Please help me with my defence

Coupon-mad

Yes that's fine.

monkeychompy

Another small update:

The solicitors have sent me the Claimants N159 Response Form where they have also ticked boxes B and C.

monkeychompy

By the way I have started getting quite stressed whenever the mail arrives. Eventually I know I will have to write the witness statement (I made a start a while back) and then go to the court but every day I worry over opening letters - is one going to be the next step in the process. It might be quite normal for some people, but for others it's horrible going through this.

monkeychompy

So today I got the dreaded hearing date of May next year. 
The Claimant has about 3 weeks to send documents and I have another 2 weeks after that to send my documents.
The letter says all documents must be sent via email, but no email address has been given!

My 3 main points in the witness statement will be:
1. The signage was poor
2. The fine demanded of me by the parking company/debt collection company has increased by an arbitrary amount without consent or agreement.
3. The car was parked in a free car park, safely on a side access road, without blocking the road. On one side of the road were double yellow lines and I parked on the other side where there were no double yellow lines. 

I will attach photos of the signage and the photos I took of my car when I came back to it after the ticket was given, as well as a copy of the letters showing the fine increasing over time.

Any feedback appreciated. 

Le_Kirk

Your witness statement should back up and support your defence as already filed, therefore you need to find your defence, see what you wrote and write a narrative (the story) of what happened on the day and subsequently, relating it to your defence and providing evidence such as the pictures you mentioned.  To find e-mail addresses use the court finder - Auntie Google should be able to help.

monkeychompy

Thank you.
If I post my witness statement here, will you be able to advise on it?

Le_Kirk

monkeychompy said:

Thank you.
If I post my witness statement here, will you be able to advise on it?

Yes, we do that all the time.

Coupon-mad

monkeychompy said:

Thank you.
If I post my witness statement here, will you be able to advise on it?

Yes but please base it on the one by  @aphex007 so you know what else to include.

monkeychompy

Here is it. It's much cut down on ones that I've read here because I don't understand much of the ones I've read and want to keep it as simple as I can.

In the County Court at xxx

Claim Number: xx

xxx (Claimant) 

V 

xxx (Defendant) 

WITNESS STATEMENT OF DEFENDANT FOR HEARING ON xx/xx/xxxx 

1. I am xxx of xxx, and I am the defendant against whom this claim is made. The facts below are true to the best of my belief and my account has been prepared based upon my own knowledge. 

2. In my statement I shall refer to exhibits within the evidence supplied with this statement, referring to page and reference numbers where appropriate. My defence is repeated and I will say as follows: 

Sequence of events 

3 .I drove through the car park towards the xxx football pitches. I passed a reasonably clear sign displaying Do Not Park on the double yellow lines (exhibit EX-01)

4. I parked on the opposite side of the road to the double yellow lines as close to the left hand side as possible (exhibits EX-02 and EX-03)

5. There is no car parking payment required for xxx customers so no need to visit a ticket machine. 

6. I left the car and went straight to play football for an hour

7. When I returned I found a PCN on my car for £100 and am now asked to pay an inflated charge of £267

11. At this point I noticed an additional sign that was about 7 or 8 foot from the ground with very small and unclear writing (exhibit EX-04)

Abuse of process – the inflated costs

12. In addition to the disputed Parking Charge Notice claim amount of £100, the

Claimant has added a sum of £167 that is disingenuously described variously as ‘contractual charges’, or ‘recovery costs’. These added costs were never set out in an agreed contract. 

The added costs constitutes double recovery and the court is invited to find the quantum claimed is false and an abuse of process as was found by District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) in Excel vs Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, a similar case in which £60 had been added to a parking charge, heard in July 2020. The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with ‘an improper collateral purpose’. Leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued.

13. After hearing this ‘test case’, which followed numerous Judges repeatedly disallowing

the £60 sum and warning parking firms not to waste court time with such spurious claims,

Judge Jackson at the Bradford County Court went into significant detail before concluding

that parking operators (such as the Claimant in this case) are seeking to circumvent CPR

27.14 as well as breaching the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Others, like Judge Hickinbottom

of the same court area, have since echoed Judge Jackson’s words and struck out dozens of

cases. Judge Hickinbottom recently stated ‘I find that striking out this claim is the only

appropriate manner in which the disapproval of the court can be shown’.

14. Exhibits EX-05 to EX-09 are a copy of letters sent to the Defendant showing the costs inflating over time.

Signage

15. Apart from the double yellow lines sign (EX-01), the signs in the car park were too high (well above head height) and the font too small. I believed I had parked legitimately and safely.

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.  I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

Witness’ signature:

Date:

monkeychompy

Should I wait until I have received documents from the claimant before submitting my witness statement? I have 2 weeks after their deadline to submit mine.