Notice of Discontinuance - Advice Needed

CoolJ

Dear All,
Thanks to all of the advice available on this forum and some very helpful members, I was successful getting my CEL default CCJ set aside last year (it was served to an old address). I just have a couple of questions, which I'm hoping someone can help with.

As expected, after the CCJ was set aside CEL resubmitted the claim to the Country Court. I submitted the necessary paperwork (defence, directions questionnaire) and the case was allocated to the small claims track and a hearing date was set for this month. The Court sent out a letter advising of the final dates for submission of witness statements and for the claimant's payment of the outstanding fee. If this was not paid the claim was to be struck out.

As the deadline for the fee payment was approaching, I rang the Court last week to see if the fee had been paid. They advised me that CEL had served a Notice of Discontinuance in January this year, just after the Court had sent out the hearing date letter. The Court said it was CEL's responsibility to send me a copy. They didn't and I knew nothing about the case being discontinued. The Court have refused to send me any written confirmation but have advised me that the case is now closed and there will no be court hearing.

Given the amount of time and stress that I have endured so far I'm reluctant to simply believe this is all over and really want some final written confirmation. I've just a few questions if anyone can help;
1) Is this normal procedure - can I insist on written confirmation - either from the Court or from CEL themselves?
2) Can I now make a claim for costs against CEL? If so, can I include the original set aside fee in this? I did request this at my original court hearing (within the written submission) but I was so nervous and the Judge was so quick in setting aside the CCJ that I completely forgot to verbally bring it up at the time and she didn't make this part of her judgement. (I literally left the court on a high so relieved to have my credit rating back and was forgetting everything else.)

I'm really angry that CEL get away with ruining people's credit ratings, putting people through so much unnecessary stress, hard work and expense and then get away scott free. Surely the fact that they have discontinued proves that they know they never had a case and this should be some grounds for me to claim back costs against them?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance :-)

Fruitcake

If this is to do with you previous thread, please "cut" the text here and change it, and the title, to duplicate thread, then paste your query on your original thread.

CoolJ

Hi Fruitcake, thanks for the advice re.posting. I've not posted very much so I'm not really sure how this works. I've cut and pasted into my original thread as advised. Hopefully that is okay now.

The_Deep

As you will by now have realised, this is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

WRT recovering your costs, others will advise you, but I would suggest that you acquaint yourself with CPR 27.14(2)(g) costs for unreasonable behaviour and sending a Letter Before Action.

nosferatu1001

Indeed, I would send them a letter befoer claim stating that you have identified damages and losses for a claim they clearly had no intention of allowing get to a heatring, once it was clear it was fdefended.

Your set aside costs plus your time spent researching at the LIP rate of £19 per hour sounds reasonable.

Coupon-mad

Are you still £255 out of pocket and other costs, from the set aside hearing?

You can send them a LBC, run it by us here first.