CEL County court claim.

tgb155

Hello

Apologies for this i have been reading the forum and I'm still lost on how to proceed.

My wife parked in a hotel car park for a meeting on 06/02/2017, she received a letter from Civil Enforcement limited claiming she did not register her car when entering the hotel reception and was given a parking charge. ( she did complete it as the receptionist advised her to).

She appealed to this ticket claiming she had registered her vehicle. she received a response rejecting her claim.
I spoke to the hotel to see if there was CCTV that could be used in our defense, I was given the name of a lady to call regarding the ticket.
She asked if we could get hold of the receipt of the drinks bought.and she would look into the CCTV I explained my wife's colleague is in and out of the country which may make getting in contact difficult, I told her but i would try but this took some time.

Unfortunately he didn't keep the receipt for the drinks. It then took a couple of weeks to get back in touch with the lady, she basically washed her hands and wouldn't help with the CCTV. We then started to get Final reminders on 27/03/2017 then letters from ZZPS and then Wright Hassle,

I called in and tried to explain what had gone on, I was told my wife needs to contact and allow me to act on her behalf and would put it on hold ( I cant remember for how long), during this time my wife had been ill and has since had to have a major operation we had a lot of things to sort (as you can imagine it slipped my mind) we have now received a county court claim form for £323.72.
I have tried to get in touch with them on the numbers provided but its an answer machine.

I don't believe we should be paying this amount, but think i have made appealing/denying difficult as I have entered into dialogue with them

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

TGB

bengalknights

Is it an actual county court claim or one of the fictitious threatening to act claims?

Redx

this needs to be defended by the person named on the claim

I dont believe that you have read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread near the top of this forum , please read it and digest it

read the BARGEPOLE walkthrough and do the AOS online on the MCOL website , leave the defence box blank

then start to draft your defence and post it on here for critique when completed

if this claim is dated oct 2017 then new protocols are in place , that they may not have followed , so check !!!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5730304

then maybe adapt this CEL defence accordingly

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5729157

tgb155

.it came through the post do i have to post back to the court?, I'm struggling with the online stuff to do

Redx

ideally you dont post anything back to the court

it can be done using the forms if you really prefer to do it that way, but most stuff is done online and its better to do the AOS online in a few minutes of your time

it also checks that the court claim is valid because you login to the claim on their MCOL site , proving it is genuine at the same time

once the defence is drafted , its emailed to the CCBC in about 28 days time

KeithP

tgb155 wrote: »

.it came through the post do i have to post back to the court?, I'm struggling with the online stuff to do

Did you read Bargepole's walkthrough in the NEWBIES post#2?

It tells you exactly what to do.

tgb155

can you paste link having a bad day sry

Redx

tgb155 wrote: »

can you paste link having a bad day sry

top of this parking fine forum , second thread down that says NEWBIES BLAH BLAH and has 5 posts in it

there are about 4 threads that are "stuck" up there

tgb155

Cheers Redx I now have read it admittley alot does go confuse me, I have now completed the first part and am trying to put together a defence.

A quick question i have disputed the whole case how ever as i have tried to dispute with them already and they have rejected the appeal and that i contacted their solicitors to try and resolve it. Should i have disputed only part?

I know my wife definitely completed the log in at reception.

I am going to get a picture of the parking signs at the hotel,

cheers

TGB

Coupon-mad

A quick question i have disputed the whole case how ever as i have tried to dispute with them already and they have rejected the appeal and that i contacted their solicitors to try and resolve it. Should i have disputed only part?

Bargepole's post re what happens when (in the NEWBIES thread post #2) tells people to defend the claim IN FULL.

tgb155

Thank you for those who have posted on here to allow me some idea of how to proceed.

I have put together a defense. the particulars of the case are:

My wife parked in a hotel car park for a meeting on 06/02/2017, she received a letter from Civil Enforcement limited claiming she did not register her car when entering the hotel reception and was given a parking charge. ( she did complete it as the receptionist advised her to).

She appealed to this ticket claiming she had registered her vehicle. she received a response rejecting her claim.
I spoke to the hotel to see if there was CCTV that could be used in our defense, I was given the name of a lady to call regarding the ticket.
She asked if we could get hold of the receipt of the drinks bought.and she would look into the CCTV I explained my wife's colleague is in and out of the country which may make getting in contact difficult, I told her but i would try but this took some time.

Unfortunately he didn't keep the receipt for the drinks. It then took a couple of weeks to get back in touch with the lady, she basically washed her hands and wouldn't help with the CCTV. We then started to get Final reminders on 27/03/2017 then letters from ZZPS and then Wright Hassle,

I called Wright Hassall on 28/07/2017 and tried to explain what had gone on, I was told my wife needs to contact and allow me to act on her behalf and would put it on hold ( I cant remember for how long), during this time my wife had been ill and has since had to have a major operation we had a lot of things to sort (as you can imagine it slipped my mind) we have now received a county court claim form for £323.72.
I have spoken to Wright Hassall again and they confirmed that on 01/09/2017 CEL took back the case and proceeded with court action Wright Hassall confirm they told CEL that they had agreed to put the account on hold.
I have tried to get in touch with CEL them on the numbers provided but its an answer machine.

I don't believe we should be paying this amount,

Due to the fact that we appealed the charge in the first placer I'm not sure if the defense regarding the signage etc would help and also to claim that we knew nothing about the charge would be false, we believed it was unjust and a company trying it on. are there any other areas i can defend?

Thanks in advance.

In the County Court Business Centre
Between:
Civil Enforcement Limited
V
XXXXXXXXXXX


Claim Number: XXXXXXXX


I, XXXXXXXXXXXXX, deny I am liable to the Claimant for the entirety of the claim for each of the following reasons:
The Claim Form issued on 11/10/2017 by Civil Enforcement Limited was not correctly filed under The Practice Direction as it was not signed by a legal person but signed by “Civil Enforcement Limited”.
This Claimant has not complied with pre-court protocol (as outlined in the new Pre Action Protocol for Debt Claims, 1 October 2017). As an example as to why this prevents a full defence being filed at this time, a parking charge can be for trespass, breach of contract or a contractual charge. All these are treated differently in law and require a different defense. The wording of any contract will naturally be a key element in this matter, and a copy of the alleged contract has never been provided to the Defendant.
There was no compliant ‘Letter before County Court Claim’, under the Practice Direction.
The claim form stated that CEL would provide the defendant with detailed particulars within 14 days after the service of the claim form. I have today Monday 06/011/2017 received the particulars sent 2nd class. The letter from CEL is dated 11/108/2017 however the date stamp on said letter in 01/11/2017 please see attached documentation.
Had I not acknowledged and asked for the extra time I would have not been able to contest the claim from CEL as they had not sent a “Letter before County court claim”
I have also been calling CEL on the number given. This is an answer machine only saying the Legal team; I have left more than 6 messages since Monday 16th October 2017 for them, to call me with my contact details. I have also called their contact number on the website which states you can contact them in office hours however this is an automated payment line. Their actions are a deliberate way of making sure either A: I pay the funds or B: I am unable to defend my case.
How am I to make contact to resolve this with CEL as per the required pre-court protocol?
This is a speculative serial litigant, issuing a large number of identical 'draft particulars'. The badly mail-merged documents contain very little information
The Schedule of information is sparse of detailed information.
The Claim Form Particulars were extremely sparse and refer to nothing actually pertaining to their claim against me.
I have tried to make contact and come to an amicable agreement but constantly come up against problems with them. My partner spoke to Wright Hassall solicitors to try and resolve this on my behalf which they said I had to contact them to approve this which I did. I have not been well and required an operation, my partner contacted them and explained what was happening and om 28/07/2017 agreed to put this on hold while however on the 1st of September CEL chose to take back the case and proceed with a county court claim.
The Claim Form Particulars did not contain any evidence of contravention or photographs. These documents, and the ‘Letter before County Court Claim’ should have been produced, pursuant to paragraph 6 of the Practice Direction – Pre Action Conduct. This constitutes a deliberate attempt to thwart any efforts to defend the claim or to “take stock”, pursuant to paragraph 12 of the Practice Direction. Again, this totally contradicts the guidance outlined in the new Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (2017), the aims of which are:
Early engagement and communication between the parties, including early exchange of sufficient information about the matter to help clarify whether there are any issues in dispute
Enable the parties to resolve the matter without the need to start court proceedings, including agreeing a reasonable repayment plan or considering using an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure
Encourage the parties to act in a reasonable and proportionate manner in all dealings with one another (for example, avoiding running up costs which do not bear a reasonable relationship to the sums in issue) and
Support the efficient management of proceedings that cannot be avoided.

The Defense therefore asks the Court to strike out the claim as disclosing no cause of action and having no reasonable prospect of success as currently drafted.