CCJ issued after being misled by private parking firm - VCS

Rmc2018

Hi @Coupon-mad if I am right is it the post from @Blackmagic? If so he retracted both his admission and has ended up not making the payment after following the sites info, I will work my way through again in the morning and hopefully be able to put something constructive and less like a 5 year olds explanation together to send to VCS which will hopefully push them to consent 🤞🏽

Coupon-mad

No that's the wrong user, that person hasn't made any threads.

Rmc2018

@Coupon-mad Sorry it removed the underscore @Blackmagic_

Coupon-mad

Ah, yes that's him/her.  Your situation is similar in requesting a consent to set aside but don't blame yourself - they misled you.  It concerns me that your draft email blames yourself for 'misinterpreting' the words they KNEW an average consumer would take to mean would remove the CCJ. 

They are a truly nasty little ex-clamper firm with no sign of having any conscience or concept of caring about consumers, despite paying lip service to it.

I'd be giving them seven days and if they will not agree to consent to set aside (and you will pay that £100 court fee but you expect them to assist and draw up a consent form) then you will have no option but to pursue a set aside without consent and will alert the court to how VCS misled you, and will ask for a set aside under CPR 13.3 for the 'good reasons' that the Claimant has acted wholly unreasonably and misled a litigant in person and you have good prospects of defending the claim once the CCJ is set aside, and wish the court to order that the £185 extracted from you under false pretences is refunded along with the £255 fee.

Now, that might not al happen but potentially, it could and it's what you should be pushing for if VCS refuse to assist with the consent to your set aside.

Rmc2018

@Coupon-mad

BTW your draft email is too weak, why are you saying the vague 'it was misinterpreted' and 'I presumed that'...?  Why are you accepting blame - he misled you, didn't he?    That is what happened.  It's not about you presuming something wrongly, he knew what he was doing

I have worded it like this as I am finding that VCS are manipulating the conversation and are being extremely defensive. When I requested the copy of the call it came with the covering email - 

As per your telephone call yesterday please find attached a copy of the telephone call from the 10th November 2020 with Mark. As advised on the telephone call yesterday Mark did not advise you that the payment of £185.00 that was to be paid by the end of November would remove the County Court Judgment.

However it was my interpretation of the conversation and his agreement to reduce the fine and in his words on the call “ “bring the matter to a close” and in the letter the payment of £185 being the “full and final settlement of the claim” that this included the CCJ he had mentioned earlier in the call being set aside?

I just want this over with as quick as possible so that I can start enjoying my days again 

Rmc2018

Coupon-mad said:

Ah, yes that's him/her.  Your situation is similar in requesting a consent to set aside but don't blame yourself - they misled you.  It concerns me that your draft email blames yourself for 'misinterpreting' the words they KNEW an average consumer would take to mean would remove the CCJ. 

They are a truly nasty little ex-clamper firm with no sign of having any conscience or concept of caring about consumers, despite paying lip service to it.

I'd be giving them seven days and if they will not agree to consent to set aside (and you will pay that £100 court fee but you expect them to assist and draw up a consent form) then you will have no option but to pursue a set aside without consent and will alert the court to how VCS misled you, and will ask for a set aside under CPR 13.3 for the 'good reasons' that the Claimant has acted wholly unreasonably and misled a litigant in person and you have good prospects of defending the claim once the CCJ is set aside, and wish the court to order that the £185 extracted from you under false pretences is refunded along with the £255 fee.

Now, that might not al happen but potentially, it could and it's what you should be pushing for if VCS refuse to assist with the consent to your set aside.

Thank you thank you thank you @Coupon-mad i will re-write in the morning, do I advise them in my email of the alternative if they do not consent?  

Coupon-mad

None of that changes what I am saying. You didn't misinterpret what he meant.  He misled you.  If you don't want to say anything that antagonistic, make the email more factual but you have thrown away your leverage that you had (the money), so you need a different reason for them to be persuaded to agree to set aside.    You have no ''what's in it for them'' handle in your email.

My version focusses their minds on ''what's in it for them'' - i.e. to avoid you asking the court for £185 and £255 back and a finding of unreasonable conduct...and then you defending the claim as well, leaving them potentially with no paid PCN and out of pocket by 3 figures in court fees if the court agree with you. 

Surely they will prefer that you pay the lower £100 court fee, agree not to pursue that cost and ask them simply to assist with a consent form, given they have their own in-house legal team.  This is why I say they knew exactly what they were doing to you.  Jeez this nasty little ex-clamper firm has caused you to lose your dream job.  Get angry.

Rmc2018

@Coupon-mad so advise them of my alternative approach?
At the minute I just feel sad but will try to get angry when I write the email tomorrow  😔

Coupon-mad

Yes, unless you can think of another thing that gives them a reason to assist.  Why else would this horrible firm consent, given they have your money?

Le_Kirk

You need to lock away the sadness but control the anger, more of a steely determination.  It is a business issue, the parking company are there to make money out of you.  Your e-mail needs to be a mixture of the first one and the amended one you wrote plus use some of @Coupon-mad's words.  As she states, you have to give them good reason to give consent.  If/when you get it, you need to write your witness statement (WS), which you've pretty much done in previous posts and then write a draft order in Word so the judge can just edit it, fill in the dates and issue it.  Here is a link: -
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77131023#Comment_77131023
to a good example of a set-aside application and you need to edit the six-point draft order to remove points 2 to 6 and add before point 1. something along the lines of: -

UPON the Claimant and the Defendant having agreed that the Defendant having already discharged his/her liability in full and final settlement arising out of this action.

You can use the linked example to show you they style and format of your WS but obviously the circumstances of the example are totally different to your circumstances.