Letter of claim over historic parking charge

KennyMc157

Final question (for now) - If the judge finds against me, do I make payment arrangements there and then? If I want 'time to pay' is this a discussion for the judge or is that left for me to sort out with the other party?

ab2000

If found against you the Judge will give a timeframe for payment (normally 30 days I think).  If you don't stick to that or take out a payment plan you will get a CCJ, as the plan will take you past the allotted time.

If you are experiencing financial hardship I don't know if the Judge would give you extra time.  Someone with more knowledge than me will clarify.

Umkomaas

Unlikely to be given extra time - 1 month is the standard, but we've very occasionally seen shorter deadlines (14 days), never seen anything greater than a month.

You should never agree a post-judgment payment plan, as that's much the same as not paying anything by the court deadline - credit rating wrecked for 6 years. Beg, steal or borrow the money to pay it rather than agree a payment plan!

KennyMc157

Ok, thanks people. I can find the money, just resent coughing it in one go, but if my credit rating depends on it, then there's little choice but to hold my nose and pay up. Fingers crossed it won't come to that, thanks again.

KennyMc157

Well that went well. The Judge found in my favour. I am about to type an excruciatingly embarrassing sentence however - go gentle on me. The Judge dismissed all of my evidence as I had not submitted a signed copy. I had asked him to dismiss the claimants second witness statement (see above), which he did, but when it came to my evidence he similarly refused me relief of sanctions with regards to the whole of my evidence, as I'd not signed it. I can't tell you how sick I felt at this biggest most basic of schoolboy errors. As it was though, the Judge picked up on what I had ear marked as my own smoking gun from their evidence and dismissed the claim on the basis of it. A win is a win I suppose, but this feels more that they lost it, than I won it. I feel releived and stupid in equal measure, but I am in no way looking to examine this gift horse's gnashers. Thanks for everyone's help over the last year with this, it has been invaluable - truly appreciated.

ab2000

well done you.  Now go buy a lottery ticket!

Without going back through the whole thread, what was your smoking gun?

KennyMc157

The smoking gun was only revealed in their evidence submission, so you wouldn't see it earlier anyhow. They submitted a plan of the area, which they claimed 'showed where the warning signs were posted'. 3 times they referred to this plan - stating that showed where the signs were. The plan was marked with a V, indicating where I'd parked, and a X, showing where the sign was on the wall adjacent to my car. Thing is, there was no sign there - it had been broken off - the signs seem to be routinely vandalised and this one was missing - in effect, the plan was where the signs should be, not necessarily where they were on the day. This can be clearly seen in the picture they submitted of my car bearing the notice. This picture totally contradicted the plan and made a lie of their statement that it was reasonable to assume I'd been informed of the terms. The Judge zeroed in on this contradiction in their own evidence and sated that the assumption could not be made and dismissed.

Coupon-mad

You got lucky! Well done, that's the end of it.

ANOTHER VCS ONE BITES THE DUST!

And...please don't leave us yet!

We need you - as a genuine PPC victim of aggression, sharp practice and an 'extortion' attempt to add £70 - to respond robustly to the Public Consultation on the level of parking charges and banning of the false added DRA 'fee' that too many honest motorists currently fall victim to.

It will need consumer input (powerful voices) but change is afoot. It's taken about 5 years to get to this stage:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6333036/breaking-news-government-has-announced-the-statutory-code-of-practice-and-enforcement-framework/p1

And then the industry threw victims' money at it and blocked and delayed it - explained here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79310609/#Comment_79310609

Please now Bookmark BOTH threads and set up email alerts on your posting profile, so that you get an email alert when we post there, as we will, once the Public Consultation opens later this year, once the new Ministers are fully appraised.

We need people like you and your driving family & friends to respond in high numbers! You have a personal story to tell about the culture of VCS adding an unjustified £70 for greedy profit and to sidestep the intentions of the legal fees cap in the small claims track.

KennyMc157

Ok, all done - I'm more than happy to contribute what I can. Cheers again.

Snakes_Belly

Well done.   

VCS and Excel's plans and images of their car parks (from the ones that I have seen) seem to be taken when they first take over a car park and the signage is all new and shiny and the bays are marked out in clear lines. In reality they are not like that and are not maintained well.

Forum members who have used images well in their WS are usually successful against VCS and Excel.  

PPC's are the only organisations that I am aware of that can make money out of customers for not providing a service. As a customer service manager in another life I find that totally alien.