Court Claim form received from CEL, please help

CastorTroy

Hi,

I received a Court Claim Form from County Court Business Centre today for the sum of £300 for an ANPR parking from Jan 2019.

I was first aware just before Christmas when a notice from CEL arrived with a number of forms attached for personal and financial details etc. I dismissed (perhaps mistakenly) this as a scam and chose not to respond within the 30 days.

It transpired that the original notifications for the parking charge had been going to an old address. I renewed my driving licence last year and the update must have triggered the final notice to my new address.

I've not contacted CEL in any way so far and as far as I can see from reading all the threads on here I've missed the appeal process as I've now been issued with a CCJ and have 14 days to respond.

I have revisited the carpark and I can see that their is a sign at the entrance but not all that brilliant. I have managed to recover some of the original notifications from the old address and the pictures are very small and obscure but it is my vehicle and it seems ANPR registered me being their for about 15 mins.

I have read through the various posts but a little unsure where I stand. I can't risk a CCJ on file as we're soon to look to move house and this could scupper any chance of a mortgage etc. I also got the impression that at this point I have to pay to defend (set-aside?) which could nearly double the outstanding amount if I lose.

I've plan to call the court today to get some advice from them over the documents they've sent and submit a SAR to CEL but I don't expect they will respond with the data within 14 days.

Could you please advise on how best to proceed?

Thanks in advance.

Redx

I do not believe you when you say it's a CCJ , because it's not been to court yet , nor have you lost in court either

It's not a court either , it's a government office like the DVLA

I suggest you edit your post with correct details , plus add the issue date from the claim form as well

Ps , this has nothing to do with your driving licence , check that your V5C has been changed and has the correct address on it , otherwise the DVLA can fine you up to £1000 for not doing so

Le_Kirk

As well as the sound advice posted by Redx, send a data rectification notice to CEL using [EMAIL="dataprotectionofficer@ce-service.co.uk"]dataprotectionofficer@ce-service.co.uk[/EMAIL] and advise them of your address for service and requiring them to ERASE your old data.

The_Deep

You need to read the stickies, this is not a game you should play without learning the rules. These companies can get nasty.

[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, 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]

beamerguy

Given the dates you say, it is not possible to get a CCJ within that time period .. as Redx says, it's not even been to court.

The is the second time in a couple of weeks that CEL has said this ?

Can you scan the letter and upload to a free site. As you are a new user, you can't post a link yet so post as hxxp and we will make it live.

We need to see that letter .... redact your personal info

KeithP

Have you received a County Court Claim Form?

If so, what is the Issue Date on that form?

CastorTroy

Redx Sorry the initial description was incorrect, the document is Claim Form issued on the 31st Jan from the County Court business centre in Northampton.

As I understand this is the process that effectively begins the CCJ process.

I have amended the post to correct this.

KeithP

Can you please also adjust your thread title similarly?
To do that go into edit on your opening post.
The click on Go Advanced.
Type what you want in the Title box and then save.

CastorTroy wrote: »

...the document is Claim Form issued on the 31st Jan from the County Court business centre in Northampton.

With a Claim Issue Date of 31st January, you have until Wednesday 19th February to file an Acknowledgement of Service. If possible, do not file an AoS before Thursday 6th February, but otherwise there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. To file an AoS, follow the guidance offered in a Dropbox file linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread. About ten minutes work - no thinking required.

Having filed an AoS, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 4th March 2020 to file your Defence.

That's over a month 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.

After filing your Defence, there is more to do...

1. Do not be surprised to receive an early copy of the Claimant's Directions Questionnaire. Nothing of interest there. Just file it.
   
2. Wait for your own Directions Questionnaire from the CCBC, or download one from the internet, and then complete it as described by IamEmanresu in his post linked from post #2 of the NEWBIES thread.
3. The completed DQ should be returned by email to the CCBC to the same address and in the same way as your Defence was filed earlier.
4. Send a copy of your completed DQ to the Claimant - to their address on your Claim Form.

Redx

Email a SAR to the DPO at CEL to obtain all your data attaching a copy of the claim form as proof of I D under the GDPR law

Do the AOS on Thursday or Friday this week

Start drafting your defence and post it below for critique

CastorTroy

Thanks for the pointers. I will complete the SAR as advised.

Does it make any difference at this stage that the driver has not been identified, just the vehicle. Is that defence only valid at an early appeal stage?

Can I just double check the process after we submit the defence. If CEL don't back down and we attend court the worst case scenario is the judge finds our defence weak and rules in favour of CEL. In that situation we'd have 30 days to pay the £300 in full and nothing is added to our credit history ?

Redx

More or less , except you would be objecting to the spurious charges and the sum may be more like £200 , but the final figure is decided by the judge