Help needed!

Chris1991

I have received a claim form from the country court business centre.
In July 2018 I parked my vehicle just outside a flat complex at night time. There is a half demolished building across the road which had a small bit of land able to fit a car on. I parked my car there overnight and received a parking ticket at 5.20am. (Private)
The ticket has an governing body.
I initially contested the ticket directly to the firm however they refused to quash the charge and upped the price. I ignored correspondance since then.
I do not believe I should pay for the ticket for the reasons;
1. Signage insufficient in size
2. No lighting on the sign during night time hours
3. The particulars of the claim state I parked in a permit holders car park with no permit however this is not a car park.

The letter has threatened that if I do not pay this claim and put a defence then I may have a CCJ against me.
I do not understand this process and do not want a CCJ, what should I do?
I have until the end of the week to reply!
Thanks

KeithP

Hi and welcome.

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Coupon-mad

I do not understand this process and do not want a CCJ, what should I do?

Please read the NEWBIES thread post #2 first; we can't do this if people don't.

Chris1991

Hi Keith, it was issued on 7th February so I don't have long left

Chris1991

I have tried to find this but can't find it anywhere. Please can you leave a link to it and I will read that. I've read the FAQ's for newbies

KeithP

Chris1991 wrote: »

Hi Keith, it was issued on 7th February so I don't have long left

With a Claim Issue Date of 7th February, you have until Tuesday 26th February 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 Tuesday 12th March 2019 to file your Defence.

That's three 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 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.

Chris1991 wrote: »

I have tried to find this but can't find it anywhere. Please can you leave a link to it and I will read that. I've read the FAQ's for newbies

As an added bonus, there is a link to the NEWBIES thread earlier in this post - twice in fact.