Cel claim county court

Silverb

Hi, Can anyone advise. In May last year I took my labradoodle to the local pet shop where I use the diy dog wash facility. I use this usually about once a month. The pet shop has its own car park at the rear with free parking for customers, I think for an hour. Unfortunately the washing did take longer and I had a parking ticket put on my car. (actually my husbands) but we both drive so not absolutely sure who parked that day. As previous advice I ignored all letters, notices etc. but now my husband has received the above Court Claim form. I have contacted the pet shop who are willing to cancel the fine but I am extremely concerned about how to reply to defend this notice. (my husband is not well and I can't bother him with this as it was myself who did not respond to letters etc.) I do have them all though. Do I send off this form to defend this action as whant to cover all eventualities. Please help.

Redx

the correct procedures are all covered in the court claim sub-section of the NEWBIES sticky thread, especially by member BARGEPOLE so please read it and follow his instructions exactly , you are not the first and wont be the last either

there is a lot of work involved, so ensure you follow the same steps as other members who are further ahead than you are , as there are plenty of examples and advice on here and the basics are all similar, including the defence

get that pet shop cancellation IN WRITING and keep it safe in case a judge has to see it

twhitehousescat

get that cancellation in writing , and get them to ring or email cel, URGENT!

look in the newbies thread every thing you need to know about filling court forms in , is there

Silverb

Have found the pages with numbered points 1 - 7 how to go about acknowledging and setting out etc. but not sure if I have to send defence at the same time as the acknowledgement. Is it that I can have extra time to send this. Also should I acknowledge on the website or use paper version.


Can someone also direct me to where the examples might be as am struggling with this. Thank you.

Redx

all you are doing is acknowledging receipt of the claim ONLINE and claiming the extra 14 days to sort out your defence (write NOTHING AT ALL in that defence box , not one character, leave it alone , completely alone)

the defence goes in on paper , as detailed in the bargepole posts , before the new deadline arrives (so before the 4 week total deadline which is about 4.5 weeks from the letter and 28 days after the active service date which is about 5 days after the posted claim form date) - check the paperwork to see when that is

use the forum search and CEL DEFENCE or similar to find recent examples of them , dont use anything OLDER than 2016 , dont even read anything older than 12 months old

Silverb

Have now seen manager of shop and he says he can't do anything now it has gone to legal. However said if I contacted CEL and asked them to get in touch with him he would be able to confirm I was in his shop and excused excess time of of the extra parking which only amounted to 10 mins over the 1 hour. Should I do this before sending defence or ignore this and rely on court outcome. Confused and stressed.

Redx

I would deal with the court case and get the manager to sign a witness statement and keep copies for the court , and you will also be adding a witness statement of your own on or after the DQ stage

Half_way

If you can get the manager to sign a statement stating that they do not wish this to be pursued through the courts then that should pee on CELs fire somewhat.

Also as Principal they can order that the court proceedings initiated by their agents can be stopped right up to the hearing, or even just before judgement

Coupon-mad

Silverb wrote: »

Have now seen manager of shop and he says he can't do anything now it has gone to legal. However said if I contacted CEL and asked them to get in touch with him he would be able to confirm I was in his shop and excused excess time of of the extra parking which only amounted to 10 mins over the 1 hour. Should I do this before sending defence or ignore this and rely on court outcome. Confused and stressed.

Luckily though, this is only CEL who have never proceeded to a hearing when we've assisted with a defence.

For other newbies to see as well, here is a typical CEL generic defence to use/adapt (NOT his earlier versions, only post #16). It really can be this easy:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showth...39#post71748239

With the usual outcome, no hearing:

Just wanted to thank everyone on the forum & especially everyone that offered advice on this thread as the court confirmed that my case has been stayed.

Make sure you defend in the right name. IT MUST BE the same person named on the claim form.