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Responding to a Court Summons

24

Comments

  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 37,567 Forumite
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    thanfrancis wrote: »
    I will be emailing an appropriately formatted, scanned PDF to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk on 18th April [12 March + 5 Days (Service) + 14 Days (Preparation) + 14 Days (AOS acknowledged) = 19th April].
    I think you have you dates slightly wrong. Your Defence needs to be filed before 19th April.

    With a Claim Issue Date of 12th March, and having done the Acknowledgement of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 15th April 2019 to file your Defence.

    That's four weeks away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, and it is good to see that you are not leaving it to the very last minute.


    When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as suggested here:
      Print your Defence.
    1. Sign it and date it.
    2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
    3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
    4. Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
    5. Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
    6. Do not be surprised to receive a copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to put you under pressure.
    7. Wait for your DQ from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.
  • thanfrancis
    thanfrancis Posts: 22 Forumite
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    Thank you both; having followed your advice I have obtained photographic evidence from the incident in question:

    tinypic.com/r/1582ofr/9
    tinypic.com/r/1zf5s2g/9

    I am uncertain whether, given the language implemented, the claimant or their principal the landowner is "offering anything to motorists" having designated this a "no parking area" (and therefore whether it can reasonably be construed as having created a contractual relationship between the claimant and the defendant). If this is the case, this would be a trespass incident rather than a breach of contract?

    I am also uncertain whether the absence of clear IPC or BPA association [despite being in the IPC] is relevant in this case on a legal level, or purely on the level of association guidelines?
  • D_P_Dance
    D_P_Dance Posts: 11,503 Forumite
    First Post Name Dropper First Anniversary
    This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

    Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially Smart}, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week), hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

    The problem become so widespread that MPs agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. It received The Royal Assent today.
    You never know how far you can go until you go too far.
  • Le_Kirk
    Le_Kirk Posts: 22,278 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Photogenic Name Dropper
    Your links made live: -


    http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=1582ofr&s=9#.XI-2G2f3LuI
    http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=1zf5s2g&s=9#.XI-2MGf3LuI
  • thanfrancis
    thanfrancis Posts: 22 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary
    Thanks @KeithP.

    RE: "no contract made" defence

    I'm uncertain whether (given the language used) the claimant or the landowner is "offering anything to motorists" having designated this a "no parking area" (and therefore whether it can reasonably be assumed to have created a contractual relationship between the claimant and the defendant). If this is the case, this would be a trespass incident rather than a breach of contract, no?


    tinypic.com/r/1582ofr/9
    tinypic.com/r/1zf5s2g/9

    I am also uncertain whether the absence of IPC or BPA association being displayed on the signs [despite being in the IPC] is relevant on either a legal level or on the level of association guidelines... do you have any advice?
  • thanfrancis
    thanfrancis Posts: 22 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary
    Does anybody have experience with this area? (Or know whether there are any resources - I'm more than happy to do the leg work).
  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 37,567 Forumite
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    thanfrancis wrote: »
    Does anybody have experience with this area? (Or know whether there are any resources - I'm more than happy to do the leg work).
    Yes, there are plenty of comprehensive free resources available right here.

    As Umkomaas said in post #5 above:
    Umkomaas wrote: »
    All covered in the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2, much of which has had legal professionals' input. It should be your go-to for any question you have about the court process, from where you are now, right up to the actual hearing (if one takes place).
    There's a link to that Newbies thread in my earlier post above.
  • thanfrancis
    thanfrancis Posts: 22 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary
    Thanks KeithP, I have re-re-re-re-re-re-read this resource and the only references or in-link references I have found in either the post or forum searches are:

    PCM v Bull - which does linguistically deconstruct but uses substantially different wording.

    And the beavis case with regards to lettering size.
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 41,336 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    thanfrancis wrote: »
    Does anybody have experience with this area? (Or know whether there are any resources - I'm more than happy to do the leg work).

    http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/04/pcm-uk-signage-does-not-create-contract.html

    http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/11/es-parking-lose-spinningfields-case.html

    Cases CS035 and CS036 near the foot of this link:

    http://www.parking-prankster.com/case-law.html

    Possibly CS047 on this different link:

    http://www.parking-prankster.com/more-case-law.html

    Also do some forum searches here and on PePiPoo using keywords Forbidding Signs.
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
  • thanfrancis
    thanfrancis Posts: 22 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary
    This advice was genuinely brilliant Umkomaas, I can't thank you enough for your help.

    I am now at the stage of evidence + skeleton argument submission to the court - I have a video recording to submit but Google has not been my friend when it comes to working out how to submit a video into evidence. Some people say that a YouTube URL is fine (but take video playing equipment on the day) and others say that it needs to recorded to a flash drive and sent physically... does anyone have experience of this.
This discussion has been closed.
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