Total parking solutions/ ie legal solicitors

[Deleted User]

1. Law (unless you are a lawyer) is dull. Thus TV makes it all a bit more exciting. Attending County Court actually involves:
* finding a 60's concrete lump in your town centre,
* spending 90 minutes waiting there,
* before having a hearing that lasts between 10-30 mins

2. You will discover that:
* judges in the county court are not expecting you to be tooled up with lawyers or fully familiar with the process,
* A court room looks very much like an office meeting room or dining room (i.e. not much in it apart from a big table in the middle) and a judge at one end - suited (no wigs, gowns or other fancy dress),
* you will almost certainly know the facts of your case better than the Claimant's representative (it's probably your only one, after all).
* There is such a thing as a County Court Fees office. If it all goes belly up, you can actually pay before you leave the premises and keep that nice credit score that you worked so hard for.

3. And in the words of the British Army, I commend to you the 6 P's:
Proper-Preparation-Prevents-P***-Poor-Performance

The_Deep

I was the defendant in a claim, (RTA), where both sides were represented by very young barristers. I was somewhat concerned at the incompetence of both. luckily for me, mine was less incompetent than the claimant's and I won.

Quentin

miladm1067 wrote: »

......If I do lose in court will it be the exact amount they are saying? or will it be at a fairer rate?

If you lose then the judgement will be the original claim plus extra court fee for the hearing and any interest accrued since the issue of the claim (assuming they have put interest down in the claim) plus any allowable expenses the judge awards them)

Though you also can ask for your allowed expenses for attending if you win

miladm1067

Thank you for your responses. What would they expect me to say? Would anyone be there with me?

miladm1067

Is it worth me trying to arrange payment with them? The letter they sent me absolutely ripped apart my pathetic defence. I feel like going court will only raise my debt? Need some advice:(

Quentin

No-one can advise you on what to do .

This has to be your call

[Deleted User]

The letter they sent me absolutely ripped apart my pathetic defence.

Did it really? Or did it simply reassert their position? Their "you can still pay now" letter is not much different to the usual "you can still discontinue without having to pay my costs or incur your advocate's brief fee" letter sent by Defendants on this forum.

Litigation does involve poker. I like to "turn the screw" on my opponents to make them fold, but that doesn't always mean I have a better case than them....

As to the trial risk, I'm all in favour of cutting loose if a claim is doomed to failure (it's cheaper to do that). However, when I weigh up that call, I need to be convinced that my opponent is more likely than not going to win. If you post their latest letter in full (names redacted) we can consider it, but as noted several times, this was always going to involve the potential for a Court hearing and the litigation risk that you may or may not win.

That risk is managed (but not eliminated) by doing some research and learning you stuff so as to present your arguments. Most cases aren't wholly unique, so there will be a lot of material on the forums to look at.

miladm1067

will contacting them to discuss my options hurt my case in any way?

Quentin

Have you checked the bmpa site to see what they been up to since being told on page 1 of your thread?

Their court hearings so far this year should help you decide!

You were also advised what to expect as their mo. Which is just what they are doing!

miladm1067

0 court hearing this year... I feel like I will be the 1st lol. The only reason I am panicking is because my defence was rubbish