CCJs (x2) discovered after credit check from Parking Eye and Civil Enforcement

Le_Kirk

You could put the date of the CCJ rather than leave it blank.  Other dates left blank correctly.

cyhb

I also know a County Court Judge... so I spoke to them yesterday for their advice, which was very helpful.
They made the point that the WS is the first impression that they will have of you, so make it sound like you, especially if you are a litigant in person and not so pro forma. And also that the Judge has discretion, and will be sympathetic as long as you demonstrate that you are a responsible individual trying to do the right thing, and that it will depend on the individual Judge too.
This is my WS currently (with the Judge's feedback incorporated). Bear in mind how I wrote it reflects that if necessary I will pay the debt if the CCJs are removed.
Parking Eye one is very similar.

WITNESS STATEMENT by [[NAME NAME]]

CCJ: XXXXXXX (XXth September 2019)

Claimant - CIVIL ENFORCEMENT LTD

My name is [[NAME NAME]], a company director and [[PROFESSION]].  My address is [[CURRENT ADDRESS]]. I am the defendant.

1.      I believe the Claimant, Civil Enforcement Ltd, obtained a Default Judgment against me on XXth September 2019. The assumed claim is in respect of an unpaid Parking Charge Notice from XXth November 2018 at [[PLACE, TOWN]].  I am asking the court to set aside this judgment.

2.      I was the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence.

3.      I first became aware of the CCJ on 3rd June 2020 after signing up with [[WEBSITE]], a credit score site (see attached A, page 1).

4.      This showed me that the address on the claim is [[OLD ADDRESS]]. This is my previous address, having moved to [[NEW ADDRESS]] on XXth August 2017 (see attached copy of my deeds, and a house insurance bill).

5.      Immediately I contacted County Court Business Services who told me this CCJ was due to the above-mentioned Parking Charge Notice. They also advised me of the process of setting aside the judgment.

6.      I then went to my old address to see if by chance they had kept any of my old mail. Unfortunately none was related to this CCJ.

7.      As I was acutely aware of the urgency of the situation, on 9th June 2020 I submitted the N244 to set aside this judgment and fairly present my case.

8.      I will also contact the Claimant directly to request all information they hold on me so I can hope to resolve this situation.

9.      The source of this issue is because I didn’t update my address on my V5C when I moved in 2017. This was an honest oversight as this car is the first car I have owned and whilst it is no excuse, it had never occurred to me that it was necessary.

10.   I realised this on XXth Dec 2018 when I received a letter from [[COUNCIL NAME]] about an unpaid bus lane fine dating back to XXst May 2018 (unfortunately due to my partner’s driving error). After paying off that fine, I proceeded to update my address and my new V5C was issued on XXth January 2019 (see attached).

11.   I mention this incident for two reasons, firstly to demonstrate that I never try to avoid paying for any known debt, but also to show that the Claimant could have used other methods to find me as easily as the other claimants did. I was at all times to be found by a simple trace. My name is unique worldwide, and a 5 second Google search would have revealed contact details, such as my Directorship details at Companies House, and plenty of social media pages, including my business pages (see attached print screen).

12.   I believe it is rather unfair for the Claimant in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held my correct contact details at the time of the claim.

13.   In fact, I believe that the Claimant did know of my correct address at the time it issued the claim. In March 2019 I received a Parking Charge Notice from the Claimant for a separate alleged infringement at the same car park in the same vehicle, which I duly paid, and whilst I don’t have the paperwork, you can see a payment to Civil Enforcement Ltd from my bank statement (see attached), and a visit to [[CAR PARK]] on my partner’s Google Timeline (see attached) so since March 2019 they actually had my current address in their own records a full 6 months before the CCJ was issued against me.

14.   On that basis, I believe the Claimant has not adhered to CPR 6.9 (3) as the Claimant knew my correct address but served me at my old address. I also believe that they did not take reasonable steps to ascertain my current address considering not only that it was in their own records but also that I never replied within the 10 month time frame, which I believe is ample time to do a further simple trace. This has led to the claim being incorrectly served to an old address and an irregular judgment.

15.   Considering the above I was completely unaware of the claim and was unable to consider defending it or paying what they claimed to avoid judgment being issued against me.  I believe that the Default Judgment against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside and I ask the Court to kindly consider the reimbursement of the fee of £255 from the claimant should this request be successful and litigant in person costs.

16.   I am in the process of contacting the Claimant to see if they are happy to set aside by consent.

17.   This V5C address ‘oversight’ has already overwhelmed me for the past week. I had planned to remortgage my property to release equity for the purpose of investment to help secure mine and my family’s future. The Covid-19 lockdown has shattered my business for this year as I am in the [[xxxx]] industry so this financial uncertainty led me to consider new income sources. This CCJ has completely upended that plan so I hope that you can consider the grossly disproportionate effect it could have on my life. I hope that this statement demonstrates that I’m just trying to do my best in rectifying a completely unexpected mess. Many thanks for your time and consideration.

I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

Full Name: [[NAME NAME]]

Dated 10th June 2020

Le_Kirk

(see attached print screen) 

should be (see attached screen print)

henrik777

You don't submit an application THEN ask the opponent for consent. You ask them first (but don't let them kick the can down the road). You've paid the full whack by then and if they agree you may have wasted £155, not to mention asking them puts them on the back foot with regards to costs.

cyhb

Ok, so the concern I have is that if I don't contact the court soon, the Judge may take into consideration why I didn't act promptly? If I message the Claimants saying let's do set aside with consent - I'll pay as long as you get the CCJs dropped, but if you don't consent, then I feel I have a strong enough argument to get a mandatory set aside without consent, how long do you suggest I wait for the Claimants to respond before then proceeding with sending draft orders to the court?

nosferatu1001

You need to have an application in within about 3 weeks, 4 at most. That tells  you the outside deadline you can give them

henrik777

I'd aim to give 7 days, chase after 3.

cyhb

I was told by the Judge that promptness is essential for responding to the court (30 days is the usual max from some particular case that everyone apparently quotes), that ideal would be within 7 days, and 14 days max if you don't want the courts to start making it an issue.

With regards to the argument that a mandatory set aside should be granted on the basis that the Claimant did not check whether they had the Defendant's current address within the time frame that occurred, the Judge felt it was not strong enough for and hewould not have granted a mandatory set aside, however may have considered a discretionary set aside on sympathetic grounds. They felt that I may have a stronger case for a mandatory set aside with Civil Enforcement as they definitely had my address for 6 months, but not with Parking Eye.

As he isalso a barrister, he gave me food for thought with regards to strategy on contacting the claimants. So whilst yes I may be wasting some money on paying for a set aside without consent, it gets the process going faster. He also suggested that I then send a cover letter detailing that I have started the process but I would prefer to set aside by consent, followed the draft consent order, and attach a copy of the paperwork already sent to the court.

They felt this approach would be more conciliatory and, should the Claimant not respond to you would provide you with stronger discretionary grounds for a set aside, should the Claimant agree to a consent order at first but then go back on their word that you have an email thread showing otherwise, and that it shows the Claimant that you believe you have strong grounds for a mandatory set aside under CPR 6.9.

The primary goal here is to get the CCJs set aside, in the fastest manner, by whatever means necessary.

Do you still think I should contact the claimants first before initiating the N244?
I'm going to make a decision today and initiate the process latest by tomorrow

And as an aside he said that the courts hate Parking Companies!

henrik777

Well you found out on 3rd, it's now 10th, another 7 days is 14th. That means well under 3 weeks which it'd be pretty hard to argue wasn't prompt especially when you'd have the evidence part of that was performing your CPR 1 duties.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part01

The overriding objective

1.1

(1) These Rules are a new procedural code with the overriding objective of enabling the court to deal with cases justly and at proportionate cost.

(b) saving expense;

Application by the court of the overriding objective

1.2

The court must seek to give effect to the overriding objective when it –

(a) exercises any power given to it by the Rule

Duty of the parties

1.3

The parties are required to help the court to further the overriding objective.

Court’s duty to manage cases

1.4

(1) The court must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases.

(2) Active case management includes –

(a) encouraging the parties to co-operate with each other in the conduct of the proceedings

(f) helping the parties to settle the whole or part of the case;

I'm no expert but i'd disagree with them. Cooperation where possible can minimise costs and each party and the courts timespent dealing with things. That's not to say what they've said won't work.

nosferatu1001

As above. Giving them a short but still reasonable deadline, given the time pressures you are under, is better than trying to get the court to pay you £155 of the £255 set aside fee back....