PPC Court Claims 2012: The results are in!

bargepole

I now have the response to my FOI request to the Ministry of Justice, for the details of Court Claims issued by members of the BPA AOS Scheme in 2012. This was in the same format as the request 12 months ago for the 2011 figures. (2011 numbers in brackets).

Total number of Court Claims issued = 600 (845)

Total number of above which proceeded to a contested Hearing= 34 (49)

Total number of above where Judgment for Claimant (the PPC) was ordered = 14 (24)

Please note that the 34 figure excludes any Judgments in Default, i.e. where the defendant failed to respond to the court papers.

Of the 566 claims which didn’t result in a hearing, some will be because the defendant admitted the claim and paid up, and others because the PPC dropped the claim when a defence was submitted, or because they failed to pay the Hearing Fee.

One reason why the number of Claims was lower than the previous year, may well be because of the VCS v HMRC Judgment, published in May 2012, which at the time dictated that claims could only be made by a party who had a proprietary interest in the land. This has since been reversed on appeal as from March this year.

The success rate by PPCs in contested claims has also dropped, from just under 50% to 41%, which may be the result of more people knowing the proper grounds on which to defend.

The figures for 2013 are expected to be vastly different from the above, we have already seen an exponential rise in the number of claims in the first few months, although not necessarily a similar increase in the number proceeding to Court.

peter_the_piper

Thanks for the info, quite illuminating. I assume the increase in court claims(2013) is due to the possibility of getting more money, cheaper to claim and the fear factor. Its much more daunting to get a court claim than a mere popla hearing which can be ignored.

Stroma

Yes was expecting that, did you ask for a breakdown of per company for this year ? And regarding this year, there are going to be some questions asked on why in 2011 there were 845 claims, and 2012 there were 600.

And 2013 promises to be a big rise on those figures, yet pofa 2012 and popla were mean't to bring less court cases not a huge increase. The lies by the parking industry and bpa needs to be questioned.

peter_the_piper

But they won't. they weaseled out when presented with the facts back last year, they sure are'nt going to rock the boat now and show themselves up.

rew37

It would be interesting to know that of the 14 where the PPC 'won', whether they were awarded the full amount they were seeking, or if they only received what were considered to be actual losses.

rew37

Stroma wrote: »

And 2013 promises to be a big rise on those figures, yet pofa 2012 and popla were mean't to bring less court cases not a huge increase. The lies by the parking industry and bpa needs to be questioned.

While it would certainly appear more that claims have been issued by PPC's, it remains to be seen how many actually make it to court. 14 'wins' from 600 claims isn't great odds of victory. Hopefully someone somewhere will wake up and tag the scammers as vextitious litigants. Not holding my breath on that one though.

Stroma

It's 14 wins out of the 34 that went there, as bargepole said that 566 didn't go that far, so if you go on the 41% win ratio it's a huge risk for PE, obviously all they are looking for is people to cave at the initial point. If they drop too many they risk being vextexious litigants. If that happens the whole house of cards will fall down.

rew37

Yes, even 41% isn't great odds - no wonder they don't try it too often! It would be interesting to find out details of those 14 wins though, were they just poorly defended? Did people accept they made a contract? Were the PPC's awarded the full settlement they were seeking? How did they convince the judge the fees weren't unlawful penalties?

The_Slithy_Tove

Ignorant/sympathetic judges? Poor defences?

The question is, what is the breakdown of those 566 claims that didn’t result in a hearing? How many
(a) were settled out of court, i.e. the victim was intimidated into paying
(b) were dropped when a good defence was submitted
(c) were default judgements?
If certain PPCs were investigated for being potential vexatious litigants, could they use (a) as a defence to claim they had a case? It's the (b) category that would be key for doing damage to them. Trouble is, getting that figure is probably unachievable.

Edit: Thinking about it, the number that make it to court is so low, even weaker defences may fall into category (b). They are more likely to pursue all the way serial "offenders" where the sums are larger and the returns greater. And any that get transferred to inconvenient courts or, say, a certain north Lincolnshire town where they may run into the likes of Judge McIlwane, would be dropped like hot potatoes.

Maybe we should suggest all those with court papers to choose that town as their preferred court

rew37

Is that he of the 'bring a toothbrush' fame? Without ever meeting him, I really like that man!

cb1979

posted in wrong place