Received a Claim Form for an ANPR "fine" for £260.00, and don't think there's much of a defense?

mylampisonthetable

Thanks Coupon-mad, I appreciate it. I am making the final adjustments now and will send it off. In fact I have to double-thank you because I had intended to send it to CCBC and that would have been a mistake!

Coupon-mad

Something niggled me - women's intuition!  Thank goodness I edited to add that (literally an afterthought).  CCBC are nothing to do with it, they were just the door through which the claim came ages ago and it's now shut in the virtual room of your local court.

mylampisonthetable

I've got the hearing on Friday. I intend to re-read mine and BW Legal's documentation before then. Is there anything else I need to do to prepare? How much of a contribution am I expected to make in the hearing?

Snakes_Belly

mylampisonthetable said:

I've got the hearing on Friday. I intend to re-read mine and BW Legal's documentation before then. Is there anything else I need to do to prepare? How much of a contribution am I expected to make in the hearing?

I would make sure that you understand the legal arguments particularly in relation to the contract. From memory (I have not read through your thread again) there were two car parks with no demarcation which created ambiguity.

How much contribution you make depends on the judge. Some judges will hear from the Claimant's rep and then hear from you. Some will not allow much dialogue from a litigant in person. 

You also need to consider what are the weak points of your case and how you will overcome them. In my hearing I knew that there was one particular matter that I would have to defend very robustly and it never came up either by the judge or the Claimant's rep. 

Good luck for Friday.

Umkomaas

mylampisonthetable said:

I've got the hearing on Friday. I intend to re-read mine and BW Legal's documentation before then. Is there anything else I need to do to prepare? How much of a contribution am I expected to make in the hearing?

Have a look at this if you've not previously seen it - originally posted by forum regular @KeithP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93eoaxhzpU

mylampisonthetable

If I get an opportunity to ask questions of the claimant in the hearing, are there any in general which would be good to ask? In regards to the claimant asking me questions - it looks like they will try to discredit my level of legal knowledge - are there any general specific questions that they are likely to ask?

Coupon-mad

You can't ask any questions at all, if it's the usual legal rep, a third party hired gun.

mylampisonthetable

So the hearing has happened and it lasted just over an hour. It followed the usual format and there were no last-minute revelations or anything like that to sway the court at the last minute, whether by cross examination or otherwise. Sadly, it was a victory for the claimant and the amount to be paid is about £250 (around the same sum as the original claim). The judge disagreed with everything, even that the debt recovery costs are unrecoverable.

patient_dream

mylampisonthetable said:

So the hearing has happened and it lasted just over an hour. It followed the usual format and there were no last-minute revelations or anything like that to sway the court at the last minute, whether by cross examination or otherwise. Sadly, it was a victory for the claimant and the amount to be paid is about £250 (around the same sum as the original claim). The judge disagreed with everything, even that the debt recovery costs are unrecoverable.

That's a great shame.  In all walks of life there are fools and ignorance. Today was your chance to meet one of them.  It's rare, but we do know that there are Judges who are fast asleep 
Such judges are a scammers dream

Coupon-mad

It's a rare judge who doesn't see that the Govt banning DRA costs and calling them out as having been 'extortion' is a clear steer for the courts.

This is sad - but if the Judge was that bad that he didn't realise that the added fake fees are a scam add-on, then you can't beat yourself up about it because you were probably bound to lose in front of a Judge like that.  There are some Judges where we know even we would probably lose.

A bad day at the office but not your fault.