Court Mediation Scheme

sparkie17

Hope someone can help me as I have searched the threads but cannot find any mention of a Mediation Scheme anywhere else. The story so far is that I have gone through MCOL and taken Natwest to court. It has now reached the stage where it has been transferred to my local County Court. I have received the Allocation Questionnaire from the court and have found a really helpful reply to this on the forum. Thanks guys!! But the court has also sent me a letter about a Court Mediation Service at the local court and I do not know what to do. There is a reply form attached where there is a box that I can tick saying "No I do not want to try the mediation service and understand that I may face a costs sanction if the District Judge finds my refusal unreasonable. My reasons for refusing to mediate are:. . . " There is also a NOTE underneath which states "You may be required to attend court to explain a refusal" Please can soemone help/advise me as to what I should do!!!

penguin83

The Mediation Scheme is relatively new and has been trialled in a few areas with a good success rate. Basically the idea behind it is that the parties get together with a court officer and try to resolve the issues and reach an agreement between themselves rather than going to court. We have introduced the scheme due to the sheer amount of work coming through the civil courts at the moment. In theory if we can get more cases to settle out of court then it will ease the waiting times for a court hearing on those cases that need to be before a judge. I must admit though we havent been using them for bank claims and it may be worth phoning the court in the morning to see whether they send the info out to everyone or if they have decided to include bank claims in the scheme.

sparkie17

Thanks for that I'll try it in the morning and let you know how I get on.

sparkie17

Just to let you know that I phoned my local court this morning and they advised me that they are sending this out to everyone as a matter of course. I wasn't being singled out. So not sure what to do now. Natwest have already offered two different amounts of money which I have rejected as they were a lot less than I was asking for (£600 less). Would it be best to go to mediation or not? Also I have to pay another £100, does anyone know if I will incur any more costs if it goes to mediation. Thanks!

olliehayman

I am unsure of what to with the mediation form as well. Can anyone help? Thanks

olliehayman

Please!! Someone help. I have a mediation form looking at me and I don't want to send off the allocation questionnaire without it, as it says I have to send it as well.