EMA airport fine for stopping at double yellow line - court date in near future.

san2020

Hi All, 
Could you assist me in reply to court hearing?
I am totally vague but I know that original post cannot be amended, hence my start here. will post another one shortly with full description (the way I understand it)

san2020

Hi Team and members,
I have the EMA airport fine from VCS for stopping in a zone where stopping is prohibited at all times. I was the driver, read the newby thread many times, Received Claim form, submitted AOS on 19th Jan 21 contained: 'I intend to defend all of this claim" and the defence and counter claim was submitted with very poor defence like: "according to the paperwork received, I do not believe I am liable to pay any of the claimed amount. I am trying to understand on what ground the claim has been made. As I did not do anything illegal, I am am hoping for clarification of this."
I am trying to replace/rectify the defence but I don't see an option of how to do it. could you assist?
Also, couple of days later, both Elms Legal (solicitors) and I submitted the Directions Questionnaire, I just choose for no against mediation (as per the advise on the forums).
on 25th Feb 21, I received the Notice of allocation to the small claims track and Notice of Trial date.
I think the paper says that if notified by email or post, the judgement will be based on documentary evidence without attending the hearing at Court. I will try and email this in before 15th March 21 to insist on in person (either by video call or something similar).
I was hasty (not read up enough) to prepare the defence but I think I have the defence almost sorted. Could you assist me in best way of submitting my defence? (I believe there may be a cost involved as well, but I don't know how to do that. Could you assist?
I am yet to prepare the WS and Documents but I have the SAR ( also original letters they sent via this SAR with NTK)
Any help /direction would be appreciated. Also running out of time on this.
S Buddy.
p.s I can provide papers if needed (but I believe I cannot on this post)

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

I replied before I saw your second post.

You will need to give us a lot more information for a start, and you will need to read the guide to court written by bargepole that you will find in the second post of the NEWBIES.

You will need to tell us the name of the PPC, what stage you are at in the process, what happened when you complained to the landowner, whether the driver's identity has been revealed to the scammers, relevant dates, and what you put in your defence to say the least.

Fruitcake

You cannot amend your defence without paying. This is a civil not criminal claim so there was never a suggestion that you acted illegally.
You need therefore to concentrate on your witness statement and exhibits (evidence) in the hope that you can sway the judge.

You definitely do not want this heard on papers.

As soon as you get the scammer's WS, post it here. Only redact YOUR personal details.

nosferatu1001

Tell us the date  you need to file your witness statement and defence by
What counterclaim did you file?!

Le_Kirk

You can amend or file an alternative defence but it costs £100 (I believe).  Your best chance is to try to recover it by writing a comprehensive witness statement.  Unfortunately it is not possible to introduce new defence points in your witness statement so it will have to be carefully crafted.  As asked by @nosferatu1001 what is your deadline?

nosferatu1001

It willl end up being £255, as the claimant wil object, and that forces a hearing. Just not worth it. 

Le_Kirk

nosferatu1001 said:

It willl end up being £255, as the claimant wil object, and that forces a hearing. Just not worth it. 

Well you sometimes have to take a pragmatic view of things and in this case I agree with you.

san2020

I am restricted to post the docs / links on this forum. New Defence, if court allows me to edit/submit the new response. 
Also what would you advise on how to request for legitimate costs and potential Court costs for resubmitting the edited defence.
Cannot upload the response or the witness statement. any assistance is much appreciated. 

Umkomaas

As per @nosferatu1001's advice, it's likely to be £255 which you won't get back. How much are VCS looking to grab from you? If you're seriously thinking of launching £255 into a black hole, you may need to be thinking about 'doing the math'. 

I'm not sure whether there is any income-based reduction in (or no) fees for doing the revised Defence (there is for some other parts of the court process that requires a fee), but check out the possibility and the criteria before stepping over the cliff.

nosferatu1001

Use numbered points please! Means we can respond to your questions more easily
1) Easy, change HTTP to sayt HXXP, and we will correct the URL. 
2) You appear not to have taken in the above info. You cannot just file a new defence. You have to apply to ask the court if you can do so, and applying WILL cost you £255. You will not be able to recover this cost from the claimant. Not a hope. This was YOUR mistake, not theirs, so why should they pay?!
3) what do you mean by "response"? Use the actual terms - you are showing us a defence, a WS, a SAR ouput, etc. "response", by itself, means nothing. 
4) which WS are you uploading? Yours?