There is still no new company. It was an idea, and we discussed equity share etc. I did the work on the product based on that equity share. Once the work was done, he used it for his other company. And then decided to not form the new company with me after a disagreement. I guess there's not much I can do about that. Just chalk it off. Even though I don't really understand why HE owns the software and not me? I put much more of my professional time into it than he paid me for it. However, the June and July work - where him and his staff have asked me to do work via email, and there is evidence I have done that work, I am hoping that is something I am able to claim for via MCOL. The history of 2.5 years of work for him, all paid the same amount every month. Along with over 100 emails sent to me over the last 2 months. Surely a court wouldn't expect me to do that work for free? Regarding the blackmail issue if anyone qualified is able to let me know where I stand I'd be very grateful.

I am an IT contractor with my own Ltd company. I started building web software for a client 2.5 years ago (lets call it Product 1). There was never any written contract between us. I would go in every month, demo what I'd built in the previous month, discuss what my client wanted in the following month, and get an invoice paid for £3000. As I already have other clients I work for during the day, I worked on the stuff on evenings and weekends. It was extra income for my company, rather than my main income. Product 1 has been live for over 2 years, and my client has many of his customers using it. I'd go as far as to say the software is now the backbone of his company. In April, he asked me if I wanted to form a new company to build a Product 2, loosely based on Product 1. I agreed and did 12-18 hour days throughout May on Product 2 (and some Product 1) in May, for which he paid me the standard £3000. I estimate that at my standard day rate I did 9-12k's worth of work that month. That was the last invoice I got paid, During June and July I received many phone calls and emails off both my client, members of his staff and even his customers requesting work, which I then did. There must be over 100 emails during this period. I put in a £3k invoice for June at the end of June, and was planning to invoice for July now. The company never got created. We had a disagreement on how the company would work regarding salaries. He then told me he was going to form a new company building Product 2 with another IT consultant. He agreed verbally at that point to pay my 3k per month for June and July and still use me for support and maintenance going forward. Yesterday he told me he is no longer paying me for June and July. He used a throwaway comment I made about "sometimes work ends up being quicker than it was estimated at". I currently host both sites in my hosting account, although Product 1 is paid for by his company credit card. Product 2 is paid by my credit card. He has no access to the hosting environment. He owns the domain names for both sites. I sent him an email last night demanding payment for June and July. I laid out everything I have said above, and stated at the bottom that if payment was not made, I would immediately stop support and maintenance of the sites, and take any other action I deemed fit (both software and otherwise), after legal advice. Today I received a letter from his solicitor stating the his client disagreed with my account, and that the last paragraph constitutes blackmail under Section 21 of the Theft Act 1968. That's a bit heavy. I have done 2 months worth of work for no payment, been removed from the potential new company I did all the extra effort for, and am now being told I am blackmailing him. In reality, if I do not get paid then MY company has losses. Also, Product 2 hosting is being paid for with my credit card, and both products are reliant on external services that I also pay for. The last paragraph is not blackmail, but simply me trying to avoid further losses by having to support and maintain a site and pay for external services without recompense from my client. I am then thinking I need to tackle the situation in 2 different ways. Firstly - the unpaid work - I can go through MCOL and use all the emails sent to me requesting m to do work through June and July as evidence. Secondly - what happens in future - I can offer to zip up and export the sites to him for a fixed one-off fee, which will be at my day rate for the amount of work required. He can then take this and give it to another developer to host, install, support and maintain, I don't think he realises that another developer picking it up will take months and cost him more to pay that other person that he owes me. The other option I can give him is that I continue supporting it for a new negotiated monthly fee, and then his problems disappear. I just want anyone's advice on whether I'm doing the right thing. The blackmail thing concerns me, and I am up against a solicitor here. If I explain that the statement was not blackmail but me avoiding my own future losses, will that be ok? And if I give my client the options to pay me to export the site, or carry on supporting it myself for a new fee, then do you feel that would be seen as me being reasonable if it escalated?

Just to confirm, this 2-line defence you are talking about - this the the actual defence I submit to MCOL yes?

Is this not relying on the court to allow me to amend my defence if they do not strike the claim? I'm worried here that I'll send the 2 line defence, and that'll be it - the claim won't be stricken, and I won't be able to amend my defence, therefore the pre-Pofa stuff will be excluded? When I first went on forums and told people about the circumstances of my ticket, pretty much every one of them said "don't worry, it's pre-Pofa - they can only go after the driver, not the RK". So you can understand why I'm concerned about submitting a defence that doesn't include that? Seems really risky?

2 line defence? Nothing about pre-pofa? Surely pre-pofa should be the crux of the defence?

I have to submit my defence by Friday. The bit that worries me here, is that it seems to be concentrating on the fact that Gladstones aren't doing their job properly (dodgy pocs), rather than the individual issues, such as the "event" being pre-Pofa and not knowing the RK, signage etc. Now I believe that once I submit this defence, I can't change it? So isn't this a risky thing to submit? Shouldn't I be putting everything I can think of down as a defence? defence: 1. This is the skeleton defence of the Defendant, [Your name here]. 2. The Claimant has not complied with the pre-court protocols. They are a speculative serial litigant, issuing a large number of identical claims whether there is a cause of action or not. 3. These Particulars I. Do disclose reasonable grounds to bring a claim II. Are an abuse of process III. Fail to comply with Part 16.4 4. We request that the Claimant files a coherent statement of facts which, if true, disclose a legally recognisable claim in line with the Civil Procedure Rules. The defendant believes this is necessary to avoid the courts becoming clogged with trivial disputes based on the Claimant's negligence and misrepresentation, which bring the law into disrepute and harms the interests of parties who would be responsible for the costs of such actions. 5. The Defendant is embarrassed to plead further in light of the deficient particulars. The Defendant is entitled to know the case they have to meet. In addition the Claimant failed to respond to a Part 18 request sent on xx/xx/xx in an attempt to identify a cause of action 6. No admissions are made with regards to the claim. The Claimant is required to prove the same. 7. If the court is not minded to strike out such deficient Particulars, the Defendant therefore will address any inaccuracies or misleading information in my Witness Statement, and Skeleton Argument. STATEMENT OF TRUTH I believe the facts stated within this witness statement are true.

Will do. Thanks.

I gather that. I just thought that I should try and get hold of all documentation. The ticket. The images of the car with the ticket on. The image of the signage. The planning permission for the sign. the contract between the PPC and the landowner. The DVLA records of how they got my address etc. And most inportantly for me, as my main defence would be putting the onus on them to prove who the driver was, as it's pre PoFA, I wanted to know if they had any proof of who was driving e.g. CCTV. And making sure all this was valid 4 years ago - contracts, planning, everything. They may have different contracts a now. And then use all that in deciding what to put in my defence. Maybe I'm expecting a bit much. The car park From what I can gather off you guys Here is the car park - just this little 6 car one https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.618846,-3.9404724,3a,75y,104.73h,62.04t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFHo_1DFwM-9av4gErJ4_0Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 incidentally, the PPC is itself is based inside that office block. They have a deal with the landlord to manage the car park.

What I'm trying to avoid, is them producing documentation I don't know about, on the day. If my main defence is pre-PofA and they need to prove that the RK was driving, I want to make sure I know they haven't got anything like CCTV, preferably BEFORE I submit my defence. If I don't need the documents, what was the point of sending a 31.14 then? Just to show unreasonable behaviour?

I need the documentation. I want to know what they're planning to use against me? It was over 4 years ago. I've lost any original documentation they sent out. I don't know if they have CCTV footage or anything? Surely that's stuff I need to be aware of when choosing a defence?

ok the 31.14 has just been sent. I don't expect to hear anything back, however if I don't get anything, I can use it alongside the Poc as evidence of "unreasonable behaviour" in the hearing? I think it may be wise to send a SAR to the PPC now, starting the 40 day deadline?

I'm about to send that CPR 31.14 request using your standard template, but I'm asking for the a verified and legible copy of each of the documents mentioned in the Poc. The problem is, the Poc doesn't mention any documents? Should I just be asking for all documents they plan to rely on?

How can I formulate a defence on no contract or little other no signage if I don't get the documentation on which they're going to rely? I have no pictures of the signage they had at the time, or contracts, and I'm unlikely to get it before I need to submit my defence?

Ok thanks. I believe that Gladstone are likely to ignore the request, which leaves me with the option of sending a SAR to the PPC. However I'm unlikely to get that information back before I need to get my defence in. So I guess that leaves me having to formulate my defence without any idea of the documents they will rely on. No signage, no ticket, no idea of whether they're trying for breach of contract or trespass or whatever. And I can't change my defence afterwards? Seems a bit unfair that?

Yes remove it if you think it'll do me harm. I'll write a new one tomorrow

I haven't actually sent it yet - I may have overdone it a bit. Part 18 AND 31.14 AND my main defence. Maybe I'm trying to get everything in. Just hoping they'll drop it. Let me know if I have and I can edit it. [removed]- dx

Yes. An no defence submitted yet, so I believe I have until Dec 10th to do so.

Name of the Claimant - Millennium Door and Event Security Date of issue – 8 Nov 2016 Date to submit defence = - 9th dec by 4pm What is the claim for – DATE-XX July 2012 DESCRIPTION: MY REG AMOUNT - £125 DUE DATE - XX AUG 2012 Total Due - £125 AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS The Claimant claims the sum of £167.25 for Parking charges and indemnity costs if applicable including £42.25 interest pursuant to S.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 Rate %8.00 pa from date above to 07/11/16 Same rate to Judgement or (sooner) payment Daily rate to Judgement £0.03 Total debt and interest £167.25 ******************************** What is the value of the claim? £125 plus 42.25 interest plus 50.00 Legal representative costs plus 25 court fee = £242.25 Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim ? the original PPC. Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Don't know what this means - is that the original notice from 2012?

Hi, Only just come across this forum after doing a bit of research myself, so I'm partially through the process, but would like input on anything I'm doing right or wrong, or have missed anything important out. History ---------------- Date of parking "event" was July 2012. PPC is a smallish one, local to me, as is the car park. I can give specific details, but I'm not sure that's wise on here? PPC I *think* was BPA at the time, but has since moved across to IPC. Ticket was apparently placed on car. Any notices that were sent out (can't remember if there were any, as they were a common occurrence back then) were ignored, as was standard practice at the time. Heard nothing more until January 2016, where post-Beavis they must've trawled through all their old cases and reactivated them via a letter from Gladstones. I requested documentation - they sent me out images of car with ticket on and I *think* picture of signage. I heard nothing more for months, thought it had gone away, stupidly binned the documentation, and then in September received an really poor attempt at an LBC from Gladstones. It contained the date, the amount and a pointer back at "previous documentation sent". I sent Gladstones an EMAIL (mistake?) requesting that they sent proper LBC with clear statement of facts, list of relevant documents, how the amount had been calculated and any ADR offering. The next thing I got was the Court Papers. The Poc basically says nothing apart from the date, the costs and claiming the sum of the original £125 + 42.25 interest, along with the court fee and legal representative fees bringing the costs up to £250 Where I am with it. ----------------------------------------- My research tells me that as the event was over 4 years, was pre-Pofa, and i have no idea who was driving, the case should never make it to court as they shouldn't be able to go after the Registered Keeper. Only the driver. There were multiple people insured to drive the car at that time (I have the old insurance certificate) However I gather that it all depends on the judge - judges can be unpredictable. So I'm still doing research. I'm about to send a Part 18 and a 31.14 request to Gladstones for information regarding the PPC/Landowner contract etc and also to get all documentation through so I can defend myself. I gather it's likely Gladstones will ignore my request. I think it may be a good idea to send a SAR to the PPC and try and get the documentation off them too? Without that documentation, without knowing exactly what they plan to rely on, I can only really use a standard templated defence, including the fact that it's pre-PofA and they haven't provided proof I was driving. I can only hope that they don't have any further evidence (such as CCTV footage) and try and spring it on me in the hearing. Is there anything else I can do, or should be doing? Thanks Cal