CCJ issued for PCN's in Secure Residential Parking

Jenni_D

13th September 2016 ... and Mrs. May is long-gone from being PM, and I'm not sure this is high on BoJo's priority list.

Still worth complaining to your MP though.  

Coupon-mad

JoeBloggs321 said:

Just spoken to the court, the hearing in April 2022 is to judge on the set aside, not a retrial on the CCJ.

Was told it was due to the pandemic they had to put a lot of cases on hold, so working through the backlog etc!

Yes, but in error, they haven't made this a priority hearing and they should have done,  We knew it was never going to be a re-trial of the case, it's to hear your application and IT SHOULD BE AN URGENT DATE.

It looks like this is an error.  Not a single person here is waiting till April for a set aside!

Ring them again and explain what you mean and what we've said about a SET ASIDE APPLICATION must be expedited, not in the queue along with other PCN claim hearings. 

I am not sure that you quite phrased your question right nor reminded the clerk that these applications are supposed to be urgent hearings to reduce CCJ damage.  If you get fobbed off again ask to speak to the court manager as urgent hearings for applications like this cannot possibly be in the 'ordinary slow lane' queue and be listed for OVER SIX MONTHS' TIME!

JoeBloggs321

Well, here we are, 6 months later...

Just had the hearing via telephone, the judge allowed the set aside, and now have 14 days to submit the defence.

I assume it will all be under the same reference, do I need to complete a different form to accompany it?

Coupon-mad

Well done!  Same claim number.

See the template defence thread (Announcement: top of the forum) for what to base your defence on.

Show us your draft points 2 & 3.

DO NOT try to follow the 12 steps there though.  That is not relevant because you are already dealing directly with the local court only.

JoeBloggs321

Not sure if I need to change point 2, or just leave it?

Any advise is appreciated.

The facts as known to the Defendant:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question but liability is denied. 

3. On moving into a new social housing property, owned by ####### < housing association (HA), on the ##th of January 2019, HA  housing manager, ######, advised me that all residents wishing to use the secured car park at the property would need to be issued with a parking permit.

I was told that to receive the parking permit I first had to send my vehicles V5C registration documents to the DVLA, so that they could update my address on those documents, I was then to hand this back to the housing manager, for her to issue a parking permit for my vehicle.

I was then asked to provide my vehicles registration number to the housing manager, who told me that whilst waiting for the V5C to be updated and the permit issued, my vehicle would be put on a ‘protected vehicle list’, so that I would not receive any penalties, whilst awaiting the permit.

Between the ##h of January 2019 and ##th of February I did not receive any Parking Charge Notice’s (PCN), then from the ##th of February 2019 until my permit was issued on ##th of March 2019, I received 9 PCN’s.

I firstly made contact with #### Parking Firm (PF), to explain that I lived at the building, was just awaiting my updated V5C to get the permit, was told I was on the protected vehicle list, so should be exempt from any fines. They were unmovable on the issue, as they said I had no permit showing on my vehicle, so had been correctly ticketed, so must pay the fines.

Then I heard from their solicitors Gladstones. I again tried to explain the situation to Gladstones, who explained they were basically just acting for their client, to retrieve the fines owed, so should I have an issue with the fines, to go back to PF and raise it with them.

I will admit that in frustration at the situation I did make an offer to pay in instalments of about £5 a month, which they also disagreed with.

It was around this time that the world was plunged into the pandemic, and services were severely disrupted. My postal service was very poor, and I did not receive any notices of the court hearing or judgement on this issue, and was unable to provide my defence.

After a ‘Set-aside’ hearing, it was allowed for me to put my defence to this case, which I now submit.

Particular points to consider in this case:

HA have advised that once a vehicle has been placed on the ‘protected vehicle’ list, there is no time limit to that ending, as they are aware the DVLA may take a long time.

HA have said they do not hold records of any vehicles they add to the protected vehicle list.

There is no mention of the parking requirements on my tenancy agreement, with HA choosing to advise the setup of the permit rules verbally on the day of moving in, with nothing put in writing as receipt.

PF did not answer 2 separate subject access requests sent to them, so I cannot see if they held my vehicle details on any protected list.

Le_Kirk

If that is a defence it should be written in the third person; no "I" etc but "the defendant".  If it is a witness statement then fine as it actually reads more like a WS than a defence.  Too long, stick to short punchy legal/technical arguments and then you can fill in the detail and provide evidence in the WS.
I came back to edit and add about keeper and driver but I see @Fruitcake beat me to it!

Fruitcake

For an own space case we normally advise the words, "keeper and driver ..." to be used.
Unless the keeper wasn't driving and the NTK was not PoFA compliant, it is better to admit to being the deriver.

Coupon-mad

Remove this (below - certainly NO talking about offers made along the way):

I will admit that in frustration at the situation I did make an offer to pay in instalments of about £5 a month, which they also disagreed with.

The rest makes up a great summary of the facts and that you understand you were on the white list all along and were certainly entitled to rely on that promise from the HA, who is the Claimant's client, after all, and they should communicate better.

JoeBloggs321

Thanks for the tips, I have taken it onboard.

I've added 'and driver' to section 2, taken out the 'frustrated offer to pay' bit and tried to reduce down section 3 a bit.

The facts as known to the Defendant:

2. It is admitted that the Defendant was the registered keeper and driver of the vehicle in question but liability is denied. 

3. On moving into a new social housing property, owned by ####### < housing association (HA), on the ##th of January 2019, HA  housing manager, ######, advised the defendant that all residents wishing to use the secured car park at the property would need to be issued with a parking permit.

The defendant was told that to receive the parking permit they had to send the vehicles V5C registration documents to the DVLA, so that they could update the address on those documents, which were then to be handed back to the housing manager, for her to issue a parking permit for the vehicle.

The defendant was then asked to provide the vehicles registration number to the housing manager, who advised that whilst waiting for the V5C update the vehicle would be placed on a ‘protected vehicle list’.

Between the ##h of January 2019 and ##th of February the defendant received no any Parking Charge Notice’s (PCN), then from the ##th of February 2019 until the permit was issued, on ##th of March 2019, the defendant received 9 PCN’s.

Contact was made with the claimant to explain the defendants residency and awaiting the updated V5C for the permit, mentioning the vehicle was on a 'protected vehicle list'. The claimant was intractable, stating as no permit was visible on the vehicle it had been correctly ticketed.

The clamaints solicitors Gladstones then contacted the defendant who again tried to explain the situation. Gladstones related they were acting for their client to retrieve fines owed, any issue with the fines had to be addressed to the claimant.

Then the pandemic happened and postal services were effected. The defendant did not receive any notices of the court hearing or judgement on this issue, and was unable to provide a defence.

A ‘Set-aside’ hearing was held on 25th of April 2022, and the defendant allowed to submit evidence.

Particular points to consider in this case       <<<<< Need to work on this a bit

HA have advised that once a vehicle has been placed on the ‘protected vehicle’ list, there is no time limit to that ending, as they are aware the DVLA may take a long time.

HA have said they do not hold records of any vehicles they add to the protected vehicle list.

There is no mention of the parking requirements on my tenancy agreement, with HA choosing to advise the setup of the permit rules verbally on the day of moving in, with nothing put in writing as receipt.

PF did not answer 2 separate subject access requests sent to them, so I cannot see if they held my vehicle details on any protected list.

So, if that is better, I just slip this into the excellent 26 point template, reattach the evidence letters, and send it off to the court!

KeithP

JoeBloggs321 said:
HA have said they do not hold records of any vehicles they add to the protected vehicle list.

Well someone holds those records, as otherwise, almost by definition, the protected vehicle list doesn't exist.