Received a court date for parking charges after following advice on this forum... What's next?

PirateAndy

So, after following the steps posted on the stickies here on MSE and following various advice and doing everything required. Here I am with a court date for a parking charge.

I am now asking for advice on the nest steps with telling Euro Car Parks Ltd to F off. I imagine they will not want to pay the £27 to risk losing and paying my court costs if they do. And I know I'm basically in a game of chicken with them and their so called legal representatives.

But I've not seen much info on what to do if you get this letter after going through the MCOL process.

Can I get some help on what I do next please?

Additionally, The section asking for numbered statements and such... I thought I'd basically already done that in my Defence. Maybe it's the 'tism not quite understanding what is now different that I need to essentially re-iterate in yet another typed up set of exposition what I've already said.

So a little confused as to what to do next.

ChirpyChicken

I doubt they will pay the hearing fee, so dont do anything until about the 10th of January with the Christmas break
likely to discontinue
Easy court though if you have to go as a huge free car park , far easier then going to the court at Barras Bridge!  (North Shields is my local court)

Le_Kirk

Help is available in the NEWBIE sticky and/or the template defence thread.  Your witness statement is "in support of your defence as already filed" and therefore should be ............... in support of and back up whatever you put in your defence.  It is a narrative of what happened on the day and subsequently, written in the first person in your own words.  It happened to you so no one on here can write it for you.  Reduce the impact of anything negative and emphasise the impact of anything positive. It is also your chance to attach any evidence that you wrote about in your defence.  Read other witness statements to see what those posters wrote - particularly successful ones.

There is an a) to i) list of what to include in the NEWBIE sticky second post.

Coupon-mad

The Newbies thread tells you all about WS and evidence stage, under the massive red capitals sub-heading 'IMPORTANT: KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN'.

But you probably won't need to do it.

This is normal. Everyone gets a hearing letter before DCB Legal discontinue.

nakie999

They often do pay the hearing fee, so don’t assume they’ll fold. Just follow the process calmly and you’re in a strong position if your defence is solid.

Coupon-mad

nakie999 said:

They often do pay the hearing fee, so don’t assume they’ll fold. 

No they don't. Not in a Euro Car Parks case. They always discontinue single PCN cases.

PirateAndy

I should also point out that ever since this claim was filed, DCB Legal have been calling almost on a bi-weekly basis (not that I've been doing anything other than ignoring the calls). Something I thought was essentially illegal once court proceedings have been undertaken. 

Does that not constitute harassment?

Gr1pr

PirateAndy said:

I should also point out that ever since this claim was filed, DCB Legal have been calling almost on a bi-weekly basis (not that I've been doing anything other than ignoring the calls). Something I thought was essentially illegal once court proceedings have been undertaken. 

Does that not constitute harassment?

No, its all part of the game once they received the case from the claimant 

doubledotcom

Just block their number and you will never be bothered by their nuisance calls ever again. As for a hearing... I'll eat my hat if they don't discontinue before the trial fee has to be paid. In fact I'm happy to take bets at 10:1 odds that they'll discontinue. Any takers?

Car1980

PirateAndy said:

I should also point out that ever since this claim was filed, DCB Legal have been calling almost on a bi-weekly basis (not that I've been doing anything other than ignoring the calls). Something I thought was essentially illegal once court proceedings have been undertaken. 

Does that not constitute harassment?

No, because parties are encouraged to communicate and try and negotiate in order
to avoid a court hearing.

But that doesn't apply here because a) you owe zero and b) they have no intention of going to a hearing and already know they will discontinue.

PirateAndy

Car1980 said:

PirateAndy said:

I should also point out that ever since this claim was filed, DCB Legal have been calling almost on a bi-weekly basis (not that I've been doing anything other than ignoring the calls). Something I thought was essentially illegal once court proceedings have been undertaken. 

Does that not constitute harassment?

No, because parties are encouraged to communicate and try and negotiate in order
to avoid a court hearing.

But that doesn't apply here because a) you owe zero and b) they have no intention of going to a hearing and already know they will discontinue.

And I got an email today, with an attachment, confirming they have discontinued.

Thanks for all the help peeps.