Worried CCJ coming my way for unpaid PCN!

Starkat79

Hi,

Hoping someone can help, I have read the Newbies thread & tried searching for other threads similar to my situation but not having much luck & tbh just getting confused with what to do or if it's just too late!!

Really worried I am going to get a CCJ (or if one's already been issued) due to ignoring letters regarding a parking fine issued to me July 2018. The multiple letters asking me to pay were:
2 from CPM - July & Aug 2018
4 from DRP - Sept, Oct (got 2) & Nov 2018
1 from Gladstones Solicitors - Dec 2018

I then didn't hear anything for months so assumed they'd finally given up. I also moved house, end of May this year, so with lots going on I didn't get my post from my previous landlord of my old address until recently. This is when I found out I had been sent 3 LBC's from Gladstones - 1 beginning of June then another 2 within days of each other at the beginning of July, stating I needed to pay or reply by 18th/20th July and that "any reply after this date may not be considered as legal proceedings are likely to have been issued".

I then opened a brown envelope to find I have been sent a Claim Form from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton! It's dated 19th July and says that I should reply within 14 days which obviously I have missed, so...
1. What do I do?! Have I probably been issued with a CCJ by now & if so how can I find out?
2. Does the wrong address have any bearing on this issue?
3. On the Gov.uk website I have come across form TE7 - Application to file a statement out of time / extension of time (parking), is this worth doing or relevant?
4. Side note: The car this relates to was declared as SORN beginning of June, don't suppose this makes any difference?!
5. I have also read somewhere about a fine being reduced if you're on a low income or certain benefits - I am currently receiving Universal Credit as was made redundant, does anyone know about this?

Starting to wish I'd just paid the reduced charge of £60 back in July 2018 seeing as the court letter is saying amount due now is £247.36!

Thank you for taking the time to read this & any replies/help would be greatly appreciated

Coupon-mad

This is not a 'parking fine' and was never to be paid.

I then opened a brown envelope to find I have been sent a Claim Form from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton! It's dated 19th July and says that I should reply within 14 days which obviously I have missed, so...
1. What do I do?! Have I probably been issued with a CCJ by now & if so how can I find out?

Ring the CCBC and see in the morning.

2. Does the wrong address have any bearing on this issue?

Yes, because if there is a CCJ you can get that set aside due to non-service.

3. On the Gov.uk website I have come across form TE7 - Application to file a statement out of time / extension of time (parking), is this worth doing or relevant?

No, that's for Council (real) penalty charges; stop reading gov.uk stuff about real PCNs!

4. Side note: The car this relates to was declared as SORN beginning of June, don't suppose this makes any difference?!

No.

5. I have also read somewhere about a fine being reduced if you're on a low income or certain benefits - I am currently receiving Universal Credit as was made redundant, does anyone know about this?

You mean the court fee to get a set aside, is reduced or free for you, if you meet the criteria for HELP WITH COURT FEES (Google it, sounds like you might).

Why not simply read post #2 of the NEWBIES thread (quickly) and put together a UKCPM defence and email it tonight to the CCBC, then call the CCBC in the morning to check if you beat the Claimant or if they already filed for a CCJ by default?

If you can't manage that tonight, just do the AOS online TONIGHT and hope it beats the Claimant to the timing, then come back and work on a defence asap.

We have loads of UKCPM defence examples here, including one won in court today with me in attendance (see Stubborn goat's thread, his defence is on there). We do win 99% of the time though so there are hundreds you could read and copy from.

NO RINGING GLADSTONES OR UKCPM.

What were the circumstances, was this a residential car park where you had primacy of contract as a resident yourself? Why did you have to display a permit then? Or was it something else?

KeithP

Yes, as C-m says, do the Acknowledgement of Service tonight.

To do the AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox file linked from post #2 of [URL="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread[/URL]. About ten minutes work - no thinking required.

Quentin

You can find out now if a default CCJ has been requested by doing a search at the trustonline website


If it comes back clear get a defence in - if your defence arrives prior to a request for judgement the defence will trump the request even though it's late

Starkat79

Thank you Coupon-mad for answering every question I asked. I was worrying about contacting the Court as felt I'd then be acknowledging I'm at fault but then I'd rather know whether I've been issued a CCJ & try to do something about it! If there is one & I explain the situation to the person I speak to, will they sort out setting it aside or do you have to do some sort of application for it?

Will definitely google about help with court fees and re-read the Newbies thread post #2...so just to check, is it not too late then to file the AOS seeing as it's been about 21 days since day of service as not sure there's anywhere on the AOS to explain house move? Which also leads to me to ask, do I put my new address on the AOS even though all previous correspondence has been to old address?

Well done on winning that one today btw Circumstances of mine were that I was parked in a car park that seems to only be for a chippy, a shop & a pub restaurant. Was catching up with a friend I hadn't seen for a while so was probably too busy yapping & didn't notice the signs (which when looked again later are pretty small!) & also because I'd parked there a few times in the past to pop in the shop & stupidly assumed it's a free car park mainly for the pub which was where I went that day. Just annoys me that these 'companies' think they can charge a massive amount for just staying a bit longer in a non paid for car park, I'd understand if they were losing out on money if it was a car park that charged so even at the lowest amount why should I pay £60, how do they even warrant that amount?!!

Starkat79

Thanks KeithP, so this is a way of doing it online then? I'm sure I've already got a Government Gateway account which I wrote on a post-it somewhere but obviously due to moving I don't know where it is lol! Do you know if I can just register again...?

KeithP

Don't try and do any explaining now, just do the AoS as described above.

It may work. It may not. You have lost nothing.

If it works, you have bought yourself extra time to produce a Defence.

You have nothing to lose - do the AoS now.
As I said above:

About ten minutes work - no thinking required.

KeithP

Starkat79 wrote: »

Do you know if I can just register again...?

Yes, follow the guidance in that Dropbox link I pointed you towards.

It's easy.

Starkat79

Cheers for the info Quentin, I have taken a look at trustonline.org.uk and saw it will cost £6 to find out, which I know doesn't seem much but I'm on a very tight budget at the moment so will have to just call the court instead & hope for the best!

KeithP

To save you even looking for it, here is that AoS dropbox link:

www.dropbox.com/s/xvqu3bask5m0zir/money-claim-online-How-to-Acknowledge.pdf?dl=0

Starkat79

Thanks Keith, I have set up my Government Gateway account & am just about to enrol on MCOL so just checking (sorry!) if it needs to be my new address or old?