Civil Enforcement fine 2nd Letter

leebowd

Hi all,

Today, I've received a letter 'before action' from Civil Enforcement Ltd relating to a fine dating back to 2014. They are requesting £140 or they'll proceed with court action.

I did receive a letter back in 2014 relating to the charge and, rightly or wrongly, I ignored it.

I am now looking for advice on how to proceed. Am I able to appeal 2 years later? Should I just pay it?

Thank you in advance,

Lee

Umkomaas

Too late two years on to appeal it with the PPC. You need to wait to see what their next move will be. If court papers are issued, the charge can be defended. Of late CEL seem to back away from a strong defence. Some help available here if it gets to court stage.

Is their latest letter headed 'Letter Before Claim' (or similar)?

Have you complained to the landowner? Tell them that their agent is threatening court and could they step in and cancel which will avoid you calling them as a witness should you all end up in court - can work!

leebowd

Thank you.

Yes, their latest letter begins with 'LETTER BEFORE ACTION'

Umkomaas

leebowd wrote: »

Thank you.

Yes, their latest letter begins with 'LETTER BEFORE ACTION'

You need to formally respond to it. Have a look at zzzlazydaisy's thread (contained within the Crabman sticky near the top of the thread list). Daisy is a retired solicitor and posted very good advice a few years ago. Some of her thread is probably out of date, but the thrust of it remains good.

We are not legal experts here, but can signpost you to useful resources. To supplement Daisy's thread, do a forum search on 'CEL Letter Before Action', or similar to read more recent threads detailing how some have dealt with this.

Do similarly on PePiPoo.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=60

Fruitcake

Since this appears to have nothing to do with Parking Eye, please remove that bit from you thread title as it is confusing. Please also note that this is a speculative invoice, not a fine. Unfortunately ignoring has not been advised since the law changed in 2012 which is why it has now progressed to court papers.

Nobody here will advise you to pay.

There is a step by step guide to court by Bargepole in post 1 of the NEWBIES thread that tells you how to go through the process.
You can also buy a very cheap guide to court from the Parking-Prankster's blogspot.

leebowd

Thank you Umkomaas. I will read the threads recommended.

Fruitcake, that was an error. I cannot edit the thread title.

Fruitcake

leebowd wrote: »

Thank you Umkomaas. I will read the threads recommended.

Fruitcake, that was an error. I cannot edit the thread title.

Click Edit, then click Go Advanced to edit the title.

leebowd

Fruitcake wrote: »

Click Edit, then click Go Advanced to edit the title.

My bad. Thanks for the advice... for both thread titles and parking charges!

Fruitcake

leebowd wrote: »

My bad. Thanks for the advice... for both thread titles and parking charges!

It's still not a fine, but that is less important right now than preparing your defence.

Coupon-mad

leebowd wrote: »

My bad. Thanks for the advice... for both thread titles and parking charges!

You should read several other CEL LBCCC threads and also CEL claim threads because it is likely that you will get court papers...no need to panic!

We have assisted with lots this year and not a single CEL one has emerged beyond the stage of the victim filing a decent defence. Here's one which shows you the stages from where you are, to the person drafting a defence:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5483854

You will also find cases like this typical 'it's all over' one in your search results:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5411769

Not saying defending will ALWAYS stop it dead. But it seems most likely it will follow the same path as that one and even if CEL seem to want to proceed further, a hearing is highly unlikely. This will be over as long as you see it through.