County court claim form - Highview

ld123

Hi there

I have had the witness statement through from Highview finally and need to submit my own and evidence. I'm working through now - and have posted their redacted WS. They have supplied evidence of the letters the defendant was sent however they did not live at the address they were sent to (no proof they were indeed sent). It does look like one of the letters mentions a notice to keeper, but not sure if it's actually compliant?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nz9mvbjwmtjepoa/Witness Statement and Evidence bundle-2-2.pdf?dl=0 

Something else I've noticed is they've attached images of the signs that are on site currently. I have found a tweet backdated to 2017 which shows different signs (albeit the maximum stay period previously was shorter than those now, so not sure that would help the defence)

Any advice on the key points to focus on would be appreciated, I'm drafting up today and need to submit by Tuesday. I am using @jryhs as a basis as well as the others in the newbie thread as recommended

Thanks

Jenni_D

Have they submitted theirs early? (Make sure you don't miss your own WS deadline!)

ld123

Yes I believe so - I have the hearing allocation letter which states Tuesday 21st September as the deadline for submitting documents

Coupon-mad

No need for a question about whether a Highview NTK is compliant with the POFA.  They’ve never used the POFA and this is made clear in the first post of the NEWBIES thread where they are mentioned as non-POFA by choice and where it also links SCHEDULE 4 so people can see what’s missing (para 9). 

This would have died a death with one email from the keeper at the time.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I was just a bit surprised to see a question mark about whether Highview comply with the POFA when you know they don’t, the NEWBIES thread specifically says they don’t and do do earlier replies in this thread

It’s simple for anyone to check and important you understand and can explain to a Judge why a lack of 9(2)f among other omissions, means they can’t hold a keeper liable.

ld123

Thanks coupon-mad, I realised as I was re-reading the letter they were not compliant! I've pulled together a draft WS combining elements of my initial defence (assuming I don't need to include everything again?) and the advice from various threads;

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0kyd8r4bltgs8decphf7b/Draft-Witness-Statement.docx?dl=0&rlkey=g2jzo3kr5hhp1sig168obe2eg 

All the evidence needs tidying up & formatting correctly and referring to correctly in the body of course. just wanted to check I'm not missing anything glaring.

Couple of questions 

- Is it Worth mentioning the signage on a tweet dated 2017 does not match that which they are presenting today and have reason to believe this was not the signage during the time of the alleged contravention. I've alluded to it, but the signage in 2017 says 1 hr max stay so this may be a detrimental point as the sign in the evidence says 3hrs. Either way the driver overstayed.


Any advice would be hugely appreciated - feeling as overwhelmed as ever after trying to navigate this whilst working!

Le_Kirk

ld123 said:

All the evidence needs tidying up & formatting correctly and referring to correctly in the body of course. just wanted to check I'm not missing anything glaring.

- Is it Worth mentioning the signage on a tweet dated 2017 does not match that which they are presenting today and have reason to believe this was not the signage during the time of the alleged contravention. I've alluded to it, but the signage in 2017 says 1 hr max stay so this may be a detrimental point as the sign in the evidence says 3hrs. Either way the driver overstayed.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated - feeling as overwhelmed as ever after trying to navigate this whilst working!

A witness statement backs up and supports, with evidence, everything that you put in your defence as already filed.  You do not seek to alter or add defence points.  Mention everything in your WS that helps you and, since the defence will mention signage, it is OK to use a communication from the claimant (the "tweet" - whatever one of those is) if it helps you.

ld123

Thanks Le_Kirk

I think I'm ready to submit my WS now - just need to drop in a few last images which I plan to take in the morning. If there's any advice on the content of the attached it would be much appreciated. Submitting tomorrow as it's due Tuesday.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ugrvppuw5tgipibiap0bd/Draft-Witness-Statement.docx?dl=0&rlkey=p0s95ilipxacoo469vzj8sreb 

Coupon-mad

No rush because you will be emailing it to the local court and solicitor for the Claimant.  Can be done Tues morning.

A witness statement is your story in the first person, but from #3 onwards your WS is written in the third person 'the Defendant' which needs replacing with "I" throughout. I suspect that you have possibly repeated paras already in your defence here too?  No need.  Write it as your story and your evidence.

ld123

Thank you! I have reworked it to be my account as I understand it and removed any duplication from the defence (updated link above). Will be dropping the photos in to the evidence today after work - ideally will be submitting this evening as I don't want to risk leaving it to tomorrow as I'll be in work all day 

Thanks again for the help!

Coupon-mad

We presume you saw when you read today's relevant threads that another TWO Highview ones just got discontinued?