UKCPM & Gladstones - County Court Defence

Coupon-mad

Don’t have huge costs if you think they are unjustified, of course. 

1505grandad

Some observations:-

There are a total of 56 pages (not 55)

Para 3  -  ".......... Paragraph 7(2)(f) states that the notice to the keeper.........." (NtD)

Your Table of Contents states Para 9 of POFA yet you are quoting and exhibiting Para 7

Para 4  -  "Local (counties) require an observation period............"  (Councils?)

Para 5  -  Exhibit 4 seems to show date as "20-01-29" but you have stated:-

Timestamp 1: 2020-01-20 13:24:24

Timestamp 2: 2020-01-20 13:26:42

Johnersh

Don't stress on loss of earnings. If you had a job/contract that you had to turn down, that could result in large earnings loss.

Even at litigant in person rates your costs will likely be summarily assessed and reduced ftom the hours that have been spent working on documents.

In the absence of unreasonable conduct most successful forumites get half a day or a day of fixed costs as noted above. 

kimaru

Coupon-mad said:

Don’t have huge costs if you think they are unjustified, of course. 

They are justified as I've had zero experience in the legal system before. I've had to start learning from scratch, like a lot of other newbies on here. I'm extremely grateful for the actionable support I've received through this process from members on this forum, such as yourself.

1505grandad said:

Some observations:-

----- Cropped ----

Wow... Thank you so much. You have an excellent eye for detail! I appreciate the time you've taken to go through and find those errors. I've made all those changes.

Again, thank you, I'm extremely grateful.

Johnersh said:

Don't stress on loss of earnings. If you had a job/contract that you had to turn down, that could result in large earnings loss.

Even at litigant in person rates your costs will likely be summarily assessed and reduced ftom the hours that have been spent working on documents.

In the absence of unreasonable conduct most successful forumites get half a day or a day of fixed costs as noted above. 

Okay, thank you for the explanation. In reality, the cost has been huge but it's difficult to prove on paper.

I've read of the claimant asking for payslips, which I obviously don't have... Should I attach some kind of proof that I've been paid XX per hour?

Would it be best to set my court days cost at the £95 cap? It's currently set at my contracted hourly rate for a single hour, which is lower.


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My updated redacted W.S.:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OBTUuclijwqXk6MbFglgrVJeXNIi23tT/view?usp=sharing

If anyone has any comments on the witness statement I'd love to hear them!

Le_Kirk

A witness statement is in support of the defence as already filed and should back up and support the technical and legal arguments that you put in your defence.  It is normally a narrative and tells the story of what happened on the day of the incident.  You don't seem to have this element although the rest of it seems fairly standard and covers the usual bases.

kimaru

Le_Kirk said:

A witness statement is in support of the defence as already filed and should back up and support the technical and legal arguments that you put in your defence.  It is normally a narrative and tells the story of what happened on the day of the incident.  You don't seem to have this element although the rest of it seems fairly standard and covers the usual bases.

That's a good point. Although, as I'm just the keeper. It wouldn't be much of a story... I could turn the witness statement into a story by saying "and then I decided to view the google maps image of the location..." "Then, I had a look at..."

Coupon-mad

What will you say if the Judge asks you if you were driving?  You can’t lie, so do have in mind your answer in case he/she asks. 

They might not.

You need Somerfield as an exhibit PDF not a link, and you can then remove para 419 quote, to shorten your WS a bit. I tend to refer these days to 419-428 because it’s a whole section you want your Judge to read about parking firms adding false costs. 

I would also add and mention the IPC Code of Practice from that year, about grace periods.  That’s more relevant than Local Authority rules. 

I would also add the IPC 2021 Conference Exhibitors page as an exhibit, and a short point about that, to prove that there is NO debt recovery cost to the industry, as shown by the ‘no win no fee’ adverts from fellow IPC members Debt Recovery Plus and Trace.  Clearly, a Parking Operator has not incurred any debt recovery costs whatsoever in a case  where no recovery has occurred, so there is no lawful reason to list these ‘costs’ in the Particulars of Claim.

1505grandad

"A witness statement is in support of the defence as already filed and should back up and support the technical and legal arguments that you put in your defence."

Is it of any consequence that the Defence contained:-

Para 3  -  "Under the conditions that have to be met for the right to claim unpaid parking charges from

the keeper of the vehicle (Paragraph 4), Paragraph 7(2)(f) states that the notice to the keeper

must 'specify the vehicle, the relevant land on which it was parked and the period of parking

to which the notice relates.'"  

POFA Para 7 is NtD not NtK. (Hence the gentle hint in my post 31st May - page 4 - in response to OP previously stating POFA Para 7).

Le_Kirk

kimaru said:

Le_Kirk said:

A witness statement is in support of the defence as already filed and should back up and support the technical and legal arguments that you put in your defence.  It is normally a narrative and tells the story of what happened on the day of the incident.  You don't seem to have this element although the rest of it seems fairly standard and covers the usual bases.

That's a good point. Although, as I'm just the keeper. It wouldn't be much of a story... I could turn the witness statement into a story by saying "and then I decided to view the google maps image of the location..." "Then, I had a look at..."

But, of course, you have spoken to the driver and you asked them for the story and then you did some investigative work!  Of course you don't name the driver.

kimaru

Coupon-mad said:

What will you say if the Judge asks you if you were driving?  You can’t lie, so do have in mind your answer in case he/she asks. 

They might not.

You need Somerfield as an exhibit PDF not a link, and you can then remove para 419 quote, to shorten your WS a bit. I tend to refer these days to 419-428 because it’s a whole section you want your Judge to read about parking firms adding false costs. 

I would also add and mention the IPC Code of Practice from that year, about grace periods.  That’s more relevant than Local Authority rules. 

I would also add the IPC 2021 Conference Exhibitors page as an exhibit, and a short point about that, to prove that there is NO debt recovery cost to the industry, as shown by the ‘no win no fee’ adverts from fellow IPC members Debt Recovery Plus and Trace.  Clearly, a Parking Operator has not incurred any debt recovery costs whatsoever in a case  where no recovery has occurred, so there is no lawful reason to list these ‘costs’ in the Particulars of Claim.

Thanks very much, I've added your suggestions. Although, I couldn't see where Trace was claiming no win no fee, Debt Recovery was. Which is relevant to my case as that's the company that bombarded me with letters! I've added pictures of these letters.

The driver could have been a number of people. When I owned the vehicle, the car was used by multiple relatives. Numerous relatives had access to the vehicle and an additional three named drivers were insured to drive the vehicle.

I don't know if I have this proof, but if I could get it, would it be useful to add an attachment of the named drivers on my insurance?

1505grandad said:

"A witness statement is in support of the defence as already filed and should back up and support the technical and legal arguments that you put in your defence."

Is it of any consequence that the Defence contained:-

Para 3  -  "Under the conditions that have to be met for the right to claim unpaid parking charges from

the keeper of the vehicle (Paragraph 4), Paragraph 7(2)(f) states that the notice to the keeper

must 'specify the vehicle, the relevant land on which it was parked and the period of parking

to which the notice relates.'"  

POFA Para 7 is NtD not NtK. (Hence the gentle hint in my post 31st May - page 4 - in response to OP previously stating POFA Para 7).

Thanks for picking this up, I had no idea that was a hint at anything! It was simply a typo and surely doesn't change the fact that they failed to comply with the notice to driver. - In no way is that admitting any liability, the first letter is just referenced as 'notice to driver' right?

Le_Kirk said:

kimaru said:

Le_Kirk said:

A witness statement is in support of the defence as already filed and should back up and support the technical and legal arguments that you put in your defence.  It is normally a narrative and tells the story of what happened on the day of the incident.  You don't seem to have this element although the rest of it seems fairly standard and covers the usual bases.

That's a good point. Although, as I'm just the keeper. It wouldn't be much of a story... I could turn the witness statement into a story by saying "and then I decided to view the google maps image of the location..." "Then, I had a look at..."

But, of course, you have spoken to the driver and you asked them for the story and then you did some investigative work!  Of course you don't name the driver.

I have add the following line to the liability denied section.

3. It is admitted that I was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied. Therefore, I have provided my investigative work into the situation. 

Would this suffice?

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Here's my updated Witness Statement
WS 4 (REDACTED: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NNkxQe6FISCaZVxK6XeaTpy6nIJYJ5Tk/view?usp=sharing