County Court Fine PLEASE HELP

Fruitcake

You mention it to the judge as a preliminary matter once everyone has been introduced, or when it is your turn to speak. 

You need to point out to the judge that the claimant's WS refers to different dates and a different motorist to you, and anything else that has nothing to do with you. They appear to be claiming against the wrong person.
Do include a schedule of costs and ask for costs at the end of the hearing if you win.

If you are unable to bring up preliminary matters, then the judge will tell you what will happen and in what order, and the claimant will get to go first.
Take crib notes about the mistakes with you so you can quickly refer the judge to the incorrect points in the claimant's WS.
Take quick notes as you go so you can counter any points you want to highlight, especially if the claimant's rep mentions the incorrect information.

If the claimant's rep asks for an adjournment, you must object strongly saying that they had the same deadlines as you, and the same instructions as you to provide documents they wish to rely on at the hearing. It is unfair to you if they have failed to comply with these instructions.

Will this be an in person hearing or via 'phone/video?

Mollyc977

Hi All,

my hearing is in a couple of days. I am extremely nervous so would appreciate any tips/tricks etc in preparation.

thanks all in advance 

KeithP

Mollyc977 said:

Hi All,

my hearing is in a couple of days. I am extremely nervous so would appreciate any tips/tricks etc in preparation.

thanks all in advance 

I'm not sure what you are looking for but @Fruitcake's post immediately above yours is full of tips.


Have you seen this video?...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93eoaxhzpU

Just three or four people sitting round a table having a discussion.

That video was made a few years ago and most hearings nowadays seem to be via telephone or video link. Fruitcake did ask whether your hearing is to be via a video link.

Mollyc977

Fruitcake said:

You mention it to the judge as a preliminary matter once everyone has been introduced, or when it is your turn to speak. 

You need to point out to the judge that the claimant's WS refers to different dates and a different motorist to you, and anything else that has nothing to do with you. They appear to be claiming against the wrong person.
Do include a schedule of costs and ask for costs at the end of the hearing if you win.

If you are unable to bring up preliminary matters, then the judge will tell you what will happen and in what order, and the claimant will get to go first.
Take crib notes about the mistakes with you so you can quickly refer the judge to the incorrect points in the claimant's WS.
Take quick notes as you go so you can counter any points you want to highlight, especially if the claimant's rep mentions the incorrect information.

If the claimant's rep asks for an adjournment, you must object strongly saying that they had the same deadlines as you, and the same instructions as you to provide documents they wish to rely on at the hearing. It is unfair to you if they have failed to comply with these instructions.

Will this be an in person hearing or via 'phone/video?

Thanks Fruitcake! 

Mollyc977

KeithP said:

Mollyc977 said:

Hi All,

my hearing is in a couple of days. I am extremely nervous so would appreciate any tips/tricks etc in preparation.

thanks all in advance 

I'm not sure what you are looking for but @Fruitcake's post immediately above yours is full of tips.


Have you seen this video?...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93eoaxhzpU

Just three or four people sitting round a table having a discussion.

That video was made a few years ago and most hearings nowadays seem to be via telephone or video link. Fruitcake did ask whether your hearing is to be via a video link.

My hearing is face to face in court. Apologies for duplicating already answered questions, I'm just really nervous as like many I've never done this before!

Mollyc977

UPDATE

I had my hearing this week and unfortunately lost my case BUT I did get the debt recovery costs removed! I would just like to thank you all for all your hard work and support throughout, I really appreciate it. If anyone has any questions about the hearing I am happy to answer!

Umkomaas

Mollyc977 said:

UPDATE

I had my hearing this week and unfortunately lost my case BUT I did get the debt recovery costs removed! I would just like to thank you all for all your hard work and support throughout, I really appreciate it. If anyone has any questions about the hearing I am happy to answer!

Sorry to hear that. On what point(s) did the Judge find against you?  What did the Claimant's rep have to say at the hearing?

Mollyc977

So the judge said as the registered keeper whether I drove in / out I am still responsible for the vehicle. The fact I bought a ticket for 1 hour showed the judge that even though the signage was poor I still understood it to buy a ticket initially therefore breached the contract. 

The rep was a young girl who was new to the company. Throughout their WS they mentioned the Percy case and the judge asked for the rep to elaborate on this and the rep stated she didn't know anything about it as it is just part of the template the company uses. The judge wasn't impressed. The judge also mentioned the incorrect name / address and the rep again said this was due to using a template. The judge mentioned they had signed a statement of truth but this was far from the case because she didn't understand any of it. 

The judge asked what the debt recovery costs were for and the rep said she did not know but then when later asked she said she thought it was for admin fees. The judge stated that if they were claiming for admin fees then they should have said this and not debt recovery costs. 

The judge agreed that the parking fine was unfair because of the medical reason but I still breached the contract nonetheless.

Coupon-mad

Not too shabby then!  Bad luck - but not terrible and you cost SIP a lot more!

Sounds like the Judge considered all the issues properly and to be fair, if a Judge finds that you did read the terms and you breached them, then the best you can then do is get the false DRA fee removed - and you did!

And we sincerely hope that you are au fait with the need to respond to the final Government Public Consultation, soon?

Hopefully - amongst all the political disruption - it will be open later this year and probably into January.

We all need to ram the nail in the coffin of the false £70 'DRA fee' add-on, that actually funds the court claim and toxic CCJ culture, as well as the DRA gaslighting of people.

Just checking you are among those ready to respond to the questions as you have personal experience of how this crap feels?

Please come back here when it opens, and you can make sure you don't miss the Consultation:

If you are not a regular reader, to be alerted you'll need to bookmark the thread by MSE_JC at the top of the forum and enable (on your profile) email alerts for bookmarked threads.

Then join us when the Consultation opens.

Sorry if you knew all this already - I had no time to check back through the thread.