I visited the court today and paid the £85 trial fee at the civil counter. At least now I can continue to focus on my case.

@jk2054 I'm presuming you're referring to the counter open times at the court Mon-Fri 10-4? If so, I am thinking to just go to the court on a weekday when I get some free time

No, i haven't had one for about 10+ years. I am thinking of just going to the court in person and pay at the counter

@jk2054 thanks for sharing that number. I called it today and was informed that they are not linked with Leicester County Court so they cannot take payment. I've been referred back to Leicester County Court to make the trial fee payment. Deadline is in just over 2 weeks to pay the trial fee (10 May). Sending another email now to Leicester County Court asking for a call back, and am also calling them hoping to get through to an operator.

@jk2054 and @BankFodder - Your feedbacks in posts #199 and #202 have been incorporated into the attached WS. As usual, amends are in blue in this draft. Based on other WS drafts I've seen where the issues in dispute are part of the WS, I built my first draft WS in the same format and hadn't seen it to be an issue before. You will notice that the 'witness statement' has been replaced with 'Claimant's Statement' so that issues in dispute does not need to be on a separate page before the WS. This is especially given the work that has gone in to reduce the size of the WS to 8 pages. Also thanks for the suggestions re: confidentiality - I agree with your views and will stand firm on this if a condition of confidentiality is brought up. I have not been approached by Evri on this forum or by email. I haven't yet had success in paying the hearing fee. I am calling the court as often as I can (during work breaks/lunch etc.) and have sent 2 emails to the court requesting a call back. If i don't have any success by the end of this week, I'll send another email chasing for a call back. @BankFodder - Also attached is an invoice from Packlink which shows that I was charged by Packlink for these services: "drop-off at EVRi - Next day delivery" and "Proof of Delivery". It also has the payer's address and there are "Origin" and "Destination" fields which have the postcode of the sender and the recipient (I have redacted personal details in the attached invoice). I am already including this in my evidence bundle (without the redaction) but wanted to share this redacted version so that other people can consider this as example in their bundle of Packlink and Evri's contract being instigated by the sender of the parcel who has paid for the service, and further shows that there is information in the invoice to identify that a third party beneficiary (sender / recipient) is present in the contract between Packlink and Evri. If this invoice is no good, then please let me know / delete it from this post. Draft - Witness Statement and Court Bundle redacted.pdf Packlink invoice - REDACTED.pdf

Thanks @jk2054 I'll incorporate your feedback in #199 into the WS. I'll stick to just the claim value and interest, as I understand that it is not simple to quantify other expenses such as time spent, lost work, etc.

Hi, yes i did claim interest in the particulars of claim. I just thought it needed to also be mentioned in the WS - if it doesn't need to be in WS, then happy to take it out. @jk2054 yes, blue font is only used in the draft WS so the amends are easily visible. Final version of WS will be in black font.

Updated WS attached incorporating the above feedback (post #193). Re the bits of the Law commission report that are not referred to in the index, I was under the impression that only the extract from the contents page was being included. I have now included Sections 3.1 - 3.4 in the index which are referenced in paragraphs 21 - 22. The WS has reduced to 8 pages and the re-structuring helps it to flow a lot better now, with a conclusion on my position provided at the end of the WS. In this conclusion, paragraph 41 has been added to invite the court to agree that I am allowed to enforce my rights against Evri and to hold them accountable to pay the claim value and 8% interest on this value. This is my first ever WS so I'm just being upfront in the WS to the court/judge as I don't know if amounts awarded (where relevant) by a Judge/court includes 8% interest. I couldn't see any other place (apart from the POC) where this should be stated in the WS or if at all. Draft - Witness Statement and Court Bundle redacted.pdf

Updated WS attached which incorporates the feedback in post #189: removed entire section on the defendant's insurance requirement. paragraphs 5-9 with all values now merged into 1 paragraph (paragraph 5) and remaining paragraphs deleted. To remove any remaining references to the Consumer Rights Act, the previous paragraph 50 has been removed as it referred to the point in the Farooq vs EVRi transcript where the judge is attempting to rely on the consumer rights act even though the claim in that case had forfeited the benefit of the act. @BankFodder I do see your point about referring to the insurance as an unfair term intended to exclude or limit liability under the unfair contract terms act 1977, and this is supported by paragraphs 29, 30, and 32 in the WS, which highlight that liability cannot be excluded or restricted as per Sections 2 and 3 of the 1977 Act. I have kept a copy of the previous draft WS with the section on defendant's insurance requirement so that I can still memorise the key points in it without referring to the Consumer Rights Act. I think the WS sits alot better now and that we may need to consider the order of the paragraphs so that it flows more concisely. Thank you for all the help in getting the WS to this stage! Draft - Witness Statement and Court Bundle redacted.pdf

Amends made to WS to incorporate feedback from posts #186 - 187. Attached is the updated WS pdf and amends are in blue font. @BankFodder answers in orange to your Qs: Para 50 did the judge really say this? I haven't looked at the case carefully enough. Please could you post up the quote from the case. Yes, the wording used in that paragraph is from the court transcript (bold in extract below): 22. EVRi would have the option, should they wish to do so, to bring a claim against Parcel2Go to recover any award that the Court may make today but it would be unfair and I am required to take into account the Consumer Rights Act and consider the general fairness in this matter for Mr Farooq as a consumer and as a user of the services provided by EVRi in considering this matter as a whole. Para 2 has this been admitted? This has not been admitted. This paragraph has now been amended in the attached WS. @jk2054 thanks for providing the CC number. I tried it a couple of times but it just rang out. I then rang the usual CC number and still got no where. Will keep trying. Draft - Witness Statement and Court Bundle redacted.pdf

Changes (in blue font) made to the WS to incorporate the feedback in post #181 - Updated WS attached for review. I find The subheadings help make the WS easier to read / understand. I just wanted to clarify whether this point should say it is the claimant's position instead of the defendant (in orange below): old paragraph 31 as has been stated earlier on in this witness statement, the defendant has not produced any arguments whatsoever as to why the claimant should be excluded as an entitled third-party. The defendant has simply given a bland denial that the claimant is entitled to exercise third-party rights. Therefore it is the defendant's position that I think there are paragraphs that may be making the same point (e.g., paragraphs 21 & 28, and 23 & 31) and a shortened WS will be welcome once the WS is finally finished. I'm still waiting for a call from the court following my email so that the trial fee can be paid. Will keep this thread updated. Draft - Witness Statement and Court Bundle redacted.pdf

Attached is the updated WS which incorporates the feedback from post #167 including referencing to Part III and Part IV of the Privity of Contracts extract, and also a shortened case summary. @BankFodder i agree with your feedback that it is getting more convoluted and the paragraph numbers are a mess. I have tried my best to sort out the paragraphs/numbering in the attached WS. I have worked out the date for filing the bundle to be 24th May at the latest - this is 14 days before the hearing date of 7th June. Draft - Witness Statement and Court Bundle redacted.pdf

@jk2054 thanks, I have emailed the court today asking for a call to pay the fee. I have received an automated email response that due to an increased workload, they are currently progressing work at approx. 29 days. So looks like it could still be a further month before I hear back from the court (hopefully sooner if workloads reduce). I will keep on with calling the court and hope to speak to an operator to make payment. Payment needs to be made by 10th May latest or the claim will then be struck out. Fingers crossed the fee is paid before that happens.

Hi, what is Northants bulk? I've just googled this which finds bulky item/waste collections by Northamptonshire council

I have tried calling the court, and have also emailed the court to ask if payment can be made online - still waiting for a reply. I haven't found any information that shows the payment can be made online and used the old MCOL system as this claim started in July 2023 last year. The old system does not give any option to make a payment for the trial fee. If there is a website on which payment for the trial fee can be made, I would be grateful if someone can point me to this.