Excel Parking - Mediation?

Yorkshirelass123

Hi. I received a Northampton County Court claim form from Excel Parking for a parking fine dated April 2018 for £180. At that time, I was employed by a company who were tenants of of a Business Park and free parking was part of the job. I've told my ex-employer about this and I've been given the reference number of a valid car parking pass that belonged to my employer at the time. I used this info as part of my defence, including the name and address of my employer and dates of employment. I have now received a Notice of Proposed Allocation to the Small Claims Track, along with form N180. The form asks if I agree to the case being referred to the Small Claims Mediation Service. I'm really not sure how to respond to this.  Am I responsible for paying this fine when it was part of my employment?  Should I agree to the offer of mediation or not? Any help would be very much appreciated as it is causing me distress.

Coupon-mad

Welcome - but you don't seem to have read anything in NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST.

No-one tries Mediation and it's clearly explained why not. 

We find it worrying that you wrote your defence before you came here because you will have missed some of the bullets you should and could have had.  Read the NEWBIES thread post #2 about court stage, and put your errors right at Witness Statement & evidence stage.

Yorkshirelass123

Ok, thanks. I guess I'm panicking as I thought my defence was sound given I was employed but I'll take your advice and read the NEWBIES thread. Thanks for your help.

beamerguy

As usual EXCEL are scamming you with a fake add-on. There is no such thing as a £180 parking ticket, meaning they have added a fake amount.

EXCEL/VCS, same ownership, are showing themselves as being desperate for money due to covid, hence they are trying their luck with old parking tickets.  BUT, because they add fake amounts, their luck runs out in court.   See what happens to them here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6103933/abuse-of-process-thread-part-2/p1?new=1

MEDIATION is a waste of time.  Either a face to face, video or phone ONLY with a judge

Redx

The claim pack is from the CCBC in Northampton , not the county court , which is a different address in Northampton

The CCBC is a civil service office , like the DVLA in Swansea is

The newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum is your Bible from now on , second post

Read the part about no to mediation and why it's a no

Do not assume that working onsite is a defence in itself , morally you may be correct but parking is a legal minefield

You will be nominating your !oval county court at the DQ stage , that is the County Court that will be dealing with it

Post your defence below , suitably redacted , so we can see how good or bad it was ( I suspect the latter )

Coupon-mad

Excel's case will be that your car was not displaying the parking pass.  What will your response be?

Excel will try to get an added £60 on top - do you understand how to counter this, even if they say ''this was appealed successfully''?

Hence you should have come here first and are now playing catchy up to try to plaster over a weak defence.  It is possible but your WS & evidence will have to be very strong and your preparation for the hearing too.  Hence knowing simple stuff, like not agreeing to poxy mediation!

D_P_Dance

From what you have told us, if they are daft enough to take this to court they have an uphill climb.  asd to the pressure, complain to you MP.

Snakes_Belly

Mediation is useful in some claims but not parking cases because the claim is disputed. You may think that it is fair to pay them a modest amount to cover administration such as £10.00. They may be prepared to reduce the claim by 10%. It will reach an impasse and be a waste of time.

Mediation can be useful for an insurance claim where liability has been admitted but the amount of compensation has to be decided.