My Court mediation overview

doubledotcom

For the mediation call, the only requirement is for you "attend" the call. It is not part of the judicial process and no judge is involved.

This is what I advise people to say when they receive the call from the mediator:

“Before I set out my position, please confirm from the claimant’s side:

• the full name of the person attending for them;

• their role/position at their legal representative’s firm; and

• whether they hold written authority to negotiate and settle today.

Please relay that back to me before we continue.”

After the mediator calls back...

If identified and authority confirmed:

• “Thank you. I’m content to proceed on that basis. My settlement offer is £0, or I invite the claimant to discontinue with no order as to costs.”

If no/unclear authority:

• “Please record that the claimant’s attendee has not confirmed settlement authority. My position remains that liability is denied and my offer is £0, subject to prompt approval by an authorised solicitor if they choose to discontinue.”

If the mediator probes your defence:

• ”In what capacity are you asking that question? Are you legally trained?  If not, please refrain from offering opinions. I will be reporting any attempt to do so as inappropriate.”

All you need to know is the name and the position of the person acting for the claimant. It will be over within minutes. Complete waste of time otherwise.

James_Poisson

Parking companies usually lie about their signage, the person writing their evidence has probably never even been to the site, they usually submit office master copies of signage not dated photos of the site at the time.

By using ANPR it means they don't have any of the parking even only entry and exit times.

The so called audit of the signage is actually just a cosy visit from their ATAs auditor over a cup of coffee where they (say) they review their records and signage.

POPLA (part of the Trust Alliance Group) are paid by the parking operators, and they go out of their way to keep the lucrative contract by falling towards their paymasters, the last "independent" body that was a little fairer were replaced I wonder why!

Mediation as already stated was made compulsory by the courts to try to cut the pressure on the system to wheedle out some of the cases, it hasn't worked, the greedy scammers want the maximum they can get, the mediators are just there to pass the messages it's a sham and a farce.

Who ever said this:

"They wouldn't let me change the date of the call and said if I failed to take it a magistrate may take it into account and rule in favour of parking company".
Spun you a pack of lies!

A judge if you line up your ducks in a row I am sure will see through this scam for what it is, but get everything checked through here where good advice from the regulars will come.

Driver62

I mistyped when I said 'Magistrate', it was actually 'Judge' they had said.
Here is the actual email response to my request to change the date.

If you wish to delegate authority for somebody to mediate on your behalf, please complete the attached form and return to scmreferrals@justice.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can call 0300 123 4593 to give authority over the phone.  

 The scheduled appointment will still go ahead during the time/date offered. If the mediator cannot contact you, your appointment will be marked as not conducted and if not already done so the claim will be transferred to a local county court to be listed for a hearing.  If you do not attend the appointment, the judge will take this into consideration at any court hearing and may issue a penalty. This could include the judge automatically ruling in the other party’s favour or ordering you to pay for some or all the other party’s costs. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance. 

Gr1pr

Either way,  stop overthinking it 

You could have simply nominated someone else to take the call, told them nothing about the case,  told them to offer £0 , to offer nothing, accept nothing and politely end the call, as mentioned earlier  ( no need to alter the holiday   )

Or 

Missed the call entirely and no issues would arise 

Mediation stage is nit really useful for private parking charge cases, but it's now part of the Money Claim system,  which isn't really suitable for private parking company cases like these 

After nearly 18 months since they added Mediation,  we have got enough feedback to know what happens,  very few are settled at mediation 

Lastly,  Mediation is about trying to agree a monetary settlement,  it's not about the case 

Coupon-mad

Driver62 said:

I mistyped when I said 'Magistrate', it was actually 'Judge' they had said.
Here is the actual email response to my request to change the date.

If you wish to delegate authority for somebody to mediate on your behalf, please complete the attached form and return to scmreferrals@justice.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can call 0300 123 4593 to give authority over the phone.  

 The scheduled appointment will still go ahead during the time/date offered. If the mediator cannot contact you, your appointment will be marked as not conducted and if not already done so the claim will be transferred to a local county court to be listed for a hearing.  If you do not attend the appointment, the judge will take this into consideration at any court hearing and may issue a penalty. This could include the judge automatically ruling in the other party’s favour or ordering you to pay for some or all the other party’s costs. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance. 

Stop reading that rubbish and go on holiday! This stage is nothing and you can miss the call. It does NOT affect your case.

Driver62

Thank you all for your help.

As was predicted here, they did take it all the way, up to the point where they had to pay trial fee, then pulled out.

I did get my request for costs letter in before they pulled out, predicting this is exactly what they would do, so let's see if anything comes of that.

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888126#Comment_81888126

If 'they' is DCB Legal please show the attached NoD so @Umkomaas can count it!

The case is over - congrats, you win…

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

But re costs, you have to force the issue. Nobody will look unless you insist.

Nothing will come of the costs unless you do what the NEWBIES thread tells you. There are two links about successfully claiming costs after Discontinuation.