CCJ

KLP22

I was a paying guest at the Hyatt Place West London Hotel (Hayes, UB4 0JN)  in 2019. My partner and I both parked our own cars. We asked a member of the reception team about parking charges and we were informed that there was no charge for guests. 

 

Both my partner and I received letters informing us of a parking charge for £60 for contravening parking regulations. 

 

Upon receiving this letter, I immediately contacted the hotel via email. I received a reply from the manager who assured me this parking ticket was issued in error, and informed me that he would be liaising with Parkingeye to make sure the ticket was cancelled.  

 

I also appealed the fine with Parkingeye directly, providing proof that both my partner and I were guests at the hotel. 

 

Parkingeye contacted me on the 28th of May 2019 saying that my appeal was rejected, however my partner, who was in exactly the same circumstance, received a letter saying his appeal was successful and his fine was recinded.  

 

At this point I wrote back to the hotel explaining the discrepancy.  The hotel management team, replied and reassured me that the fine was cancelled. I did not hear anything further, and assumed that the matter was settled. 

A few months later, despite no communication in the interim, I received a County Court Judgement letter for the unpaid fine- which had increased to £197. I spoke with the hotel management team again- who contact Parkingeye on my behalf. I received a reply from the hotel management team assuring me that the this was an error. They even forwarded correspondence from Parkingeye stating that the fine had been cancelled. I was advised not to worry, and explicitly told to ignore any further correspondence. In face, I did not receive any further correspondence and therefore assumed that the matter had been resolved. Of note, I did not refuse to pay the fine at any point, I simply appealed it. Furthermore, I did not receive any documentation or notification that a CCJ had in fact taken place nor the outcome. Had I received this, I would have promptly paid, even though I don’t admit liability, in order to avoid the situation I am in now. 

 

In January this year 2021, I applied for a mortgage. To my surprise, my credit score precluded successful application. I was surprised given that I have no debts and only one credit card which I pay in full at the end of each month. I therefore paid for a full report which . stated that there was an outstanding County Court Judgment from Parkingeye in my name. 

 

I then wrote to Parkingeye questioning the above, with evidence of the email trail with the hotel management team. They continued to say the £197 remains outstanding. 

 

I am at a loss and I am unsure what to do. 

This is hindering my ability to get a mortgage.

 

This judgement should be set aside, as I feel I was provided with false assurance from the hotel that the matter in hand was resolved. Furthermore I received no documentation after the judgement had been awarded. This meant I did not have a chance to consider payment which, as I understand, would have removed the CCJ from my record.

This is a great cause of stress and anxiety during what is already an extremely stressful time for us all. Any advise?

nosferatu1001

January - precisely whenin january
Yes you did get told that there was a CCJ - you told usyou did! They will have filed a MCOL claim, the CCBC sends you the Claim FOrm, and if you do not file a defence within the time allotted, the claimant (Parking Eye) can claim a default judgement
WHich they clearly did - hence "I received a County Court Judgement letter for the unpaid fine- which had increased to £197."
Meaning you have known you had a CCJ since 2019! Give us the date on the letter
So
To escape your error here - you should have applied for set aside when you knew, which was in 2019 - we need to see exactly what assurance you got from PE that the Invoice had been cancelled. 
ALso, from which date this was, because if it was before the claim would have been filed, then they have a lot of explaining to do
But really, you knew you had a CCJ approx 2 years ago, and you did not get it set aside. You need to work yourself back frmo the position that mistake has put you in, because you only get one shot at a Set Aside and one of the two possible grounds requires that you act promptly. On the face of it you have not done so, so you will need to explain precisely why you took no action until now.

KLP22

Thanks for your reply.
I did receive the CCJ- I didn't act as I spoke via email to the hotel management team who reassured me that parking eye had cancelled the fine, and that this must be some kind of cross over. The hotel also told me to ignore all other correspondence.
In hindsight I would've followed the protocol instead of talking to the hotel group about it.  

nosferatu1001

You have no answered the questions. Do so.
We need facts. 
Did you have any of your communication with the hotel in writing? As said, we need to see documentsand get dates. 

KLP22

Original fine date:24/05/2019
CCJ date: 08/11/2019
Mortgage application: 22/01/2021

I have attached a pic of the email correspondence with the hotel.

nosferatu1001

OK so  you can work out, because you know dates
- the CCJ is dated 08.11/2019. You can guess - but you RING THE CCBC NOW to get all the details you can, including the address the form went to, the filing date etc of the claim - that about 25 days before this the claim was file, meaning start of october at the earliest for them to file the claim
- why in September did you contact the Hotel? What did you receive that could have "crossed"?
- Was this a Notice of Judgment in Default or a N1 Claim Form? Or did you in fact get both, and that is why you contacted the hotel in september?
- you still didnt show us the PE response! The hotel helps, but they were not the claimant. It is key to know what PE said.

KLP22

I contacted the hotel on the back of receiving the CCJ. I got both things from the courts. 
I have asked the hotel to forward me copies of their correspondence with PE. 

nosferatu1001

No, you clearly didnt.
You told us the CCJ was from 08.11.2019 yet you contacted the hotel on or around 26.09.2019
So what did you get that made you think you needed to contact the court? I am going to take a wild stab in the dark and say it was the n1 claim form
Whic his NOT a CCJ!
"J" means JUDGMENT, which is after they file the claim.
Please, use teh proper name for the actual forms. You may have a CCJ recorded agasinst you on your credit file, but no paper you have will have that as a heading. 

nosferatu1001

OK so now look at this from teh courts side
1) You were correctly served a claim form, and did nothing about it
2) You got a notice of judgment in default, and did nothing about it
To get a set aside you have to satisfy 1 of 2 reasons
CPR13.2 and CPR13.3 
CPR13.2 you havent a hope in hell, as you acknowledge it was correctly served
CPR13.3 is "any other good reason", and being told it was cancelled, do nothing about it frmo a hotel - not a bad reason at all but it could be better - and better is do nothing about it from PE, who raised the claim. 
The problem you have is that CPR13.3 requires you to act promptly. By any stretch unless you explain this well, a court will state you have not. 

KLP22

I attach the letter 

KLP22

See below::