CCJ old address for PCN's Partner received-need set aside & removed from credit file ASAP

IrishAK

1. Do you think that From December 1st 2020 to March 1st 2021(when CCJ was issued)  is a reasonable amount of time for BW Legal to find our correct address?
2. Unsure whether to:

Contact BW Legal and ask for their consent to set aside OR submit the N244 claim form to set aside on the basis that I did not get a chance to defend. (Not enough info for my WS to believe I can win the PCN case)

1. Are we better with BW Legal’s consent and get it set aside for £100( I believe?)  & then pay them the £266 fine?

OR

Pay £255 for the N244 form without their consent with the possibility to get this refunded by BW Legal and then still pay the £266 to them to get it set aside?

Although I understand if we had the time we could fight the PCN’s, but our main goal is to get the CCJ set aside ASAP to purchase a house.

Details below:

My partner was issued 3 PCN's all at the same car park (New Street, Southampton). Two in one week and one a few weeks later, we didn't receive letters till about a month after these events sometime in 2019. The exact amount we don’t recall but it was around £100 each for turning around in the carpark.

Without me knowing she called Britannia parking soon after we received the fines and attempted to pay, they informed her that she was not the registered keeper and could not complete the payment.

(I remember reading on the forums about not having to declare who the driver was I think I may have also called them to deny the debt and to inform them that it was not me driving but I honestly can't remember if this took place.)

After a few hours going through the forums, I was convinced that we would be able to defend these charges in court if they did pursue us that far. I did receive numerous letters from Britannia parking and then BW legal but nothing pertaining to court.

We moved July 1st 2020  and changed address with only bank accounts as lived in shared accommodation and had no bills. Once realized we forgot to change the address on DVLA we did so in November 2020. (Electoral role still old address as this new place was supposed to be a few months until we bought a house then COVID slowed everything down.)

Fast forward to now attempting to buy a house offer accepted went to draw down the mortgage. Failed on a credit check this time, looked up credit file and CCJ has been issued £266 on the 1st of March 2021, issued at old address. Called CCBC and paid to get the notes on the CCJ so that will hopefully provide me with the dates the PCN’s were issued so I can start to write a WS.

We have accepted that we've lost this house but want to be able to buy as soon as possible so I need it removed ASAP. In the process of writing an SAR request to both BW legal and Britannia but as others have mentioned that will take a month to get that information and this is necessary as we don’t have any information on the PCN’s to write a compelling WS.

Any advice and information is much appreciated.

KeithP

IrishAK said:

Although I understand if we had the time we could fight the PCN’s, but our main goal is to get the CCJ set aside ASAP to purchase a house.

Forgive me for just lifting that one sentence from your post.

You need to be aware that some courts, maybe most courts, take a dim view of credit cleansing.

Presumably you want to get the Judgment set aside and, then having no intention of defending the claim, would pay whatever the Claimant asks.

Good luck.

henrik777

Contact BW Legal and ask for their consent to set aside OR submit the N244 claim form to set aside on the basis that I did not get a chance to defend.

You should contact them whatever your motives are. Making ANY kind of application in secret is liable to cost you £££ in costs.

As for SAR and waiting, 1. You don't have time. 2. Your main focus is going to be not getting the paperwork ?

Coupon-mad

Presumably you want to get the Judgment set aside and, then having no intention of defending the claim, would pay whatever the Claimant asks.

I really hope not - for turning round in a car park and in a case where the keeper wasn't driving...

Anyhoo, you don't seem to have realised that the date you updated the DVLA makes no difference to anything and doesn't start any kind of clock.  PPCs are not allowed to ask the DVLA a second time. They had your data since 2019, so when planning to file a claim over 18 months later, they had a duty to check your address.

You'd moved out in July 2020, many months before the claim was made (presumably December).  As always, the PPC is at fault and the MoJ know this:

 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/action-to-make-the-process-fairer-on-debt-rulings

 https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/default-county-court-judgments-2/supporting_documents/defaultcountycourtjudgmentsconsultation.pdf

''Almost all the case studies cited on unfair County Court judgments centred on unpaid parking charges incurred in private residential or business car parks. Currently the government promotes a system of self-regulation by private parking companies.''

''The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is reforming parking practices and has already taken steps to tackle rogue private parking operators, including banning wheel clamping and towing. DCLG is fully aware of the concerns related to County Court judgments that follow parking charges and is considering how they can deliver standardised practice across all parking companies, eliminating unfair charges and reducing the instances of claims where the consumer may be unaware of a parking charge being applied. ''

KeithP

Coupon-mad said:

Presumably you want to get the Judgment set aside and, then having no intention of defending the claim, would pay whatever the Claimant asks.

I really hope not - for turning round in a car park and in a case where the keeper wasn't driving...

Yes, I would like to think that too, but...           

IrishAK

henrik777 said:

Contact BW Legal and ask for their consent to set aside OR submit the N244 claim form to set aside on the basis that I did not get a chance to defend.

You should contact them whatever your motives are. Making ANY kind of application in secret is liable to cost you £££ in costs.

As for SAR and waiting, 1. You don't have time. 2. Your main focus is going to be not getting the paperwork ?

Okay great, so I need to contact BW Legal and ask them to set it aside if I agree to pay the original fine of £266. ( can I haggle this? or as the CCJ has been issued no point?)  It does pain me not to fight this as wasn't even me driving!!  

KeithP was hoping something like this might suffice the judge that it is not credit cleansing IF I can get BW Legal to agree to:

1. I did not receive the claim form and had no knowledge of proceedings;
2. The parties agree that no steps were taken to ascertain the defendant's place of residence pursuant to CPR 6.9(3); and
3. Accordingly, the service of the claim form was defective and therefore the default judgment is agreed to be set aside under CPR 13.2 as of right. 

If no consent = N244 + WS (£255)

If consent = N244 + the Consent Order (this is £100?)

Then what would be the next steps to get the CCJ removed? If they agree to set aside and so does the court, then what happens?
What are the chances of this? 

will all the detail I need be in the Court paperwork? as this could be for 1,2 or fingers crossed all 3 tickets


 

KeithP

You may also need to show that you have a reasonable chance of Defending the underlying claim.
By perhaps putting forward a draft Defence.

Coupon-mad

Okay great, so I need to contact BW Legal and ask them to set it aside if I agree to pay the original fine of £266.

That is not great and no-one does that on here.  

Are you honestly going to do that just to try to get this done a few weeks quicker than setting it aside and NOT paying?

IrishAK

KeithP said:

Coupon-mad said:

Presumably you want to get the Judgment set aside and, then having no intention of defending the claim, would pay whatever the Claimant asks.

I really hope not - for turning round in a car park and in a case where the keeper wasn't driving...

Yes, I would like to think that too, but...           

Well  1 was turning around
 2nd was she paid for a ticket and overstayed by 15 mins  (think there was a 10 min grace )
 3rd  was she parked up to use the phone
( she is Canadian and was unaware of these ANPR style car parks, I know ignorance is no defence but just for context. 

IrishAK

Coupon-mad said:

Okay great, so I need to contact BW Legal and ask them to set it aside if I agree to pay the original fine of £266.

That is not great and no-one does that on here.  

Are you honestly going to do that just to try to get this done a few weeks quicker than setting it aside and NOT paying?

Sorry just meant a relief to know what to do and that it is an option.

I guess once I get the paperwork and know what I am fighting I can make a decision. reading your post made so much sense yes they should have checked after 18mnts of no contact, just always blame yourself and I had forgotten to do a change of addresses promptly so feared I would be at fault. 

if it is only going to be a matter of weeks then yes I am up for fighting it, just at the moment have no information to write the defence or WS 

KeithP

Is the driver here permanently in the UK, or has she returned to Canada?

It might make a significant difference to any defence of the underlying claim.