County Court Claim-QDR solicitors/Met Parking

berseker

@Le_Kirk @Coupon-mad I'm the Defendant and Met parking is the Claimant. So it is ordering me to pay Met parking.. 

'2.Defendant to pay Claimant's costs of £*** by 28th of June 2023'

I lost the case in court, the judge already clarified that when i had my court date on the 7th June 2023

Coupon-mad

You didn't lose the case.

berseker

I have attached the bottom half of the letter.

The day at court ended with the judge saying that she is in favour of the claimant's case and the case/argument that I presented isn't sufficient and the PCN will stand, just without all the added cost.

Coupon-mad

But that's not what the Order says.

berseker

Can you explain, I feel like I understand now. But, if the case was dismissed why would they ask me to pay?

@Coupon-mad so would this need to be paid? As it's a letter from the court as @Le_Kirk mentioned, it would need to be paid regardless no?

The amount on the court date was in the region of £800-£900, the cost in the above letter is about a third of that. 

Coupon-mad

But, if the case was dismissed why would they ask me to pay?

If she found you acted unreasonably.  It is possible to win a case but still pay the other side's costs but ONLY if you acted unreasonably.

You do not pay 3 figure costs otherwise.

Start at the beginning:

- How much was the claim for?

- Why do you think you lost?

- What do you recall her saying?

B789

Coupon-mad said:

If she found you acted unreasonably.  It is possible to win a case but still pay the other side's costs but ONLY if you acted unreasonably.

You do not pay 3 figure costs otherwise.

Start at the beginning:

- How much was the claim for?

- Why do you think you lost?

- What do you recall her saying?

This was the OPs court report at the time:

Some bad news, unfortunately, I had my court hearing today and it went against me.

I thought the hearing was for the case that was not finished last year in July due to time restraint but it was actually for the set-aside judgement of me not attending the new court date that was issued in October. As I did not go in prepared for this, I feel the judge had it in for me from the beginning. 

The breakdown for the set-aside judgement is;
-I did not receive a letter from the court with the new court date.
-I received a letter from QDR solicitors the day before the court date but I was away.
-When I returned from my trip abroad and saw the letter, I contacted the court and explained the situation (within the required 14 days)
-I then heard back from the courts a couple of months later stating I need to make a formal application. I instantly reply asking how I go about making a formal application.
-A few weeks later they respond explaining I need to fill in and send an N224 form, which I did straight away.

The judge's argument was I had 14 days to send in an N224 form from the day of the court date but it took me 3/4 months. I explained the above points to her, the first initial contact was within the 14 days she's talking about, but she seemed to have an attitude. 

We then went on to the case itself. I stuck to all the points that you guys gave me but she just did not seem bothered about it at all, which was very frustrating. I explained that there was nothing in my lease agreement that mentioned anything about parking. I am not in a contract with met parking. The signs are unclear. The extra charges that were added. I had a visitor's permit on my dashboard.

Her arguments were;
-just because it does not say anything in my lease it does not mean I do not have to abide by the signs, for the signs to be around the estate, your landlord would have granted permission. 
-There are numerous signs in the estate and it is your responsibility to read them. 
-Yes, you had a visitors permit on the dashboard, why wasn't it filled in? 
I kept on trying to argue my case but she just wasn't really having any of it. The only thing she did have my back on was the extra fees that were added to each of the £100 tickets. Back in the first court hearing, the judge also flagged this so the claimant removed the extra fees for the 3 tickets so it was £300 and then the extra (legitimate) costs in the region of £200. Today's judge said that was fair and then the claimant had extra charges of around £600 for the extra work for set aside judgment and this new court hearing but they capped it at £300. So in total, it will be the £500 from the last hearing and then £300 for today's hearing and the in-between costs for the 3 pcns.

The whole thing was weird to be completely honest, the judge seemed rushed and on her period/woke up the wrong side of the bed. She initially heard both arguments for setting aside the judgement and then said she hasn't made a final decision on it but she wanted to hear both of our arguments for the actual case. After hearing everything she then concluded that I did not have a strong enough case to get the case thrown out and I will need to pay the tickets and claimants fees/costs. she said I will receive a letter in regards to making payment and I have 28 days to pay it. That was it. 

I haven't got any CCJ on my credit file, I'm presuming as long as I get it paid in the time frame given to me then the case will get closed and a CCJ would not be put on my record. 

Coupon-mad

I am totally confused.

The order says CLAIM dismissed.

Not 'application dismissed'.

BUT I don't think the OP should object.  I can see the Claimant objecting to this Order.

berseker

Hi, good morning. The judge basically said she did not agree with all the extra charges that were added on for the PCNs but the PCNs were issued correctly as I was not parked with a valid permit, where I should have been. I can't remember the exact figure on the day but it was around £800-£900 for the previous costs, court costs and then the new court date costs but in the letter received I was ordered to pay £350.

What is 'OP'?

Umkomaas

What is 'OP'?

Original Poster, ie, in this thread - YOU.