Yet another DCBL county claim (Euro car parks) - Chelmsford

dlb134

Mediation done. 

Felt like the mediator was on commission for the parking firm...

Advising me to take the reduction from £300 odd to £280 as I risked going to court or worse, a CCJ.

My counter offer of £4 was declined....

Onto the next step!

Le_Kirk

Report the mediator for not being neutral and appearing to be on the side of the claimant by complaining to: -
scmreferrals@justice.gov.uk

1505grandad

"Report the mediator for not being neutral and appearing to be on the side of the claimant by complaining to: -
scmreferrals@justice.gov.uk"

A heads-up  -  when I sent an email "General Enquiry" (on the off chance they would actually reply) regarding this and other Mediation Service protocols they replied:-

"Please ensure you have quoted the correct case number. This will be an eight-digit code in the format of letters and numbers and can be found on all court correspondence."

So just posting the above FYI.

Coupon-mad

Definitely complain that the Mediator lied about the likely outcome and was biased in favour of a rogue parking firm roboclaimant. There will be no CCJ and as always, DCB Legal will discontinue at the point where WS are due. The Mediation Service is supporting meritless claims that NEVER go to hearings and need to be told to stop pressurising defendants in private parking cases who have no reason whatsoever to settle.

dlb134

DCBL legal called me today again offering me a reduced amount..... Asked why I didn't wish to pay and what evidence I had to take to court.....

Seemed abit odd to me considering I have also received a notice of transfer of proceedings.... 

Is this standard practice?

Gr1pr

Yes, very much so,  nothing odd about it,  they do so in every case

Tell them that you will see them in court if you speak to them again 

Keep following the 12 steps in the defence template thread and post 2 in the newbies sticky thread in announcements 

Expect a discontinuation,  eventually 

Car1980

Yes, bear in mind they are just using the pre-hearing court process as a debt collection service. They love mediation.

They don't want to make a claim to go to a hearing, only to use it to telephone and write to you.

dlb134

Letter of notice of allocation received. 

What do I need to do from this point? I can see that Euro parks have until the 10th of june to pay the trial fee. 

In the meantime (yesterday) DCBL called me to offer a further discount to £100 to avoid this going to court.

Any advise is much appreciated! 

Coupon-mad

You need to re-read the WS & evidence advice for this stage. In the 2nd post of the NEWBIES thread. 

dlb134

Coupon-mad said:

You need to re-read the WS & evidence advice for this stage. In the 2nd post of the NEWBIES thread. 

Just to ensure I am not missing anything. Do I need to submit evidence upto 14 days prior to the hearing date? I am assuming once I submit evidence, the parking firm is notified of this? 

Also, is this the information I need to read now? Am i missing anything?

LETTERS ABOUT HEARINGS - WITNESS STATEMENT AND EVIDENCE TIME!
When you get a hearing date, THAT LETTER gives you on page two, the deadline by which YOU MUST file the evidence ('exhibits') and Witness Statement.

YOU are the witness. You MUST do a statement and it is not OK to rely only on your defence.

At witness statement stage (usually NOT LATER THAN 14 DAYS BEFORE YOUR HEARING!) don't forget to file the evidence you will rely upon. Can include:

(a) a copy of the Beavis case sign as a comparison to show how awful the small print sign was in yours case (see Google images - it's yellow and black)

(b) photos proving the scarce/illegible small print signs & a view showing the lack of entrance signs, etc. and maybe a video of how it looks from a car? Get a passenger to hold a camera or phone to prove the lack of signs in similar light conditions.

(c). If the Claim form did not specify the term breached, include the strike out orders shown here in a link to CEL v Chan and similar case 'strike out' Judgments from all over the English courts:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80812842/#Comment_80812842

...and use wording like this to refer to those exhibits - note that the lead cases is CEL v Chan and CPMS v Akande as both were heard in Appeal and are persuasive::
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80516020#Comment_80516020

(d) if you are relying on a 'no keeper liability' argument, include a URL to Schedule 4 of the POFA and also exhibit the transcripts of Excel v Smith and VCS v Edward (search the forum!).

(e) a copy of your lease or tenancy agreement if this is an 'own space' dispute where YOU have primacy of contract.

(f) other case transcripts that support your defence, e.g. if arguing that this is a residential space where the tenant/leaseholder has already been granted the right to park or unload, you need Jopson v HomeGuard (appeal) and PACE v Mr N, etc.
(g) the IPC or BPA Code of practice, where it supports your case (e.g. grace periods);

(h) Pay & Display ticket, if the driver paid. DON'T argue 'no loss'!

(i) paras 98, 193 and 198 from Parking Eye v Beavis copied & pasted onto a single sheet.

AND

WITNESS STATEMENT - EASY STAGE - YOUR 'STORY' & EVIDENCE

This is a simple stage.

It's your story & evidence.

Search the forum (filter for 'newest') Witness Statements for how to word them.

Also attach a Costs Assessment (just an A4 page) if you are taking a day's leave from work, or have specifically incurred other costs (like a £303 set aside fee if you had a CCJ hearing where the Judge said 'costs reserved') or childcare or travel to the hearing. Bring receipts, wage slips, proof of costs.

If the PPC DISCONTINUES just days before the hearing, you could try writing to the court and asking for your assessed costs: @bluetoffee1878 did it:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showth...88#post72966188