Question on soft trace

h2g2

I'm the one taking my MC to court. I've actually paid Contestor Legal to do it, but they prioritise defending tickets, so it's going REALLY slowly.

We sent a letter of claim back in September, then a follow-up in November when they didn't reply within 28 days, and then they finally replied at the start of January. For four weeks we've been at the stage of "drafting particulars of claim" to actually start legal proceedings which, in my opinion, should have been started in November.

h2g2

Looks like PinkElephant did as well though: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6421843/i-sued-a-parking-company-and-won#latest

ChirpyChicken

h2g2 said:

I'm the one taking my MC to court. I've actually paid Contestor Legal to do it, but they prioritise defending tickets, so it's going REALLY slowly.

We sent a letter of claim back in September, then a follow-up in November when they didn't reply within 28 days, and then they finally replied at the start of January. For four weeks we've been at the stage of "drafting particulars of claim" to actually start legal proceedings which, in my opinion, should have been started in November.

Give him a chase on linkedin

pinkelephant12

I successfully sued the PPC and the residential property management company (RPMC) separately for different breaches of data protection. 

I didn't have an issue with the Managing Agents who  were a national company employed by the directors of the RPMC.  The Managing Agents were trying to help me and provided me with evidence for the court cases.  They eventually resigned because  the directors of the RPMC were causing them so many problems.

The real difficulty in suing either a Managing Agent, RPMC or other similar entity is that all costs, damages, fees, etc will probably be added to your service charge and your innocent neighbours will end up paying.

h2g2

> The real difficulty in suing either a Managing Agent, RPMC or other similar entity is that all costs, damages, fees, etc will probably be added to your service charge and your innocent neighbours will end up paying.

I very much doubt doing that would pass muster at the First-Tier Tribunal. Service charge costs must be "reasonably incurred", and tenants have the right to inspect the accounts. I would be surprised if "compensation and damages due to us breaching the lease" would ever be counted as a "reasonable cost". Doubly so if the judge awards the tenants costs for unreasonableness by the other entity.

Where the money to pay would come from is a bit unclear, though.

owl86

I would push for the managing agent to be liable for payment of any damages, rather than the management company. But if the management company is found liable and costs are borne by residents, it will be a consideration as to whether the services of the managing agent should be retained, particularly as they acted negligently and stuffed residents for the costs. 

The managing agent (a company) is actually the director of the management company, so direct liability should be easy to establish. 

pinkelephant12

h2g2 said:

I very much doubt doing that would pass muster at the First-Tier Tribunal. Service charge costs must be "reasonably incurred", and tenants have the right to inspect the accounts. 

Like the OP, I own a FREEHOLD property on a managed estate.  There is no right to go to the First Tier Tribunal until the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is fully implemented.  

There's the possibility of a derivative action against the directors to recover the money, which would then be paid by directors' insurance.

owl86

I had my set aside hearing earlier this week. The judge relied on non-compliance with 6.9 in turn allowing the claim to be struck out under 7.5. There was no discussion of parking. 

DCB Legal had submitted a witness statement. It wasn’t really a witness statement, just a third party inversion of my account of events and some terrible legal argument - even citing cases that I read as favouring set asides. No evidence of a trace was produced, leaving their (external) legal representative in a tough spot. I was very impressed with the proceedings, it was all over in about 10 minutes. 

Coupon-mad

Yeehah! 

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

You got a huge amount of costs - around £825! Did you use a solicitor or just claim a lot for printing and time off work? Which court please?

They will detest that Order.  Hopefully they won't waste their time in trying to appeal the decision. Nicely done.

Nellymoser

Great to read about your court win. 🥳

Have you seen/signed petitions asking for Govt action to protect motorists from PP operators unfair practices.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6595460/parking-petitions-x-4-on-uk-parliament-petitions-website