CST letters' forum group thread

patient_dream

What happens now that CST-Law have ceased trading - I didn't know that to be honest!

Have I missed something ?

omgsarge

Coupon-mad said:

Surely your case is allocated to your local court by now and you MUST ring the local County court urgently to ask for a copy of any Directions, that I assume were sent to a false address.

You may have to start with the CCBC again to ask which local court the case was allocated to, if you didn't fill in your own N180 Directions Questionnaire and chose your own nearest court.

You need to get on top of this quickly, because if the claim was more than a few weeks ago (which if must have been because that company stopped trading months ago) then this has been with your local court for weeks, and they will expect a witness statement from you.  They will have been sending court orders and directions to the wrong address.

@Coupon-mad thank you very much, I just managed to get hold of the CCBC over the telephone, and apparently this case has been stayed because the CST-Law solicitors never responded to information, apparently if they wished to continue the case they would have to pay a fee to re-open it and I would get sent a questionaiire/directions to my new address!

Not entirely sure why I was never told of this before, but if they have ceased trading then the likely hood is they are unlikely to respond and continue?

Thank you!

Umkomaas

If I can somehow find out from CCBC which local court it was allocated to (I have a feeling it would be one near where PEter Fisher of Parking Fines UK was operating from....) is the next step to ask them for copy of all directions as mentioned?

Were PF UK offering to appear in court alongside you?  I rather doubt that, so I wouldn't think that any selected court would be the one nearest them. 

In the absence of contact with the CCBC, I'd try calling the county court (or courts) nearest you and see if they are aware of your case.

Le_Kirk

omgsarge said:

Coupon-mad said:

Surely your case is allocated to your local court by now and you MUST ring the local County court urgently to ask for a copy of any Directions, that I assume were sent to a false address.

You may have to start with the CCBC again to ask which local court the case was allocated to, if you didn't fill in your own N180 Directions Questionnaire and chose your own nearest court.

You need to get on top of this quickly, because if the claim was more than a few weeks ago (which if must have been because that company stopped trading months ago) then this has been with your local court for weeks, and they will expect a witness statement from you.  They will have been sending court orders and directions to the wrong address.

Not entirely sure why I was never told of this before, but if they have ceased trading then the likely hood is they are unlikely to respond and continue?

When did this happen?

D_P_Dance

It has been like trying to get blood drawn from a stone contacting the northampton court business centre, 

Have you tried writing a letter and copied it to your MP?

1505grandad

Was C-m perhaps referring to ParkingFinesUK?

Coupon-mad

of course I was!

omgsarge

Umkomaas said:

If I can somehow find out from CCBC which local court it was allocated to (I have a feeling it would be one near where PEter Fisher of Parking Fines UK was operating from....) is the next step to ask them for copy of all directions as mentioned?

Were PF UK offering to appear in court alongside you?  I rather doubt that, so I wouldn't think that any selected court would be the one nearest them. 

In the absence of contact with the CCBC, I'd try calling the county court (or courts) nearest you and see if they are aware of your case.

I have managed to get hold of CCBC on the telephone today (they didn't hang up for once!) - they have notified me that the case has been stayed due to their solicitors not responding to information (didn't divulge), and that to re-open it would cost them a fee / something along the lines of starting again? They said it wasn't allocated to a local court but if they wanted to proceed again I would get a letter?

Yes sorry perhaps @Coupon-mad was referring to Parking Fines UK and not CST!

patient_dream

omgsarge said:

Umkomaas said:

If I can somehow find out from CCBC which local court it was allocated to (I have a feeling it would be one near where PEter Fisher of Parking Fines UK was operating from....) is the next step to ask them for copy of all directions as mentioned?

Were PF UK offering to appear in court alongside you?  I rather doubt that, so I wouldn't think that any selected court would be the one nearest them. 

In the absence of contact with the CCBC, I'd try calling the county court (or courts) nearest you and see if they are aware of your case.

I have managed to get hold of CCBC on the telephone today (they didn't hang up for once!) - they have notified me that the case has been stayed due to their solicitors not responding to information (didn't divulge), and that to re-open it would cost them a fee / something along the lines of starting again? They said it wasn't allocated to a local court but if they wanted to proceed again I would get a letter?

Yes sorry perhaps @Coupon-mad was referring to Parking Fines UK and not CST!

Only a foolish legal would coninue as their costs up going up and there is no guarantee they would win especially as they ignored court instructions.

If CST are stupid enough, come back here

northseajoe1

Rather disappointing reply and frustrating if unsurprising outcome from SRA (minor edits for confidentiality/context ):
------------

Dear ****

 

I write further to my email below [**edited] and to advise that our investigation of this matter has now reached a conclusion.

Our Forensic Investigation Unit have now completed their on-site inspection at the firm Credit Style Limited (“CSL”) and discussed the issues in your report with their Compliance Officer [***edited]. After careful consideration, we have decided not to take any further action. This is because we investigated the issues with CSL and our findings are as follows.

In respect of:

• the validity of pursuing the Scottish parking fee debts through the English Courts, Ms [***edited] clarified that the courts in England give judgement on the debt but to enforce this judgement they have to go through the Scottish system.   

• CSL’s independence being compromised in allowing DRPL to issue letters before claim using CSL's letterhead, we have obtained information to show that Debt Recovery Plus Limited (“DRPL”) is a company in the same Group as CSL and they use the same mailing agent. CSL have however confirmed that DRPL do not mail out letters on their behalf.  

• CSL recovering excessive costs (for example £15 for recovery of the debt), CSL have provided us with a letter from the British Parking Association informing CSL in January 2021 that this fee should not be charged. We have seen evidence of fees that had been billed after that date being written off by CSL and evidence that they are no longer charging for this. In light of this, and if applicable in your circumstances, you may wish to request that this cost is written off or request a refund.

• our concerns about the system CSL are using not being compliant with Rule 8A, we have seen correspondence from CSL and their accountants refuting this, as they say they can extract the information in any form they wish. Although the format of the accounts is not in the normal format we would expect, the information is available.   

On a separate issue, we did not identify any concerns with accounts of CSL.  

We realise that you are frustrated at the situation with the firm [***edited]. Overall, we are concerned whether a solicitor is fit to practise and if we need to step in to improve standards. In this case, we are satisfied, having looked at all of these factors, that we do not need to take further action. 

Although we are not taking further action at this time, your information is very important to us. It can be used, with reports from other sources, to identify trends and patterns of behaviour. This may result in follow-up action in the future, so please be assured it has been kept on record. [***edited]

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your information.

Our file is now closed. 

Kind regards

 ****