I paid on Pay by Phone app but have received Court Papers

KeithP

Jillski said:

Le_Kirk said:

All perfectly normal and as advised in NEWBIE sticky second post.  In that Notice of Allocation are there instructions to you about the deadline for submitting your witness statement?  

Thank you for your reply..
It says 'Unless the Claimant does by 2 pm on the 13 March 2024 pay to the court the Trial fee of £27 or file a properly completed application (i.e. one of which provides all the required information in the manner requested) for help with fees, then the claim will be struck out with the effect from 13 March 2024 without further order and, unless the Court orders otherwise, you will also be liable for the cost which the Defendant has incurred.

Yes, that's what you wrote earlier. That is what the Claimant must do.

Look again at your Notice of Allocation.

Is there not a paragraph something like:

Each party must deliver to every other party and to the court office copies of all documents on which he intends to rely at the hearing no later than [ . . . ] [14 days before the hearing].

Might be on the back.

Those 'documents on which you intend to rely' are your Witness Statement and evidence.

Jillski

Yes.
'Each party must send to the other party and to the court office copes of all documents on which that party intends  to rely at the hearing.  The judge may refuse to consider a document or take it into account if a copy of it has not been sent to the other party as required by this Order'.

Mikeh2001

Jillski said:

Yes.
'Each party must send to the other party and to the court office copes of all documents on which that party intends  to rely at the hearing.  The judge may refuse to consider a document or take it into account if a copy of it has not been sent to the other party as required by this Order'.

It usually has dates.   Do you see a date after this paragraph? If not please post a photo of the order (all pages) with all personal information/reference numbers hidden.

While it's important you know these dates and don't miss them; your defense is very strong.  The proportion of cases that end up at a hearing is very small, especially when it comes to the companies involved here.

May I ask - did you inform the parking company of mistake you made when making the payment?  You said you informed pay by phone but did you have any contact with the company that issued the ticket?

Also search the forum for cases like yours.  There is a recent one here although it's a different parking company (whom are governed by a different code of practice)- it's the same circumstances and my help you: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6472111/entered-the-wrong-location-for-a-car-park-have-appealed-now-facing-170-fine/p1. 

Debszzzz2

Jillski said:

It says 'Unless the Claimant does by 2 pm on the 13 March 2024 pay to the court the Trial fee of £27 or file a properly completed application (i.e. one of which provides all the required information in the manner requested) for help with fees, then the claim will be struck out with the effect from 13 March 2024 without further order and, unless the Court orders otherwise, you will also be liable for the cost which the Defendant has incurred.

...and?

We already know it says that. Do you have a question?

Jillski

I'm asking for help with the preparation of the Statement and Evidence required by the Court. 
The hearing is scheduled for 10 April and documents required by 20 March.

Mikeh2001

this thread is a good place to start:  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/64350585/#Comment_64350585

If you scroll down to the section headed: WITNESS STATEMENT - EASY STAGE - YOUR 'STORY' & EVIDENCE

You will see links to some usernames whom have created some examples of what a Witness statement looks like.  You will find them by clicking on the username and reading the threads they have created. Once you have found an example you need to a create a version that reflects the specifics of your case (i.e. tell you story).

Once you get to that stage, you can post a copy of review here (without any personal information) and folks will be able to help you refine it.

That said: its still somewhat rare that this claimant will continue with this case and it soooo many cases you will receive a notice of discontinuance before the deadline for them to pay / provide documents.  You should be prepared with a witness statement if you choose to but knowing the important dates when the witness statement are expected by the court is critical as per my earlier question.

Mikeh2001

I can see you have edited the post with the dates, thank you.

hold tight for the notice of discontinuance...but equally don't leave everything until the last minute unless you feel very confident about pulling it together quickly.

For now I suggest you focus on documenting the "Facts and Sequence of Events" like others have done in example witness on this forum (mentioned above). Copy them and replace with your events and post them here for review.  You should important points you have already mentioned ; like the attempts you made to contact pay by phone and any evidence of those conversations (or any correspondence you made the the parking company if you did).  Ideally will need to produce an receipts / screens shots / SMS messages as evidence you paid the first instance.

Once you get to that stage - post it here (without personal details).  In your instance there maybe some additional case law you should include given the very ridiculous nature of the claimants case against (you actually paid but for the wrong car park, very easy mistake to make, you told them straight away but they choose to ignore it and pursue you).  But the experts (not me!) will be able to guide you once you get the basis facts / evidence documented as a starting point.

Jillski

Thank you for your help Mikeh2001.  Once I've prepared my Statement and Evidence I will post on here for comment.

Jillski

Thank you so much everyone for the help I've received here. I have just received this via email.:

'We act for the Claimant in the above matter.  

Our client has instructed us to discontinue Court proceedings and close our file. Therefore, please find enclosed the Claimant’s N279 Notice of Discontinuance for your records.  

The attached has also been filed with the Court.  

We will now proceed to close our file accordingly'.

Mikeh2001

Jillski said:

Thank you so much everyone for the help I've received here. I have just received this via email.:

'We act for the Claimant in the above matter.  

Our client has instructed us to discontinue Court proceedings and close our file. Therefore, please find enclosed the Claimant’s N279 Notice of Discontinuance for your records.  

The attached has also been filed with the Court.  

We will now proceed to close our file accordingly'.

Nice.  Well done!