Help with Writing a defence - Met Parking Virgin Chiswick

Coupon-mad

I am now waiting for the next step.

I would now email the hearing court (cc in CST Law) and remind them both once more of your full correct address and state you have not yet had Directions re the final hearing. But in view of the error in the address when sending out the DQ (wrongly causing a CCJ, now lifted after a formal complaint) the Defendant is understandably very concerned to avoid a repeat error by the court.

The purpose of this email is to remind the court and CST Law that the full service address for the Defendant is as follows:

YOUR ADDRESS

If any Directions have been sent to (or are now sent to) CST Law, you require an immediate email copy from the court and from CST Law, given their first duty is to the court and thus to assist the smooth process of the case, in accordance with the Overriding Objective.  No documents must be sent to the wrong/partial address again.

ashkal

Coupon-mad said:

I am now waiting for the next step.

I would now email the hearing court (cc in CST Law) and remind them both once more of your full correct address and state you have not yet had Directions re the final hearing. But in view of the error in the address when sending out the DQ (wrongly causing a CCJ, now lifted after a formal complaint) the Defendant is understandably very concerned to avoid a repeat error by the court.

The purpose of this email is to remind the court and CST Law that the full service address for the Defendant is as follows:

YOUR ADDRESS

If any Directions have been sent to (or are now sent to) CST Law, you require an immediate email copy from the court and from CST Law, given their first duty is to the court and thus to assist the smooth process of the case, in accordance with the Overriding Objective.  No documents must be sent to the wrong/partial address again.

I'm due in court soon for a hearing regarding a parking charge claim brought against me by MET Parking Services Ltd, represented by CST Law. I submitted my witness statement a few months ago, and there's been quite an unusual delay between submitting my statement and the actual hearing.

I've now carefully reviewed the Claimant's witness statement and evidence, and I think there are several significant issues with their case:

1. Lack of Clear Photographic Evidence:

   • MET hasn't provided any clear photographs of my car's dashboard to show that no valid permit was displayed. Without explicit photos showing this, their claim feels weak and unsupported.

2. Unclear Allegations of Overstay:

   • They're claiming that I "stayed longer than allowed," but haven't provided any specific entry or exit times to clearly indicate the duration of the alleged overstay. This makes their claim vague and hard to accept.

3. No Additional Evidence Despite My Requests:

   • Previously, I asked CST Law explicitly for additional photographic or video evidence. Their Notice to Keeper also directed me to their website for more evidence, but when I checked, no extra photos or videos were available. Because of this, I don't think they'll be able to introduce anything new at the hearing.

4. Outdated Signage Photos:

   • MET provided photos of the signs at the car park, but they're from several years before the incidents in question. There's no evidence the signs were still accurate or even in place at the relevant time, which undermines their argument.

5. Heavily Redacted Contract – Questionable Locus Standi:

• They've provided a contract with Virgin Active to prove they have authority (locus standi) to enforce parking at the site, but large parts of this contract are redacted. Such heavy redactions might weaken their claim about having authority to enforce these charges. Will this document be even permissable as evidence, as it has sections completely redacted, MET parking justification is below, however parts of the redaction are in sections titled" Client's Obligation & Enforcement Activities. These clauses can contain a lot of things related to the case in my opinion
  

  We do not feel we have to provide a copy of an un-redacted contract between

  ourselves and our client as it contains information which is commercially sensitive and

  not relevant in this instance. We have however attached a copy of the redacted

  contract and for the ease of reading have also shown separately the relevant clauses.

  Procedural Issues – Still No POC:

Coupon-mad

Yep that looks like a good crib sheet for you to help focus your mind when it's your turn to speak at the hearing.

ashkal

Coupon-mad said:

Yep that looks like a good crib sheet for you to help focus your mind when it's your turn to speak at the hearing.

Thank you. Do you think the fact that I had to enter a blind defence and do not know the particulars of the case is enough reason to have it dismissed? Anyway, I’ll let you all know how it goes. I’d also love to help with other cases if there’s ever a need to review documents. Before receiving this CCJ, I was pretty much unaware of the malpractice in this industry. Now, I can’t believe it actually exists.

Coupon-mad

"Do you think the fact that I had to enter a blind defence and do not know the particulars of the case is enough reason to have it dismissed?"

It has been and continues to be enough, if your POC have never been improved with a fuller version and did not state the breach.

Take the Judge to the appeals in Chan and Akande first and invite the court to strike the claim out and award your costs in full, due to unreasonable conduct.

ashkal

@Coupon-mad

So, judgment day finally arrived, and the case was dismissed! However, I was not awarded any costs. I feel like I didn’t present my case as effectively as I could have, and in the end, the judge leaned towards not awarding any costs.

Ultimately, the judge’s primary focus—even before I made my case—was on the claimant’s weak evidence, which lacked essential details such as entry and exit times or any close-up photographs. The fact that I had requested additional photographs or videos and provided screenshots of their website (which also lacked any additional images) significantly strengthened my case.

Nonetheless, MET Parking ended up paying for the court fees twice, plus my application cost, which is something to take solace in.

Thank you all for your help throughout this process!

Coupon-mad

Brilliant news!

Even though CST Law don't tend to discontinue claims, they still lost. So MET were no better using them than when they use DCB.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

By the way I've never got costs awarded either. It's a high bar to reach in small claims. But you got your CCJ application fee covered, so you win!

ashkal

So yes looking back it was great to win. specially that they did send a representative who was actually studying everything and was left very disappointed when she lost. She mentioned to the judge "I actually have read through this one in details" which make me think they were worried about losing more money. Nonetheless this whole experience even though was stressful at the time, made me more equipped dealing with these kind of nonsense and I have dealt with Gladstones in another case without going to the court because of being prepared for this one.  Thank you for all the help. 

ashkal

Coupon-mad said:

Brilliant news!

Even though CST Law don't tend to discontinue claims, they still lost. So MET were no better using them than when they use DCB.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

By the way I've never got costs awarded either. It's a high bar to reach in small claims. But you got your CCJ application fee covered, so you win!

Looking back, it was great to win especially since they sent a representative who had clearly studied everything and was visibly disappointed when she lost. She told the judge, ‘I actually have read through this one in detail,’ which made me think they were worried about losing more money. Nonetheless, although the experience was stressful at the time, it made me more equipped to deal with this kind of nonsense. I’ve since handled another case involving Gladstones without going to court, thanks to being prepared from this one. Thank you for all the help.