I have been issued a CCJ and it has ruined my chances for a career in the police.

Alnic

Evening all

I have been issued a County Court Judgement against me for a ticket that I paid for and displayed on to my car dashboard. I arrived back to my car to notice a fine from the company: HX Car Park Limited. I tried to contact them, the only phone line that worked was the payment line. So i ignored the letters as i couldn't contact them. Later I was issued a letter which said I could appeal, which decided to do.
I appealed on a website called isa (I cant remember the name correctly) and my appeal got denied, I then appealed the appeal which also got denied. The warden said I failed to put in my car registration details on to my ticket and he "confirmed" that the machine wasnt faulty that day (I genuially didnt get the option to put in my car registration, or else I would have done with no hesitation )
I am finding it extremly difficult to cope mentally as I lost my job and I am struggling to get myself back into work and with financial situations too (which are all under control and I am currently in a positive position, with no defaults etc.. )
I have applied to be a police officer and I am on my final stages of the interviews (which has taken 8 months) I was extremly confident that I would get the job, but my application has come to an end due to a CCJ that was issued. All my finances are reliant on the success of my police application. (So I could potentially become homeless due to a CCJ which is unfair)

This situation has depressed even more as I have waited so long and done so well to get to these stages of the police application.
I have two options and one was to pay it (which disagree with because I paid for the ticket/ and I dont have the money) and 2nd option is to apply to the courts to set the judgement aside (which I have done)

I was on the phone to gladstones solicitors earlier today and they where very cocky with me questioning why I had applied to set the judgement aside because I am not going to win.
I explained to them that I had paid for a ticket and the response he given was: they do not deny that I paid for a ticket but the ticket wasnt registered to my car. I explained that I had put the money into the machine and pressed the button and didnt get an option to put in a registration and a ticket come out. It was as simple as that, I put my ticket on my dashboard and continued with my day.
The reason the judgement went against me is because the courts didnt receive my defence. I am struggling mentally and finding it difficult to make contact with people. Despite my mental health I did send my defence out on time but I didnt have enough money to send it via signed delivery and the second post that I sent arrived 1 day too late.

I am extremely furious and do not know what to do with myself as my world has come crashing down once again. Especially though I paid for a ticket. I am worried due to the cockiness of gladstones solicitors and feel as though I will fail my appeal with the courts. I need some help and I am wondering if anyone can point me in the correct direction? A family member has also given me some negative advice.

I have spoken to citizens advice and I cannot afford a solicitor. I have looked at other posts on this forum and haven't seen anyone in a similar situation as me.

I really am going to struggle in court especially when I'm against a "professional"

waamo

Right can I just clarify a few points. You sent a defence but it arrived late is that correct?

Secondly when was the judgement issued?

Redx

this may not get to court, even if you have paid the £255 for a set aside

the judge must GRANT the set aside in order for you to defend the original claim if HX decide to go ahead with it

had you paid the CCJ, it would be marked as "satisfied" but still remain on your record for 6 years

you really should complain by email to your MP for a start, because this is how these parking companies are making lives a misery for ordinary people, it should not be allowed

has the judge granted the set aside yet ?


and answer the questions by Waamo above too, because more factual info is required

The_Slithy_Tove

Alnic wrote: »

I was on the phone to gladstones solicitors earlier today and they where very cocky with me questioning why I had applied to set the judgement aside because I am not going to win.

Why were you talking to them on the phone? Don't tell us you actually called them! NEVER call them, and if they call you DON'T talk to them. Everything must be in writing.

What do you mean that the court never received your defence? How did you submit it (post or electronic)?

There are plenty of threads about getting set asides. You need to demonstrate good reason why the process failed, leading to a default against you. And you need to make sure you have enough of a skeleton defence to convince the court you have a case.

Quentin

This looks to be a default judgement


Your grounds to get this set aside don't look good - you need a reason why you dhould have it set aside as well as a defence outline to show you ought to have a heaaring


But sending the defence late isn't going to be enough as the grounds.


Options to consider if your career is at stake over this:

Withdraw your set aside application (which looks doomed to failure)

Then consider:


1) If you have only just received the CCJ then pay it off in full within the month from the date of the judgement. The ccj then will be expunged


2). Consider a set aside by consent (costs you £100 fee and you pay the claimant the amount ordered by the court)

Alnic

Yeah, the defence arrived late. So the judge went in their favour.

It was issued in May 2019

waamo

Alnic wrote: »

Yeah, the defence arrived late. So the judge went in their favour.

It was issued in May 2019

I hate to say but the odds of getting a set aside are slim indeed. In saying that it appears you have already applied so, assuming you have, there is little that can be done.

Let us know how it goes and we can go from there.

Alnic

The_Slithy_Tove wrote: »

Why were you talking to them on the phone? Don't tell us you actually called them! NEVER call them, and if they call you DON'T talk to them. Everything must be in writing.

What do you mean that the court never received your defence? How did you submit it (post or electronic)?

There are plenty of threads about getting set asides. You need to demonstrate good reason why the process failed, leading to a default against you. And you need to make sure you have enough of a skeleton defence to convince the court you have a case.

I submitted the defence via post and they hadn't recieved the post. Then the court gave me an option to send the the defence via email as soon as I could which I did as I was looking after my sick children.

I called them.to settle the figure but the price was too high. I have my police interview next week. I've made some mistakes by contacting them ans appealing etc but I am struggling mentally

waamo

Again to clarify when you say you submitted your defence by email as soon as you could was this still past the deadline?

Quentin

Alnic wrote: »

Yeah, the defence arrived late. So the judge went in their favour.

It was issued in May 2019

It was because you didn't get your defence in by the due date

They were entitled to ask for judgement and there was no option for the court to do anything else

It's now too late to get this removed from the records by paying it

If you want it removed then your option is the set aside by consent mentioned in #5 above

Otherwise this stays and will be detrimental to your credit status for ,6 years irrespective of whether or not you pay it.

Bear in mind that the claimant can take enforcement action to get paid ,eg bailiffs/attachment of earnings etc any time during the 6 years

waamo

You might be better off seeing if you can cancel the set aside application and getting your fee back.

That would enable you to try for an application with consent. You can't apply repeatedly for set asides so I see little point in scuppering what little chance you have.