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CEL Court Claim, but I was out of the country when the car was parked'

s1290
s1290 Posts: 14 Forumite
Hi There,

I have just received a Claim Form from Northampton county court the claim is for £325.33 for parking in a sainsburys (apparently) the company claiming is civil enforcement ltd , I was on holiday during this time with proof in passport stamps, tickets etc and was not aware my car was used during this time i have had no previous correspondence for a ticket.

I have aknowledged the claim and ticked the defend box via the online system, I dont have a clue what to do next or where i stand here.
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Comments

  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 41,256
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    Please read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2 which walks you through the small claims court process.

    You need to change the header for this thread, as 'Sck' is a bit meaningless. How about:
    'CEL Court Claim, but I was out of the country when the car was parked'

    Click on the 'Edit' button of your first post, then further click the 'Go Advanced' button to change the header.
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 130,624
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    Copy any other CEL defence from April/May. Search & read a few, show us your draft first.

    CEL always fold. Always, for over a year. :)
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 41,256
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    Written by PePiPoo's highly respected regular 'Gan', the following describes the process CEL go through to inflate their claim, who else they involve, and how to beat them at their game.
    The standard process is :

    CEL sends an LBA
    If no payment, it doesn't issue a claim as it should but sends the account to ZZPS as an excuse to inflate the claim with charges that it's never paid

    ZZPS adds £60 and sends two letters in its own name plus one from Wright Hassall Solicitor that adds another £36

    Wright Hassall sends two letters - Final Notice and Formal Letter of Claim
    If no payment, it sends the account back to CEL

    CEL may or may not issue a claim
    If it issues a claim it will be for £236 plus a fake £50 Legal representative charge
    The additional detailed particulars of claim will have a fake Ashley Cohen signature

    If the claim is defended, pointing out the fake charges and signatures, CEL won't reply
    After four weeks the court will stay the claim so that CEL will have to pay to revive it
    The Defendant never hears from CEL again.

    I've written over 120 CEL defences and none of the claims has gone any further.
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298
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    Whatever you do please don't think that ignoring it will make it go away. You must enter a defence. They will fold but you need to do a little work.
  • s1290
    s1290 Posts: 14 Forumite
    Hi umkomaas the signature field is signed by civil enforcement limited this is the only letter i have received.
  • s1290
    s1290 Posts: 14 Forumite
    Hi waamo I have since yesterday - Aknowledged the claim and ticked i will defend and has gone through , who do i send the defence to ? Do i fill it online in the defend section , Do i send this to the courts or produce this as a letter or email them direct.
    Im very new to this sorry for the silly questions.
  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    You can do it online.

    See the newbies FAQ thread for a link to a guide to dealing with a money claim, lots of advice and links to other sources of information
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 41,256
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    s1290 wrote: »
    Hi waamo I have since yesterday - Aknowledged the claim and ticked i will defend and has gone through , who do i send the defence to ? Do i fill it online in the defend section , Do i send this to the courts or produce this as a letter or email them direct.
    Im very new to this sorry for the silly questions.

    All the 'process' questions are answered in the NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2, most of it written by forum small claims court expert bargepole. It's best you study this section of the sticky because there will be a number of key processes you'll need to undertake, and in a particular order.

    You need to post up a draft of your defence here for expert eyes to look it over and give you the green light and the confidence to submit it. No need to start with a clean sheet of paper. Just do a forum search on 'CEL defence' or 'Civil Enforcement defence' and copy and paste from a recent one (2017), make sure it makes sense in respect of your case and then post it up here for critique.

    There will be a number of deadlines set by the court for you to complete certain actions - it is imperative you work within those deadlines and submit documents to timescale.

    Now you have acknowledged service (if you did that within 14 days of the 'Issue Date' on your court papers), you have a further 14 days to submit your defence. So in fact, including 5 days they allow for you to receive the initial court papers, you have a total of 33 days. So count those, starting with the 'Issue Date'.
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
  • hoohoo
    hoohoo Posts: 1,717 Forumite
    CEL do not use keeper liability so one defence point will be

    1. The notice to keeper that CEL issues is not compliant with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, sch 4 and therefore there is no keeper liability. Only the driver is liable.

    2. I was not the driver for the event. I could not be as I was out of the country at the time. I will provide proof of this in my evidence and witness statement.

    3. There is therefore no cause of action against me
    Dedicated to driving up standards in parking
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 41,256
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    @OP - Great advice from hoohoo who is a regular, knowledgable and trusted contributor on this forum and PePiPoo.
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
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