AOS done - i have 2 weeks for defence but confused about steps - pls advise

KeithP

mrstingy2022 said:

Is there a way to send N180 form by email - which prevents from being lost. I read newsbies thread again and cannot find it anywhere.
Also when filing N180 can i fill it by hand or rather computer and then print out.
Sorry if that was explained already somewhere. You seem to have a great deal of patience for me so far

Why not continue to follow that checklist you were using when you filed a Defence?
It gives good guidance on how to complete that task, but you might want to read this thread too...
New Questions on the N180 Form.

mrstingy2022

If its useful for anybody following my thread:
I believe its ok to send N180 during business hours to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk also CC in the same email claimant

mrstingy2022

Hi All 
N180 was sent in the beginning of February and waiting for the small claim court date.
In the meantime my witness - who could confirm my story is leaving our company by end of the Month.
Shall i ask him to write a statement for me and sign it? He might not have time or possibility to go to court when he is working for new company soon.
Any advise is more than welcome

Le_Kirk

Yes, next best thing to appearing is to provide a witness statement that carries to Statement of Truth (the latest one) and sign and date it.

mrstingy2022

I will have telephone hearing in about 4 weeks in small court. 
Would you please advise me on the following steps:

1. Before hearing i will be sending all docs to court and VCS - i am planning to send scanned version as well to court and VCS as there is no proof that post has been received - just wonder if this is really needed?
2. I already put my statement once in the process - Do I need to put my statement again? 
3. My main piece of evidence is my colleague statement to highlight ghost ticketing - we saw trafic wardens in the car park i walked up to my car walking past the wardens to swap expired permit to current (expired was overlapping the current) and there was no PCN but after few days i received it by post. My colleague will confirm  that i said no PCN when i return to the office - this should be by focal point of defence ? (the fact that i had right to park there is secondary?)
4. In the pictures VCS provided there is a time range between first and last of 20 minutes - the last picture shows loose piece of paper which is their PCN - does it matter at all that it took them over 20min to put PCN which they then removed?
5. On the pictures i had 2 permits - 1 expired and 1 valid which was overlapped - i believe this is important item to bring up?
6. on the last letter VCS suggest to pay before the court as they have very strong case - otherwise they will charge 220f on top of 200 they already requested - i believe this should be brought up ?

Fruitcake

You need to produce a witness statement and exhibits to support your defence. When the case was transferred to your local court you will have been given the dates when you need to do the above. It is usually two weeks before the hearing, but read your directions again to make absolutely sure you do not miss your filing date.

Your friend/former colleague's witness statement will be one of your exhibits, but you will need a numbered paragraph to explain what it means.

1) You only need to email your witness statement (WS) to the court and the claimant's solicitors. There is no need to post anything unless you live close to the court or it is over the court limit for them to print (usually over 50 Mb).

2) You sent a defence. Is that what you mean? You must send additionally information (the WS) to expand on your defence points to provide more detail.

3) Yes, this will be where you need to explain what happened in your own words then explain about the colleague's WS to support it. You should highlight the fact that there was no windscreen ticket on the car before the new permit was placed inside the windscreen.
Your right to park should be a separate point.

4) The time taken to issue the charge is irrelevant. 

5) Yes, you need to state that the correct permit was on display, and highlight the fact that it was visible during the 20 minute "observation period" as shown in the claimant's own evidence (photos).

6) VCS always say they have a strong case. Ignore it, but do bring up the fake add on costs that have not been itemised, nor has the claimant provided receipts to prove they actually incurred these costs.

mrstingy2022

massive thanks for reply
VCS like broken record keeps repeating how many signs were around car park and that i did enter the contract with them.
I am sure they will be grilling me on that during that telephone hearing

Coupon-mad

You need to copy & adapt the WS bundles by @aphex007 or @SJRRJS

mrstingy2022

Witness statement i done according to standard.
My key question is do i need to do my statement again (it was already done once in the defence stage)
in paragraphs to keep coherent story for judge or there is no need to do that as this will be discussed during the hearing?

Coupon-mad

Not sure what you mean?

And when you say 'standard' we hope you didn't use the robertcox example linked in the NEWBIES thread and haven't got Britannia v Crosby as an exhibit, as all of that is superseded now.