Free Traffic Legal Advice

Is there anything in the Notice of Allocation you received that says something along the lines:

“If you object to this hearing being conducted by telephone/video, you must notify the court…”

You should send something like this to the court and CC the claimant:

URGENT – Request to convert telephone hearing to in-person hearing – Claim No [xxxxxxx]

Dear Sir or Madam,

Claim No: [xxxxxxx]
Parties: [Claimant] v [Defendant]
Hearing date and time: [dd/mm/yyyy, hh:mm]
Court: St Helens County Court

I write in relation to the above claim. The notice of hearing indicates that the small claims hearing is listed to take place by telephone.

I respectfully object to the hearing being conducted by telephone and request that it be re-listed as an in-person hearing at St Helens County Court.

The claimant is a professionally represented parking company which issues large volumes of near-identical small claims and is a serial litigant in this field. Their legal representative will be experienced in this type of hearing and will have the benefit of professional facilities and support.

By contrast, I am a litigant in person with no legal representation. In a telephone hearing I would be at a clear disadvantage in trying to:

• follow the claimant’s submissions in real time;
• locate and move between documents in the hearing bundle while listening; and
• respond properly to points raised by the claimant’s representative.

I am concerned that, in practice, the claimant’s representative will be better able to manage the technology and documentation, and may be assisted off-camera by colleagues, which cannot be effectively policed in a telephone hearing. This creates a real inequality of arms between a serial, professionally represented litigant and an unrepresented defendant.

I therefore submit that an in-person hearing is necessary in the interests of justice and to ensure that I can participate effectively in the proceedings and have a fair opportunity to present my case.

I respectfully ask the court to:

1. Vacate the current telephone listing; and
2. Relist the matter for an in-person hearing at St Helens County Court on the first available date.

If the court considers that a formal application is required, I would be grateful for urgent confirmation so that I can take the appropriate steps without delay.

I have copied the claimant/[claimant’s solicitors] into this email.

Yours faithfully,

[Defendant’s full name]
[Postal address]
[Email address]

Thanks for this, I can't seem to find an email for St Helens County Court, any idea who to email it to? I could easily hand deliver the letter. 

Letter emailed to Court, Cc'd DCBLegal. Thanks. Here's the court letter I couldn't upload yesterday..

https://ibb.co/S7MbLry1
https://ibb.co/JV5Pgfm

I'm thinking about starting to put together a witness statement now in case it does go to court. The PoC being non compliant as the main defence, however, I have photos from April 2020 showing no signs at the entrance to the car park that the driver used. The entry photo on the PCN indicates that this entrance was used. The other entrance to the carpark did have a sign, but no T&C's, it just said ANPR was in use and T&C's can be viewed inside the car park. (The signage is all different now.) DCBLegal claimed in their email to me that the T&C's of the carpark signage stated that there was 0 mins free parking, they said no such thing. They said 60 mins and 120 mins on contradicting signs. The store was closed as it was lock down, but the carpark remained open. I know that they issue many PCNs during lockdown which were cancelled on appeal. I didn't get chance to appeal as they sent the PCN to my previous address. I did update with the DVLA around the time they would've applied but as it was lockdown there was possibly a delay in updating the records. Do you think all this will help back up my defence? As you say, I may not need to do a WS but I want to be prepared. I wont have long after the court fee deadline.

Ah I get it, thanks. I'll update you in due course.

Good Afternoon,
 
WITHOUT PREJUDICE SAVE AS TO COSTS
 
We write in respect to the above Claim and shall shortly be sending to you our Client's Witness Statement together with all documents in support of their Claim against you. This evidence will be presented at Trial, and we are confident that your liability for repayment of the Parking Charge will be determined by the Court.
 
Despite this, we have been instructed to attempt to settle the case with you so that the matter can be brought to an early conclusion and in order that you may avoid a County Court Judgment (CCJ) being granted against you, should the Court award this in our Client's favour.  They are therefore willing to settle the case at this stage for a reduced sum of £50.00. Should you be agreeable to the same, please ensure payment is made within 14 days of this email.
 
If payment in the above sum is not made within 14 days, we have instructions to proceed to Trial, where a CCJ could be granted against you. A CCJ can remain on your credit file for 6 years from the date it is granted, and its impact may make it difficult for you to obtain credit in the future, such as a mortgage.
 
Once paid we shall inform the Court of the early settlement, requesting the Trial be vacated and the Claim marked as paid. We shall then close our file.   
 
The benefits to you making a payment to settle the Claim at this stage are:
 
Avoid the case proceeding to Trial where you may have to attend.
Avoid the risk of a CCJ being granted against you and the impact this could have on your credit file.
Avoid the risk of further fees and costs being added to the amount you owe should the Claim proceed.
 
You can make your payment to settle this Claim by using one of the easy payment methods below:

It's the usual precursor to their discontinuance. Psychological warfare. Stay strong. Respond to that letter with the following email to info@dcblegal.co.uk and CC yourself:

Subject: Re: [Claim number] – Your “without prejudice save as to costs” email dated [date]

Dear Sirs,

WITHOUT PREJUDICE SAVE AS TO COSTS

Thank you for your email of [date].

Liability for the alleged parking charge is denied in full and I will not be making any payment to your client. I will attend the hearing and defend the claim.

You manage to mention “CCJ” no fewer than four times in a short email which says almost nothing about the legal or factual merits of your client’s case. That is plainly designed to intimidate a litigant in person rather than to assist the court in dealing with the matter justly.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am well aware that:

• a County Court Judgment is not an automatic consequence of defending a claim; and
• even if a court were to make an order against me, any judgment would only be registered and capable of affecting my credit if it remained unpaid after one calendar month.

Your attempt to present a CCJ as an inevitable outcome unless I capitulate and pay your client is therefore misleading.

You are already on notice that your client’s Particulars of Claim do not comply with CPR 16.4 and that the claim is defective. If, as I expect, the claim does not succeed, I will invite the court to make a costs order under CPR 27.14(2)(g) on the basis of your client’s unreasonable conduct in:

1. issuing and pursuing a claim on the back of non-compliant Particulars of Claim; and
2. sending threatening settlement correspondence which relies on exaggerated and misleading references to a “CCJ” rather than addressing the merits of the claim.

I will rely on this email, if necessary, at the costs stage as a further example of unreasonable conduct.

If your client now accepts that the claim is fatally flawed, the sensible course is to discontinue with no order as to costs. Failing that, I will proceed to trial and invite the court to strike out or dismiss the claim and to make an appropriate costs order in my favour.

Yours faithfully,

[Defendant’s full name]
[Postal address]
[Email address]