County court hearing parking eye

[macshaz]

[Two words...parking eye!!! Am awaiting date for hearing and so am trying to put my case together with the help of online advice. Have already submitted initial defence and like many others received the pe screed in reply. Have agreed mediation but pe refused. Briefly, was parked in a free but limited parking spot in a retail park. Was unaware of restrictions. Was 25 mins over my allotted time, more than this I had my 83 yr old mother with mobility problems and a blue badge holder in tow. I ignored all previous letters following advice online although that perhaps was the wrong move. I have written to the landowner, the council, all retailers visited on the day and British parking association, with little response. Have signed up to challenging the fine campaign. One retailer in particular has been very helpful and sympathetic and assures me that , as a group, they are fed up with pe. Have not heard from landowner. Am going to ring to see if I can get them to intervene, although probably too far down the line. Any advice will be gratefully received and will let you know outcome.

Have vw received papers from county court with a date for hearing in April. They have however referred back to mediation which I intend to accept. Meanwhile have received request from pe to pay original £60 in light of fact they now know mam was blue badge holder. What do I do. Feel like I am no further forward if agree to pay. Is mediation still the best course if action.

[mystery1]

Re: County court hearing parking eye

It all depends on your defence and how confident you are as to whether £60 is worth paying.

I would always do mediation, although rarely would i expect a result from it. It will help on costs if they refuse. Below is a post i made elsewhere on unreasonable behaviour and costs. The last link is the most pertinent for mediation.

Expenses on the small claims track are generally limited. There are 2 exceptions to this.

The first is found in the pre action protocols.

The second is found in cpr 27.

To start with we should look at what you can claim if you win in any event. These are found in cpr 27 and practice direction 27.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure...es/part27#27.14

Costs on the small claims track
27.14
(1) This rule applies to any case which has been allocated to the small claims track unless paragraph (5) applies.
(Rules 46.11 and 46.13 make provision in relation to orders for costs made before a claim has been allocated to the small claims track)
(2) The court may not order a party to pay a sum to another party in respect of that other party’s costs, fees and expenses, including those relating to an appeal, except –
(a) the fixed costs attributable to issuing the claim which –
(i) are payable under Part 45; or
(ii) would be payable under Part 45 if that Part applied to the claim;
(b) in proceedings which included a claim for an injunction or an order for specific performance a sum not exceeding the amount specified in Practice Direction 27 for legal advice and assistance relating to that claim;
© any court fees paid by that other party;
(d) expenses which a party or witness has reasonably incurred in travelling to and from a hearing or in staying away from home for the purposes of attending a hearing;
(e) a sum not exceeding the amount specified in Practice Direction 27 for any loss of earnings or loss of leave by a party or witness due to attending a hearing or to staying away from home for the purposes of attending a hearing;
(f) a sum not exceeding the amount specified in Practice Direction 27 for an expert’s fees;
(g) such further costs as the court may assess by the summary procedure and order to be paid by a party who has behaved unreasonably; and
(h) the Stage 1 and, where relevant, the Stage 2 fixed costs in rule 45.18 where –
(i) the claim was within the scope of the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents (‘the RTA Protocol’) or the Pre-action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury (Employers’ Liability and Public Liability) Claims (‘the EL/PL Protocol’);
(ii) the claimant reasonably believed that the claim was valued at more than the small claims track limit in accordance with paragraph 4.1(4) of the relevant Protocol; and
(iii) the defendant admitted liability under the process set out in the relevant Protocol; but
(iv) the defendant did not pay those Stage 1 and, where relevant, Stage 2 fixed costs; and
(i) in an appeal, the cost of any approved transcript reasonably incurred.
(3) A party’s rejection of an offer in settlement will not of itself constitute unreasonable behaviour under paragraph (2)(g) but the court may take it into consideration when it is applying the unreasonableness test.
(4) The limits on costs imposed by this rule also apply to any fee or reward for acting on behalf of a party to the proceedings charged by a person exercising a right of audience by virtue of an order under section 11 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 19901 (a lay representative).


http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure...7/pd_part27#7.1

Costs
7.1 Attention is drawn to Rule 27.14 which contains provisions about the costs which may be ordered to be paid by one party to another.
7.2 The amount which a party may be ordered to pay under rule 27.14(2)(b) (for legal advice and assistance in claims including an injunction or specific performance) is a sum not exceeding £260.
7.3 The amounts which a party may be ordered to pay under rule 27.14(3)© (loss of earnings) and (d) (experts’ fees) are:
(1) for the loss of earnings or loss of leave of each party or witness due to attending a hearing or staying away from home for the purpose of attending a hearing, a sum not exceeding £90 per day for each person, and
(2) for experts’ fees, a sum not exceeding £750 for each expert.





Aside from the ordinary costs as seen above the pre action protocols allow for costs penalties.

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure...-action_conduct

Sanctions for non-compliance
4.5 The court will look at the overall effect of non-compliance on the other party when deciding whether to impose sanctions.
4.6 If, in the opinion of the court, there has been non-compliance, the sanctions which the court may impose include –
(1) staying (that is suspending) the proceedings until steps which ought to have been taken have been taken;
(2) an order that the party at fault pays the costs, or part of the costs, of the other party or parties (this may include an order under rule 27.14(2)(g) in cases allocated to the small claims track);
(3) an order that the party at fault pays those costs on an indemnity basis (rule 44.3(3) sets out the definition of the assessment of costs on an indemnity basis);
(4) if the party at fault is the claimant in whose favour an order for the payment of a sum of money is subsequently made, an order that the claimant is deprived of interest on all or part of that sum, and/or that interest is awarded at a lower rate than would otherwise have been awarded;
(5) if the party at fault is a defendant, and an order for the payment of a sum of money is subsequently made in favour of the claimant, an order that the defendant pay interest on all or part of that sum at a higher rate, not exceeding 10% above base rate, than would otherwise have been awarded.


Now as in the sanctions listed for pre action protocol failures we also have cpr 27.14 (2) (g)

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure...es/part27#27.14

(g) such further costs as the court may assess by the summary procedure and order to be paid by a party who has behaved unreasonably




http://insurance.dwf.co.uk/news-updates/20...l-claims-track/

http://www.aboutsmallclaims.co.uk/unreason...all-claims.html

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/mediation-...877.fullarticle (refusing to try to mediate is unreasonable behaviour)


Beavis is due to be heard in 10/11 days and the result is probably only 5/6 weeks away which should assist anyone with a claim against them, all being well.

Everyone is different and each person should make the choice that suits them best.

M1