UKPC Trashed in Reading Court

bargepole

As the Prankster is taking a bit of a break, here is a report from today's Court hearing which I attended:

C8HW3P0T – UKPC v Miss B, before District Judge Jones. Claimant represented by Mr Elfer (not a practicing solicitor or a regulated barrister), I appeared as the Defendant’s Lay Rep. £1590 claimed, multiple tickets.

This was a residential parking case, for which Barry Beavis had prepared all the defence submissions. The main defence points were:

1/ Miss B had a tenancy agreement, predating UKPC’s appointment, which granted her rights to park without the need to display a permit.
2/ Ticketing bona fide residents was not within the purpose of the scheme
3/ The signage forbade unauthorized parking, therefore no consideration and so no contract
4/ No evidence of a chain of authority from the landowner to the Claimant
5/ Clearly distinguishable from Beavis

I wasn’t going to challenge the Claimant’s advocate’s Right of Audience, as the Defendant wanted this done and dusted today, with no adjournments. But as it turned out, I didn’t need to. The DJ started by asking all the parties who they were, and in what capacity they appeared. Mr E stated that he was there as a Lay Representative. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the DJ asked if I had a copy of the lay rep order, and I directed him to s3 (2)(a), which says that a lay rep can only represent a party if the client attends.

Mr E argued that in CPR PD 3, a judge has discretion to hear any person, even if excluded by the Order, and that it would be in the interest of the overriding objective to allow him to speak.

The DJ agreed that he could exercise discretion. However, the Claimant had not notified the court that their Witness, Mr Kieran Ali, would not be attending, and had not previously notified the Court that they wished the hearing to be conducted by a person who was not an exempt person under the LSA 2007. They had not notified the Defendant of any of this either, and this potentially disadvantaged the Defendant who would not have had the opportunity to question the Witness in a case involving complex issues.

The ruling was that the Defendant had acted entirely properly in complying with Court directions, and arranging for a lay rep to put their case, whereas the Claimant had not. Therefore, Mr E could not represent the Claimant in the absence of any representative of the Claimant company.

I then directed the Judge to CPR 27.9, and he agreed that this applied. He would ignore all of the Claimant’s submissions, and based on the Defence argument that the Defendant had an unfettered right to park granted by their tenancy, the claim was dismissed.

On the subject of costs, I referred to the Costs Schedule sent by the Claimant’s legal representatives, SCS Law, which the Defendant had received a few days ago, and I only became aware of this morning. This document set out total costs £651.20, including the £70 filing fee and £115 hearing fee. The other £466 was an inventive matter of pure fantasy, including £195 for drafting a witness statement, a £105 advocate fee, and £96 ‘fixed fee for issuing claim’, despite the claim form already including the standard £50.

I submitted that this was not only an abuse of process, but also a deliberate attempt to mislead the Court and the Defendant, and possibly crossed the threshold of Contempt of Court. As such, it was evidence of unreasonable behaviour by the Claimant, which, together with their unreasonable behaviour in failing to discharge their obligations to the Court, meant that additional costs could be claimed under CPR 27.14(2)(g).

Miss B was therefore awarded a total of £170.80, to include my advocate fee. I also asked the Judge to make the costs payable within 7 days, as UKPC are due in the High Court on 22 May for a winding-up petition by HMRC, and we wanted the costs paid before they went out of business.

I also advised Mr E to submit his invoice asap, if he expected to get paid for his work today.

waamo

That's made me laugh. It really did. Well done to the judge for being switched on and to Bargepole and Barry.

beamerguy

Amazing story WELL DONE WELL DONE :beer::beer:

If UKPC do not pay the costs, she could become a creditor in the HMRC winding up

Let us hope that courts note this HMRC winding up order

trisontana

Are these two-bit so-called "law firms", such as SCS and Elms, ignorant of the procedures to be followed in the Small Claims Court? Or are they trying it on, hoping that the defendant, or even the judge, would allow them ROA when it should never be allowed?

Umkomaas

I also advised Mr E to submit his invoice asap, if he expected to get paid for his work today.

Nice bit of irony to conclude a great read. Well done BP and BB.

How did Mr E react - did he know his fee might be in jeopardy?

The_Deep

Wonderful stuff. I own a flat in Reading infested by UKPC. I shall send a copy to the landlord, Thames Valley HA

WRT their costs. they seem to me to be dishonest to the point of fraud. IMO they got off very likely. Is there any chance of a claim for breach of DPA rights?

Johno100

beamerguy wrote: »

Amazing story WELL DONE WELL DONE :beer::beer:

If UKPC do not pay the costs, she could become a creditor in the HMRC winding up

Let us hope that courts note this HMRC winding up order

That could be handy as she'll be entitled to and will receive a copy of the Statement of Affairs in the event of the winding-up. We can all then get to see the true state of their finances, who their other creditors are and what assets they have (including outstanding PCN's).

System

Transcript? There may be a bit of money down the side of the sofa.

fisherjim

Great I do so hope this loathsome company gets the rest of their just deserves!

The_Deep

Although the HA are not a registered charity they do enjoy charitable status. I am therefore writing to the Charity Commissioners complaining about this most uncharitable of HAs.


The defendant was a single woman working long hours to make ends meet.

Castle

Johno100 wrote: »

That could be handy as she'll be entitled to and will receive a copy of the Statement of Affairs in the event of the winding-up. We can all then get to see the true state of their finances, who their other creditors are and what assets they have (including outstanding PCN's).

Statement of Affairs are filed at Companies House, so they will be readily available for public viewing