Highview small claims defence letter - feedback appreciated!

KeithP

bonbonvoyage said:

Hi, I've received the N180 form and filled it in as per the Newbies instructions. Am I OK to select Yes for 'Suitability for determination without a hearing'?

No, you would be unwise to do that.
A trained legal advocate will appear at the hearing and walk all over your case and, because you won't be there, you will be unable to refute any wild accusations he may make.

Coupon-mad

bonbonvoyage said:

Hi, I've received the N180 form and filled it in as per the Newbies instructions. Am I OK to select Yes for 'Suitability for determination without a hearing'?

No; that would be the opposite of the advice in the NEWBIES thread.

bonbonvoyage

I've received my telephone mediation appointment...

Coupon-mad

bonbonvoyage said:

I've received my telephone mediation appointment...

Lovely.  That'll be 4 minutes of your time you'll never get back!  See the Template Defence thread again please.

bonbonvoyage

I had my mediation phone call. The guy told me they are claiming that I overstayed in the car park, which is limited to 2 hours. He also said I had attended a nearby event while using the car park, which is something I had told the company when I first got the ticket. I reiterated that I was with my small baby, whom I needed to feed and change, and that I made a purchase at the shopping centre and provided a receipt. He asked me if I would be prepared to pay any amount to avoid court and I said no. He said it would likely be 6-9 months before court, rather than the standard 2, due to the backlog. He suggested I take legal advice from the CAB. Will that be necessary, do you think?

Le_Kirk

Not the CAB, they are good at some things but not parking issues.  You are in the best place for advice.

Gr1pr

What he said above, plus the newbies sticky thread in announcements and early posts in the defence template thread too, like the 12 steps 

Come back at the WS stage to this thread 

Coupon-mad

What is he on about?! Citizens Advice don't give legal advice!

Their online basic 'advice' about private  parking charges is sadly wrong and the stuff re defending court claims in particular is pretty much non-existent. Seems they don't understand that people MUST DEFEND scam parking claims and not offer money.

Don't consult Citizens Advice. They are wrongly programmed to think these are debts.

bonbonvoyage

I've received this. Not planning to call but I'm working on the witness statement.

bonbonvoyage

I have been pretty lost with the witness statement, to be honest, although looking at it in the light of day seems more fruitful than at gone-10pm as I've been doing this week... My questions below are in reference to guidance on the Newbies thread:

a) I have taken a photo of the signage, although it looks like the operator may have since changed. There is a Tesco car park right next door that is a 3hr stay, which explains why I thought it was 3hrs (my stay was 3hrs 5mins), although I think you will say I shouldn't mention this as the POC don't state overstaying... 
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pfvpxf28w0uwvq9oh44kq/Witness-statement-draft-online-copy.docx?rlkey=ov9gxy3xg9p97bzymsb7o28dk&st=huno4tpf&dl=0

b) d) e) h) - I don't think these are relevant for my case. 

c) I think I need to pull out a few relevant examples from the 'Judgements' PDF, then refer to them in the style of this example statement... Any suggestions or shall I just copy and paste paragraphs 2-8?
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80516020#Comment_80516020

i) Would this be the correct document to copy and paste paragraphs 98, 193 and 198 from the Beavis case? chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc_2013_0280_judgment_c7f37dda32.pdf

Story and evidence:
I have my daughter's birth certificate - she was 5 months at the time. I have a bank statement with a purchase made on the site. That's about it. 

Thank you to anyone who drops me a note on this!!