Free Traffic Legal Advice

As expected. It is a boilerplate response. No need to show the actual letter.

You are now waiting for a copy of their N180 Directions Questionnaire (DQ). You can check your MCOL history for when yours has been sent out. No need to wait for it. Just follow these instructions for yours:

Having received your own N180 (make sure it is not simply a copy of the claimants N180), do not use the paper form. Ignore all the other forms that came with it. you can discard those. Download your own 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.

No. The mediation is not part of the judicial process and there is no judge or anyone with any legal training involved.

The only legal requirement is to attend the call. There is no obligation to do anything else and it is without prejudice.

All you do is offer £0 and it will be over within minutes. It will have no bearing on anything going forwards.

It means that each party has to send to the court (and a copy to each other) everything they are relying on. So, in your case, this would be your Witness Statement (WS) and any evidence you are relying on. You do not need to send copies of anything you've already sent, such as your N180 DQ or other forms you may have completed.

However, you need to carefully read the order. There will be 3 critical dates you need to note. The first if the date of the hearing. The second is the date by which the claimant must pay the trial fee of £27 and the third is the deadline for submitting your WS and evidence. Often, that third date is not obvious and can be hidden with wording such as "no later tea 14 days before the hearing date".

As this is a DCB Legal issued claim, I would place money on them discontinuing just before they have to pay the £27 trial fee. However, depending on which local county court it has been allocated to, the actual dates for bundle submission, trial fee and the hearing can vary wildly. I would not advise submitting your WS unless the claimant submits one first, even if it means missing the deadline quoted on the order. It does not really matter in the small claims track if a lay persons WS is submitted a few days late.

There is no point wasting your time on a WS if the claimant is going to discontinue. If they are going to discontinue, they will not bother with their own WS anyway.

Well done for persevering. Can you please post a copy of the N279 Notice of Discontinuation.

I think you will find that the original poster has not returned to the forum since 6 August.

It is usually just before they have to pay the trial fee which is around 4 weeks before any hearing date.

Just before being the day before or a few weeks?
With my case, I absolutely don't want to pay the £27 as its non refundable in the even that they cancel the ticket at the last minute. If they go ahead and take the case to court then at least I can claim the £27 back when I win.
Thanks in advance.

Quote from: copperband on October 08, 2025, 11:14:46 am

Quote from: b789 on October 07, 2025, 10:42:40 am

It is usually just before they have to pay the trial fee which is around 4 weeks before any hearing date.

Just before being the day before or a few weeks?
With my case, I absolutely don't want to pay the £27 as its non refundable in the even that they cancel the ticket at the last minute. If they go ahead and take the case to court then at least I can claim the £27 back when I win.
Thanks in advance.

What £27?
The fee is payable by the claimant, not by you.
And please start your own thread rather than hijacking someone else’s thread.

A rather aggressive response, I'm not sure why? I simply asked a question pertaining to timing. Not hijacking a thread at all. Note, that it was yourself that pointed out that the original poster had not visited for over 2 months