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

IrishAK

Fraid she decided to stick around lol   although after all this stress might send her packing      she has UK residency since 2016

IrishAK

UPDATE:

Still no contact from the courts with paperwork – couldn’t take not knowing any longer so I called BW Legal - I have 3 tickets 

28.06.19 

 2 have been put together. (19.06.2019 -25.06.19 )

Britania parking final notice: July 29th 2019

BW legal – first letter sent September 2019

The CCJ is only in relation to the 28th of the 6th 2019.

They have confirmed that the paperwork for the court was sent out on Nov 2020.

He said they did not check with the DVLA before sending out the court paperwork (to be fair, even if they had my details were not correct until December).  I let them know how upset I was and shocked that themselves and the court could issue me documents without confirming it was the correct address – he again stated as far as they were concerned it was.

I asked if they would be willing to consent to set the CCJ aside he said they wouldn’t as they followed the correct process.

At beginning he tried to take payment over the phone I said I was not willing to do that as I was not even driving the car and was unaware of the court proceedings and did want this on my credit file for 6 yrs.

I informed them about my partner calling up and taking responsibility and attempting to pay he advised that there was no information from Britannia about this happening. ( he checked the other case where the two tickets 19/06 and 25/06 have been grouped together and confirmed no notes or correspondence on there, but it does say no legal action?) 

By the end of the call, he did contact the litigation department to see if there was anything that could be done, he advised he would send out all the correspondences to me and that I could appeal but not on the change of address issue.

Tried to contact Britannia parking to see if they had the call on file – only doing things by email due to covid.

I really want to fight this but after speaking to my partner, she doesn’t recall the dates in 2019 and were unsure of how to fight it – she used the parking lot for work as it was beside flats she was selling but thought that you could pull into the parking lot without getting a ticket if you didn’t leave your car. She can't remember what were the  exact circumstances  of each date , as she bought tickets and parked there for a couple of months, and mainly paid cash, shes going to look through bank statements, and phone record to see if we can at least prove she called Britania to try and pay. 

How do you recommend we proceed? Mindful that we only have 8 days to appeal to the courts about the CCJ.

 

Redx

Note , they are not allowed to check with the DVLA , it's banned under their Kadoe contract , Britannia can do it once only per pcn , within 6 months , so not b w kegal either

They should have used a tracing service

Coupon-mad

 couldn’t take not knowing any longer so I called BW Legal

Oh dear. completely the wrong thing to do.

At beginning he tried to take payment over the phone 

Of course he did.  That's what they are programmed to do.  Glorified debt collectors.

He said they did not check with the DVLA before sending out the court paperwork 

Of course not, we could have told you this.  PPCs are not allowed to get DVLA data twice. 

However, they are required under the court process and rules, to take EVERY STEP to trace a Defendant before issuing a claim.  Not hearing anything from you, after your previous engagement with Britannia, is good reason for them to believe that the old DVLA-harvested address was no longer good for service.  So they should have made efforts to trace your new address.  It costs them from 28p per unit, using the Experian trace thingy, and there is no excuse not to trace a Defendant first.

By the end of the call, he did contact the litigation department to see if there was anything that could be done,

No, he didn't.  These firms say that to make it sound like they are helping. ''I'll see if there is anything that can be done'' (LOL!).

 he advised

No, wrong word, you got no advice.  You were talking to a person who is there purely to take money off you.

he would send out all the correspondences to me and that I could appeal but not on the change of address issue.

You can't appeal.  You must now apply to set the CCJ aside.   DO NOT WAIT.

See the NEWBIES thread and stop talking to BW Legal on the phone.  If you didn't remember to hide your number (which you should have done) they will ring and text you now.  I've seen a case where they bombarded a person with phone calls and texts every week for months.

IrishAK

Thank you!!
Ok so I am just requesting set aside on just  CPR13.2  (service to the wrong address)
and not CPR13.3 as well?  I don't really have a defence if she can't remember all the details and we have no proof, or is the fact I wasn't driving the vehicle enough? 

is it likely to get set aside on just 13.2?

Also, concerned as there are two other tickets together for £300 but why would that have no legal action? 

Coupon-mad

Both, like all the other cases.  CPR 13.2 then 13.3 as a safety net.  

 I don't really have a defence if she can't remember all the details

But the SAR will supply that in time and you don't have to supply a defence with the N244, just a Witness statement and Draft Order about the wrong address issue.  NOT a defence to the PCN (yet).  When you get the SAR you will know more and can add in a defence before the set aside hearing, to show that you have good prospects of defending the claim as long as the wrongly=serve CCJ is set aside to allow you justice.

is it likely to get set aside on just 13.2?

Yes, but 13.3 is the 'Plan B' position to catch you in that safety net, if the Judge thinks it's not mandatory but can then use their discretion anyway.

concerned as there are two other tickets together for £300 but why would that have no legal action? 

I'd be very concerned if you have not told them the new address, relating to those two PCNs.  Do that now (email to the parking firm's DPO telling them about the correct address and referring only to those 2 PCN refs) so you can be sure to see all letters and then when you win this one, you can use that against the others (cause of action estoppel).

henrik777

IrishAK said:

UPDATE:

Still no contact from the courts with paperwork – couldn’t take not knowing any longer so I called BW Legal - I have 3 tickets 

28.06.19 

 2 have been put together. (19.06.2019 -25.06.19 )

Britania parking final notice: July 29th 2019

BW legal – first letter sent September 2019

The CCJ is only in relation to the 28th of the 6th 2019.

They have confirmed that the paperwork for the court was sent out on Nov 2020.

He said they did not check with the DVLA before sending out the court paperwork (to be fair, even if they had my details were not correct until December).  I let them know how upset I was and shocked that themselves and the court could issue me documents without confirming it was the correct address – he again stated as far as they were concerned it was.

I asked if they would be willing to consent to set the CCJ aside he said they wouldn’t as they followed the correct process.

At beginning he tried to take payment over the phone I said I was not willing to do that as I was not even driving the car and was unaware of the court proceedings and did want this on my credit file for 6 yrs.

I informed them about my partner calling up and taking responsibility and attempting to pay he advised that there was no information from Britannia about this happening. ( he checked the other case where the two tickets 19/06 and 25/06 have been grouped together and confirmed no notes or correspondence on there, but it does say no legal action?) 

By the end of the call, he did contact the litigation department to see if there was anything that could be done, he advised he would send out all the correspondences to me and that I could appeal but not on the change of address issue.

Tried to contact Britannia parking to see if they had the call on file – only doing things by email due to covid.

I really want to fight this but after speaking to my partner, she doesn’t recall the dates in 2019 and were unsure of how to fight it – she used the parking lot for work as it was beside flats she was selling but thought that you could pull into the parking lot without getting a ticket if you didn’t leave your car. She can't remember what were the  exact circumstances  of each date , as she bought tickets and parked there for a couple of months, and mainly paid cash, shes going to look through bank statements, and phone record to see if we can at least prove she called Britania to try and pay. 

How do you recommend we proceed? Mindful that we only have 8 days to appeal to the courts about the CCJ.

 

https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/AOS_Code_of_Practice_January_2020_v8(2).pdf

 24.1c Before serving a Letter Before Claim and prior to the issue of proceedings, Operators must, if no responses have been received to the NTD/NTK/reminder letters, take reasonable endeavours to ensure that the contact details for the person you are writing to are correct

(I don't see anything like that in IPC code)


I would say that to say they must trace you in accordance with CPR is wrong. If they have "reason to believe ...." then there are steps they must take. It is clear that the BPA would appear to think they have "reason to believe..." if they don't get any replies.

Castle

henrik777 said:

https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/AOS_Code_of_Practice_January_2020_v8(2).pdf

 24.1c Before serving a Letter Before Claim and prior to the issue of proceedings, Operators must, if no responses have been received to the NTD/NTK/reminder letters, take reasonable endeavours to ensure that the contact details for the person you are writing to are correct

(I don't see anything like that in IPC code)


I would say that to say they must trace you in accordance with CPR is wrong. If they have "reason to believe ...." then there are steps they must take. It is clear that the BPA would appear to think they have "reason to believe..." if they don't get any replies.

It's under section 22 of their latest Code;-
22.1 Operators must take reasonable steps to ensure that the Motorist’s details are still correct if 12 months have passed from the Parking Event before issuing court proceedings.

Coupon-mad

The BPA's version is much better.  Why the arbitrary 12 months in the IPC version, one wonders?  Useless for many consumers and misses the point that DVLA data is unreliable because the DVLA fail to update addresses on V5Cs when people change their addresses on driving licences. 

This is more the fault of the DVLA, IMHO, than consumers who reasonably rely upon a Government agency changing all databases or informing them clearly if there is a further step they must take if they own/keep a vehicle.  They could alert people to that when they return driving licences with the address change.

IrishAK

I, XXXX am the defendant against whom this claim is made. This is my supporting statement to my application dated XX May 2021 requesting to:

a. Set aside the default judgment dated XX March 2021 as it was defectively served using an old address for which the defendant hasn’t lived at said address since July XX 2020.

b. Order for the original claim to be dismissed.

c. Order for the claimant to pay the defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee.

DEFAULT JUDGMENT

1.1. It is admitted that I, the Defendant was the registered keeper of the vehicle in question (XXXXXXX) but liability is denied.

1.2. I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgement against me as the Defendant on XX March 2021. I am aware that the Claimant is Britannia Parking Group Limited T/a Britannia Parking, and that the assumed claim is in respect of unpaid Parking Charge Notice from theXXof June 2019 at my then residence XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. I contest this charge for the reasons below.

1.3. The claim form was not served at my current address and I thus was not aware of the Default Judgement until XXX April 2021 by my Mortgage Broker, following a Mortgage in Principle application being declined. Exhibit XX.

1.3.1. The address on the claim is XXXX. I moved to my current address at XXXXX the XX July 2020. In support of this I can provide a scanned copy of my Tenancy agreement, and bank & credit card statements; See Exhibit XX. After the only correspondence from myself to Britannia sent in July XXX, 2019 approx., given 2 days for posting this still leaves approx. 19 months and 15 days to find my correct address.

1.4. In addition to the above, it should be highlighted that the integrity and law-abiding intention of the Defendant should be taken into consideration on the basis that;

1.4.1 I discovered a CCJ was lodged onto my credit file on the XX April 2021.

1.4.2 On XX April 2021  I contacted the County Court Business Centre to obtain relevant information relating to this default judgement; Email received by the County Court on Friday XX May 2021; Exhibit XX

1.4.3 On XX May 2021 I have wilfully submitted my case in order to set-aside this judgement and fairly present my case.

1.5. I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s correct contact details at the time of the claim.

1.6. On that basis, I believe the Claimant has not adhered to CPR 6.9 (3) where they had failed to show due diligence in using an address that the Defendant no longer resides. The claimant did not take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of my current residence despite having 20 months and 2 days since the PCN was issued to establish an address. This has led to the claim being incorrectly served to an old address and an irregular judgement.

1.7. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. The industry’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results is an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country.

1.7.1 Furthermore, Prime Minister May publicly pledged to investigate ‘abuse’ of the CCJ System and so called ‘Credit Clamping’ as reported in the Daily Mail article dated 12 September 2016. The Right Honourable Sir Oliver Heald on 23 December 2016 "announced a crackdown on unresolved debts which can damage people’s credit ratings without them knowing. The action comes after concerns were raised that companies were issuing claims to consumers using incorrect addresses."

1.7.2 The Minister added "It cannot be right that people who are unaware of debts can see their lives and finances ruined by county court judgments. That in the digital age, we must ensure companies pursuing unpaid debts make every reasonable effort to contact individuals, rather than simply relying on a letter to an old address.” Furtherance to points raised in 1.3 above.

1.8. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim. I believe that the Default Judgement against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside and I ask the Court to kindly consider the reimbursement of the fee of £255 from the claimant should this request be successful.

 

2.1 The defendant was not the driver and was elsewhere at the time of the alleged offences on June 28th, 2019. Therefore, there was no contract created between the claimant and the defendant. With no contract, there can be no breach. The particulars of the claim state that the keeper is liable for the alleged debt. The defendant, as the keeper, cannot be held liable and therefore the claimant is claiming against the wrong party and the claim should be dismissed.

2.2 This was confirmed by the driver when they called Britiannia Parking shortly after the PCN was issued in 2019.

2.3 The driver also confirmed liability when they gave their payment details to Britannia to pay for the PCN over the phone in June 2019.

2.4 Due to the driver not being the registered keeper of the vehicle (XXXXXXX) the payment was declined June 2019.

2.5 I, the defendant, transferred liability to the driver of my vehicle after receiving the PCN via notice on the bottom of the PCN on July XXXX 2019 approx.

If the court is not satisfied that my case meets the criteria relating to a mandatory set aside due to defective service (13.2),

 I also meet the criteria for the CCJ to be set aside on the grounds of 13.3:

(1) In any other case, the court may set aside or vary a judgment entered under Part 12 if – 
(a) the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim; or
(b) it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why - 
(i) the judgment should be set aside or varied; or
(ii) the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim.

(insert defence not yet written)

 

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true I understand the proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes or causes to be made a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.