Court Claim and Mediation

lotsofrain1

Just found out about the resources available on this website and wish I had found it sooner.

Received a parking charge from UKPC back in October for "Not parking within the markings of the bay or space", at the time of my arrival there was sudden downpour and I couldn't make out the lines, I lined myself up with the bollard (local tesco has a bollard behind every space to stop you reversing too far), only realised I had parked so badly after returning from the shop (which is when the picture was taken).

I responded to the claim via the UKPC channels which was denied and then I was advised by others I can ignore it as it's just an invoice.

This was then taken to the court, I submitted a defence to the court as per the above, the claimant has decided to proceed with the claim and I have just had an email about a mediation appointment for 1 months time.

I have just sent an email to what I assume is the land owner (JLL) asking them to cancel the charge and awaiting reply, is there anything else I can do at this point or am I now at the hands of the judge?

Am I able to submit further evidence? Am I able to dispute the total charges if it does go to the judge and I lose? (we both agreed via the questionnaire this can be settled without attendance by the judge) They have added the £70 charge for passing this to collectors and further solicitor fees have been adding the total up to over £270, I received a call from DCB Legal 3 weeks ago saying they are willing to settle for £200, I told them no thanks.

Sorry if this is a mess of information but not sure what I can do now.

Mark_d

You know how badly you had parked, so UKPC were not wrong in asking you to pay.  By ignoring their 'invoice' you have incurred other costs - namely debt collectors and solicitors costs.  By refusing to settle before going to court, you are now looking at £270 plus court costs and no doubt other fees and charges.

I think it's unlikely you are able to appeal against the court ruling because the evidence is clear.   You admit you parked "so badly".

If I was you I'd pay the £270 now and breathe a sigh of relief.

Gr1pr

At the moment there is no court and no judge, just mandatory mediation, as you explained, see the mediation advice in the thread and links below 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6546604/directions-questionnaire-help#latest

Evidence comes at the Witness statement time, which will be months away, assuming that you offer £zero at the mediation stage, same as the others, so no compromise, offering nothing 

Yes you would definitely dispute the added debt collectors charges, that extra £70 is regularly thrown out 

You did the landowner or managing agent complaint, good

You complete the mediation in 5 minutes by offering nothing, then its back on track to your local civil court in a few months time, probably next year 

Your WS + Exhibits bundle are submitted to your local civil court, plus a copy of your bundle to the lawyers as well, a few weeks before the hearing date 

DCB legal discontinue a lot of these claims a couple of weeks before the hearing date, so expect that to happen, especially if they are offering a lesser settlement figure 

Coupon-mad

Mark_d said:

You know how badly you had parked, so UKPC were not wrong in asking you to pay.  By ignoring their 'invoice' you have incurred other costs - namely debt collectors and solicitors costs.  

I think it's unlikely you are able to appeal against the court ruling because the evidence is clear.   You admit you parked "so badly".

If I was you I'd pay the £270 now and breathe a sigh of relief.

Wow. No. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The court hasn't made a ruling.

No DRA fees have been incurred.

What do you mean 'the evidence is clear'?

It won't even get as far as a hearing.

This victim will pay NOTHING AT ALL.

By refusing to settle before going to court, you are now looking at £270 plus court costs and no doubt other fees and charges.

Please don't post incorrect information.

Your assumptions are wrong and don't help this new poster. The £270 is already inflated, includes court fees and there are no other fees or charges over and above the claim except for a £27 hearing fee (but at least £70 of the claim will be refused by the Judge anyway).

And UKPC claims don't even go to hearings!

The right advice to this OP is to attend the Mediation phone call (because it's compulsory) but tell them he/she owes nothing at all, and will NOT be offering any money to what bears all the hallmarks of a get-rich-quick scam.

Do not be bullied by the Mediator. Give them just 5 minutes of your time then end the call.

DCB Legal will discontinue the claim soon.

lotsofrain1

Coupon-mad said:

Mark_d said:

You know how badly you had parked, so UKPC were not wrong in asking you to pay.  By ignoring their 'invoice' you have incurred other costs - namely debt collectors and solicitors costs.  

I think it's unlikely you are able to appeal against the court ruling because the evidence is clear.   You admit you parked "so badly".

If I was you I'd pay the £270 now and breathe a sigh of relief.

Wow. No. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The court hasn't made a ruling.

No DRA fees have been incurred.

What do you mean 'the evidence is clear'?

It won't even get as far as a hearing.

This victim will pay NOTHING AT ALL.

By refusing to settle before going to court, you are now looking at £270 plus court costs and no doubt other fees and charges.

Please don't post incorrect information.

Your assumptions are wrong and don't help this new poster. The £270 is already inflated, includes court fees and there are no other fees or charges over and above the claim except for a £27 hearing fee (but at least £70 of the claim will be refused by the Judge anyway).

And UKPC claims don't even go to hearings!

The right advice to this OP is to attend the Mediation phone call (because it's compulsory) but tell them he/she owes nothing at all, and will NOT be offering any money to what bears all the hallmarks of a get-rich-quick scam.

Do not be bullied by the Mediator. Give them just 5 minutes of your time then end the call.

DCB Legal will discontinue the claim soon.

Hi, saw a lot of your posts on other users threads, just wants to say thanks for helping everyone and I will take your advice here.

Worst case scenario I lose a bit of money but I'd rather fight back as best I can than willingly pay them out.

I will update the post on progress for other users who are in my situation.

lotsofrain1

Update for those who are in a similar situation, I received multiple calls from DCB Legal over the past 2 months, every time they asked me to confirm my identity I declined as they were the ones calling me, I emailed them to tell them to stop calling me and wasting my time.

On the 16th October I received an email offering a £100 settlement, I ignored the email.

I have just received a letter (8th November) confirming the discontinuance of the case.

Thank you @Coupon-mad for the assistance, hopefully anyone else in a similar situation gets the same outcome, the courts should just be throwing these straight out instead of letting these scammers try to scare people.

Gr1pr

Please post a redacted picture of the NoD so that @Umkomaas can add your success to the Discontinuations thread 

Well done for sticking it out. !  (. And for ignoring the comments by MarkD too. )

lotsofrain1

Do you have a link to the thread so I can get an example to know what to redact? Had a look but I can't find it.

The NoD they sent me via email (which I actually missed via email on Wednesday) is very plain, they didn't even bother to fill in the claimant name!

Gr1pr

Its below 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations#latest

Nellymoser

Mark_d said:

You know how badly you had parked, so UKPC were not wrong in asking you to pay.  By ignoring their 'invoice' you have incurred other costs - namely debt collectors and solicitors costs.  By refusing to settle before going to court, you are now looking at £270 plus court costs and no doubt other fees and charges.

I think it's unlikely you are able to appeal against the court ruling because the evidence is clear.   You admit you parked "so badly".

If I was you I'd pay the £270 now and breathe a sigh of relief.

With the PPC discontinuing their claim before the court hearing date you'll be breathing a sigh of relief you didn't choose to follow @Mark_d suggestions. 

lotsofrain1

Now to invoice them for my time spent