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Partially. It means that the case is being transferred to your local county court where an "allocation" or "case management" judge will review the claim and defence and issue any orders. The allocation judge can strike the claim out or oder further details be submitted by the claimant and will then assign a hearing date and order deadlines for the clamant to pay the hearing fee and deadlines for submission of Witness Statement etc..

Let us know when you receive the notice of allocation. As already stated, they will eventually discontinue.

My wife received this yesterday, along with a Notice of Trial Date.

Does it help for you to see it?

Is there anything for us to do?

How long before the hearing date is the claimant ordered to pay the ring fee?

The trial date is 30 April 2025.

Claimant has to pay the hearing fee by 2 April 2025.

Witness statement has to be in by 4pm on 24 March 2025.

I've not included pages that have standard text.

Notice of Allocation

Notice of Trial Date

Did you counter claim?

No. I've only been following instructions here and I don't recall that being mentioned.

Perhaps I missed it 😬

Send the following in an email to the court at civilenquiries.coventry.countycourt@justice.gov.uk and CC in info@dcblegal.co.uk and yourself. This is urgent so mark the subject as "URGENT: Procedural Unfairness – Claim No.: [claim number]".

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Email]
[Your Phone Number]

[Date]

The Court Manager
Coventry Combined Court Centre
140 Much Park Street
Coventry
CV1 2SN

By email to: civilenquiries.coventry.countycourt@justice.gov.uk
CC: info@dcblegal.co.uk

Claim Number: [Claim Number]
Claimant: UK Parking Control Ltd
Defendant: [Defendant’s Name]

URGENT: Procedural Unfairness – Request for Reconsideration of the Order Dated 21 February 2025

Dear Sirs,

I am the Defendant in this matter, and I write regarding the Order made on 21 February 2025 by DDJ Vickers, which lists the trial for 24 March 2025 and directs both parties to file and serve evidence by the same deadline.

I respectfully submit that this Order is procedurally unfair, wrong and prejudicial to my ability to defend myself at trial. If the situation remains unchanged, I will be severely disadvantaged and unable to defend myself despite having filed a proper Defence.

1. Why the Order is wrong and Procedurally Unfair

In my Defence, I clearly stated that I was unable to respond properly to the Claimant’s claim for no fewer than eight separate reasons, due to deficiencies in the Particulars of Claim (PoC). To rectify this, I attached to my Defence a draft order requesting the Court to require the Claimant to file properly particularised PoC, after which I would be permitted to file an amended Defence in response.

However, instead of granting this order, the Court’s Order of 21 February 2025 has directed the Claimant to introduce these missing details for the first time within its witness statement. This is procedurally irregular because:

• I am not given an opportunity to amend my Defence once the missing details are provided.

• I am required to file my witness evidence at the same time as the Claimant, meaning I have no opportunity to respond to their new evidence.

• As things stand, I will be denied a fair trial because I have not been able to properly defend myself due to the Claimant’s failure to plead its case in compliance with CPR 16.4.

This is not only unfair but contrary to the Overriding Objective (CPR 1.1), which requires cases to be dealt with fairly, justly, and with both parties on an equal footing.

2. What I Request the Court to Do

I respectfully request the Court to set aside the Order of 21 February 2025 in its entirety, as it is procedurally unjust.

I further request the Court to instead make the order I originally attached to my Defence, which would require the Claimant to:

1. File and serve properly particularised PoC that comply with CPR 16.4.

2. Permit me, as the Defendant, to file and serve an amended Defence in response to the properly pleaded claim.
This ensures that I have a fair opportunity to defend myself properly and on equal footing with the Claimant.

3. Why I Am Not Filing a Formal Application

Under normal circumstances, I would make a formal application using Form N244. However, this would require a £303 application fee, which is disproportionate and unfair in a Small Claims Track case, where costs are generally unrecoverable.

As the claim is for a sum far lower than £303, requiring me to pay this fee would be wholly unreasonable and contrary to the Overriding Objective (CPR 1.1). The Court is empowered to vary its own order under CPR 3.3(1) and should consider doing so in the interests of justice, without requiring an unnecessary application fee.

4. Urgency of the Matter

Given that the hearing is listed for 24 March 2025, I respectfully request the Court to respond within seven days to allow sufficient time for procedural fairness to be restored.

In accordance with CPR 39.8, I have copied this letter to the Claimant’s solicitors.

I appreciate the Court’s consideration of this urgent matter and look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,

[Your Name]
Defendant (Litigant in Person)

This DDJ has basically caused problems because it is not usually the case that witness statements have to be submitted so far in advance of the hearing. Normally, they are expected to be sent no later than 14 days before the hearing date, which means that the hearing fee is due at least a fortnight before the statements. As they normally discontinue just before the hearing fee is due, there is no need to waste time on a WS.

Hopefully the letter will get the order set aside and a new order will be issued. However, even if nothing else happens, you have over three weeks to submit a WS. Plenty of time to prepare.