Court Hearing tomorrow - last minute help!

CetMcG

Court hearing tomorrow (DCB Legal on behalf of OPC ltd). I did the defence as per the MSE templates etc ages ago, but nothing since. No witness statement etc (eek - how big a screw up is this?!). They are asking for £200 amount claimed (no idea how it is this amount, original fine was £100 in 2016 - interest maybe??), £25 court fee, £50 legal representative costs, and £180 for an advocate attendance fee tomorrow - £460 in total!

Any last minute tips?! 

beamerguy

£180 for an advocate attendance fee

DCBL living in the clouds again.  £50 is legal allowance in court.

Apart from their fake add-on, they are now trying to scam the court with another £180

On the basis their claim is now unreliable, ask the court to strike the claim out

Redx

You are very foolish in not following your court order to file all documents such as witness statement plus exhibits plus the summary costs assessment , say 2 weeks before the hearing , definitely one big screw up

A bit late asking for help and tips now , but my advice is read a dozen recently concluded court case threads where advice was given and the defendant provided an after court report detailing their hearing and suggestions they have made

Coupon-mad

I did the defence as per the MSE templates etc ages ago, but nothing since. No witness statement etc (eek - how big a screw up is this?!).

Huge.  Sorry.  You have ZERO EVIDENCE and they have their entire WS and exhibits.  Some harsh Judges would tear you off a strip and one Judge even forbade a D to speak at all in this circumstance.   He had to sit in silence and not be a witness at all.

So, apologise profusely that you thought you were only required to provide a defence as your statement of case, then attend a hearing, and here you are in good faith, having never done anything like this before.  Hopefully the Judge will then play it out as normal. 

OPC rep speaks first, then you speak (if allowed by the Judge who has hopefully stopped fuming by that point) and your only line of attack is to rely on your defence and to have bullet points to attack OPC's evidence.  

For example, I have seen a recent OPC case and their signage ONLY says that court costs can be added to the PCN.  Not any other false costs...so the fact they've added £60 per PCN is not and never was part of any contract. At least by knowing that, you can try for damage limitation to get the added false costs disallowed like everyone else here does.

As for your defence, remind us what you sent (exactly) and is this about multi-tickets at your own home car park, or what?  
Unlit signage, what's the main thrust of defence?

CetMcG

Thanks for your help. I’ll apologise and plead ignorance (which it genuinely was - ExH lives at the address now and I’ve moved out 2 years ago (updated DVLA etc), and after I submitted the defence, ExH and I fell out and he stopped passing on any post to me, and I had no idea I was required to do anything more than turn up on the day.

Parking was in an access road/private road at 2:34am. Pitch black dark, unlit signs etc. I live opposite it, so to be completely honest I am aware of the fact it’s not meant to be parking, but we lived there for 6years and all residents often parked there due to no other parking, and they only sent people out to ticket a couple of times a year, so it seemed worth the risk. 

I can post the whole defence if it’s useful but it’s like ten pages worth?! 

Mostly I just want to mitigate the charges now. Their own sign says “if no payment is received within 28 days of the notice to keeper being issued, the outstanding ticket will be passed to OPC legal department for collection via the courts, of which you further agree to pay all associated costs and charges up to a maximum of £300 per ticket. These will include interest, court fees and associated costs”.

So can I at least try and last minute argue the amount?! The bundle of docs was only received today referencing the £180 advocate fee for the hearing on top of the existing £280 costs. I had no idea about ANOTHER £180!!

D_P_Dance

So can I at least try and last minute argue the amount?!

If the judge lets you.   

Le_Kirk

CetMcG said:

So can I at least try and last minute argue the amount?! The bundle of docs was only received today referencing the £180 advocate fee for the hearing on top of the existing £280 costs. I had no idea about ANOTHER £180!!

The bundle from the claimant was only received today!!!  You could be cheeky and ask the judge to strike it out because they, a so-called professional outfit with legal help (advocate fee proves it) should be able to submit in the time scales set by the order (normally 14 days before the hearing) even if you didn't but you have your reason ready for that.  The maximum legal costs they can claim in small claims court is £50 and that should already be in the £280.  Seems to me that they have added in £50 or £60 for debt admin or other spurious made-up words!

CetMcG

Yes - bundle received today. The postmark/franking on the envelope shows it was posted yesterday, 26th Jan. They sent a witness statement about a week ago, but this is the first time I’ve seen some of this!

nosferatu1001

OK so you both messed up. They messed up slightly less than you, but they should not be treated much more leniently than you. 

Redx

Read the preliminary matters advice in this thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6122729/lost-popla-appeal-what-to-do-next/p5

Coupon-mad

The bundle of docs was only received today referencing the £180 advocate fee for the hearing on top of the existing £280 costs. I had no idea about ANOTHER £180!!

Calm down, they can't have that you know.  Not if they were also in breach of the Order and sent their bundle late.  You both screwed up.

You really should have stayed on the forum and learnt these things. You'd be a lot calmer and better prepared.

No-one risks paying an advocate fee unless they behaved wholly unreasonably...now, by not complying with a court Order it might have been argued that you were wholly unreasonable - but if they didn't comply either (and they are legally represented) then it would be the pot calling the kettle black and you are certainly not likely to be ordered to pay their rep's costs. 

Small claims don't allow for such costs in the normal course of events.  This is them trying to frighten you because you didn't know to file anything except a defence.