Court Claim form. First serious letter from Gladstones/UKPC

Magnum0121

Hello, I'm looking for some advice here.
I've only just got this letter today 12/08/2017 as it was delivered to my property which is currently being rented out. The letter is dated 12/07/2017.
Unsure how serious this letter is, but obviously I don't want a CCJ against my name.
The date has passed for any sort of payment or appeal due to the fact I don't even live in the property.
Could someone please explain what to do about this now? I've had no further letters since this date.

I can't upload a photo of the letter right now but it is titled "claim form" with the address of the county court in Northampton.
Amount claimed plus the £25 court fee is £246.

Thanks for any help

Lamilad

You've received an N1 county court claim form. This is an official court document that MUST be responded to.

Ignore it and you'll end up with a default CCJ. Acknowledge it online via the MCOL website using the password provide at the bottom right of the N1.

Do not click the Start defence option. Read post #2 of the NEWBIES sticky thread atop page 1. It explains everything you need to know about processing and defending a court claim.

Build a defence by researching other threads on the forum using the Search function then post your draft here for review and advice.

Give us plenty of detail to you case including how and why the initial PCN was issued. What PPC is this.

You must contact the PPC and the court and inform them of your current address so you receive all further correspondence.

Edit: Do not say who was driving. Refer only to "the driver".... e.g "the driver parked the car".... "The driver forgot to purchase a ticket"

Coupon-mad

Same as is already covered in the NEWBIES thread post #2. Please read it & the links in it.

We assist with defences all the time and (since 2016 when many more PPCs jumped on the court bandwagon but don't bother to do it very well) 99% of the posters here, win.

Magnum0121

Thanks, the main question here is what to do as the date has already passed due to the fact I don't live at the property and only picked up the letter today. Is it now too late to acknowledge the claim form?
Letter was issued 12th July, and today its the 12th August.

PCN was issued for allegedly parking outside my flat without a permit.
"Breaching the terms of parking on the land of XXXXX and the claimant claims £160 for parking charges/damages and indemnity costs if applicable"

There is no offer of free parking on the site, just signs up saying no parking allowed outside of bays or without permits.
The car in question was sold a while ago and I have not lived at the property that the letter was delivered to since August.

Thank you for not getting too annoyed at the fact I forgot to read the newbies post, I'll have a look now.
I've got a very concerned wife panicking over this claim and the fact we've missed the date no fault of our own.

Quentin

You could already have a CCJ by default against you.


If so you have 2 choices


1) Pay the CCJ before it is a month "old" - that will mean you can get it removed from the register. Otherwise it will remain there for 6 years


2) Apply for the judgement to be set aside and if successful see if they reissue the claim and t his time defend it

Redx

if setting it aside , use the forum search and £255 SET ASIDE) and read all about it (if its already on your record)

this means you will pay £255 for setting it aside , ask for the judge to have you reimbursed for that figure, then you defend the original pcn

this is a common topic and much more common to see in the courts now due to many more court claims in the pipeline

at this moment in time it is likely that this is already at CCJ stage although it can be paid within the first 28 days to "settle" it

if you had read that newbies thread you would know that you have 14 days to acknowledge it from the date on the claim form that it goes "live" , so yes you have missed that boat

selling the vehicle and not being a resident there has no relevance , except that the PPC should have done due diligence and tried to ascertain your current address

Teresa May promised action on this over 9 months ago, nothing has been done by her or by Marcus Jones, nor the DCLG either

Magnum0121

Right, so since the date has already passed there could be a CCJ already.
If I paid the £246 within the allocated time would this show admission of liability for any other similar parking charges that I may have received when living in the flat?

I'm going to call the court first thing Monday morning and inform them of the address change. It's not convenient to keep visiting the flat to pick up post, especially since there will be a time limit on the CCJ. I want to make sure any future correspondence is sent to my new address.

I could reluctantly stomach the £246 BUT I wouldn't want this to hinder any chances of future appeals for similar charges dating back 12+ months...

Quentin

Paying a CCJ doesn't set a precedent for any others you get


However they will see you as a "vulnerable target" who rolls over, and could take court action again if you have incurred more pcns.


The creditor has up to 6 years to take legal action


The court cannot be expected to correct defendant's addresses.


You need to be sure you have informed dvla so that any future pcns result in you getting correspondence

Lamilad

If I paid the £246 within the allocated time would this show admission of liability for any other similar parking charges that I may have received when living in the flat?

No, but mui that you cannot apply for a set aside once you've paid up (I may be wrong).

If you don't pay and get a CCJ then successfully apply for a set aside then all trace of the CCJ is removed from your file.

Problem there, of course, is that you're not guaranteed to get the set aside then you're stuck with the CCJ.

In all cases that I'm aware of where the defendant can satisfy the court that they genuinely didn't get the papers and didn't know about the claim, the set aside has been granted.

Redx

and the court doesnt keep the addresses on file, they do not maintain a database of addresses, you have made an incorrect assumption there

each MCOL has the name and address of the person or entity being pursued, the court send their papers to the address given to them by the claimant

so if the claimant gets it wrong 6 times, the court sends the papers to the "wrong address" 6 times

so telling the court of your new address wont help you at all , especially in a phone call

the onus on having the correct address rests with the claimant , and as I said earlier Teresa May was made aware of this anomlay and promised action 9 months or so ago , NOTHING has been done

so if there are any more that have your old details, the papers will continue to go to the wrong address , so telling the claimant , IN WRITING , is what you should be doing , so that they fill in the correct address on the MCOL

you really need to learn about the MCOL process, because it has nothing to do with "parking"

Coupon-mad

Magnum0121 wrote: »

I'm going to call the court first thing Monday morning and...

And ask them if a CCJ has already been entered by default, and if not, tell them you will be emailing a defence during your conversation with them! And do so, and ask them to confirm it's immediately attached to the case and MCOL updated.

Have a defence ready, maybe there is no CCJ yet.

You must ask, not assume the worst (yet).

When I say have a defence ready, put one together tomorrow, by copying and adapting a similar example from the links in the NEWBIES thread post #2. Show us first may as well draft it and have it in your back pocket ready to email to the CCBC on the spot.

The CCBC phones are very busy, so keep it ringing, don't give up. They also have a backlog and delays, and Gladstones may not have followed it up yet for a default win.