good work well done for sticking with it.
this case does bring up something that bothers me. That being the prevalence of experts taking on cases but taking them off the forum. In this case a charge for helping was requested but the Op felt they were not in a position to pay it.
IMO if an expert is to charge for their help or representation this should be made clear whilst the case is still on the forum, they can then continue to offer help if they wish but also another expert who does not wish to charge a fee would also be able to pick up the case as a representative before as in this case it was to late
Thank you to cp8759 for his kind offer of representation. Before deciding to accept the paid help, I wanted to know if the chances of a win is possible with self representation on the hearing date? I guess if the chances are slim then I have to seek help from an experienced member as the $130 fee would be much harder to manage. I feel partly responsible for giving my sister false hope that this case can be won at the tribunal stage hence the forfeit of the discounted rate so please can I have honest advice on what the best option would be. I would love to win this without having to get my sister to pay anything if that's possible!"paid help". I don't believe cp8759 is expecting a fee for representing you. A charitable donation at your discretion perhaps.
Thanks.
@Fazzy did you register the appeal online, and opt for email communication? You should have had an email telling you the hearing date, and you could have then simply checked the tribunal portal for the council evidence (because, you know, it's 2024 and we have this thing called the internet).
The case has not been decided yet (or at least it's not on the public register) and I infer from your post above that you requested a decision on the papers, which is more or less the worst thing you could possibly do. I suggest you call up the tribunal tomorrow morning, ask if there has been a decision, and if there hasn't change the hearing to a personal or telephone hearing.
If you are able to get a hearing, tell us the date!
And please tag me in your response on here or I might not see it in time.
"The NtO may be issued 28 days after serving the penalty charge, and we expect authorities to send them within 56 days. The ultimate time limit, in exceptional circumstances, is 6 months [footnote 33] from the ‘relevant date’. There should be a very good reason for waiting that long to serve an NtO"