counter claims advice and is it worth it?

fineandandy · 6 July 2017 at 2:52PM

hi we are in the process of submitting a defence against a court claim application from civil enforcement limited and wondered about the counter claim section.
a/ has anyone any experience of this process and
b/ is it worth doing and how much is a reasonable amount to claim for based on receiving letters and general hassle type harassment.
c/ is it better to just put a defence in and hope that is the end of the matter?

thanks for any advice given

bargepole · 6 July 2017 at 3:05PM

fineandandy wrote: »

hi we are in the process of submitting a defence against a court claim application from civil enforcement limited and wondered about the counter claim section.
a/ has anyone any experience of this process and
b/ is it worth doing and how much is a reasonable amount to claim for based on receiving letters and general hassle type harassment.
c/ is it better to just put a defence in and hope that is the end of the matter?

thanks for any advice given

Answers as follows:

a/ Some people have done this (see Prankster blog). Outcomes have been mixed.

b/ You are unlikely to succeed with a claim for harassment. Better to counterclaim on the basis that CEL breached the Data Protection Act, but ONLY if you can establish with 100% certainty that no offence occurred, and they had no right to obtain and process your data.

c/ There's more to it than that. Please see the links in the NEWBIES section.

Herzlos · 6 July 2017 at 3:42PM

A counter-claim also makes it impossible for them to just drop the claim at the last minute, so you're forcing them to turn up and waste even more money.

You'd be claiming for your wasted costs and a DPA breach if you win (because they misused your data).

System · 6 July 2017 at 4:01PM

Counterclaims are useful but perhaps the better way is to wait until you are at the Witness Statement stage and bang in a Letter before Claim then.

The only time anyone ever sees all the cards on the table is at the WS. So a no-cost LBC at the WS stage means that if you win, you can immediately follow up with the claim using the initial case as the basis of your counterclaim against them.

If you lose the first case you won't have wasted £50 in fees plus £xx costs they may want to add on.

If they drop the case in period between the WS and the hearing you have enough information to decide if you want to take it further.

The PPC's whole business is built on people folding at the LBC/Claim stage so why not use it against them too.

Umkomaas · 6 July 2017 at 4:13PM

^^ I like that advice, IaE ^^

The_Deep · 6 July 2017 at 4:22PM

When you ask "is it worth it" what do you mean?

Financially, probably not, you are unlikely to recoup enough to pay for a weekend in Klosters, but in the amount of annoyance causes them, infinitey so.

How satisfied Ms Jopson must have been to win this.

http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/milton-keynes-woman-secures-landmark-victory-for-flat-tenants-in-parking-dispute-1-7459066

Timothea · 6 July 2017 at 6:56PM

Harassment is notoriously difficult to prove. The level of distress and anxiety caused by a parking charge and a few threatening letters is very unlikely to meet the threshold for harassment. A data protection breach, if one has occurred, is often easier to prove.

So, if you are sure you have a solid defence and if you are confident that you can prove a breach of the Data Protection Act has occurred then you might be able to extract some money from the PPC.

IamEnamresu's approach is very sensible, whereas counterclaiming is more aggressive and riskier. Sometimes, the PPC won't bother to defend a counterclaim but, on the other hand, some judges may dismiss counterclaims because they think they are frivolous.

In order to establish whether a data protection breach has occurred, you need to find out how the PPC obtained your personal data and for what purpose. You can ask DVLA whether they provided your personal data to anyone. Just send an email to [EMAIL="subjectaccess.requests@dvla.gsi.gov.uk"]subjectaccess.requests@dvla.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL] explaining that you believe your personal data may have been misused and requesting when, to whom and for what purpose your personal data were provided. Obviously, include the VRN and the date range when you think this might have occurred.

Post #1 of the following thread shows a list of possible data protection breaches. Post #18 shows an example of an LBA / LBC / LBCCC.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5585388

Ryandavis1959 · 6 July 2017 at 10:31PM

Someone put on Facebook that Barry Beavis was representing a motorist in a counter claim against Smart Parking either Tuesday or Wednesday this week. I have been waiting for a further update to see how much his client will win as if it's a large amount it will no doubt open the floodgates here in Scotland!

Umkomaas · 6 July 2017 at 10:43PM

Ryandavis1959 wrote: »

Someone put on Facebook that Barry Beavis was representing a motorist in a counter claim against Smart Parking either Tuesday or Wednesday this week. I have been waiting for a further update to see how much his client will win as if it's a large amount it will no doubt open the floodgates here in Scotland!

Interesting, keep us informed.

We wee Sassenachs, nae ken hee haw.

Half_way · 6 July 2017 at 11:30PM

Counterclaims worth it?
it all depends on why the ticket was issued in the first place, and the OP, fineanddandy hasn't offered that infomration

counter claims advice and is it worth it?

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