DCB legal for VCS. Witness statement due 9th April. Urgent help appreciated

Viera90210

At my end unfortunately the documentation is not particularly tight.
I have two young kids and a busy job - poor excuse I know.
Is there a fairly generic defence I can use?

nosferatu1001

YTes, of course there is
But arent you at the WS stage? Thats what your title states. 

Viera90210

beamerguy said:

I agree with Le_Kirk, a timeline is a good idea

The best I can do timeline wise is in my first post here.

Viera90210

nosferatu1001 said:

YTes, of course there is
But arent you at the WS stage? Thats what your title states. 

Yes I have until the 9th to provide withess statements to DCB and the court.
Hoping to post this evening!

Fruitcake

Research other WSs and post your draft here for checking first, but please tell us exactly what you put in your defence.

It is absolutely vital that you get this right.

I would start with something like, I am Viera90210 and I was neither the driver nor keeper/registered keeper of vehicle VRM XXXXXXX on the date in question and cannot therefore be liable. 

The registered keeper is NNNNNNN and the vehicle is registered at my address. (If the keeper lives there, say so. If they don't, say so and that this is an address for service where the keeper can be contacted.)

I am a litigant in person and untrained in court matters. I trust the court will allow me some leeway if I have erred in procedure.

I appealed in my name instead of the registered keeper because ….. 

Then you need to explain why. Is the keeper away from the address or incapable of responding for some other reason such as backpacking, on a gap year, secondment for work in another country? Did you appeal because one or both of you didn't understand the process?

If the claimant has obtained keeper details from the DVLA, point out that your personal details are different to that of the keeper save for the address. They may have used a tracing service to find you combined with a KADOE request to the DVLA, put two and two together and made scam.

I don't understand why you appealed and what your relationship is with the keeper and why they didn't appeal, so I'm sure the court won't either. Did you tell the scammers at any point you were neither driver nor keeper, and if so, at what stage in the process.

You need to include all other relevant points in your WS especially the abuse of process if a fake amount has been added on.

Finish with the new statement of truth as already quoted by beamerguy.

"I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.  I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth."

Viera90210

Here is a rough first attempt

1. I am , of [Address], [Postcode], the Defendant in this matter. I will say as follows:

2. I am not the registered keeper of the vehicle in question nor have I ever been.

3. The vehicle in question has multiple users within several households.

4.I am a litigant in person and untrained in court matters. I trust the court will allow me some leeway if I have erred in procedure.

5. The signs that have been shown in the witness statement from DCB legal contain very small print and do not comply with Beavis.

6.  The contract supplied by DCB legal regarding the land in question does not cover the period when this ticket was issued

7. When I received a letter from Northampton county court business centre I responded expediently and within the timescale they had set out. After more than 2 months had passed I contacted Northampton County court business centre and was told the claimant had missed their deadline for responding and therefore the case had been stayed. I do not therefore understand how this has reached this stage and believe it to be void.

8.In addition I would like the court to note that I have offered to enter into mediation in order to resolve this matter without wasting the court’s time but this offer was declined by the claimant.

9. On the basis of these points I consider this claim to be false.

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.  I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

Signature

Date

KeithP

Viera90210 said:

I submitted an appeal using my details. So from there they are saying that is in effect admitting to being the driver

A reasonable assumption and throughout this whole thread you haven't denied it.

You have even modified Fruitcake's suggested sentence "... I was neither the driver nor keeper/registered keeper of vehicle VRM XXXXXXX on the date in question and cannot therefore be liable" to "I am not the registered keeper of the vehicle in question nor have I ever been". 

The rest of your proposed Witness Statement differs greatly from that kindly put forward by Fruitcake.

You were asked to show us the Defence you filed, but we haven't seen it yet.

Viera90210

My defence that I filed on the .gov.uk website simply stated that I did not receive a letter before claim and therefore on that basis I could not comment further. I cannot access the .gov website now for some reason so cannot tell you verbatim but it was words to that effect

nosferatu1001

That isnt a defence. 
Oh dear. Were you under the impression you could file a further defence later on?

Viera90210

nosferatu1001 said:

That isnt a defence. 
Oh dear. Were you under the impression you could file a further defence later on?

I was simply stating a fact
Will they not accept anything else I write?