The main issue was, I had no real idea what I was doing. I didn't understand most of what I was reading on this site, and didn't know how to use it. So I didn't understand most of the arguments I relied on. It seemed that the judge didn't even really look at much of that. She mentioned where I brought up that they didn't have right to manage the car park, and referred to the document I sent you, which showed that they did have a right. Aside from that, she didn't mention anything else as such from my defence. it's done now. Lesson for me to learn is not to to ignore it. I can see that in my case, if I had contacted the parking company and explained what had happened, it would have given me a better chance. Then if it got to court, it would look like I had tried to resolve the issue beforehand, and that I had tried to avoid going to court. But as it stood, it looked like I did nothing to explain myself, forcing the claimant to rack up unnecessary costs in order to take me to court. She didn't take kindly to that and felt I should compensate them with something. Unfortunately that's just how my case went. Given that my defence at that stage was so weak, I needed assistance from someone more familiar with these matters, because I clearly was not.

Yep, And she definitely said 14 days!! I thought she’d got that wrong too. maybe she tried to stitch me up?

Well, to be honest, I felt they had me bang to rights from the start, so I should have tried to plead with them. In this case, If I had contacted the parking company and said I made a genuine mistake from the off, and they had continued to pursue it in the courts, the judge I had today would have acknowledged that and would have said you tried to explain and would not have ruled in their favour. But who knows, it might not have made a blind bit of difference to another judge. Anyway, I know better if it ever happens again.

Hi all, as I figured, my defence wasn't so good. They took my mitigating circumstances into account so that let me off with filing late witness statements. They accepted my defence but what went against me was the fact that I did not state that earlier to the parking company. The judge said, if I had stated that earlier, she would have viewed the matter differently, but the fact that I had let it get to this stage without asking them to consider the reason why I had got the ticket, she has to rule in their favour. Also, that they provided all the info I had asked them for and showed clearly that all the usual arguments had been met e.g. clear signage, authority to manage the parking area etc. However, she said I only needed to pay the ticket price, solicitors and admin. She was not going to allow all the cost they asked for or the interest. Which is still a lot cheaper than what I had expected. The lesson I learnt was not to ignore the ticket. The judge didn't like the fact that I did nothing, which forced the parking company to take it all the way to court, which cost them unnecessary expenses.

Thank you

Hi again, My case is due to be heard tomorrow. What can I expect to happen? I'm just checking that I can turn up in person. Anyone available to advise?

Sorry, I was not able to do work on this case on Saturday as I had so many things to do and was out that evening as well. I picked up your last message about being available on Sunday late. In the meant time, I have sent the court a mitigating email to ask for an extension, so will see what happens, but will continue to work on the WS and submit it anyway. As you've already stated, at this late state, I have nothing else to lose anyway. I can continue working on this later tonight if anyone is available then, I would appreciate the help.

I would appreciate your help on Sunday afternoon. I will try to get the witness statements in by then for you to review. Re: being pessimistic, it is because I cannot really prove that I was not there at the alleged period of the contravention, other than the people who were there with me, saying we did not arrive at 7am. I think the Judge will look at everything and think, why did i not respond when initially notified, and why I had let it go all the way to court. It is a waste of everyone's time and money. If Gladstones is aware they are less likely to win if absent, why would they not attend? Just my thoughts but I will be here Sunday for any support on offer.

Probably Monday. Is the judge likely to take the testimonies of two of my friends anyway? It hardly seems worth the bother now, although I will continue since I've come this far. Is it worth considering mediation? Apparently I still have the option.

I hope so, but so far, it looks like I have lucked out. They seemed to have dotted all the I's and crossed all the Ts on this one.

Hi all, Yes, I contacted the courts yesterday and they confirmed that the court date is 23rd June. They advised that they would be posting out another 157 form but stated that they had already sent one. They cannot email it to me to get it any quicker. They also confirmed that the deadline for WS was 11th April, but that I can let the judge know I did not get the original 157 form. Not a good start. The tenant will be out of the country come the court date but has agreed to provide me with a witness statement to confirm that my car did not arrive on her estate until 7pm that day and not 7am. Also, a friend that was also in the car when it arrived on the estate will provide a witness statement to confirm that the arrangement that day was to pick her up and then go to the estate. We are wondering if phone records that day can show that there was call made on the day which would collaborate with the events of the day e.g. call to witness being picked up to say the driver was downstairs waiting for her, and calls to the tenant to advise of ETA etc whilst on route to her address in London. Other than that, I have no other defence I can think of. Apparently it is still not too late to agree to mediation but at this late stage, I reckon Gladstones would not accept. They have paid out all costs now so no point them turning back, just to give me a lighter penalty so to speak - if you get my drift. Anyway, that's the update so far. Unfortunately, nothing that I have provided so far seems sufficient enough to win. The fact that Gladstones will not be at court does not seem to be a win in my favour by default because they have provided enough pictures etc to show they have met their requirements. My failing is, that I did not respond to the parking company earlier. Had I done so, I could have proved that the car was on my drive at the time of the alleged contravention. Any other suggestions at this 11th hour? I note there has not been any feedback following production of the tenancy agreement.

These are the only other relevant paperwork I've got to hand. Will contact the court to get a copy of the other document Finally got a copy of the Tenancy agreement. It is 16 pages long so I have only uploaded the section on parking as the other sections don't appear to be relevant. I'm just wondering whether the court had actually sent me a N157 Notice of allocation to small claims track? I assumed they did because I knew I saw a date somewhere. However, I may well have been referring to the date from the claimant's Witness statement. I will check with the courts anyway. GS letters+Court N271+my tenancy parking.pdf

I had the letter and now have misplaced it somewhere among the mountains of papers all around me. I am trying to deal with a number of other legal matters aside from this situation, hence the feeling of being overwhelmed. I will have to contact the courts to see if they can send me another but I remember the date was 23 June.

I have checked all my paperwork received and I don't seem to have a N157 Notice of allocation to small claims track still trying to send what I do have I hope this one goes through Claimants WS.pdf

Hi, You said to send everything which I tried to do but it said the file was too large. I hadn't even included all the pictures because I had previously sent them. I will try again. It took me hours to do and I still hadn't done it properly.