CCJ for PCN

Aidy101

Advice sought please on the following situation I find myself in.

In January 2013 I received a parking charge notice. It was issued by a private company and on a University car park (having read some of the forum threads you may know the company in question).

I appealed the charge on the grounds that there were a reduced number of spaces due to piles of snow and construction work. And that my car was parked carefully with consideration to other users. Not knowing at the time I was on the end of the parking bays as opposed to in one.

6 weeks after sending my appeal letter I moved house. Having heard nothing back I assumed that the matter had been closed and didn't give it much thought.

That was until I checked my credit file (noddle) yesterday and found that a CCJ had been active since February 2014. I phoned Northampton Court today and they confirmed that the judgement had been sought by the parking firm.

I have received no correspondence from the parking company or the Court due to moving house and them sending all correspondence to my last known address. I could understand me being liable for blame if I should have notified them of the change of address like you would a loans or credit company but notifying a parking firm never crossed my mind or why should it.

Although I am annoyed that the CCJ is for £160 as opposed to the original £30 PCN I am more worried about the effect the CCJ will have on my credit file.

I know I can contest the CCJ in the hope that it will get set aside but from what I have read it is usually only successful in fraudulent or mistaken identity cases. So I am a little reluctant to pay the £155 to have the case looked at in court and pay solicitor fees.

I didn't know if it was worth explaining to the court that I have acted upon the CCJ (i.e. contacted them) as soon as I was aware of it in order to try and reinstate the opportunity to settle in full within the month and thus remove it from my credit file.

Anyways thanks in advance to any advice on what to do in this situation, with the most favorable outcome being to maintain a clean credit file or as near as possible.

Sorry for the long post but I thought the more info you guys had the better.

Cheers.

Fruitcake

Have a look in the sticky thread for NEWBIES. I think there is a section there about CCJs. I'm no expert but do a forum search on CCJs as there have been a few threads here about people in your situation.

I can't help you but the the experts on here will probably be able to guide you in the right direction.

arabesque_101

You can normally be successful in getting a CCJ set aside if the you didn't receive notice of the claim through no fault of your own, and you have some reasonable prospect of defence in a re-hearing (and you do have a reasonable prospect). If you pay the judgement amount within a month of the judgement, it is totally removed from your credit file, with no trace of the judgement left. However, you say the judgement was in February. If that is so, you have missed that chance, and now the only way to have it totally removed from your credit file is to apply to the court to have it the judgement aside. Having said that, if you pay the amount after 28 days, then it is shown on credit file as a judgement that has been "satisfied" (i.e. paid), which is not as bad as having an unsatisfied judgement on your credit file. Does that answer your question?

Aidy101

Thank you Arabesque_101. A quick straw poll then from any other readers of this thread. Should I go for the re-hearing or not?

Also if I do then I presume I don't pay the CCJ until the re-hearing has taken place.

Thanks again.

Umkomaas

Aidy101 wrote: »

Thank you Arabesque_101. A quick straw poll then from any other readers of this thread. Should I go for the re-hearing or not?

Also if I do then I presume I don't pay the CCJ until the re-hearing has taken place.

Thanks again.

You could go for a re-hearing, but telling the judge about the snow won't change a thing - other than racking up further costs for you.

You should only go for a re-hearing if you are well informed and understand all the issues relating to the private parking industry, PPCs, PCNs and the like.

You will need to have a good handle on contract law and how PCNs fit within it. If, I'm correct, you are dealing with 'Dist* Enf*' as the PPC you will need a further stratum of knowledge and understanding of the contractual charge model for private parking.

Redx

as above

nobody here can comment on a straw poll without knowing your legal training and capabilities (or those of anyone you hire) and court is a lottery and the judge may find that the PPC has acted correctly according to the contract , for all we know the signage may be correct, the charge a contractual fee and the signage may be BPA compliant and the claim may be a valid one

you have to know all this before you know if you stand any chance of a different outcome if the CCJ can be set aside , because it would be pointless if you went through all this and the CCJ was upheld (or the small claim was upheld that led to this CCJ)

nobody here knows the facts or your capabilities or funds so cannot comment on the outcome, neither could they reliably tell you this saturdays lottery numbers nor could they tell you the likely outcome of the Beavis vs PE case that is going to the court of appeal later this year

Aidy101

Thanks again to those that have given advice. In summary I have less knowledge than funds but by the sounds of it contesting the original ticket could go either way even with the correct backing in place.

It is highly frustrating for a company and court to be able to apply a CCJ to you without you having any knowledge of it whatsoever.

As much as it pains me it looks like I have little option but to settle the CCJ and then set about limiting the impact and then repairing my credit file.

Quentin

Aidy101 wrote: »

......As much as it pains me it looks like I have little option but to settle the CCJ and then set about limiting the impact and then repairing my credit file.

The best you can do to "repair" it is get the judgement marked as paid.


The CCJ will remain on the register and your file the full 6 years.

arabesque_101

Aidy101 wrote: »

A quick straw poll then from any other readers of this thread. Should I go for the re-hearing or not?

Also if I do then I presume I don't pay the CCJ until the re-hearing has taken place.
Thanks again.

Here is an option to consider:

1. Pay the £155 to have the case set aside. Don't pay a solicitor for this. Get free legal help from your local citizens advice office. Your case for the setting aside is clear - you had put in an appeal and then moved house. You didn't receive the county court claim therefore, and have been denied natural justice. You believe you have a valid claim about the snow and about the lack of genuine pre estimate of loss (people on this forum will be able to give you cases where GPEOL won the case in the CC). You should be able to get this set aside fairly easily.

2. Before the car park company have time to re-issue proceedings (hence accumulate more cost against you) make a decision if you want to defend it in court or pay it out. If you wish to pay it out, it should be a matter of paying £160 and then the matter is settled out of court, and no judgement recorded. Total outlay £315 versus £160 if you decide to pay it now. Alternatively, if you decide to defend it then do so, again probably without a lawyer, and with the help of people on the forum. If you defend it and lose, there may be some extra costs though.

nigelbb

Redx wrote: »

you have to know all this before you know if you stand any chance of a different outcome if the CCJ can be set aside , because it would be pointless if you went through all this and the CCJ was upheld (or the small claim was upheld that led to

A CCJ cannot be 'upheld'. If the judgement is set aside the case is heard as if for the first time. A CCJ will then only result from the re-heard case if the OP loses & then doesn't pay.

The_Deep

Careful Nigel, he will accuse you of trolling his posts.