Tomlin agreement necessary?

[lb2019]

Long story short - a friend was following through a court hearing regarding a parkign ticket, filed a defence but was then told the case was weak and part of the defence was wrong.
Instead of refilling the defence my friend just wants to pay it after over a year of hassle.
They logged on to BW legal's website and set up a payment plan of £10 a month via direct debit. Today they had an email from BW stating that:

Please note as you have filed a defence and counterclaim, this matter has now been transferred to the County Court.

If you wish to proceed with the repayment plan, and avoid any further action, this will need to be dealt with by way of Tomlin Order.

If this Tomlin agreement isn't signed incurring an extra £100 fee then they deem the repayment proposal as admission of liability.

As far as I'm concerned the Tomlin agreement doesn't have to be signed as the payment plan has admitted liability already. So that's the end of the matter?
Or is that not the case because of paying via installments? Does the outstanding amount need to be paid in full to make the whole thing go away?

[Amethyst]

If she admits the claim and offers to pay £10 a week then she will have a CCJ against her for 6 years on the judgment register and her credit file.
If she deals with the Tomlin Order ( or negotiates settlement/instalments through mediation) then the claim is put on hold whilst payments are made and no CCJ is applied.

It depends whether she feels the £100 court fee for sealing the consent order is worth not having a CCJ against her for 6 years really.

Daft thing to have done - waiting at least for mediation would have been wise particularly as she had already filed a defence, weak or not.

She hasn't formally admitted liability through the court, but her application to pay by instalments through BW's website may well be accepted as such admission - it could probably be argued against but to what end if it is actually the case she has no chance of succeeding with her defence.

Has she done her directions questionnaire as yet ? or did she have a panic soon after filing her defence?

If the claimed for amount plus the court fee is all paid in full, then yes, it all goes away.

[lb2019]

Thanks for the reply.

No directions questionnaire has been sent as no court date has been set as yet.

Mediation was declined as the case was thought to be strong enough at the time, but it's just gone on far too long and is causing her undue stress that can be gotten rid of for what is essentially very little money.

So if the full amount is paid on the BW account is paid there's no extra fee for a 'Tomlin' then I gather? This seems by far the easiest route.

[Amethyst]

It would need to be full payment of the amount claimed(including the court fee and any solicitor /legal cost listed in the claim ) for the claim to end without a ccj being awarded ( or tomlin required ). Best way is to speak to BW to tell them you want to settle the claim to ensure everything is tied up. You might be able to negotiate a discount ( worth a try - better to get 70% in a lump sum than £10 a month for 2 years )

Once fully paid inform the court of such - the claimant should do that so the claim is closed but it's a good idea to inform the court yourself as well ( with evidence of the payment if possible )

I don't know what was wrong with the defence, but to amend would be a court fee of £255 - and it's unlikely you'd get that back even if the case was won as it wouldn't be an amendment caused by something the claimant failed to disclose etc ... Parking ticket cases aren't usually more than £200 so it's a risk/cost/stress decision rather than the principal of it ... annoying as that is.