Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

[Pomping]

Hi there,

I've got a slightly unusual query regarding a PPC court case.

Parking Eye took me to court and the case was stayed pending the Supreme Court decision in the Beavis case.

The problem is that I'm not going to be in the country for the next year or so. If the Beavis decision goes well then I guess the case will be thrown out, or Parking Eye will just drop it. But if the Supreme Court find in favour of PE - I'm guessing PE will try to continue with the claim but I'm not going to be here to attend court, defend myself, etc.?

Can anyone help advise me on what the procedure is in these circumstances? Anything at all I can do?

[mystery1]

Re: Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

You can use a lawyer but in all honesty it if Barry loses you'll probably want to settle unless you have other avenues such as keeper liability or bad signage.

M1

[Pomping]

Re: Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

Thanks for the reply mystery1. So Barry lost. I do have other avenues (including keeper liability and bad signage, as well as a few other things) but I have a feeling that a lot of judges are just going to find for the parking companies in these cases now regardless of other issues (the judge I met in the initial hearing implied that if the penalty argument is taken away then he'd find for PE) - so I think I'll lose this case.

There are actually a couple of tickets rather than just one, and because this went all the way to court there have been fees and things added. Should I pay the whole amount, or offer an amount equal to the parking charges themselves but not all the additional fees?

[mystery1]

Re: Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

Are the RK and driver the same ?

If yes then i don't think i'd like to try some of the keeper liability aspects in court. If no then i reckon i would. I agree that many judges will rubber stamp these cases for the claimant though.

Negotiate if you want to settle. Start at much lower that the cost of the tickets though. They lose money if it goes to court as the LPC charges outweigh the returns. Go no higher than the cost of the tickets, ever.

M1

[Pomping]

Re: Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

Thanks! I keep meaning to write to them with a settlement offer but it's making me so sick to be paying these people that I haven't been able to do it yet!

I have a couple of questions. The stay was until some day last week, and PE will have written to the court now to proceed with the claim - do you know roughly how long it will take a court to start proceedings again? When they do, will they set a hearing immediately, or again ask me and PE for available dates, etc.? Just wondering what is the longest I can put this off for, as if it's sufficiently long I'll be able to get out of the country permanently and just take the CCJ! (Not sure I even want to live in a country where this kind of nonsense is allowed and authorised by the Supreme Court anyway!)

Also is there any way of asking a couple of questions privately? There are a couple of other issues I have not raised but there's just no way I could mention them here without giving away to PE who I am (and I'm guessing they or their lawyers monitor all kinds of forums like this!) No worries at all if that is not possible!

[mystery1]

Re: Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

It'll take a while as there needs to be a 14 days deadline to submit evidence so could be at least 1 month i'd think but it depends on how busy the court is. A ccj whilst immediate upon losing isn't really a credit file issue for another 28 days.

It's against site rules to discuss stuff "off site" although you could see if [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] can receive info and decide whether to pass it on or not.

M1

[Pomping]

Re: Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

Thanks for the advice so far! I have another question sorry.

I haven't yet had the notice of the "unstaying" of this case by the court. I am overseas now (outside the EU) and have had the opportunity to work here. I understand that if I had lived overseas in the first place the PPC would have had trouble serving me with court papers outside jurisdiction, but is this an option for me given that my case is already in the court system and is just stayed currently?

I am happy to stay abroad and not move back to the UK for at least 6 years (or even permanently) but I don't particularly want a CCJ on my record just in case I do have to move back here!

So - can I change my residency to my new country now, email the PPC, court, whoever else letting them know my new overseas address and say I'm out of jurisdiction for legal action in England/Wales? If so, what options do the PPC have? Or... since my case is in the UK courts already, is it too late for anything like this?

Thanks for any help!

[mystery1]

Re: Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

I haven't yet had the notice of the "unstaying" of this case by the court. I am overseas now (outside the EU) and have had the opportunity to work here. I understand that if I had lived overseas in the first place the PPC would have had trouble serving me with court papers outside jurisdiction, but is this an option for me given that my case is already in the court system and is just stayed currently?

Not a clue. I'd certainly inform the court and Parking Eye.

M1

[R0b]

Re: Initial court case stayed pending Beavis - will be abroad when stay is lifted.

Bit of a unique situation this one as service has already been effected. Now M1 is right in that you should immediately inform both Parking Eye and the court that you have now moved abroad permanently and are unable to attend physically to plead your defence.

I am aware of a case where the courts have allowed a claim to continue where the defendant was a regular traveller and the claimants served the claim at the defendant's last known address in the UK but that's about as close as you get to this situation. As service is already deemed effective, the court may consider the following: (1) lift the saty on the claim and proceed without you (2) consider the claim based on written submissions by both parties.

I suppose you could argue that where the case is heard in your absence you are prejudiced as you were not able to plead your defence fully and at that point the judge may decide to hear written submissions. However If you look at it from the point of view as if Parking Eye served the claim originally out of jurisdiction with permission of the court, the claim will still proceed providing the courts have jurisdiction (assuming they do).

I highly doubt that the court will stay the claim for a longer period and so you might be out of luck and may end up with judgment against you. Enforcing that judgment may be a lot more difficult for Parking Eye as your out of jurisdiction but nevertheless you'll have a CCJ for 6 years.

I think your options would be to instruct someone to represent you on your behalf or request judgment without a hearing and written submissions only OR Your best course of action from what I can see will be to settle this matter, ask the court to grant an extension 28 days to settle as a result of beavis decision and pay what you can to Parking Eye.