NPC / DCBL Notice of Debt Recovery. Advice Needed before Midnight Please.

Coupon-mad

You will ignore DCB Legal's proposal. You are not liable for costs and have no reason at all to pay the claim itself.

Gr1pr

Its them trying to wriggle out of it and mug you in the process

Let them squirm

NPCBullies

Gr1pr said:

Its them trying to wriggle out of it and mug you in the process

Let them squirm

Hey both-Jackson called me with an update today. DCB Legal have now come back to him saying that they will set aside the CCJ and pay the court cost to do so no additional costs my side (basically the £400 email I stated a few days ago has been voided- as you said they tried to wiggle out of it).

Sounds great- but the problem is DCB Legal are refusing to cover any costs towards the legal fee of c.£600 that I paid Contestor Legal to assist with reaching this stage.

Jackson called me saying either we can:

1. Settle the CCJ now and I can't recover the £600 cost (which he originally said I would definitely recover back without a doubt when starting this process). The benefit of this is I can immediately get the CCJ removed from my record within the next few weeks. Having the CCJ on my record is worrying me a lot- I'm renewing my flat at the back-end of this year that could cause issues, and also renewing my car insurance which is already eye-wateringly high (£2000+) that will no doubt increase again because of this. I want this off my record ASAP but equally losing c.£600 because of this criminal parking company isn't something I want. Net option 2...

2. Refuse to agree to the DCB Legal proposal and take it to court instead. Jackson says with Xmas coming up this likely won't be until early next year- and to get an agreement/set aside/full legal fees recovered potentially not until back-end of next year perhaps longer- unsure on timings. He also said there is of course a chance that the court decide to set aside the CCJ but not agree to recover legal fees given DCB Legal are claiming my DVLA didn't change (even though I have proof it did). I know this was a possibility but slightly frustrating given Jackson was extremely confident at the start I will recover 100%.

I am leaning towards option 2 given I don't want to lose £600 + I have an overwhelming amount of evidence I have (emails to them of changing address before they issued the CCJ, DVLA change submission confirmation, numerous chaser emails and calls asking if the CCJ was issued, voice records of them stating my wrong address months after, etc...)

What are your thoughts/opinions please? Appreciate the help.

Coupon-mad

I'd choose option 2 if it were me.

I'd be very surprised if the court doesn't grant all your costs, given the Court of Appeal binding case law of VCS v Carr (featuring JY and more costs than your case) and your evidence that they had 'reason to believe' the old DVLA address was out of date.

As the claim was never allocated to the small claims track (because it was presumably a default CCJ) this means there are costs to be claimed and the small claims cap doesn't apply. I'm sure Jackson will argue that well!

NPCBullies

Coupon-mad said:

I'd choose option 2 if it were me.

I'd be very surprised if the court doesn't grant all your costs, given the Court of Appeal binding case law of VCS v Carr (featuring JY and more costs than your case) and your evidence that they had 'reason to believe' the old DVLA address was out of date.

As the claim was never allocated to the small claims track (because it was presumably a default CCJ) this means there are costs to be claimed and the small claims cap doesn't apply. I'm sure Jackson will argue that well!

I think I’m in the same camp. Thanks for explaining your view.

Worst case scenario if the court set aside the CCJ but don’t agree to pay back costs- will I then be in debt of both the £600 to Contestor which I can’t recover AND additional law/court fees on top of that? Do you know how much ballpark these can amount to if so? 

Coupon-mad

Is there no application in yet? The N244 application - when it's a case without mutual consent - costs £313 to lodge.

I repeat: I would be astonished if a judge doesn't grant your costs in full.

NPCBullies

Coupon-mad said:

Is there no application in yet? The N244 application - when it's a case without mutual consent - costs £313 to lodge.

I repeat: I would be astonished if a judge doesn't grant your costs in full.

From what I’m aware not as of yet- DCB Legal just said they will just set it aside vs starting the N244 application process I believe.

Ok- what have I got to lose (other than a CCJ for another year!) I’ll tell Jackson tomorrow to push on recovering all fees back including the £600+ and call their bluff on taking to court. As you said, I’ve got heaps of evidence of informing them of changing address- I would also be shocked.

Thanks for the support.

ChirpyChicken

Just a point with regards renewing your flat.
If your talking about signing another 6/12 month contract you are under no obligation to do so and you can just go on to a periodic tenancy 
Letting agents dont like this because they dont earn fees from the landlord