DCB Legal / UKPC County Court Claim Received

fryster

So some very good news - I won! Case was dismissed very quickly due to keeper liability. I think that it would be a good idea to request a copy of the transcript as I suspect that it will help others going forward. Anybody have any experience in this and how much it would roughly cost? Hearing probably lasted no more than 20 minutes.

My sincere thanks to everybody here who has helped every step of the way. Glad it's over!

Umkomaas

Transcripts can be expensive (three figures potentially). A county court decision is not that powerful, certainly not precedent setting. Appeal court (and higher) decisions have more 'clout'. 

What exactly did the judge say in regard to keeper liability, and what did the PPC advocate say in that context?

Well done on your win. 👍

patient_dream

Umkomaas says, in your own words please

DCBL LOST IN COURT ....BECAUSE ? 

Coupon-mad

fryster said:

So some very good news - I won! Case was dismissed very quickly due to keeper liability. I think that it would be a good idea to request a copy of the transcript as I suspect that it will help others going forward. Anybody have any experience in this and how much it would roughly cost? Hearing probably lasted no more than 20 minutes.

My sincere thanks to everybody here who has helped every step of the way. Glad it's over!

Yay well done!

A short hearing might 'only' be £100 for the transcript but would be very useful to help others. Well done!  Did a rep turn up?

fryster

Umkomaas said:

Transcripts can be expensive (three figures potentially). A county court decision is not that powerful, certainly not precedent setting. Appeal court (and higher) decisions have more 'clout'. 

What exactly did the judge say in regard to keeper liability, and what did the PPC advocate say in that context?

Well done on your win. 👍

Sorry for the delay in replying. The advocate turned up 20 minutes late, came rushing up the stairs and entered the court room out of breath and not really ready at all. Fumbled around with his laptop and tablet when the judge started addressing him. Judge bought up the point I made that multiple people were authorised to use the vehicle and given the length of time it was reasonable that I couldn't remember who was driving the car at the time. He said that in the 25 years that he's been a judge the issue of keeper liability had only been raised once before, and described it as a 'pool' car where several people had access to it. Rightly acknowledged that I was under no obligation to name the driver as there was no legal basis for doing so - gave an example of it not being something like a speeding ticket were I would have to name the driver. Bought up another point I raised in my witness statement where they claim I appealed the charge and admitted to being the driver (I hadn't and their own witness statement exhibit contradicted this claim). Judge had the page number of the witness statement ready and it was funny as the advocate flapped around trying to find the page on his tablet whilst I quickly found it with my neatly organised, printed witness statements.

The advocate was flapping about and didn't really have an answer to anything the judge said, tried to state on the balance of probability I was the driver as otherwise I would have named the actual driver. Kept my mouth shut as the judge was doing the work for me. Judge gave the advocate the chance to ask me questions, he asked me if it was possible for me to find out who was driving the vehicle to which I replied 'I can't recall who was permitted to drive the vehicle as it was such a long time ago'. Judge asked the advocate if they would wish to appeal, advocate said something in relation to the defendant being able to recall who was driving. Judge denied right to appeal. 

Judge asked about costs - I stated petrol costs and he kindly worked it out for me. I don't work as I'm a full time carer for my daughter so didn't think there was any other costs I could claim. 

I was struck by how badly prepared the advocate was. He was smartly dressed but it didn't seem as though he had read the case notes in any detail. After initially being very nervous, the fact that the advocate was running late put me at a strange sense of ease and I took the time to read through my witness statement before entering. Seeing him out of breath and ill prepared made it much more comfortable and it helped that the judge had already made up his mind over keeper liability.

Coupon-mad

Well done!

The poor hired reps (not connected to the scam, just legal reps from a pool, same as the car, haha) are emailed the case on their way to court so have little chance to prepare.  I'm sure most don't expect to win except when Defendants don't turn up.