Being taken to court by NCP & BW Legal

Not_A_Hope

You have not responded to the question on whether you have submitted your WS yet. Normally it needs to be submitted 14 days before the hearing which would make the deadline today. The claimant has met this deadline. Have you?

Coupon-mad

That BW Legal Template WS was fully expected.

We assume you did the obvious and searched the forum for an unusual keyword from the letter ('nonsensical') to see how many people have received that and laughed at it in 2022...and 2021...

simmotech

I think I am too late.
I couldn't find the WS you speak of by aphex007 but I looked at the one on the newbies FAQ page and I may be able to crib some bits (including directly referring to incorrect info in the Claimant's WS) though it may be pointless if it is too late.
My defence *is* my WS, mostly. I don't have any exhibits to show and while I can paste in transcripts of Britannia Parking I can't really claim to understand it. And (I think) the Defence already had a Statement of truth since their WS referred to it.

If I didn't submit a late WS, will the judge automatically find against me or will he use allow some leeway and allow me to answer questions/rebut their WS?

Le_Kirk

Judges sometimes grant a defendant a bit of leeway but only if you actually submit a WS!  Go to the profile of @aphex007 and you will see in his discussions (only 1) the thread or follow this LINK >>> 12 June 2022 at 7:26PM.

Mouse007

simmotech said:

I think I am too late.

Possibly, but do it today and you might just get away with it. Most of it is drafted in your opening post here - that is you have already drafted your story - use it.

Coupon-mad

Doesn't matter about being late.

Do it today and there's no argument from them because you caused no disadvantage.

Most people manage to adapt the example bundle by aphex007 in a couple of hours.  Easy stage and we gave you the link to his profile!

simmotech

Thanks guys - I am working on something to send but the more I look at the samples and the legalese they contain, the more uncomfortable I get. I will cut and paste the bits I understand and can justify in court but no more.

I just want to get to court and tell what happened to the judge. If he finds for me then great but if I lose, I will just pay the money.
I wouldn't be happy about it but it would finally be over and it would be an independent judge telling me I need to pay it and not money-grabbing NCP nor their nasty attack monkeys bwLegal.

Coupon-mad

There's no legalese in aphex's WS.

You have now let another 72 hours slip.  Please just copy EVERYTHING RELEVANT.   All you do is add your own facts and photos/evidence and obviously keep Excel v Wilkinson.

Most people here do this in about an hour.  What problems are you having in understanding his WS? What sections are hard to understand? We'll help.

"I just want to get to court and tell what happened to the judge.

We know...but did you not realise that (if you get a surly pedantic Judge) you won't be allowed to even speak, if you fail to file & serve a WS and evidence because you will not be a 'witness' without a witness statement.  Literally they will not let you utter a word.

simmotech

Well I lost the case - alternative ways to pay and not having a phone with me not NCP's fault.
But that's another thing ticked off my bucket list (seeing a court in action) and I don't have to think about it any more.

The judge said he and other judges very much do not like template defences - they would prefer a defendant to just explain what happened.
It was acknowledged that the WS was a bit late but said that wasn't a problem since I was there anyway.
He disallowed the £60 additional costs without looking at the evidence about it in my WS. He and the bwlegal advocate seemed to know that NCP/bwlegal were just trying that on.
He also didn't like the 8% interest that was being claimed and told them to divide it by 8.

The judge (and the bwlegal advocate - a solicitor? from Bury) were very nice so I have no regrets.
Thanks for the help and advice on this.

Coupon-mad

Thanks for the update.  Best when posters come back and tell us how it went.  Not that scary, is it?!

A shame about the decision but not surprising and not too shabby, with the false £60 removed and the interest deemed excessive too.

Your case was always going to be a struggle, due to the facts and I think you came here quite late.  Could have been won had you appealed at the time of the PCN, so that's a lesson to learn for next time (assuming the PCN went to the right address and your V5C now shows your correct address, as I seem to recall you saying you'd moved).

Funnily enough I've heard directly from Judges who like the template, because it covers everything AND includes the facts very early on.  They think it's long but arguments in these cases often are.

One Judge used to post here...I won't identify him!

Anyway, get your revenge:

We sincerely hope that you are au fait with the need to respond to the final Government Public Consultation?

We all need to ram the nail in the coffin of the false £70 'DRA fee' add-on, that actually funds the court claim and toxic CCJ culture, as well as the DRA and roboclaim 'legals' gaslighting of people.

Please come back here when it opens, and you can make sure you don't miss the Public Consultation:

If you are not a regular reader, to be alerted you'll need to bookmark the thread by MSE_JC at the top of the forum and enable (on your profile) email alerts for bookmarked threads.

Then join us when the Consultation opens in a few weeks.