County Court Defence - Highview Parking Ltd/DCB Legal - Please help

Alex1801

So I have received a letter from the legal company (not the court yet) today saying they intend to proceed with the claim. I know that my next stage will be to fill in the Directions Questionnaire when the Court file this. Just out of curiosity, if I was to lose at court would there be any extra fees they could add on top? I found on here on the 'Court Claims Procedure' section it says, 'you will have to pay the amount on the Claim Form, plus a hearing fee (£25 if the claim is under £300)' But this was last updated in October 2016 so is this still the case? Also, my Claim Form total is £304.60 currently. 

Alex1801

Also, just to add nothing has been updated yet on MCOL. This is just a letter from the legal company. I suspect trying to scare me as the letter is dated 6th May even though it only arrived today and it says 'our client may be prepared to settle this case. Therefore, in the event you wish to discuss settlement please call us within 7 days.

Not_A_Hope

Have DCB Legal not broken down what their £304.60 covers? I would expect that it would cover court fees etc. They like to try to ratchet up the claim in order to pressure people to pay or if they don't defend the claim the PPC gets the claim amount awarded by default.

If it went to court (and someone representing the claimant bothered to turn up) in the unlikely event that you lost most judges would only allow the original £100 for the PCN, £50 for the claimants solicitors fees and I think it's £35 for the court fee now i.e. under £200 and much less than what the scammers are begging for now.

Not_A_Hope

Yep they are trying to scare you and trying to get you to settle out of court. The truth is if it goes to court it will probably cost them more to 'rent a legal rep' for a couple of hours than what they will be awarded if they win. Don't bother ringing them - you know what they want. You have to keep playing the game as frustrating as it is and the chances are they will discontinue, not turn up or lose in court.

Alex1801

Not_A_Hope said:

Have DCB Legal not broken down what their £304.60 covers? I would expect that it would cover court fees etc. They like to try to ratchet up the claim in order to pressure people to pay or if they don't defend the claim the PPC gets the claim amount awarded by default.

If it went to court (and someone representing the claimant bothered to turn up) in the unlikely event that you lost most judges would only allow the original £100 for the PCN, £50 for the claimants solicitors fees and I think it's £35 for the court fee now i.e. under £200 and much less than what the scammers are begging for now.

Thank you for your reply.

Nope I have no breakdown of the actual costs other than... £219.60 Amount Claimed ... £35 Court fee ... £50 legal representative's costs. Yes the original PCN was £100. I was just nervous that they could bang on lots of other fees on top of the £304.60 plus I would need to take a day off work. But if worst case scenario I would just pay what they're asking for now or even less then that gives me some reassurance. 

Not_A_Hope

They have added on the allowed court costs so that is your worst case scenario that they are using to try to scare you into settling.

 If the original PCN was for £100 it makes you wonder how they have increased the claim to £219.60. The government have made it clear the fake add ons are no longer allowed nor will most judges accept 8% interest on the alleged debt. Scare tactics to maximise profits from their scam.

Umkomaas

A rent fee for a freelance advocate is ~£120. It cannot be reclaimed from you (unless you cross over a very high bar of unreasonable behaviour - simply defending the claim against you is not that).

Given that the £60/£70 add-on won't be awarded to them, the £35 and £50 is just a refund of disbursements, and there will be no other costs awarded, then what they would get (nett before expenses) is £100 plus a bit of interest. In single ticket claim cases, they'll be lucky to break even on the advocate costs. Perhaps why we are seeing fewer advocates turning up at hearings of late?

But you have to keep playing the game right the way through - beware the judgment in default if you don't!

Alex1801

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. I'll keep playing the game and wait for the court to update MCOL/send the official directions questionnaire and then follow the steps on the newbies thread. 

Alex1801

I have received my date of hearing today. The letter says that I need to submit copies of all documents I intend to rely on to the other party and the court no later than 28 days before. I've read the newbies thread again and read the letter but I can't see how I'm supposed to submit this to the court. I was hoping I'd be able to email everything like I did previously for the directions questionnaire e.t.c but I assume now it has been transferred to my local court I wouldn't send it to the CCBC email. Would I just try and find an email for my local court which it has been allocated to or would I have to print it all to post to them?

Coupon-mad

Would I just try and find an email for my local court 

Yes.

For recent good WS examples, look at the threads by:

@wobs2k
@aphex007
@Daiapolon2021