F1rst parking dcbl court case help!

GoldSlayer

Hi all, received 3 pcn's at the start of the year regarding parking in f1rst parking car park. Ignored tickets as usually people do. So received claim form from court end of October. Was told by a friend he had same and all he said in his defense was a quick sentence saying car was parked in an emergency and it's fair to pay £10 per pcn. His case was dismissed So anyhow I regretfully copied and now they decided to pursue the claim. I have come across this forum and feel like I have enough to defend this claim. From the poor signage, to the excess amount of charges, to the car park being in development and all over the place with no bays and a proper floor, to the sign being covered by a tree and lastly from the signs being different throughout the carpark and changing from these past few months. I received the directions questionnaire and filed it as instructed by the forum with no mediation over phone etc. I feel I have enough to write a good witness statement however with more or less no defense submitted will I still have a chance to win. Also dcbl sent a 'without prejudice save as to costs' letter I'm assuming to discuss a discount in costs. Any advice on what I can do?

Coupon-mad

You can't amend your defence unless you apply for permission using a N244 and pay £100 in court fees.

Fruitcake

Follow the process detailed in the guide to court and hope you can rescue this with a decent WS.

I have no idea why people think it is okay to ignore a PCN since the law changed eight years ago.

GoldSlayer

Fruitcake said:

Follow the process detailed in the guide to court and hope you can rescue this with a decent WS.

I have no idea why people think it is okay to ignore a PCN since the law changed eight years ago.

so if I just follow the thread and witness statement guidelines do you think it will be enough to get the case dismissed by the judge? Isn't a witness statement another form of defense anyway? I'll use the defense points in my witness statement. 

Fruitcake

Defence, not defense. 

Your WS is in support of your defence already submitted, unless you pay £100 to change it. To a certain extent you can challenge things the scammers say, but you can't introduce new points. Hopefully they will provide a copy of their contract to scam in their WS, and hopefully you will get to see it before you submit yours so you can comment on it. On the other hand they may submit it half an hour before the deadline.

Was your car parked in an emergency? If so, you can expand on that and perhaps explain why this meant the signage was not adequately brought to the attention of the motorist.

When this gets to the hearing you will be playing judge bingo. You might get one that is on your side, you might not. Nobody here can tell you what the judge will do, especially with such a poor defence.
That does not mean that you should pay.
If you lose it should cost you no more than £175 - £200 as long as you adequately attack any fake add-ons.

Coupon-mad

Dare we ask exactly (word for word) what you put in your defence?  Because it sounds like you must amend it or you will lose.

Redx

DEFENCE - LEGAL ARGUMENTS AND A BRIEF PRECIS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES

WITNESS STATEMENT - self explanatory , its your knowledge backed up with exhibits , in support of the defence already filed and also to deal with the witness statement and exhibits provided by the claimant , to the nominated court and to the other side

so if your defence is , a full stop in the defence box , that is your defence

your winess statement would say , I typed the full stop