County Court Business Centre Letter Received - help needed - stressed!

BellaBunny

Hey,

I have read through the newbie FAQ and am struggling to find what exactly I need to do in my case and would really appreciate some help as this is becoming quite stressful

On 22nd July 2018 my car was left in an NCP car park with my other half in the car whilst I ran into a shop, did not realise the car park had ANPR as previously had seen a ticket man there. I was a couple of minutes over the 10 mins that they will let you off and received a letter from them in the post requesting £60! Which was utterly ridiculous and after browsing the web constantly saw the advice to just ignore at all costs, which I did.

I then received letters from BW legal chasing even more debt and again ignored.

On 4th Decemer BW Legal sent me a 'letter of claim' stating that I now owe £160 or legal action will be taken, I did not actually get this letter until today as I have moved out of my parents and these letters have been going to their house!

Along with this was a claim form dated 24 Jan 19 from 'County Court Business Centre' including a moneyclaim link etc to log into. The charges are now listed as follows:
Amount claimed £167.44
Court Fee £25
Legal rep costs £50
Total £242.44

From reading a few threads I understand I need to submit the acknowledgement of service ASAP so will get this done.

But then no idea how to go about forming a defence and am getting slightly worried now help would be muchly appreciated as there is no way I can afford this ridiculous fee for what should have been a £1 parking ticket!

Also not sure if it is any help that I no longer live at the address and no longer have this vehicle?

Thanks!

KeithP

BellaBunny wrote: »

...a claim form dated 24 Jan 19 from 'County Court Business Centre'

With a Claim Issue Date of 24th January, you have until Wednesday 13th Febuary 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 have until 4pm on Wednesday 27th February 2019 to file your Defence.

That's a whole month 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 suggested here:

Print your Defence.
1. Sign it and date it.
   
2. Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
   
3. Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
   
4. 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'.
   
5. Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive a copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are just trying to put you under pressure.
   
7. Wait for your DQ from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then re-read post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread to find out exactly what to do with it.

You need to now be reading post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread where you will find good guidance right through the court process.

BellaBunny

Thanks for the above, will start forming some sort of defence and post here for checking?

Just a quick question, I notice on the MCOL website there is an option to start the defence on there, but I can see that you have said to file this via email, is there a reason this can't be done directly on the MCOL website?

Redx

yes, as explained in the NEWBIES thread by BARGEPOLE, the online system messes up all your formatting, and you want the best chance of success (dont you ?)

so EMAIL attachment as a PDF (the modern way) is the BEST way, especially as you know it gets there to the correct place, and they lodge your PDF to your online file - simples (and it does NOT mess up your defence)

if the CCBC came into the 21st century, they would allow an upload as a pdf and get rid of the online box completely


ps , APPEAL, not IGNORE, has been the advice on here for over 6 years, since early 2013 in fact, so last year the advice on here was to appeal to NCP, then take it to POPLA, not IGNORE

its using IGNORE that has got this to a court claim, making it harder for you, and more stressful !! learn from it

Redx

ps:- I assume this is in your name ? , as the person named on the MCOL must deal with it, even if somebody else helps them to do it

also, ensure your V5C and Driving Licences are updated with your current address, otherwise you can be fined by the DVLA up to £1000 for each one that isnt !!


the ability to pay (or not) is not relevant in a court case , so concentrate on trying to win (even a homeless unemployed person can receive a fine or monetary judgment if they break the law, or are caught speeding etc)

BellaBunny

Yep have learnt 100% now not to ignore in first instance (and not to park in NCP at all!)

Yep this is in my name, & good to know RE the V5C & driving license fines, haven't got round to doing this so will keep all addresses as my parents for this process but will update once this is all out the way, lesson learnt to do as soon as possible in the future.

Do you have any advice on strong arguments that should be included in this defence as I'm not sure what leg I have to stand on other than the standard arguments used.

Umkomaas

browsing the web constantly saw the advice to just ignore at all costs, which I did.

If you were reading and taking in stuff that old, you'd be arguing that David Cameron is still the Prime Minister.

BellaBunny

RE 'reading and taking in old advice' comment.
To be quite honest I think I misinterpreted some comments as I'm not really educated on the process/terminology and also had someone I know making strong arguments for just ignoring everything, definitely regretting this choice now.

Umkomaas

I know making strong arguments for just ignoring everything

Get them to agree to underwrite any loss you might suffer as a result of their truly awful advice!

Alternatively, get them to follow this thread of yours here so they are fully aware of (and embarrassed by) just how much they might cost you if you're not successful.

Redx

start with the BARGEPOLE concise defence, than add extras like grace period etc (BPA CoP clause #13)

also look at poor and inadequate signage , no landowner authority , ANPR timing issues etc (same as with POPLA appeals , see post #3 of the NEWBIES thread


and make sure there is a paragraph in there about the claimant trying to recover costs that are unrecoverable, like the debt collector fees and some of the "legal" fees etc , as its more like the following


Amount claimed £107.44 (£100 pcn + £7.44p interest)
Court Fee £25
Legal rep costs £50
Total £182.44

Redx

BellaBunny wrote: »

good to know RE the V5C & driving license fines, haven't got round to doing this so will keep all addresses as my parents for this process but will update once this is all out the way, lesson learnt to do as soon as possible in the future.

that would be an extremely stupid thing to do, given that there could be other reasons why your DVLA details are accessed , police stops , speeding penalties, more parking charge notices from either councils and/or private car parks

there is no earthly reason for delaying it by say 5 or 6 months just because you want to wait until this is over

you asked for good advice, you have been given it, not acting on what we tell you is very foolish and I am amazed you even think its ok to shilly shally until summer