Potential court costs

ktvillan

Sorry for new thread but the only previous one I found appears to be closed. I have a Parking Charge Notice dispute that will be taken to court shortly. I'm ok with that as long as the court costs are not excessive if I lose. I wanted to know if this will go to the small claims court, and costs will be capped, or if it would go to actual County Court and costs could potentially be much higher. In each case could anyone advise what the potential costs could or would be?

FYI the original penalty was £100 (£56 if paid in 14 days) and they've added on charges making it £182. I am disputing the claim on the basis of unclear signage. I had a Letter Before Action which I responded to by repeating my original offer to pay £20, which I deemed fair, but it was again rejected.

Any guidance greatly appreciated.

Le_Kirk

If you cannot find what you want in the forum, Auntie Google is a good source of info, which should take you to various legal sites that explain the costs. If you lose, expect to pay no more than the original PCN plus £25 filing fee and £25 legal fee, usually a max of £150 to £200

Redx

I doubt that there is any penalty

County court is small claims court , your local County Court is where it should be

A typical loss in court works out at around £200 for one pcn

Coupon-mad

We win 99% of cases here though, so there is no risk and no worries in defending with our help.

Have you already sent a defence to a court claim and have a hearing coming up?

Have you done your WS & evidence & filed the Consumer Rights Act 2015 as an exhibit?

ktvillan

Le_Kirk thanks - I tried Google exhaustively over several hours before posting - I failed to find anywhere that gave a clear or definitive answer regarding whether it would go to CC or small claims, or specified that they are effectively the same thing. The only thread I saw on here was closed and the question dated back to 2017 - I need to be sure there haven't been any changes since then.

ktvillan

coupon-mad - what is WS? No court date yet, they have rejected my response to their LBA so I'm assuming court proceedings will be the next step if I don't pay within the 14 day period. Who is the "we" you refer to - are you legal advisors seeking my business on this matter?

Redx

Acronyms are explained in the newbies faq sticky thread near the top of the forum

We are volunteers helping people with private parking tickets

The small claims court has always been in the county courts since 1973 when it arrived in England and Wales , Google MCOL to find the current system of administration

beamerguy

ktvillan ....... who is the PPC and who has been sending you these very dodgy letters

ktvillan

Thanks again for the replies - I've now located the acronyms section.

Beamerguy - The letters are from an organisation called Civil Enforcement Ltd, Horton House, Exchange Flags, Liverpool LC2 3PF.

RedX- Re MCOL I understood that in the sense that that is where I as a private individual would go if I wanted to make a small claim. I wasn't sure if a parking firm or other company would have to go that route if trying to prosecute a claim against me. There is nothing in the letters to indicate that the parking firm were doing it via the small claims court or via an online claim for payment, hence my question. But thanks for clarifying that it will be this system that applies.

waamo

ktvillan wrote: »

Sorry for new thread but the only previous one I found appears to be closed. I have a Parking Charge Notice dispute that will be taken to court shortly. I'm ok with that as long as the court costs are not excessive if I lose. I wanted to know if this will go to the small claims court, and costs will be capped, or if it would go to actual County Court and costs could potentially be much higher. In each case could anyone advise what the potential costs could or would be?

FYI the original penalty was £100 (£56 if paid in 14 days) and they've added on charges making it £182. I am disputing the claim on the basis of unclear signage. I had a Letter Before Action which I responded to by repeating my original offer to pay £20, which I deemed fair, but it was again rejected.

Any guidance greatly appreciated.

Exactly how do they arrive at £182?

henrik777

ktvillan wrote: »

RedX- Re MCOL I understood that in the sense that that is where I as a private individual would go if I wanted to make a small claim. I wasn't sure if a parking firm or other company would have to go that route if trying to prosecute a claim against me. There is nothing in the letters to indicate that the parking firm were doing it via the small claims court or via an online claim for payment, hence my question. But thanks for clarifying that it will be this system that applies.

Anyone who initiates (or defends for that matter) does not get to choose the track on which a claim will be allocated. There are rules for this.

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part26#26.1

26.1

(1) This Part provides for –

(a) the automatic transfer of some defended cases in the High Court;

(a1) the circumstances in which defended cases may be sent from one County Court hearing centre or court office to another; and

(b) the allocation of defended cases to case management tracks.

(2) There are three tracks –

(a) the small claims track;

(b) the fast track; and

(c) the multi-track.

(Rule 26.6 sets out the normal scope of each track. Part 27 makes provision for the small claims track. Part 28 makes provision for the fast track. Part 29 makes provision for the multi-track)


Scope of each track
26.6

(1) The small claims track is the normal track for–

(a) any claim for personal injuries where –

(i) the value of the claim is not more than £10,000; and

(ii) the value of any claim for damages for personal injuries is not more than £1,000;

(b) any claim which includes a claim by a tenant of residential premises against a landlord where –

(i) the tenant is seeking an order requiring the landlord to carry out repairs or other work to the premises (whether or not the tenant is also seeking some other remedy);

(ii) the cost of the repairs or other work to the premises is estimated to be not more than £1,000; and

(iii) the value of any other claim for damages is not more than £1,000.

(Rule 2.3 defines ‘claim for personal injuries’ as proceedings in which there is a claim for damages in respect of personal injuries to the claimant or any other person or in respect of a person’s death)

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) ‘damages for personal injuries’ means damages claimed as compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenity and does not include any other damages which are claimed.

(3) Subject to paragraph (1), the small claims track is the normal track for any claim which has a value of not more than £10,000.

(Rule 26.7(4) provides that the court will not allocate to the small claims track certain claims in respect of harassment or unlawful eviction)

(4) Subject to paragraph (5), the fast track is the normal track for any claim –

(a) for which the small claims track is not the normal track; and

(b) which has a value –

(i) for proceedings issued on or after 6th April 2009, of not more than £25,000; and

(ii) for proceedings issued before 6th April 2009, of not more than £15,000.

(5) The fast track is the normal track for the claims referred to in paragraph (4) only if the court considers that –

(a) the trial is likely to last for no longer than one day; and

(b) oral expert evidence at trial will be limited to–

(i) one expert per party in relation to any expert field; and

(ii) expert evidence in two expert fields.

(6) The multi-track is the normal track for any claim for which the small claims track or the fast track is not the normal track.



Matters relevant to allocation to a track
26.8

(1) When deciding the track for a claim, the matters to which the court shall have regard include –

(a) the financial value, if any, of the claim;

(b) the nature of the remedy sought;

(c) the likely complexity of the facts, law or evidence;

(d) the number of parties or likely parties;

(e) the value of any counterclaim or other Part 20 claim and the complexity of any matters relating to it;

(f) the amount of oral evidence which may be required;

(g) the importance of the claim to persons who are not parties to the proceedings;

(h) the views expressed by the parties; and

(i) the circumstances of the parties.

(2) It is for the court to assess the financial value of a claim and in doing so it will disregard –

(a) any amount not in dispute;

(b) any claim for interest;

(c) costs; and

(d) any contributory negligence.

(3) Where –

(a) two or more claimants have started a claim against the same defendant using the same claim form; and

(b) each claimant has a claim against the defendant separate from the other claimants,

the court will consider the claim of each claimant separately when it assesses financial value under paragraph (1).








So it should be the small claims track (and rules) which applies. The rules for that are https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part27