SCS Law want £600

Thanks. Amended. Your help means a lot considering that I can't actually make sense of anything actually written there.

SCS LAW
Level 34
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ

...December 2017

Your ref:............

Dear Sirs,

I have received your Letter Before Claim dated...

Your letter lacks specificity and breaches both the requirements of the previously applicable Practice Direction - Pre-Action Conduct (paragraphs 6(a) and 6(c)) and the new Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (paragraphs 3.1(a)-(d), 5.1 and 5.2. Please treat this letter as a formal request for all of the documents / information that the protocol now requires your client to provide. Your client must not issue proceedings without complying with that protocol. I reserve the right to draw any failure of the Claimant to comply with the protocol to the attention of the court and to ask the court to stay the claim and order your client to comply with its pre-action obligations, and when costs come to be considered.

As solicitors you must surely be familiar with the requirements of both the Practice Direction applicable pre-1 October and the Protocol which applies thereafter (and your client, as a serial litigator of small claims, should likewise be aware of them). As you (and your client) must know, the Practice Direction and Protocol bind all potential litigants, whatever the size or type of the claim. Its express purpose is to assist parties in understanding the claim and their respective positions in relation to it, to enable parties to take stock of their positions and to negotiate a settlement, or at least narrow the issues, without incurring the costs of court proceedings or using up valuable court time.

Nobody, including your client, is immune from the requirements and obligations of the Practice Direction and now the Protocol.

I require your client to comply with its obligations by sending me the following information/documents:

1. an explanation of the cause of action
2. whether they are pursuing me as driver or keeper
3. whether they are relying on the provisions of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012
4. a copy of the contract with the landowner under which they assert authority to bring the claim
5. a copy of any alleged contract with the driver
6. a plan showing where any signs were displayed
7. details of the signs displayed (size of sign, size of font, height at which displayed)
8. photographic evidence of the contraventions
9. what the details of the claim are; where it is claimed the vehicle was parked, for how long, how the monies being claimed arose and have been calculated
10. Is the claim for a contractual breach? If so, what is the date of the agreement? The names of the parties to it and provide to me a copy of that contract.

If your client does not provide me with this information then I put you on notice that I will be relying on the cases of Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green [2012] EWHC 3529 (Ch), Daejan Investments Limited v The Park West Club Limited (Part 20) – Buxton Associates [2003] EWHC 2872, Charles Church Developments Ltd v Stent Foundations Limited & Peter Dann Limited [2007] EWHC 855 in asking the court to impose sanctions on your client and to order a stay of the proceedings, pursuant to paragraphs 13 ,15(b) and (c) and 16 of the Practice Direction, as referred to in paragraph 7.2 of the Protocol.

I am unable to respond properly to the alleged claim until I am in receipt of the requested information/documentation. At this point it would be a waste of court time and costs for your client to issue proceedings. Should your client do so, then I will seek an immediate stay pursuant to paragraph 15(b) of the Practice Direction and an order that this information is provided.

Yours faithfully,

....................

Anything else to add?

Sorry to be a nuisance guys, can I just get confirmation that the amended letter I have written is okay to be sent to SCS Law? Thanks.

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Yes it's fine. They will issue a claim* anyway in 2018, but that's the right response for now.



*We do see posters here win 99% of the time, so take heart.

I can recall just two losses in 2017 (and one of them won a case and lost one, balancing out their position!). That 99% stat includes hundreds of cases but is only counting posters who stick with us, and are fully coached with their defence, WS, evidence and pre-hearing planning (people who grab a defence and run are not fully coached, and take their chances!).

What does issue a claim mean?

Coupon-mad wrote: »

I think you need to read the NEWBIES thread post #2, all about defending in court.

What did you think a 'Letter before Claim' means?

Do you think I'll be successful, or should I just pay up and not deal with the hassle?

Thanks again.

Hi guys, so I sent the letter requesting for more information and I have now received a response in which they have sent me photographs of each occasion when my car was parked at the bay's along with a photocopy of the parking ticket.

Can someone please give me an idea of what my next steps should be?

Many thanks.