Civil Enforcement LTD - Discontinuance

shoney

Hi All,


I have followed your excellent advice to help a friend fight against several claims from PPCs, thank you.


The was the latest saga:


-Claim form issued mid April 2019 for an event that took place in July 2018. Total claimed was circa £270.
-AOS submitted
-Defence submitted
-DQ Filed
-Allocated to local court - Hearing set for mid September


I had made a start drafting a witness statement, but also I instructed my friend to call the court the day after the hearing fee was due to be paid to ensure that it had been paid.


Instead of calling the court, he sent me a photo of a letter from CEL stating this:


Confirmation of Cancellation [Claim Ref]

Please be advised that we have discontinued proceedings for the claim referred to above, and have notified the Court of the same. Please find attached a copy of the Notice of Discontinuance, Form N279.


The N279 form was attached and appeared to be filled out correctly.


I have asked my friend to call the Court every day, until they can confirm they have received and processed the N279.


So, yet another cop out from CEL that you can add to the list.


Thanks again for your help!

The_Deep

There is nothing to stop you invoicing the PPC for the time you have wasted on this.

If they ignore you can send them a letter before action. If they ignore that you can make a claim in the CC. You have up to six tears to do the latter. The ball is now in your court.

Coupon-mad

Wonderful!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST! :T

shoney

The_Deep wrote: »

There is nothing to stop you invoicing the PPC for the time you have wasted on this.

If they ignore you can send them a letter before action. If they ignore that you can make a claim in the CC. You have up to six tears to do the latter. The ball is now in your court.

I like the sound of this.


Are there any particular forum posts that you think would be helpful for me to refer to?

shoney

My friend has received a nice letter from the court:

General Form of Judgement or Order

IT IS ORDERED THAT

The Claimant having failed to pay the hearing and listing fee as required by the Court, the claim has been struck out and the Claimant is liable to pay the Defendants costs unless the Court orders otherwise.


All in all, great news. But what realistically can he claim for? Is it realistic to claim for unreasonable costs? Or should we just stick a letter into CEL requesting the maximum amount of normal costs of £95 + Travel/Parking etc?

I've read quite a few threads (the one from Peperlini was particularly helpful) but the general consensus is that judges rarely award unreasonable costs. But, does this order give us any extra weight?

The_Deep

It is true that judges are often reluctant to award punitive costs, but that does not stop you asking.

Four to five hours at £19 and hour sounds reasonable, plus say a fiver for postage, mileage for visiting the site, and a couple of quid for parking.

beamerguy

Amazing that CEL take it that far and forget to pay

Prime dementia candidates

Fruitcake

shoney wrote: »

My friend has received a nice letter from the court:

General Form of Judgement or Order

IT IS ORDERED THAT

The Claimant having failed to pay the hearing and listing fee as required by the Court, the claim has been struck out and the Claimant is liable to pay the Defendants costs unless the Court orders otherwise.


All in all, great news. But what realistically can he claim for? Is it realistic to claim for unreasonable costs? Or should we just stick a letter into CEL requesting the maximum amount of normal costs of £95 + Travel/Parking etc?

I've read quite a few threads (the one from Peperlini was particularly helpful) but the general consensus is that judges rarely award unreasonable costs. But, does this order give us any extra weight?

Good news and well done.

There are very few legally qualified posters on here so most of us cannot comment about applying for unreasonable costs. Obviously claim the maximum £90/95 anyway. Include cost of 'phone calls, postage, printing, and stationary as well as the costs you mention.
For travel you would need to show the defendant went to the site after the event to take photos, but date stamped pics would show this.

Don't forget to your MP about this unregulated scam to your MP.

If the defendant can prove the scammers had no reason to ask for the keeper's personal details in the first lace, then there may be a case for unreasonable behaviour. A complaint to the DVLA should also be made if this is the case.