CCJ Help- Parking Charge

Ansteyb_2

Hi,

I received a court letter after getting a parking ticket followed up by Gladstone Solicitors from a permit/ privately owned car park.
I submitted a defence and received a letter from the court stating an acknowledgement of my defence and that the claimant would then have 28 days to reply. I heard nothing back so assumed that my defence had been successful. This letter was dated 30th August.

I then received a letter saying that as I didn't reply to the claim form I must now pay £266.06 (dated 21st November). I rang the court and they stated that they had sent a questionnaire that I hadn't replied to- I never received this and it wasn't sent recorded or signed for so have no way of proving I didn't receive it.

She said my only options are pay the £266.06 before the 21st December or get a CCJ or I could ask for it to be set aside which would cost £250 but would then mean I may have to pay the £266 on top.

Any advice on what to do? £266 is a ridiculous amount for a parking fine that started at £80 and I didn't feel like I should be paying anyway. The court said to ring Gladstone but I was under the impression it wasn't a good idea to make contact with them.

Thanks

Quentin

You were misled about how set aside works.

Read up on set aside to understand this.

It does cost £255 to apply initially but you don't also have to pay off the ccj

You would only have to do so if you lost the set aside appeal. Or won the appeal and subsequently lost at any new claim the claimant decided to pursue

nosferatu1001

You have two choices

Pay entirely. This is the known risk option, as it will be paid off and NO CCJ will hit your file.
Pay £255 for a contested set aside. You will need to show that you did not respond the DQ as you did not receive it. You will also need to draft an order - that the judgment of X is set aside, that the claimant pays the £255 set aside cost, etc. You will also need to include, again, your defence. I hope you saved a copy - show us what you sent

Thats it. The second I see as 50:50 on getting the fee back.

Quentin

nosferatu1001 wrote: »

Pay entirely. This is the known risk option, as it will be paid off and NO CCJ will hit your file. ...

There is a misconception here.

A ccj " hits your file" immediately it's issued

Paying it off in full within a month means it can be removed from the register and from your files.

But as advised in #2 this is not automatic. You are in the hands of the claimant to inform the court.

Alternatively you can get proof it's been paid and apply to Court yourself (with the appropriate fee) and ask the court to remove it from the register