New Generation Parking Management Ltd v RandG

[b789]

Hi b789,

I had not heard anything since the payment deadline. 

I rang up the National Contact Centre for Civil & Family Court today and they've told me that the court fee has been paid, and the hearing will be taking place on the 31st March. 

What are the next steps please.

Before the hearing, watch this short HMCTS video explaining what usually happens in a small claims hearing in the judge’s room:

https://youtu.be/n93eoaxhzpU?feature=shared

It is useful because it shows the general format. Usually, once everyone is in the room, the judge will introduce the case and will often invite the claimant’s representative to outline the claim first. However, before that happens you should ask the judge to consider the issue of the claimant’s representative’s right of audience.

If you are going to raise the issue of right of audience, that is the point at which to do it, before the claimant’s representative is allowed to begin addressing the court on the substance of the claim. So, if the person attending for the claimant appears to be an agency advocate (which will almost certainly be the case) rather than a solicitor from DCB Legal, you should politely intervene at the outset and say:

   “Before the claimant’s representative addresses the court, I would respectfully like to raise a preliminary matter concerning right of audience.”

You can then explain that you have brought copies of Vehicle Control Services Ltd v Langley [2026] EWCC 1 (Claim No: M2KF975M), which discusses that issue. Take three printed copies of the transcript with you: one for the judge, one for the claimant’s representative, and one for yourself.

To avoid wasting the court’s time, highlight only the relevant passages in the judgment. The key sections are paragraphs 20–24, paragraphs 30–34, and paragraphs 41–45. These passages explain the legal framework governing rights of audience and address the argument sometimes advanced in these cases that a person automatically acquires a right of audience simply because they have been instructed by a solicitor. The judgment makes clear that such instruction does not in itself confer a right of audience.

Langley is not binding authority, and the judge still has discretion to allow the representative to appear. This is therefore not a guaranteed knockout point. It is simply a preliminary matter that may assist if the judge agrees there is a problem with the representative’s status. If the judge is not with you on it, the case will simply continue and you move on to the substantive issues.

The main substantive point in your case remains the claimant’s irregular evidence concerning the Notice to Keeper.

Your chronology is supported by documents:

• Access to the new property from 9 May 2024
  
• Royal Mail redirection set up on 25 May 2024 (RG-01)
  
• Former address vacated on 31 May 2024
  
• V5C updated with DVLA on 1 June 2024 (RG-02)
  

The claimant relies on a Notice to Keeper dated 31 May 2024 (RG-03), but the copy they rely on is addressed to your new address even though the DVLA update did not occur until 1 June 2024.

That is highly irregular. On the claimant’s own case, the keeper address should have come from the DVLA before issue of the notice. Yet the address shown on the document they rely upon is an address the DVLA did not hold for you until the following day. They also have no proof of posting, no certificate of posting, and no other evidence showing that the notice was actually sent.

That inconsistency should be put clearly to the judge. The point is simple: the claimant’s own document does not fit their own chronology. It raises an obvious question as to how that address appeared on a notice supposedly issued before the DVLA was updated, and it undermines the reliability of the claimant’s evidence as a whole.

Also remember that the driver has never been identified. The claimant therefore has to establish Keeper liability. If they cannot show that a compliant Notice to Keeper was given within the period required by Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, keeper liability cannot arise.

On the day, arrive at least 30 minutes early so that you have time to get through security and check in with the usher. If the claimant’s advocate approaches you before the hearing, do not get sidetracked into discussing the case. Politely refuse and simply say that you would prefer to leave all argument for the judge.

If you can show me the claimant’s witness statement, I can review it and identify any points that need answering. If necessary, I can then help produce a short supplementary witness statement (SWS) and, if useful, a skeleton argument for filing and use at the hearing.