CCJ From Northampton County Court in relation to parking fines. Didn’t receive any notification

jakeg1897

Hi guys,

This is my first ever post so I hope I’m posting this in the right place. I’ve had a good long read of a few different threads including the “newbies” one so i hope I’m following the forums etiquette. I really need some help with this and still have a few unanswered questions after a couple of hours reading.

Anyway, basically one day I checked my credit file, as I do now and then, and found two CCJ’s on there. I contacted Northampton County Court who they were issued by who informed me they were for a parking fine dated around 6 months prior. I knew absolutely nothing about them. I immediately contacted vehicle control services via email as their website advised this particular query could not be dealt with over the phone and provided a specific email for that purpose. I received an immediate auto response advising it may take up to 28 working days to receive a response from them.

I’ve waited anxiously for just shy of 4 weeks until today I couldn’t sit around anymore. So tried to give them a call despite the website saying not to. A guy there looked me up, advised me to forward the email on again and confirmed I had sent it to the right place. He said he would contact someone to look at it as a matter of urgency (Not sure how much of that I believe). Feeling like I’d probably been pied off I came to this forum. 

Now being more educated on the matter because of this forum (thank you) I believe I have not updated my address with the DVLA. Although I have updated it everywhere else including on the electoral roll and with credit reference agencies which the companies website says they can access in efforts to try and get the money. So I don’t know for fact but I’m pretty confident the reason I haven’t received any correspondence is due to the fact they got my old address from the DVLA.

Basically, I want to know if I have a leg to stand on in this situation. Should they have made more effort to find me at my current address as it is readily available for them to access through credit Reference agencies? Any advice would be a massive help. Thanks in advance  

Redx

Yes you have good grounds for a set aside or two , which costs £255 , you were there to be found as you say , but you should have acted weeks ago , so get on with it asap

Fighting the original charges is a different matter entirely

Ensure that the V5C has been updated asap , or they can find you up to a grand , Ditto with the driving licence too

D_P_Dance

You have wasted a month and now need to act urgently.  There are dozens of similar thread on here.  Please read some and, if you want to have this set aside, get things moving.  You will also need to update your address with the DVLA ASAP.

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, when life gets back to normal, it will become impossible for those scammers who are left to continue their vile trade, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

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

 

jakeg1897

Thank you for your responses! I’m pleased you think I have good grounds for this to be set aside. Do you know if the new legislation says anything about the companies being required to make attempts to contact me? So basically anything that would argue that just contacting the DVLA for my address and leaving it at that wasn’t enough and they should have done more?

Umkomaas

So basically anything that would argue that just contacting the DVLA for my address and leaving it at that wasn’t enough and they should have done more?

Not at the point of receiving your (incorrect) address from the DVLA - how would they know it was incorrect?  It would only be after a series of correspondence without reply should they start to think that maybe you had moved ..... and set in train procedures to determine any new address. AFAIAA, that isn't enshrined in law, but is certainly covered in the BPA Code of Practice, but you need to check the IPC Code of Practice as VCS are IPC AOS members, not BPA AOS members. 

Google will find the IPC CoP. 

Redx

The changes to the cpr rules a couple of years ago are what you ask about , verifying addresses before court action , so not legislation , but cpr , hence my earlier reply

beamerguy

jakeg1897 said:

Do you know if the new legislation says anything about the companies being required to make attempts to contact me? 

We don't know what the new code of practice will say about CCJ's.

When the woman MAY was PM she said ......

Theresa May vows to investigate ‘abuse’ of CCJ system"

The woman lied through her teeth and Boris needs to re awake this
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3786132/I-ll-end-credit-rating-scandal-pledges-PM-acts-Mail-exposes-rulings-ruined-lives.html

jakeg1897

Ah I see, I’ve just looked into it and the IPC CoP says the following but the CCJs were issued around 6 months after the alleged parking offences. 

22 Debt and Debt Collection

22.1 Operators must take reasonable steps to ensure that the Motorist’s details are

still correct if 12 months have passed from the Parking Event before issuing court

proceedings.

Redx

Check the cpr,s to see what they state , but it will be similar except it won't mention motorists

beamerguy

jakeg1897 said:

Ah I see, I’ve just looked into it and the IPC CoP says the following but the CCJs were issued around 6 months after the alleged parking offences. 

22 Debt and Debt Collection

22.1 Operators must take reasonable steps to ensure that the Motorist’s details are

still correct if 12 months have passed from the Parking Event before issuing court

proceedings.

You must understand that the IPC IS JUST A SCAM set up by the infamous Gladstones solicitors.
Their members, the PPC's, do not take much notice of the code, they are only interested in getting access to the DVLA

BUT ... use that code in your set aside

henrik777

Codes of practice mean absolutely SFA.

The rules of the court are what you are after.

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

When can someone apply for a default judgment ?

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part12

When can someone apply for a set aside ?

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part13

Cases where the court must set aside judgment entered under Part 12

13.2  The court must set aside a judgment entered under Part 12 if judgment was wrongly entered because–

(a) in the case of a judgment in default of an acknowledgment of service, any of the conditions in rule 12.3(1) and 12.3(3) was not satisfied;

(b) in the case of a judgment in default of a defence, any of the conditions in rule 12.3(2) and 12.3(3) was not satisfied; or

(c) the whole of the claim was satisfied before judgment was entered.

Cases where the court may set aside or vary judgment entered under Part 12

13.3

(1) In any other case, the court may set aside or vary a judgment entered under Part 12 if –

(a) the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim; or

(b) it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why –

(i) the judgment should be set aside or varied; or

(ii) the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim.

(2) In considering whether to set aside or vary a judgment entered under Part 12, the matters to which the court must have regard include whether the person seeking to set aside the judgment made an application to do so promptly.






So how do i know whether to apply for a set aside under 13.2 or 13.3 ?

The answer, always, depends on why you didn't know about, or respond, to the court papers. If the claimant complied with everything in CPR 12.3 it's probably 13.3 you need.

If the claimant did NOT comply with CPR 12.3 it's definitely 13.2 you need. (The most common failure is defective service CPR 6.9, and it's a tricky subject that causes many issues which is helpful for those that are on the defective side of the argument)