Assistance with defense for county court - passed the 14 day period but not my fault!

Todd91

Hi

I am desperate for some quick advice,

i have received an N1 claim form yesterday (3rd November) but the issue date of the form is 11th October. The reason for the delay is that the letter had been redirected twice before it was received due to a change of address.

Civil Enforcement limited were previously made aware, twice, that they were sending letters to the wrong address and I replied with the correct address. I had also previously told them they are not giving a fair amount of time for responses due to the time it takes for the mail to be received. However, they continued to send letters to the wrong address, and now as mentioned a court claim has been made to that address.

The 14 day response time has passed and so I do not know what to do. I am not clued up on any of this and am very worried they will make a judgement against me.

The reason for the initial ticket was that a parking ticket was not purchased 'within 10 minutes of arrival' - however upon arriving, a ticket could not be purchased instantly because their ticket machine was out of order. At which point I assumed the parking belonged to the shop on the corner, however when i was informed it was nothing to do with them, i went back to the sign and saw i could pay over the phone. This was then an automated service that had to be set up with a new card payment and was done as quickly as possible. Other than to speak to the shop owner, the car was not left unattended until payment had been made.

I attempted to defend numerous times, yet CEL have applied through the courts for payment.

Particular of the claim are:

Claim for moniesrelating to a Parking Charge for parking in a private car park managed by the claimantin breach of the terms and conditions. Drivers are allowed to park in accordance with the Ts&Cs of use. ANPR camaras and/or manual patrols are used to monitor vehicles entering and exiting the site. Debt and damages claimed the sum of £236
Violation date 7/10/2017
time in: 14.26 Time out: 16.02
PCN ref *********
Cre Reg: ******
Car Park: ******

Total due £236
the claimant claims the sum of £55.04 for monies relating to a parking charge per above including 19.04 interest pursuant to S.69 of the county courts act 1984.
Rate 8% pa from the dates above to 10/10/18
Same rate to judgement or (sooner) payment
Daily rate to judgement - 0.05
Total Debt £255.04

they have also then added on the court fee and legal representatives costs (£25 and £50) to make a total of £330.04

I have also been reading up on defences but worried it could be too late! I am going to call the court tomorrow to get more information and explain the situation. There is a lot of legal info, that honestly I do not understand at all.


I feel bullied and left with no option other than to pay because i dont understand the defences you show. I feel they are taking advantage as there is no loss of earnings on their side and it is their fault the machine wasnt working in the first place!

any help would be much appreciated because i dont want to make any mistakes!

Thank you all!

KeithP

Are you saying that you have received nothing at all about this issue before getting this Claim Form?

Richard_T_

Looks like a claim form, but no default judgement - yet.

I do not understand at all.

Make yourself a cup of tea, and read the sticky thread, also who's car park was this? and where is it?

Todd91

Thanks for your reply and assistance

I have received letters from them and responded to them disputed their responses. They ignored all the points raised and just said I still owe the money

Umkomaas

Richard_T_ wrote: »

Looks like a claim form, but no default judgement - yet.

I think I'd be checking my credit score as CEL are quick off the mark to gain a default judgment - and that first 14 day (actually 19 days) deadline expired a few days ago. Or ring the CCBC first thing in the morning to try and find out whether it's possible to put a pause on all this.

Todd91

Richard_T_ wrote: »

Looks like a claim form, but no default judgement - yet.



Make yourself a cup of tea, and read the sticky thread, also who's car park was this? and where is it?

great thanks, will do!

Todd91

Umkomaas wrote: »

I think I'd be checking my credit score as CEL are quick off the mark to gain a default judgment - and that first 14 day (actually 19 days) deadline expired a few days ago. Or ring the CCBC first thing in the morning to try and find out whether it's possible to put a pause on all this.

Eeeeek! This is the first thing on my list to do at 8.30am tomorrow (call the court) - technically they have missed used my data and ignored the communication of the new address so they can issue these letters and claim form with a hugely reduced chance of me being able to respond in time!

KeithP

Todd91 wrote: »

I have received letters from them and responded to them disputed their responses. They ignored all the points raised and just said I still owe the money

But did you tell them your current address and despite that they continued to send stuff to your old address?

Todd91

Richard_T_ wrote: »

Looks like a claim form, but no default judgement - yet.



Make yourself a cup of tea, and read the sticky thread, also who's car park was this? and where is it?

I believe the car park is Bedford Borough Council owned - Greyfriars
I can see from a quick google others have had issues with CEL at this car park - it is free on a sunday yet they have still issed tickets to people

Todd91

KeithP wrote: »

But did you tell them your current address and despite that they continued to send stuff to your old address?

Yes, once in the first response to their PCN and then again in the most recent response to them, with a letter prior to that stating for them to refer back to my initial response with the address in so they can send their next communication correctly

so overall told them the address twice, and referred back to it once

Coupon-mad

You DO NOT have no option but to pay. But do not wait till tomorrow.

Get a defence in NOW - today - emailed to the CCBC, no hanging around till tomorrow as CEL could claim a default judgment before your email reaches the CCBC if not.

Simple to do IMHO, just copy another CEL one from recent weeks, any October result that comes up when you search for keywords like:

Civil Enforcement defence true

and change the facts to this, but in the third person:

The reason for the initial ticket was that a parking ticket was not purchased 'within 10 minutes of arrival' - however upon arriving, a ticket could not be purchased instantly because their ticket machine was out of order. At which point I assumed the parking belonged to the shop on the corner, however when i was informed it was nothing to do with them, i went back to the sign and saw i could pay over the phone. This was then an automated service that had to be set up with a new card payment and was done as quickly as possible. Other than to speak to the shop owner, the car was not left unattended until payment had been made.

Do that forum search RIGHT NOW and show us your draft within a couple of hours, it won't take long.

If your previous appeals already blabbed that the Defendant WAS the driver, then remove any paragraph in a copied draft, that asserts there can be 'no keeper liability'. Do not worry about this, but be aware that an admitted driver cannot use the POFA.