No real defence - DCB Legal Ltd and Euro Car Parks

icbatbh

That certainly was good timing.

Having drafted my defence, I understand that I now have to follow 'The first 12 steps'.

Does it make a difference if I file the defence ASAP, or nearer the deadline, which I believe is 12/01/25?

1505grandad

For info  -  how did you amend the end of para 2 of the Template Defence?.

Littlevoice21

I am in basically the same situation having received a claim form from county court today for a Euro car parks fine in December 2022 which has freaked me out to be honest as wasn’t expecting it to go to court as everything I’d previously read said Euro Carparks weren’t generally litigious. Weirdly I had no letter before claim just the usually debt recovery letters and then received the claim form today out of the blue a week before Christmas. They’re claiming £283 total for would have been a 2 hour free as above.   Will have a look at the standard templates but does not having a letter before claim change anything? I only have 14 days to respond and going away for Christmas on a Monday so basically just have the weekend . No joy with the retailer as never got a reply when I contacted them originally. It was a wilko’s and has now changed to a different store 

KeithP

@Littlevoice21, firstly I would suggest that you copy the above post as a reply onto your existing thread about this incident...
     forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6424515/euro-carparks-popla-stage

When you've done that, please tell us the Issue Date on your Claim Form - again on your older thread of course.  

Littlevoice21

Will do now thanks

icbatbh

Quick update: 

Received an email from DCB Legal Ltd, advising me that their client (Euro Car Parks) intend to proceed with the claim. They attached a copy of the claimant's directions questionnaire, and also advised me that their client may be willing to settle if I call them within 7 days. 

This is step 7 of the first 12 steps, so nothing really of note here I'm just updating for reference.

(Note: I just posted this from an old account that I didn't know I had, and have requested it be removed)

icbatbh

Further update:

I received the N180 Directions Questionnaire from the court on the 15th Feb, and emailed that off to all parties. I have also received an email confirming my mediation appointment, which is towards the end of March.

So back to the waiting game.

icbatbh

Attended mediation this week. It was quick and easy. The mediator was friendly and polite. She advised me that Euro Car Parks had offered to settle for £260, which was about £17 less than the amount on the claim form.

I counter offered £10, and they came back with an offer of £170. I refused this and said my offer remains at £10. They then came back to me with a final offer of £100. I declined, so the mediation was not settled and I am awaiting further correspondence from DCB Legal.

icbatbh

This week I received the Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track (Hearing), stating that the claim will be heard in late September, and that copies of documents on which each party intends to rely on need to be submitted no later than 14 days before the hearing.

The letter also states that the claim will be struck out if the claimant (Euro Car Parks) does not pay the £27 trial free before a date in August.

I have also received this week an email from DCB Legal saying that ECP will settle (within 7 days from the date of the email) for £60. DCB Legal left me a voicemail as well, asking me to call them back. I have ignored the email and voicemail.

Seeing as there is over a week between the date in which ECP must pay the trial fee to avoid the claim being struck out, and the deadline for which I must submit my witness statement, it makes sense to me to not prepare my witness statement until the trial fee has been paid. Also, it seems unlikely to me that ECP are going to pay the £27 trial fee, if they are talking about settling for £60.

Does anyone have any experience with this, or know if a hearing is going to be likely? The hearing is going to be nearly 50 miles away as well, which is a bit annoying.

TIA

Gr1pr

Plenty of examples of this in the 610 discontinuations listed in the discontinuations thread by Umkomaas,  please study the latest ones in there

Yours is following the usual pattern,  so you do understand the game 

There won't be a hearing  !  You can almost bank on it !

Keep checking your inbox and spam folder for the N279 discontinuation document in their inevitable email