Bank Parking Park Management & DCB Legal

LimeStar

By way of update I had a mediation call last week.  It went the same way as I have read they gone on here, the mediator provided summary points from DCB legal - although a couple were strangely incorrect. Anyway as said it went as expected, they wanted an amount approaching £300, I politely declined and offered the parking fee amount, they refused but reduced what they were asking for, I politely declined again. I informed them that I would attend court for a hearing and would also ask the judge for my costs in so doing and marginally increased my offer (by £1) this was declined.  So I'll wait for the next stage.

Thanks for all the help so far.

LimeStar

Hi everyone that has helped me so far.  Following the unsuccessful mediation I have received Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track (Hearing).  The first page of the docs is all about mediation and that this case is suitable for mediation, given that I've tried mediation once is there a requirement I do so again? I'd really rather not. 

The order states that the claim will be heard at my local court (estimated time 1hr).

The following directions

Each party must deliver to the other party and to the court offices copies of all documents on which that party intends to rely at the hearing no later than 14 days before the hearing  

The original documents must be brought to the hearing

The judge may refuse to consider a document or take it into account if a copy of it has not been sent to the other party as required by this Order.

The documents to be sent to the other party and the court must include the statement of all witnesses (including the parties themselves) 

it goes on to set out what the witness statement must include, name, case number etc

The court date is 31/10 the doc says the claimant has to pay the trial fee by 4pm 03/10, if it doesn't then the claim is struck out and they are liable for costs which the defendant has incurred. 

So, questions

1. Do I wait for the DCB statement and then respond to it, or draft my own?
2. If I don't wait, I'm assuming I can write my own but then tailor it when I receive theirs?
3. Is it worth waiting until 03/10 to see if they pay the court fee before starting? (that's assuming I
 have time to draft my statement and submit it before the deadline - which I think I will have)
4. How will I know if the claimant has paid the court fee?
5. If the claimant doesn't pay the court fee, how do I ask for any costs I may have? And what can I reasonably claim? printing costs? time for research, drafting of defence etc? 
6.  Is there a template statement i can crib from?  I've done a search and found a couple by other people but the nuances between my case and theirs is different.

Thanks so much 

Gr1pr

Mediation tends to be just the once,  probably not relevant , the rest is standard stuff 

1) it's better to draft your own, not leave it to the last minute 

2) correct 

3) yes

4) by phoning your local civil court and asking,  after the deadline has passed

5) depends when they discontinue,  but probably little or nothing if it's discontinued 2 weeks before the hearing date,  or longer

6) no, no templates,  you will have to draft your own bespoke WS plus Exhibits bundle after studying a few other recent cases,  like you tried to do 

Coupon-mad

Recent good WS are on the threads by

@Feyla

@Char27

LimeStar

Thanks @Gr1pr &  @Coupon-mad that's v helpful.

I'll make a start next weekend having looked at the 2 examples coupon-mad has mentioned

Final question (for now anyway lol) - I've had 2 missed calls from DCB - they have left a message asking me to call them back on both occasions -I'm assuming there's no obligation to do so and its just an added layer of hassle scare tactics they employ?

Gr1pr

LimeStar said:

Thanks @Gr1pr &  @Coupon-mad that's v helpful.

I'll make a start next weekend having looked at the 2 examples coupon-mad has mentioned

Final question (for now anyway lol) - I've had 2 missed calls from DCB - they have left a message asking me to call them back on both occasions -I'm assuming there's no obligation to do so and its just an added layer of hassle scare tactics they employ?

Correct, dont fall for it  !