DCB Legal Hearing August 2025

cutlero

Update: Court case is coming up in a couple of days. I haven't heard from a mediator, which seems strange. I did contact them as per the court instructions to say I'm willing to have the mediation call, and they said they would contact me if the other party agrees. But, I guess they didn't want to? I was hoping for a discontinuation but it seems a bit close to the court date now. 

James_Poisson

cutlero said:

Update: Court case is coming up in a couple of days. I haven't heard from a mediator, which seems strange. I did contact them as per the court instructions to say I'm willing to have the mediation call, and they said they would contact me if the other party agrees. But, I guess they didn't want to? I was hoping for a discontinuation but it seems a bit close to the court date now. 

I thought mediation was now compulsory on both parties?

cutlero

Im not sure. I am going through my local court, and I followed their instructions and they said "Your interest in mediation has been noted. If the other party is also willing to mediate, we will email you an appointment confirmation. If one party does not want to mediate, the case will proceed to a County Court hearing."

Either way, any tips for the actual court proceedings are very welcome. Will I need to bring anything in addition to my WS/defence?

Castle

Have you confirmed with the court that they have paid the Hearing fee?

cutlero

Yes I confirmed today, it has been paid.

Castle said:

Have you confirmed with the court that they have paid the Hearing fee?

ChirpyChicken

mediation has never relevance at this point

Le_Kirk

cutlero said:

Either way, any tips for the actual court proceedings are very welcome. Will I need to bring anything in addition to my WS/defence?

Read and know your defence, witness statement and evidence inside out, make yourself a crib sheet so that, if you are given a chance by the judge to talk, you can make sure you get across ALL your points.  Make sure your crib sheet contains pointers from your WS to the evidence page and paragraph. Be there early in case the cases in front of you move up the queue and also to allow time for security checks etc.  Do not allow yourself to be sidetracked into a room so that a well-dressed lawyerly type can "have a few words".  Do not accept any bits of paper.  Have a spare copy of your witness statement in case the claimant tries the "we did not receive the defendant's WS" trick!  Be polite and do not talk over the judge, address the judge as "Judge" even if a lady judge and finally - good luck.  Don't forget, when you win, to ask for your costs. Hopefully you appended a costs supplement to your WS.
Also see this posted today by a successful defendant, @flowercuppatea  Today at 12:23PM <<<<LINK

cutlero

Le_Kirk said:

cutlero said:

Either way, any tips for the actual court proceedings are very welcome. Will I need to bring anything in addition to my WS/defence?

Read and know your defence, witness statement and evidence inside out, make yourself a crib sheet so that, if you are given a chance by the judge to talk, you can make sure you get across ALL your points.  Make sure your crib sheet contains pointers from your WS to the evidence page and paragraph. Be there early in case the cases in front of you move up the queue and also to allow time for security checks etc.  Do not allow yourself to be sidetracked into a room so that a well-dressed lawyerly type can "have a few words".  Do not accept any bits of paper.  Have a spare copy of your witness statement in case the claimant tries the "we did not receive the defendant's WS" trick!  Be polite and do not talk over the judge, address the judge as "Judge" even if a lady judge and finally - good luck.  Don't forget, when you win, to ask for your costs. Hopefully you appended a costs supplement to your WS.
Also see this posted today by a successful defendant, @flowercuppatea  Today at 12:23PM <<<<LINK

Thank you this is extremely helpful

cutlero

Hello, 

We (my partner the defendant, and I who has been the one on the forums building the case) had our hearing, and while we were successful, it feels like we won by the skin of our teeth.
The hearing was difficult to say the least. The judge thankfully had read through our entire defence so understood our position, however the judge pretty much denied all of the points from the defence (we used the template) and told us at the end we are extremely lucky to have won. The judge determined that:

1. VCS had sufficient landowner authority as OTPF is a majority shareholder of BA Lts and that the contract they submitted has been upheld hundreds of times before. 
2. That a contract did exist for us to breach (this we did not agree with as the evidence put forward by VCS clearly shows a sign that says "No stopping" on the floor, yet the one they presented in their WS says "No pick up or drop off" - two completely different signs and designs.)
3. That the airport Byelaws actually support VCS by saying drivers should adhere to "notices placed on site".
4. That the CCTV is not covert, or illegal, or in breach of GDPR etc. as it is private property similar to having a ring doorbell, and that the cameras are very visible (despite no evidence of signage). 
5. That the driver can be held responsible for a passenger who got in the vehicle of their own accord unless they were a complete stranger, as you could lock the doors, or tell them not to enter.

We won due to VCS's wording on their POC and NTK which was "Stopping to pick up/drop off in a restricted zone". Due to the red light, the judge said VCS has failed to prove that the stop was to pick up/drop off even though someone got in the car (the passenger had the drivers location and was waiting at that crossing as it is right outside the airport exit the lights were red by chance). Judge said that it is clear that the stop was due to red lights. She also said that if the lights had turned green during the stop, or if the lights were not red, we would have obviously lost, but she understands why we had challenged the PCN. She spoke directly to DCBL to say that there was no disruption caused by the passenger entering the vehicle as the lights were still red after the door was closed and people were still crossing the road.

Her words to us were something like "You are very lucky. We deal with hundred of these cases and it is very rare that this would fall in your favour, these companies are very litigious."

Thankfully, the representative who attended the hearing seemed just as inexperienced as us so struggled to answer the judge's questions. They did not approach us before the hearing or try any funny business. They asked the judge if they could appeal, the judge asked on what grounds, and the DCBL rep said "on the incorrect interpretation of 'Stopping to pick up/drop off in a restricted zone'" to which the judge basically said 'So you think I can't read?' (in much more professional wording) and denied the opportunity to appeal. We were awarded no costs. 

Thank GOD that's over. 

A huge thank you to everyone on this forum who helped us prepare this case, especially @Le_Kirkand @Coupon-mad who have been so responsive. It's so appreciated!

Gr1pr

Which court and judge   ?

Well done on your win over VCS and DCB Legal