Yes, DCB legal sent me a copy of the Notice of Discontinuance and said they submitted one to the court.

Not sure how to thank you all properly but just a final post on how much I appreciate all your help throughout the few months. Thanks a lot

Hi all, quick update as I received two emails today. First email is the court's virtual meeting details. Second one is from DCB Legal which says ' Our client has instructed us to discontinue Court proceedings and close our file. Therefore, please find enclosed the Claimant's N279 Notice of Discontinuance for your records.' Just wanted to ask here and double check if there is anything that I need to do now and what usually happens next. (I'm guessing I don't need to turn up to the court hearing but wanted to check here.) Many thanks as per usual.

just wanted to double check if i can upload and send my WS to the court online (couldn't find any means including MCOL)or does it have to be via post? thanks.

I called this morning and they said it knows about timing issues because of the backlog and judges know that too. The lady wasn't specific on an exact day though. Just said 'clarify at the top of the document with my situation'...

Thanks a lot for your help lookinforinfo! Final question for today if I may. how detailed should my WS be? Im guessing it should be concise but sufficiently detailed to be persuasive. What I'm not sure is whether i should quote in detail of previous cases like what you have done ? Or is it sufficient if I just reference with the case subjects e.g. ParkingEye v Somerfield ? Thanks.

Understood, Thankyou. Here is the redacted witness statement. Witness Statement and Evidence bundle (paginated)[7079]_compressed (redacted).pdf

here is the N157. It is the only letter I've received from the courts after N180. It was sent on the 22nd of June (which is exactly 2 weeks from court date), but arrived on the 23rd. Hopefully, I've redacted it sufficiently. thanks. N157(notice of allocation).pdf

sorry, will redact things and send the files asap.

Oh ok i clearly screwed up but not sure how , as I only received the court date on the 23rd of june from the hearing letter, which was already less than 14 days before the court date. (6th of July.) anyways, attached is the pdf. Thanks a lot.

thanks for your super quick reply! No, I haven't but I'm going to do it today. How does it work? As in , am I meant to counter what the claimant says in his defence?

hi, apologies for this very long post but I wanted to find out if anyone can spot anything in the claimant's witness statement that I should mention in the 'virtual hearing' I have on the 6th of July. Presumably it is just a standard 'template style' that they use all the time. Any general advice for things to say/do (and not to say) during the virtual hearing would of course be great as well. Really appreciate the help as per usual. Thanks a lot! (Copied from the last part of the 'witness statement' pdf. Received an email from DCB Legal on the 24th of June. **Interestingly, I received the hearing letter on the 23rd of June and for some reason, it says that claimant has to pay the 'trial fee' by 4pm on the 22nd of June. Is this normal?Or the claimant receives the court hearing letter earlier than me?) Defence 21. The Defendant was afforded a 28-day period in which they could appeal, and I am instructed they did not. The potential next step was clearly communicated to the Defendant in notices. It is respectfully submitted that if the Defendant genuinely believed the Charges had been issued incorrectly, they would have engaged with the appeals process further. 22. If there was any doubt regarding their liability, the Defendant has had ample time to challenge the Charges or request evidence in support. Despite correspondence being sent to the Defendant by a debt collection agency and a Letter of Claim being issued in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, no challenges have previously been raised. 23. Notwithstanding the above, I respond to the issues raised in the Defence as follows: - i. The Defendant admits being the Keeper of the Vehicle. My Company is pursuing the Defendant on this basis as my Company has fully complied with POFA; ii. My Company was fully authorised to manage the Land in accordance with the Landowner Agreement at “EXHIBIT 1”. My Company’s legitimate interest is to fulfil this obligation. In any event, the Defendant is a third party to the Landowner Agreement, privity of contract applies. The signs at “EXHIBIT 2” also state “professionally managed by One Parking Solution Ltd”. iii. The Defendant alleges that there is no contract between them and my Company. It is my Company’s position that there is and the details of which are set out above. Parking Eye -v- Beavis established that this form of contract is perfectly workable; iv. The signs clearly outlined the Terms of parking and the Defendant was on notice of the Terms upon entering the Land. By parking on the Land, the Defendant accepted the Terms. These Terms state that if breached, the Defendant agrees to pay within 28 days of issue. v. The Vehicle was parked on the Land in breach of the Terms, thus incurring the Charges. When Charge OPS161275 was issued, there was no valid pay & display ticket in the Vehicle as seen in the images at “EXHIBIT 3”. When Charge OPS161687 was issued, it is noted that a permit was displayed, however, the permit allowed for a 3 hour stay (as seen in the images of the Vehicle) and the Defendant was observed on the Land at 16:35, the Defendant therefore overstayed on the Land, thus incurring the Charge. 24. In view of the above, it is my Company’s position that the Defendant breached the Contract as set out in this Statement and as such the Defendant is liable. Amount Claimed The PCN Amount 25. The amount of the parking charge falls within the “between £50 to £100” bracket quoted at paragraph 111 of Parking Eye -v- Beavis [2015]. It is also in keeping with the guidelines given by the ATA: - “Part 20.5 of the BPA COP states “We would not expect this amount to be more than £100. If the charge is more than this, operators must be able to justify the amount in advance”. 26. The amount charged is set at a rate that covers the operational costs of the parking management scheme and acts as a deterrent, as was found to be appropriate in Parking Eye -v- Beavis [2015]. Contractual Costs 27. As payment was not made within the prescribed time, or indeed at all, the additional sum is claimed as a contractual cost pursuant to the Contract which states: - “Enforcement action may incur additional costs that will be added to the value of the parking charge and for which you will be liable on an indemnity basis”. 28. As set out above, the PCN amount is intended to include the ‘operational costs’. It is submitted that debt recovery action is not an operational cost and as such claiming the costs of doing so would not fall foul of the 2015 decision. 29. The sum added is a nominal contribution to the actual costs incurred by my Company as a result of the Defendant’s non-payment, and capped at the amount permitted under the ATA Code. My Company’s employees spent time and resource attempting to recover the debt, as well as instructing external debt recovery providers, all at a cost to the Company. This is not my Company’s usual business and, but for the Defendant’s refusal to pay, would not have been necessary. 30. When consider the recoverability of this element of the claim, I respectfully draw the Court’s attention to paragraph 45 of Chaplair Limited v Kumari [2015] EWCA Civ 798 whereby, when considering contractual indemnity costs, it was stated: - “There is nothing … which enable[s] the rules to exclude or override that contractual entitlement and I therefore agree with Arden LJ that the judge had the jurisdiction to assess the costs free from any restraints imposed by CPR 27.14.” CPR Costs 31. My Company claims the claim issue fee, fixed costs pursuant to CPR 45, and the hearing fee in any event. 32. In the alternative to the contractual costs set out above, my Company reserves the right to claim additional costs pursuant to CPR 27.14(2)(g). This claim was issued as a last resort, and given the robust appeals procedure in place, should not have been necessary. It is my Company’s position that this is unreasonable behaviour and it is respectfully requested that the Court considers whether they conclude the same. Conclusion 33. It is my respectful submission that the Defence is entirely without merit and as such it is requested that the Defence is struck out and Judgment awarded in favour of my Company, payable forthwith. 34. I may not be able to attend the hearing. Should this be the case, I will instruct an advocate to attend on my behalf and ask that the Court accepts this as my written notice given pursuant to CPR 27.9(1). Should I be unable to attend, I request the Court decides the claim in my absence, taking into account this Statement and any other evidence I may file. This paragraph demonstrates my compliance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of CPR 27.9(1). 35. In the event an advocate does attend the hearing, I request their fee be added to the amount sought.

Hi, a physical N180 form has been sent to me a few days ago and I will send it off asap (due date is 6th of May). Just a few questions: 1. Should I definitely not consider any sort of mediation process ? (I'm guessing that I should not.) 2.On the form it says at the bottom that '....file it (N180) with the court office and serve copies on all other parties.' What does serve copies on all parties exactly involve? Is this why DCB emailed me with their N180 attached ? (and if so do I need to do the same?) Or do I just need to send my N180 to the court and that's all. 3. For filling in the N180, I'm guessing that I should just put 'no' for 'expert evidence' and '1' (i.e. myself) as 'witness' ? Many thanks for the help.

The recent timeline is: 18th April: DCB sent me an email informing me that they have submitted a DQ. (Evening of 18th, I replied to DCB, telling them not to contact me via email.) I then checked on MCOL which had no recent updates, but just checked MCOL today and it says: 19th April: DQ sent to you. 20th April: DQ filed by claiment. Thanks again dx, but I'm assuming now that the case is definitely not 'stayed'. Will update if I recieve a DQ. (I'm assuming that Im now just waiting for DQ to be sent to me as there's no links on MCOL?)

No I haven't received a letter yet, but I've checked on MCOL and it says it's submitted so hopefully it went through properly.