** Won ** Advice on VCS parking charge and court papers filed

[NewbieAndy]

Hi Rob,

Please see attached my first draft of a witness statement.

One query is for my bundle of documents which you call an exhibit of documents and ask for 'exhibit reference' im not sure what this would be as i only have a claim no for my court case and not sure what the exhibit reference should be or do i make this one up?

I tried to keep it concise, succinct and factual as possible but please do let me know if it could be presented better each reference of the document is each piece of evidence i intend to take to the court and i explain what each doc is in the witness statement but let me know if you would like to see these as well and i can redact them and place them here as well.

As its a small claims court my original counter claim for £300 is no longer applicable i assume so where in this witness statement should i raise the order of claiming lost costs of up to £95?

Please do have a review when you have some time and let me know if this looks fine.

Im open to any updates and changes you suggest as i'm very new to this and tried my best at this first attempt.

Thanks,

NewbieAndy

[R0b]

Hello

I've attached a clean, revised version so please take a look at it and see what you think. There are a number of points highlighted in yellow brackets which requires your input, but also some of the things I have stated might not necessarily be true so do make sure you read it.
In terms of exhibit references, this should be your initials and I have pointed this out on the document.

One thing I have missed out is the reference regarding the authorisation code. I would suggest if you can to include that and with some evidence too, that would definitely assist you.

[NewbieAndy]

Hi Rob,

Please find attached my updated version with the events as accurate as i remember them to be. Additionally i have added a reference to the bank authorisation code, my bank unfortunately where unwilling to make as statement on email for court on this occasion.

Can you have a look over and let me know if this all looks fine?

Thanks for you help.

NewbieAndy

[NewbieAndy]

Hi Rob,

Just a little nudge to see if you have had a chance to review?

Need to send this in 2 weeks prior to the court date which is on the 31st august so presume i will need to send it in soon.

Thanks for all your help so far its been invaluable.

Thanks,

NewbieAndy

[R0b]

Sorry, this must have fallen by the wayside, I’ll take a look at it tonight for you.

[R0b]

Morning NewbieAndy

Your witness statement looks good, made a few amendments via tracked changes but more to do with the flow of your statement than anything else. Up to you whether you wish to include it or not, but nothing major.

If you believe the deadline for submission is 31 August then you've still got another week so I wouldn't rush and maybe take a break from it for 24 hours and re-read what you've typed to make sure you are happy with what is written, before sending it off.

You should be able to send via email, which is always my preferred method but if you send by post then make sure you either send recorded delivery or at least get proof of postage receipt.

[NewbieAndy]

Thanks Rob!

I'll review tonight.

The court date is 31st August and i'm suppose to send in my witness statement 2 weeks prior to the court date which i assume means i need to get it there by friday 17th august?

I don't have an email address i can email it to but i may try and drop the court a call tomorrow to see if i can email it to them.

After my review tonight i'll drop another post if i have any further queries.

Thanks Rob your help has been invaluable.

Thanks,

NewbieAndy

[R0b]

Ah sorry, some reason I had it in my head we were submitting your defence!

I would make sure to send it either recorded delivery or first class post but make sure to get a proof of postage receipt. You can also drop it off at court as you suggest, there is usually an out of hours mail box that you can send it to or you can go to the court desk and ask the process, as some court have different procedures.

Good luck

[ostell]

And if by hand to the court get a receipt from the court office if you can.

[NewbieAndy]

Hi Rob And Ostell,

Just to make you both aware, i had my court case today and the good news is i won

Although bitter sweet as my counter claim was also dismissed which is a shame as i wasn't given the opportunity to push for the counter claim.

So in some ways the VCS people get away with it as they lose but at no cost which is a shame as i wanted to get the counter claim fee as a deterrent.

But overall happy with the win, and really appreciate all the help you have given on this forum.

Thanks again!

NewbieAndy

[ostell]

There is a cost to VCS. No doubt they had someone in attendance, which would have been a couple of hundred quid.

[R0b]

Congratulations, the main thing is that you managed to defend the claim. It would be helpful if you could give a brief summary of how the hearing went, what the judge said regarding their claim and also your counterclaim (is this the unreasonable conduct?).

[NewbieAndy]

Hi Rob,

Not a problem.

So the hearing lasted roughly 15 mins.

When we were called we sat down and the judge summarised the case and immediately turned to me and asked had i read their claim.

I responded yes as it seems their entire case was based on a statement that my payment on my bank statement which had stated 9/03/17 which was the parking date in question. They argued that as its an online payment that payment is in reference to the day before.

So i defended by simply stating 3 things:

1 - the statement they made was made without any evidence to back this claim up or prove it, therefore the statement is a matter of opinion rather than fact
2 - If it was true, it has been agreed that i only park at this car park during working days Mon to fri so if what they say is true my bank statement showed a purchase for a parking ticket on the 20/03/17 which is a monday but this would mean i parked on a sunday if payments reflect the day before, this would make no sense as i don't use their parking on weekends
3 - the time stamp for the 20/03/17 payment says 8:30am, again if their statement was true why would i park on a sunday at 8:30am in leeds city centre when their is plenty of free parking

As a result VCS was unable to defend their statement and agreed they had no evidence but stuck to their belief that my payment isn't shown on the date in their system.

The judge decided to dismiss their case as a result as you could see in his face that he was not happy with the idea that they made a statement with no evidence to back it up and he also saw in my statement i regularly pay for parking at that location and can see no reason why i would intentionally skip a day.

However he also looked at my countercliam and dismissed it without giving me the opportunity to argue for it, he merely said they were within their rights to pursue.

Although i would have liked the opportunity to argue otherwise.

Shame but overall least i won.

Thanks,

NewbieAndy