Help please! My small claims hearing against UKPC is in around 20 days...

KeithP

Chris1a wrote: »

Once I have received another response from SCS Law, before I submit my finalised statement I am likely to be seeking professional representation. If you are proven to be successful at representing others like me in the past and you are interested in winning this one, please do let me know how we go about agreeing costs and any other necessary arrangements I should be considering.

Be very careful with how you deal with any Private Messages you may now receive.

Keep in mind that others may not have the same goal as you.

It is well know that the private parking companies trawl these forums.

nosferatu1001

Also, as told on pepipoo - a counter claim is for something such as harassment, DPA breach etc. It is NOTHING to do with the time spent taken to defend the claim. Those are costs. See cpr27.14(2)(g) for how to “unlock” additional costs.

Umkomaas

I just shared some other interesting updates on forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=117634

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=117634

Chris1a

Very good point on the being careful business Keith, thanks for reminding me to watch out for scammers/timewasters. I was recently given some great advice actually, to check my home insurance and car insurance legal cover to see what that includes. Otherwise I know some lawyers anyway

Mediation is underway now and I am about to call their solicitors to negotiate. I’m thinking that I should just apologise for ignoring their letters in the first place as I listened to out of date advice (if only I appealed back then hey!).

I am planning on avoiding the next hearing (if they agree) with my offer being that their claim is dismissed, they lose out on their costs and pay the fees. I have probably spent more than them on the set aside alone, plus a few quid on costs and I won’t then be claiming that back in return. Is that a good idea & should I just say that over the phone before they respond in writing?

Coupon-mad

I’m thinking that I should just apologise for ignoring their letters in the first place as I listened to out of date advice

I'm thinking put the phone down and forget 'Mediation' because you owe nothing. Don't APOLOGISE!

I am planning on avoiding the next hearing (if they agree) with my offer being that their claim is dismissed, they lose out on their costs and pay the fees.

They will disagree, and the Mediator will pressure you to explain why you aren't liable and you will feel bullied, pressured to 'settle' some money.

Don't! This is why we tell people NOT to agree to Mediation!

Also aren't you out of pocket by £255? They owe you that set aside fee, and your other costs, and have harassed you beyond belief. Don't be bullied, I really would NOT continue the call. If you feel uncomfortable, tell the Mediator you wish to air this properly in court, and that you feel he/she is pressuring you to settle and yet you owe no money.

Phone down.

Chris1a

Oh, it's just such a tough decision here.

I know I can win the case, but the long thing is the time it will take, working out how much to demand in return, putting together all the facts&figures - if I do battle with them all the way..

My gut instinct is saying, let them off and just settle for a little bit less (as I am nice like that); but then as they started the war against us residents I would prefer the story to have a happy ending with a win win for us lot & me making money out of them for wasting my time and trying to stress me out over a vehicle causing a so called obstruction - which it clearly wasn't!

Chris1a

It's a tricky 1 coupon-mad. You are probably right there, as I don't want to lose out anything here.

Although I didn't keep the parking ticket for the set-aside hearing (that I kindly passed on to another lady), I know I should really try to add that on to my costs here. I would if only I had a receipt or paid by ringo (lol)

I'm not rushing to call them tomorrow then and I will ask around, hoping for a few more responses on here also before ringing the idiotic solicitors who are stupidly representing ukpc.

Thanks again for anyone who has further recommendations for me on this & good luck to anyone in this situation looking for assistance :-)

Quentin

Please don't ring their sols at all!


You should never have agreed to any mediation!

Chris1a

Thanks Quentin, I will not ring them for sure.

My updated statement is pretty epic to be fair. I am not sharing it on here for now, but the closing paragraph is currently 'As I am a true gentleman, instead of asking for the claimant for as much as possible, I am now actually only asking for the following to take place, should the case be closed in my favour:
1. The judgement is withdrawn. 2. The set aside fee I paid is refunded to me. 3. All court fees are covered.'

A few questions I have for all the legal beagles on here, are:
- What is the going rate per hour (on average) for a specialist to represent me?
- Am I able to receive private messages on here without upgrading my membership? (I know I can check this if need be)
- What do you think of the below?

Here is what I have so far for my counterclaim:

One of my reasons for counterlaim is, that the claimant has not conformed to the requirements of POFA when claiming keeper liability.
The above is worth £750 alone right?

I am likely to be asking for 2 days worth of annual leave = ££

Plus the distress = £(This is the tricky 1£)! What is a fair amount to claim here? Having spent days (on top of the above) + many sleepless nights dealing with this.

Pretty sure there are a few more costs I can mention on top of the above also

Coupon-mad

All court fees are covered.

You need to explain what that means, because it doesn't say. Covered by whom?

A few questions I have for all the legal beagles on here, are:
- What is the going rate per hour (on average) for a specialist to represent me?

Be careful. A lay rep can make a case far far worse. I can think of just one specialist I would trust (nothing to do with me) who doesn't promote the service here. Check Trust Pilot first.

But why bother? It can be expensive and may be no better than you could achieve.

We firmly believe posters here don't need any specialist. People get set asides by firmly showing the court evidence that they were NOT served properly with any claim, and that they were not hiding but simply unaware because the PPC didn't bother to trace them. A basic trace would have found you...etc.

Read other set aside threads by searching for that term and opt for 'show POSTS' (advanced search).

And you need to have enough to show the Judge that you do have reasonable prospects of successfully defending the claim, which is without merit, etc.

And ask for the £255 and your costs for attending, to be refunded or in the alternative, ask that your full costs be ordered to be refunded, in the event that this Claimant now discontinues and wastes your time and money, as parking firms very often do when sussed at a CCJ set aside hearing.

Am I able to receive private messages on here without upgrading my membership?

Yes, you can, but some of us block pm's (me included) as we have no time and things are best aired on a thread in the open. Beware of any contact by pm offering to 'help' or pushing you to use a lay rep, if the posters has less than 1000 posts.

One of my reasons for counterlaim is, that the claimant has not conformed to the requirements of POFA when claiming keeper liability.
The above is worth £750 alone right?

As long as you are defending with the driver not being identified, then non POFA is an argument against your liability - should be a complete defence against the charge - BUT they are allowed to issue non-POFA PCNs, they've done nothing wrong by that. PCNs do not 'have to' follow that Act.

Plus the distress = £(This is the tricky 1£)! What is a fair amount to claim here? Having spent days (on top of the above) + many sleepless nights dealing with this.

Search the forum for the word 'Blamires' to find distress discussed.