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Unkown CCJ discovered on credit report relating to PCM ticket

Dear respected members, hope you are all well.

I am in a similar situation faced by quite a few other people on this forum. I moved my house in February 2019 and upon checking my credit report today, found that there is a CCJ on my record. I called the Northampton court and they told me it is for a parking fine issued by PCM on October 2018.
I did not get any correspondence in my post about this ticket and was unaware of the CCJ until today.
I have read a lot of other posts on this forum. As a guide to help me through my next steps, I am going to use Sagi1975's very helpful post which was pointed out in the Newbies thread:

I would really appreciate if you guys can answer some of my questions which I am still unsure about. I am detailing out my action plan for this and will put questions below in red font. Also please give any advice if you think I should change any of the things I have mentioned in my action point below.


Step 1: Fill in the N244 form. Need to send 3 copies. See Question (s) 1 below.
Step 2: Set up a draft order. The wording I have used below is from Sagi1975’s post mentioned above:

N THE XXXXXXXXXX COUNTY COURT

Claim No. XXXXXXXXXX

BETWEEN:

XXXXXXXXX Claimant (Is the claimant Gladstones or PCM? Or should I just mention ‘Claimant?)


-- and --


XXXXXXXXXXX Defendant


_____________________________________


DRAFT ORDER

______________________________________


IT IS ORDERED THAT:

Upon reading the Defendant's application dated XXXXXXXXXX.

It is ordered that:

1. The judgment dated XXXXXXXX be set aside.

2. The Defendant shall file and serve its Defence by 4pm following 14 days after the date on which the judgement is set aside. I understand this is the defence against the original ticket issued. What steps would I need to take to ‘file and serve’ my defence? Is it something which gets covered during that one initial hearing as part of the witness statement below? Or are there any other steps that I would need to take?

3. The Claimant do pay the Defendant's costs of this application to the sum of £255.

4. The Claimant has permission to file and serve a reply if so required.


Step 3: Set up the witness statement as below:


IN THE XXXXXXXXXXXXXX COUNTY COURT

Claim No. XXXXXXXXX

BETWEEN:

XXXXXXXXXX Claimant


-- and --


XXXXXXXXXXX Defendant




WITNESS STATEMENT

______________________________________




I am XXXXXXXXXX and I am the Defendant in this matter.
This my supporting Statement in support of my application dated XXXXXXX to:
· Set aside the Default Judgement dated XXXXX as it was not properly served at my current address;
· Order for the Claimant to pay the Defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee;
· Order for the original claim to be dismissed.

1. Default Judgement
1.1. I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgement against me as the Defendant in XXXXXX. However, this claim form has not been served at my current address and I thus was not aware of the Default Judgement XXXXXX when I was doing a routine check on my credit file. I understand that this Claim was served at an OLD ADDRESS (XXXXXXX). However, I moved to a new address in XXXXXXXX. In support of this I can provide confirmation from XXXXXXX County Council showing my updated details for the purposes of paying Council tax.

1.2. I have also never received any previous documentation from the Claimant in this matter and I thus was never able to properly challenge the Claimant’s claim.

1.3. On the XXXXXX I contacted XXXXXX County Court to find out details of the Default Judgement. The court papers contain no details of the alleged incident and I do not know what the Default Judgement relates to.


1.4. I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s current and correct contact details. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. The Claimant’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results is an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country.

1.6. On the basis provided above I would suggest that the Claimant did not fulfil their duty to use the Defendant’s current address when bringing the claim.

1.7. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim properly. I thus believe that the Default Judgement against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside.



2. Order dismissing the Claim

2.1. I further believe that the original Claim by the Claimant has no merit and should thus be dismissed. I understand that the Claimant is a Parking Company which seeks to claim for “Parking Charge Notices” which the Claimant believes are due as a result of an alleged breach of contract for parking by a motorist.

2.2. If the Claimant has obtained details of the vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, and used those details to make a claim for a “Parking Charge Notice’’, I thus dispute the claim in its entirety as I do not know the wording of the contract nor do I know the means by which the contract was alleged to come into force.

2.3. If the Claimant can evidence that the alleged incident relates to a vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant would have needed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Otherwise, the Claimant is required to prove the driver of the vehicle they claim was involved in the alleged incident. I submit that the Claimant cannot provide such evidence and further submit that the Claimant does not include ‘Protection of Freedoms Act 2012’ wording on the Parking Charge Notices they issue and therefore cannot hold the Defendant automatically liable for the alleged incident merely for being the Registered Keeper of a vehicle.

2.4. A requirement of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is that this any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant must be served within 14 days of the date of the alleged incident. Since I have not received any documentation from the Claimant prior to finding out about the Default Judgement, I submit the Claimant will not have complied with the requirements of the Act and thus cannot claim this charge against me as the Registered Keeper in any case.

2.5. I further submit that the Claimant’s claim is without merit due to substantial issues in law. This is for the following main reasons:
2.5.1. Lack of Standing by Claimant: The Claimant is unlikely to be the landowner of the car park in question, and will have no proprietary interest in it. This means that the Claimant, as a matter of law, will have no locus standi to litigate in their own name. Any consideration will have been provided by the landholder, and only they would have been able sue for any damages or trespass.
2.5.2. No Loss Suffered by Claimant: Their claim is presumably based on damages for alleged breach of contract. It is a fundamental principle of English Law that a party who suffers damages through breach of contract can only seek through court action to be put back in the same position as they would have been if the breach had not occurred. In order to do so, they must demonstrate their actual, or genuine, pre-estimate of loss. I submit that no loss has been suffered by the Claimant as a result of any alleged breaches of contract on the part of any motorist of the vehicle of which I am the Registered Keeper. I further submit that any loss to the landholder (which would be the only party able to claim such losses) would be at most a few pounds.
2.5.3. Claimed charge is an Unenforceable Penalty: I further submit that the Parking Charge that the Claimant claimed, given it is not based on any loss suffered due to the alleged breach, is nothing but an unenforceable penalty.
2.5.4. No contract with the claimant: Any contract must have offer, acceptance and consideration both ways. There would not have been consideration from the Claimant to the motorist; the fee for parking benefits the landowners, not the Claimant. Therefore, there is no consideration from the motorist to [name of claimant].

2.6. On this basis I believe that the Claimant has not provided any reasonable cause of action and thus the claim should be dismissed in its entirety.
2.7. In order to make informed decisions and statements in my defence as keeper of the a vehicle, I will require copies of all paperwork and pictures of all signs from the Claimant.




Statement of Truth:
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
Full name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dated: XXXXXXXXXX

Signed: ________________________________

Step 4: Send the N244 form, the draft order and the witness statement to the court in which this judgement has been issued.



Question 1:
1.1: How do I pay the fee? Can’t find specific guidance on that. I am supposed to send a cheque in the post along with the N244 form? Is there another way to pay at the court etc later?
1.2 I’ve downloaded the N244 form from gov (dot) uk website > publications> form-n244-application-notice section and I am a bit unsure about a few questions in there:
1. There is a box for fee account number at top right. What is this and where do I get this from?
2. Claimant’s name box: Do I leave this blank? Or put PCM? Or Gladstones in here?
3. Questions 6,7 and 8 in this form, Do I leave these blank as I do not know the answers to these?
4. Question 10 in this form, do I only need to tick ‘the attached witness statement’ box.




I would be very grateful if my questions are answered and any other advice is provided on taking this forward.

Thank you all very much.

Comments

  • nosferatu1001
    nosferatu1001 Posts: 12,961 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    You wnat the 6 point draft order

    Check with teh DVLA for WHICH address they held and on which dates; if you moved prior to october 2018 and forgot to update the V5 address then PCM may have sent post to the old-old address - because youre missing at least a couple pieces of post from the 4 months before you moved; usually a NtK within 14 days
    While at it, ask them who requested your details between october 2018 and feb 2019

    Cheque, you cant pay later.

    You dont have an account to pay fees, so leave this blank
    You put in the name of the claimant, not their solicitor.

    Defence - you MUST append a defence to this aplication. No ifs or buts. the defence you would file later can be an expanded one, but you must have a defence at this point. The WS is to explain why you should get a set aside, and is not concerned with the events on the day
  • I moved to my new flat in February 2019, but only sent off my vehicle logbook to dvla to get the address updated in late April 2019. I could not do it immediately after I moved in unfortunately.

    But the thing is, I didn't get any correspondence from court on this old address either until February when I was still there. Infact one of my housemates left this place at end of March and I used to regularly collect my mail from him. So essentially I had access to mail being sent to my old address until end of March. I haven't seen anything about this court judgement. I would like to mention that I have had previous issues with lost post at this property because the main door was shared with another flat, a takeaway and a finanial company. So all the mail came in through this one letter box for 2 flats and 2 businesses and I have had my little amazon and ebay parcels stolen before. This was one of the main reasons I left that property. It could be the case that these letters got lost too. Or it could be they sent everything between March and April as I can see this judgement is dated April 2019 on my credit file.

    Thanks a lot for your reply. I will give other threads a detailed read later today and in order to get more informed on how to set up my defence as I am clueless at the moment. Will post revised drafts soon. I'd be very grateful If you could kindly post me towards any specific threads on this forum which would be applicable to my scenario (i.e. changed address, didnt update the logbook straight away, PCM, didnt receive any court documents and wasnt aware of this issue until CCJ discovered on credit file yesterday)
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 161,814 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Is the claimant Gladstones or PCM?
    PCM - but their full Ltd company name.

    Same advice as ever on loads of recent set aside threads:

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75880134#Comment_75880134

    I say you don't need to append a defence, we never do normally...but it doesn't hurt as long as it's decent. You will need a defence in bullet points for the hearing in case the Judge wants to hear some of it.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Thank you very much you all helpful ladies and gentleman. Can you kindly have a look at my draft below and let me know if this looks alright please:


    Step 1: Fill in the N244 form and make 3 copies of it.

    Step 2: The six point draft order should be as follows:


    DRAFT ORDER

    IN THE COUNTY COURT AT: xxxxxx

    XXXXXXXXXXXX (Claimant)

    And

    XXXX (Defendant)

    CLAIM No:**********

    IT IS ORDERED that:

    1. The default judgment dated XX/XX/2018 be set aside.

    2. Costs to be reserved.

    3. Unless the Claimant serves a copy of the claim form on the Defendant by 4pm on XX/XX/19 paragraph 2 shall cease to have effect and the Claimant shall pay the Defendant's costs summarily assessed at £255 and the claim shall be struck out.

    4. If the Claimant serves the claim form as directed in paragraph 3 the Defendant shall file and serve a defence by 4pm on XX/XX/2019.

    5. Should the Claimant discontinue the Claim after the CCJ is set aside, paragraph 2 shall cease to have effect and the Claimant shall pay the Defendant's costs summarily assessed at £255 plus the Defendant's costs for attending the hearing.

    6. All enforcement be put on hold pending the outcome of the application.


    Step 3:
    Set up the witness statement as below:


    IN THE XXXXXXXXXXXXXX COUNTY COURT

    Claim No. XXXXXXXXX

    BETWEEN:

    XXXXXXXXXX Claimant


    -- and --


    XXXXXXXXXXX Defendant




    WITNESS STATEMENT

    ______________________________________




    I am XXXXXXXXXX and I am the Defendant in this matter.
    This my supporting Statement in support of my application dated XXXXXXX to:
    · Set aside the Default Judgement dated XXXXX as it was not properly served at my current address;
    · Order for the Claimant to pay the Defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee;
    · Order for the original claim to be dismissed.

    1. Default Judgement
    1.1. I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgement against me as the Defendant in XXXXXX. However, this claim form has not been served at my current address and I thus was not aware of the Default Judgement XXXXXX when I was doing a routine check on my credit file. I understand that this Claim was served at an OLD ADDRESS (XXXXXXX). However, I moved to a new address in XXXXXXXX. In support of this I can provide confirmation from XXXXXXX County Council showing my updated details for the purposes of paying Council tax.

    1.2. I have also never received any previous documentation from the Claimant in this matter and I thus was never able to properly challenge the Claimant’s claim.

    1.3. On the XXXXXX I contacted XXXXXX County Court to find out details of the Default Judgement. The court papers contain no details of the alleged incident and I do not know what the Default Judgement relates to.


    1.4. I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s current and correct contact details. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. The Claimant’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results is an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country.

    1.6. On the basis provided above I would suggest that the Claimant did not fulfil their duty to use the Defendant’s current address when bringing the claim.

    1.7. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim properly. I thus believe that the Default Judgement against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside.



    2. Order dismissing the Claim

    2.1. I further believe that the original Claim by the Claimant has no merit and should thus be dismissed. I understand that the Claimant is a Parking Company which seeks to claim for “Parking Charge Notices” which the Claimant believes are due as a result of an alleged breach of contract for parking by a motorist.

    2.2. If the Claimant has obtained details of the vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, and used those details to make a claim for a “Parking Charge Notice’’, I thus dispute the claim in its entirety as I do not know the wording of the contract nor do I know the means by which the contract was alleged to come into force.

    2.3. If the Claimant can evidence that the alleged incident relates to a vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant would have needed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Otherwise, the Claimant is required to prove the driver of the vehicle they claim was involved in the alleged incident. I submit that the Claimant cannot provide such evidence and further submit that the Claimant does not include ‘Protection of Freedoms Act 2012’ wording on the Parking Charge Notices they issue and therefore cannot hold the Defendant automatically liable for the alleged incident merely for being the Registered Keeper of a vehicle.

    2.4. A requirement of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is that this any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant must be served within 14 days of the date of the alleged incident. Since I have not received any documentation from the Claimant prior to finding out about the Default Judgement, I submit the Claimant will not have complied with the requirements of the Act and thus cannot claim this charge against me as the Registered Keeper in any case.

    2.5. I further submit that the Claimant’s claim is without merit due to substantial issues in law. This is for the following main reasons:
    2.5.1. Lack of Standing by Claimant: The Claimant is unlikely to be the landowner of the car park in question, and will have no proprietary interest in it. This means that the Claimant, as a matter of law, will have no locus standi to litigate in their own name. Any consideration will have been provided by the landholder, and only they would have been able sue for any damages or trespass.
    2.5.2. No Loss Suffered by Claimant: Their claim is presumably based on damages for alleged breach of contract. It is a fundamental principle of English Law that a party who suffers damages through breach of contract can only seek through court action to be put back in the same position as they would have been if the breach had not occurred. In order to do so, they must demonstrate their actual, or genuine, pre-estimate of loss. I submit that no loss has been suffered by the Claimant as a result of any alleged breaches of contract on the part of any motorist of the vehicle of which I am the Registered Keeper. I further submit that any loss to the landholder (which would be the only party able to claim such losses) would be at most a few pounds.
    2.5.3. Claimed charge is an Unenforceable Penalty: I further submit that the Parking Charge that the Claimant claimed, given it is not based on any loss suffered due to the alleged breach, is nothing but an unenforceable penalty.
    2.5.4. No contract with the claimant: Any contract must have offer, acceptance and consideration both ways. There would not have been consideration from the Claimant to the motorist; the fee for parking benefits the landowners, not the Claimant. Therefore, there is no consideration from the motorist to [name of claimant].

    2.6. On this basis I believe that the Claimant has not provided any reasonable cause of action and thus the claim should be dismissed in its entirety.
    2.7. In order to make informed decisions and statements in my defence as keeper of the a vehicle, I will require copies of all paperwork and pictures of all signs from the Claimant.




    Statement of Truth:
    I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
    Full name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Dated: XXXXXXXXXX

    Signed: ________________________________



    And then I need to send the n244 form, DO, witness statement along with the 255 pounds check to the court which issued the CCJ.

    Please let me know if I am on the right path!

    Thank you very much.
  • I have another question- How do i know the claim number? there is a reference number on the CCJ I can see on my credit file starting with F. Can I just write this in for the claim number?
  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 41,296 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You really must act quickly.

    It is now nearly two months since you first posted here.
  • yes I should. I am going to post everything out tomorrow.
    Would be great if anyone with experience of setting aside a ccj can let me know if what I've mentioned above is alright.
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