CEL defence

beamerguy

puredestiny wrote: »

Yes, I did read that somewhere about them tricking you into now showing at court. So, effectively, be prepared to go all the way with this. I'll certainly keep my guard up and come back to this forum quite a lot.

YES go all the way. You also have the option to involve the Retail Centre in any action

puredestiny

beamerguy wrote: »

YES go all the way. You also have the option to involve the Retail Centre in any action

That is good to know. I'm heading down to the centre today so I'll take the opportunity to build up a little more evidence. Feel fortunate to have these forums to turn to. You've all been such a great help.

puredestiny

I heard back from the shopping centre today with the following response:

"Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I was waiting to hear from the car parking company. This fine has now been cancelled."

The date of issue from the county court was the 12th June, so I wonder what's the best move from this point.

Should I wait another week to hear back? or submit my defence anyway?
How would I verify this is true?
Should I ask the lady to forward the correspondence?

Umkomaas

Initially, to give you some degree of (un)certainty, go to the CEL website and go through the motions as if you were going to pay the PCN. That should give you the current status of the PCN. I'd do that every day.

But, as I understand it, CEL will need to formally discontinue the claim with the court, so you need to press on with the development of your defence in case they don't, when you will be faced with the potential of a default judgment against you with an order for the full costs claimed if a defence is not submitted.

Keep on top of this.

puredestiny

Umkomaas wrote: »

Initially, to give you some degree of (un)certainty, go to the CEL website and go through the motions as if you were going to pay the PCN. That should give you the current status of the PCN. I'd do that every day.

But, as I understand it, CEL will need to formally discontinue the claim with the court, so you need to press on with the development of your defence in case they don't, when you will be faced with the potential of a default judgment against you with an order for the full costs claimed if a defence is not submitted.

Keep on top of this.

This is great advice. I'll do that. Thanks for the heads up. At least I can use this as part of my appeal now, so I'll just keep on it.

puredestiny

I've just tried to log into the MoneyClaim site but it came up with an error when I tried to access the claim. I've tried adding the claim number and password to bring up the claim, but it says

Claim number or password is incorrect.

It's definitely correct, so does that mean it may have been cancelled?

I'll ring the court and find out for sure.

Umkomaas

I wasn't suggesting checking the MCOL claim, I was suggesting checking out the charge on CEL's own website. But you now having checked with MCOL, it's interesting info you've had back.

I agree a call to the CCBC (Northampton) might give you a better pointer, but before doing so, do have a look at what the CEL website is saying about the status of your original parking charge.

puredestiny

Ah, didn't think of that. Just checked it out, and it still shows an outstanding balance. I'll keep track of it over the next few days and see if anything changes, if not, I'll continue with my defence as originally planned. Will give the court a call too.