CEL court claim - Help

Dalemadden1990

Hello,
I’ve received a court claim form in the post dated the 21st of November in relation to a parking claim issued by CEL. The total claim is £267.09 for parking in ordsall leisure centre for 26 minutes on the 12/03/2018.
I’ve ignored all previous correspondence from them in relation to this expecting them to give up, the vehicle is registered in my grandmothers name and I’m the only person insured to drive the car - the claim has come through in her name.
As I understand it from reading various threads on the board I need to send back the acknowledgment of service and then draft a defence, any advice at all would be much appreciated!

Loadsofchildren123

Please get reading. We don't have the resources to do it all for you.
Read the newbies thread and some other recent threads to get an idea of what defences you can use.


Hint:
If D is RK but not driver, was POFA complied with? If not, that's the primary defence. Look at my millennium thread - in that case the RK of the vehicle was a man in his 80s who no longer had a driving licence, was not insured to drive the car and cannot have been the driver and as they hadn't complied with POFA then they couldn't make him liable as RK.


I'd keep it very simple, if you have the POFA defence.


If this goes all the way, your grandmother MUST be present in court but someone else can speak on her behalf. Might not be the best idea for you to do it if the judge asks who was driving. CEL usually back out of court at the last minute, but have recently taken a few all the way so you can no longer assume that they will fold.

The_Deep

Are solicitors involved? If so, £267 is far more than the Law allows for this sort of claim. The down market solicitors whom the PPCs engage know this, but, because they are solicitors, know that a lot of people will pay up.

It is in fact double charging and non claimable debt collectors' add ons. Imo, this is fraud, or, at the very least, improper conduct.

Were this to get to court and win, the judge would be unlikely to award the claimant more than £175 - £200.

I urge you to report this grubby law firm to their regulatory body, the SRA.

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code/content.page

as I am sure they do not condone this conduct.

It is the will of Parliament that these scammers be put out of business. Hopefully that will take place in the near future. In the meantime involve your MP, the poor dears are buckling under the weight of complaints about these scammers. Read this one which I wrote earlier

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of alleged contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially Smart}, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week), hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Third Reading in late November, and, with a fair wind, will become Law next year.

All three readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 6-7 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.

Dalemadden1990

Thanks for replying, I believe that POFA wasn’t adhered to as the first letter I received in relation to this was in July.
I’ll look at the other threads detailing their defence around POFA thanks

Dalemadden1990

Sorry, the breakdown of the £267 claim is £192 claimed, £25 court fee & £50 legal representatives costs. This still seems incredulous to me!

KeithP

Dalemadden1990 wrote: »

I’ve received a court claim form in the post dated the 21st of November...

Everywhere where I use 'you' or 'your' I do of course mean the Defendant.
Your Grandmother is the Defendant, and whilst you can obviously help, everything must be done in her name.


With a Claim Issue Date of 21st November, you have until Monday 10th December to do the Acknowledgement of Service, but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox link from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.

Having done the AoS, you then have until 4pm on Thursday 27th December 2018* to file your Defence.

That's four weeks away. Loads of time to produce a perfect Defence, but don't leave it to the very last minute.


When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as described here:

1) Print your Defence.
2) Sign it and date it.
3) Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
4) Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5) Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
6) Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
7) Wait for your Directions Questionnaire and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread to find out exactly what to do with it.



*because the courts are closed on Christmas Eve, you have until 4pm on the next working day, 27th December, to file your Defence.

KeithP

OP, have you based your forum username on your real name?

Then your really should ask MSE to change your username to something totally anonymous.

To help with that, you might like to read this short extract from The MSE Forum Guide - Frequently Asked Questions & Rules:

Q. How can I change my username?

A. In most circumstances, this is not permitted.

The only reason we will change your username is if it puts your privacy at risk. This usually means you've inadvertently registered using your name, email address or something that gives away your identity within your username.

If you fall into this category, email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com and request that it is changed, giving three alternative usernames in order of preference.

kryten3000

Shouldn't have too much difficulty with this - Defendant not driver and CEL, so they'll likely give up (discontinue) before a hearing anyway. Your grandmother likely won't need to go to court.