CCJ Claim Issue Armtrac bwlegal

Remberketchup

Afternoon all,

Almost 12 months ago the vehicle of which I am the registered keeper was parked by someone in a privately owned car park in St Ives late at night whilst the place was almost completely empty. The driver of the vehicle did not see the poorly lit parking signage put in place by Armtrac and therefore did not purchase a pay and display ticket. In turn a ticket was issued. I was lead to believe that the best course of action was to ignore the letters sent to myself and so that what I done.

I have now received a notice of county court claim issued letter from bwlegal along with a claim form from the County Court Business Centre. I received the letters on the 20th Nov and it states they need a response by the 14th Dec. I have setup a direct.gov account and submitted my AoS. Am I correct in thinking that the next step for me is to now submit a defence case via email using the process described in many other posts?

If this is my next step then could somebody please let me know if they really think I have a leg to stand on since the driver of the vehicle never purchased a ticket at the time due to being unaware that they were required to. In addition the car park was practically empty so it's not like they had any loss of earnings. The fine currently stands at £241.10 broken down as follows;

Amount claimed: £166.10
Court fee: £25.00
Legal rep costs: £50.00
Total: £241.10

Thanks in advanced for any help and advice as I am beginning to lose sleep over all this since I have read it can go on your credit history for up-to 6 years and I am currently saving to purchase my first house.

Thanks again,
Remberketchup

KeithP

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

The_Deep

The fine currently stands at £241.10 broken down as follows;

It is not a fine, it is an invoice from an ex-clamper to compensate them for the alleged harm they suffered when you did what you did. We call it a scam. Pay them not a penny unless a judge so orders it.

They are asking far more than the Law allows, read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6014081/abuse-of-process-district-judge-tells-bwlegal

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP after the election, as it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.[/FONT][/FONT]

Remberketchup

Hello and thank you both for your replies, I will be sure to read through the links you've sent me!

The issue date stated at the top right of the letter is the 20th November 2019.

KeithP

Remberketchup wrote: »

The issue date stated at the top right of the letter is the 20th November 2019.

With a Claim Issue Date of 20th November, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 23rd December 2019 to file your Defence.

That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.


When you are happy with the content, your Defence could 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. No need to do anything on MCOL, but do check it after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defence received". If not, chase the CCBC until it is.
   
6. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire, they are trying to keep you under pressure. Just file it.
   
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.

Remberketchup

Thank you,

I will get my defence written up and submit it as you have suggested. I have read through quite a few defence letters throughout this forum but have not seen any relevant to my circumstances, if you know of any similar to my situation could you please post them here for me to take a look at and edit accordingly.

If not then I will get my own written up and post it here for you all to check over if that's ok.

Thanks again,

Redx

nobody here will answer the old "do I have a leg to stand on"misnomer, everyone has a defence, even if its a poor defence, a lot is in play and anything can happen in court, it can hinge on poor signage , no landowner authority, the CRA 2015 , POFA , many aspects affect the outcome , even if there are no legs to stand on

pay a lawyer if you want a legal analysis

ensure you email a SAR to the DPO at Armtrac to get all your data etc

as for the CCJ, you are scare mongering

IF you lose in court, pay up , promptly, certainly within one month and preferably within a few days, to prevent the CCJ from affecting your credit

its people who fail to pay the judgment promptly that find a CCJ affects their credit record, so put about £200 to one side, just in case, and pay it if a judge says you owe it, PROMPTLY , and as Martin says , IN FULL

Remberketchup

Yea I think I will need to pay a lawyer of some-kind because I am getting to the stage where I have become a tad stuck with all the legal jargon. I will look into emailing regarding an SAR to the DPO to see what data they currently hold.

Thank you for the clarification regarding court and my credit rating, it's good to know that even if I do get taken to court it will not affect my rating as long as I promptly pay up in full.

Umkomaas

Yea I think I will need to pay a lawyer of some-kind

But that will set you back at least £200, and likely much more if they represent you in court. That's if you can find one who knows much about private parking issues.

Stick with the forum and you'll eventually know more about private parking than any run of the mill, some-kind of lawyer.

Redx

Agree with Umkomaas above

My point was that if you want a legal analysis , pay for it , even though it may cost hundreds of pounds to do so , it's an option , but far fetched , so a tongue in cheek reply but designed to get the point across , that the costs outweigh the knowledge gained and has nothing to do with a leg to stand on, court is a lottery and nobody can predict the outcome

Barry Beavis thought he had a leg to stand on , he lost 3 times in 3 different courts , so his case appears to have had no legs at all despite all the legal advice saying it did

The trick is not to focus on wanting a legal opinion but to focus on defending the claim , using forum help , which is what members on here do , we help d I y ers

Remberketchup

Yea that's a fair point, thank you for the advice. For me it's not the scare tactics that are concerning me it is more the ability to understand the legal jargon and processes, this forum has been amazing help so far.

I have now sent my SAR to Armtrac as well as an email to bwlegal informing them of the SAR against their client. Next I will begin writing my letter of defence!

Thanks again,