Schedule of costs

[parkingbill]

A private parking company is taking me to court for an unpaid PCN. They issued a claim without completing the Pre-Action Protocol process (i.e. they did not respond to my letter in response to their LBC, in which I submitted the Annex 1, requesting further information). There claim is also flawed. Can this be considered as unreasonable behavior and if I win my case can I claim the following costs: Travel, parking, loss of earnings, a reasonable modest small amount of time taken to research and prepare letters/documents (e.g. 6 hours at £19/hour) and ink/stationary/postage costs? Is there a maximum? Should the schedule of costs be sent to the court in advance of the hearing or is it OK to present to the DJ after he has reached his verdict? Thanks for any advice.

[luxardo]

They don't have to respond to your reply to the LBC. The LBC is giving you a timeframe to pay them or they will issue a claim. eg pay us within 7 days or we'll see you in court.
You can't claim costs in a small claims court. There are exceptions, witness costs for example. Also if one party has behaved unreasonably the court has the discretion to award costs. It would be up to the court to decide if their behavior is unreasonable due to the flaws you perceive in their case.