BW Legal escalation

Coupon-mad

thtguy said:

Hi all. Was wondering if anyone would be able to provide any advice on my case.

I have been unaware of correspondence as i had to promptly leave my address due to a family emergency and have phoned the court today to ask for an update. The hearing has been set for this monday and i now live 6 hours away from the court. I just wanted to ask for some advice:

If i didn't go to the hearing, i assume i would have to just pay the fee. And as long as i pay within 30 days i will avoid a CCJ? Other than the ticket fee would i have to pay any court fees as well?

Or would it be advised i visited the court to see this through?

I'd really appreciate any advice anyone might have. Cheers!

You will have to attend. Otherwise they'll go for EXTRA costs and you'll pay the lot plus hundreds to cover their rep's attendance costs, because they'll hold you as unreasonable. 

thtguy

Coupon-mad said:

You will have to attend. Otherwise they'll go for EXTRA costs and you'll pay the lot plus hundreds to cover their rep's attendance costs, because they'll hold you as unreasonable. 

Ok thanks for the reply!
Due to missing correspondence i dont believe i have had the chance to fill out the witness statement stage. Is this going to significantly damage my case? Cheers

Coupon-mad

Nothing else you can do except hold your head high, get there early (to get through court security, sign in, loo break, get water and tell their legal rep you won't speak to him in a 'side room' thank v much but you DO want a full copy of their bundle NOW - please - because you were not served with it, due to moving) ... then ...

Go in when called for the hearing, with your defence printed out and explain to the Judge how come you missed the hearing Order and only found out about it on Friday... etc.

Ask for "my defence to stand as my witness statement under the circumstances, please Judge" (call them Judge).

Ask for a copy of their WS - before the hearing, outside is best, when the rep approaches & tries to mislead and worry you - because you have never seen their evidence.

Tell the Judge you DO NOT WANT THE CASE ADJOURNED because you've travelled so far for this case and you do NOT want the Claimants trying to use the situation by blaming you for the adjournment and claiming ludicrous costs.  

Tell the Judge you've travelled x hours especially to attend today and to be sure you are not made out to somehow be unreasonable, so to adjourn would not meet the 'overriding objective' of justice at low cost.

You prefer to see it through today please. We are all here; let's continue please.

Then (when it's your turn to speak) pick holes in THEIR evidence.

Cases can be won that way. Look at their evidence pack in the waiting room if you can get a copy.  Look at whether the signage pics are dated.  Is the £100 in big text, etc? Are there pics of newer signs that weren't there?

If you feel it turning against you (it is easy to tell from the Judge's face which way it's going) at least do your damnedest to explain 3 fundamental things:

1. - the claim should be struck out due to breach of Part 16, because there was nothing in the Particulars of Claim to specify the alleged breach or the contract term in question. Two recent appeal cases have found against parking firms (Civil Enforcement v Chan and CPMS v Akande).  You could be cheeky and take printouts of both transcripts with you and hope the Judge will read them...

or, alternatively,

2. - the evidence shows new signs which weren't there (if you have seen their photos outside) and/or the £100 was hidden in small print (or was it unlit and dark?) and they haven't proven their case;

and anyway

3. - the C should not be allowed to have interest or the false added 'damages/late fee' which isn't part of the alleged contract, isn't part of the PCN and damages were never incurred. 

Ask for your travel costs at the end if you win. 

thtguy

Hey. Thanks so much for your help. Unfortunately I lost the case. I am unfamiliar with the court process and was told numerous times my input was not relevant to the case. The solicitor knew what he was doing and the judge ultimately sided with him. 

Coupon-mad

Aah bad luck. Without a witness statement you were off-piste from our advice and were always going to find it hard which is why I gave you a script to follow.

But at least by turning up you prevented yourself being clobbered with extra costs, we hope.  How much must you pay?

Did you manage to voice the 3 things?

If you feel it turning against you (it is easy to tell from the Judge's face which way it's going) at least do your damnedest to explain 3 fundamental things

thtguy

I mentioned all three but she wasn’t interested. She said it was ‘new evidence’ which cannot be mentioned. I was only allowed to respond to points made by the solicitor and any attempts to go off rail were stopped by the judge. 

Ultimately she decided the sign was visible enough for me to pay attention to, which it was not. It was not on a street but plunged into a concrete block and not illuminated. 

Coupon-mad

That's (sadly) because you didn't put in a WS so could not give evidence.  Which court?

How much were you ordered to pay?

thtguy

Coupon-mad said:

That's (sadly) because you didn't put in a WS so could not give evidence.  Which court?

How much were you ordered to pay?

I was asked to pay the (oversized) ticket costs but not the solicitor costs as I was not found to be ‘unreasonable’ as to justify paying that as well (as far as I understand)