legibility etc.  Photos always help.  When you have finished post it here for critique.  Also post the claimant's WS so that regulars can pick over it.  Do not let it phase you as it it likely to be long, copied and pasted will try to introduce legal arguments and will say that everything in your defence is wrong.  Standard frightener!

chinners

Thanks @Le_Kirk I have redacted and uploaded their WS location is
hxxs://www.dropbox.com/s/sfnbap0sn9m1z01/redactedhplBUNDLE.pdf?dl=0

beamerguy

Now a live link for you

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sfnbap0sn9m1z01/redactedhplBUNDLE.pdf?dl=0

Le_Kirk

That is a fairly standard witness statement from a PPC claimant.  I note that the statement of truth says "the claimant believes...." but if it is a witness statement it should say "I believe ..........."  A company cannot believe anything.  That contract they show, if it supposed to be a contract between the landowner and the parking company has not been signed in accordance with the Companies Act (or at all by the parking company) - no doubt @Fruitcake will be along to give chapter and verse why it is not a good contract.  If that picture of the car is yours, it is "not within the confines of the parking bay"!

Castle

Aviva Insurance is just a trading name not a legal entity, so they have failed to identify the landowner (even if Aviva did own it).

chinners

Le_Kirk said:

That is a fairly standard witness statement from a PPC claimant.  I note that the statement of truth says "the claimant believes...." but if it is a witness statement it should say "I believe ..........."  A company cannot believe anything.  That contract they show, if it supposed to be a contract between the landowner and the parking company has not been signed in accordance with the Companies Act (or at all by the parking company) - no doubt @Fruitcake will be along to give chapter and verse why it is not a good contract.  If that picture of the car is yours, it is "not within the confines of the parking bay"!

yes thank you! added to my WS. please see link below:

hxxx://www.dropbox.com/s/kbv2hek4ge3qli9/WITNESSSTATEMENT%20DRAFT.pdf?dl=0 

chinners

Castle said:

Aviva Insurance is just a trading name not a legal entity, so they have failed to identify the landowner (even if Aviva did own it).

unsure how to word that in the WS. I have read @Fruitcake's  comments inanother thread and used the standard contract wording. Is tha sufficient please?

Coupon-mad

5.2 - you admit to being the driver who visited the first time.  Yet you don't make this clear from the start... and nor do you mention (instead, if intending to defend as keeper) the fact that Horizon don't use the prescribed, mandatory words to transfer liability to the registered keeper.  Decide which stance you are taking, one or the other.

This is bad grammar!

the driver of a car I am the registered keeper of 

And in 5.5. you have the measurements of the sign in Beavis completely wrong.  The sign in that case was....600mm x 800mm !

Le_Kirk

chinners said:

Castle said:

Aviva Insurance is just a trading name not a legal entity, so they have failed to identify the landowner (even if Aviva did own it).

unsure how to word that in the WS. I have read @Fruitcake's  comments in another thread and used the standard contract wording. Is that sufficient please?

I would use @Castle's words.