ECP DCB Legal court claim - Notice of Discontinuance (NOD) Received

OldBloke101

Hi All,

Just a quick update and a question.

I have now received the date and time for my mediation call. Oh joy.

I have also received a letter from DCB Legal, offering to talk about a settlement to alleviate pressure on the courts. My first thought was to completely ignore. However, I wondered whether this was something I should respond to in order to show willing?

Thanks.

Coupon-mad

But both of those things are already covered in the first 12 steps (there to stop posters needing us until Witness Statement stage!).

  

OldBloke101

My apologies Coupon-mad, however I did not think this letter was the same as that mentioned in Step 7. of the first 12 steps. This was not a threat to proceed, but an offer to discuss a settlement. I thought there was a possibility that this may be one of the things they could use against me in court if I was not seen to be prepared to discuss with them.

If you consider this letter to just be a threat letter as per step 7. then fine, I will ignore.

Gr1pr

Mediation via the 3rd party is where anyone would negotiate a settlement figure,  it's why it's now a new step 

Generally we tell people to just say NO, no settlement other than both sides walk away and bear their own costs,  regardless 

So even if you did speak to them,  that is the only reply we recommend, neither that call, if you chose it,  or Mediation,  would be bad for you in court, because you have the choice to go to a hearing 

Its not a threat letter as such,  it's lawyers trying to do their utmost to avoid further costs that they may not get back, £27 hearing fee, advocate hearing charge on the day, drafting the witness statement bundle,  so possibly hundreds of pounds in extra charges and costs 

I would do the same if it were my case against you,  avoid costs but try to obtain a reasonable sum ( unreasonable for you,  reasonable for me  )

The game is simple,  a game of chicken or poker with money riding on the outcomes 

You should be studying other cases that are ahead of you or completed,  see what happened,  like we do

Plus study some of the 451 discontinuations  by dcb legal in the tally thread by Umkomaas,  same as we do

That way you build up knowledge,  confidence,  learn about curve balls or the best way forward 

OldBloke101

Hi All,

Just to update.

I have now received my court date and have until early April to submit my Witness Statement and evidence.

Any help will be greatly received. I have started looking through the links at other WS and will post on my progress here.

Coupon-mad

Hopefully they'll discontinue but in 2025, we've also seen some progress to a WS bundle arriving from this lot.

So, you should assume it will go ahead but check your junk emails every week. Discontinuances come by email.

OldBloke101

Ok, thanks, will do.

I have found the template WS in the newbies thread and will copy it and begin adapting it. Do I copy it here for review? Thanks again.

Le_Kirk

OldBloke101 said:

I have found the template WS in the newbies thread and will copy it and begin adapting it. Do I copy it here for review? Thanks again.

There are no longer template WS examples in the NEWBIE sticky, to which one are you referring?  The most recent examples sometimes posted up by @Coupon-mad are by @Harry77, @imulsion and @Defendant911

Coupon-mad

As Le_Kirk says, there's no template WS.

OldBloke101

Thanks for the update. I have found @Defendant911's WS and am looking through it. I have until early April to provide the documents. They have until late March to pay the fee.

A quick couple of questions.

Am I better off waiting until after the Fee deadline to submit my WS or do it asap?

Can I email my WS to the court or do I need to deliver hard copy? The reason I am asking is that the letter I have from the court makes no mention of an email address so this makes me think I need to deliver a hard copy to the court.

Thanks again.