What you need to do now is shift this from being “your problem on the day” to being a recorded administrative failure by the mediation service, so that nothing adverse can later be inferred against you.
You already did what you were required to do. You completed the N180, you stated dates of unavailability, and you returned it in time. Once that is done, responsibility for scheduling lies entirely with the court’s mediation service, not with you.
The key point is that telephone mediation only works if both parties can be reliably contacted. You have already warned them, in advance, that you will be unavailable and potentially unreachable due to travel. They have ignored that information. That is not something you are required to fix by taking risks with unreliable communications abroad.
You should now put matters on the record in writing, before the mediation date.
Send a short, firm narrative email to the mediation service and copy in the court and the claimant. Do not ask politely for help and do not frame it as a favour. State facts and consequences.
Explain that you notified unavailable dates on your N180, that the mediation appointment has nevertheless been listed within that period, that you contacted them by telephone and were told it could not be changed, and that you will be in a country with unreliable telecommunications where calls may not connect at all.
Make it clear that you remain willing to mediate, but only on a date outside the unavailable period you already notified. Then state that if the mediation is not relisted and they cannot contact you on the day, this must be recorded as an inability to contact caused by the mediation service listing the appointment contrary to the information you provided, and not as a failure or refusal on your part.
That wording is important. You are not declining mediation. You are documenting that any failure will be the direct result of their scheduling decision.
Do not over-explain, justify travel, or offer to “try your best”. The moment you start saying you will attempt to take the call, you weaken your position and hand risk back to yourself. The court does not expect litigants to gamble with connectivity in a foreign country because an administrative body ignored their availability.
If they refuse to move the date, that refusal itself strengthens your position, provided it is documented.
As for the missing claimant N180, it is common and rarely consequential. There is no sanction for you at this stage, and it does not affect mediation. If you want to be tidy, send a brief line to the claimant asking for a copy of their filed N180 and noting that you have not been served with it. You can also mention this in passing to the court. Nothing turns on it unless directions are later disputed.
In short, your protection comes from making sure that, before the mediation date arrives, the file clearly shows that any inability to proceed was caused by the mediation service ignoring your stated unavailability. Once that is on the record, there is no procedural disadvantage to you at all.
Send the following email to scmreferrals@justice.gov.uk and CC DQ.CNBC@justice.gov.uk; the claimants solicitor and yourself:
Subject: Claim No. [XXXXXXX] – Mediation appointment listed during notified unavailability
I write in relation to the Small Claims Mediation appointment that has been listed in this matter.
On [date], I filed and served my Directions Questionnaire (Form N180). In that questionnaire, I clearly stated that I would be unavailable between [start date] and [end date].
Despite this, the mediation appointment has been scheduled for [date and time], which falls squarely within the period of unavailability I notified. I contacted the mediation service by telephone on [date] to request that the appointment be listed outside those dates and was informed that this would not be changed.
During the period in question I will be abroad in a location with unreliable telecommunications infrastructure, meaning there is a real risk that the mediator may be unable to reach me at all, or that any connection would be intermittent and unsuitable for a proper mediation call.
I remain willing to engage in mediation. However, this can only be done fairly if the appointment is listed outside the period of unavailability that I properly notified on my N180.
If the mediation appointment is not relisted and the mediator is unable to contact me on the day, this must be recorded as an inability to contact arising from the mediation service listing the appointment contrary to the information provided in my Directions Questionnaire, and not as any failure or refusal on my part to engage with mediation.
I would be grateful if this position could be noted on the court file and confirmed in writing.
Separately, I note that I have not been served with a copy of the claimant’s Directions Questionnaire. If it has already been filed, please ensure that a copy is provided to me.
Yours faithfully,
[Defendant’s name]
As for the mediation call itself, it is a total waste of time anyway. However, if you do attend a mediation call, here is the advice I provide for it:
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 you to say when you 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 and report that back to us. It will be over within minutes. Complete waste of time otherwise.
You don't have to actually wait for the form to arrive. Once the MCOL history updates to say yours has been sent, just send yours following the advice here:
Having received your own N180 (make sure it is not simply a copy of the claimants N180) or been notified on MCOL that yours has been sent, do not use the paper form. Ignore all the other forms that came with it. you can discard those. Download your own N180 DQ here and fill it in on your computer. You sign it by simply typing your full name in the signature box.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673341e779e9143625613543/N180_1124.pdf
Here are the answers to some of the less obvious questions:
• The name of the court is "Civil National Business Centre".
• To be completed by "Your full name" and you are the "Defendant".
• C1: "YES"
• D1: "NO". Reason: "I wish to question the Claimant about their evidence at a hearing in person and to expose omissions and any misleading or incorrect evidence or assertions.
Given the Claimant is a firm who complete cut & paste parking case paperwork for a living, having this case heard solely on papers would appear to put the Claimant at an unfair advantage, especially as they would no doubt prefer the Defendant not to have the opportunity to expose the issues in the Claimants template submissions or speak as the only true witness to events in question.."
• F1: Whichever is your nearest county court. Use this to find it: https://www.find-court-tribunal.service.gov.uk/search-option
• F3: "1".
• Sign the form by simply typing your full name for the signature.
When you have completed the form, attach it to a single email addressed to both dq.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and info@dcblegal.co.uk and CC in yourself. Make sure that the claim number is in the subject field of the email.
So, you don't have to wait for your form to arrive. You can download the form now, fill it in and just email it when your MCOL history updates to show yours has been sent.