£2000 down after Bailiffs visit - CCJ was to wrong address - anything i can do?

Buzz333

Greetings 
A tale of monumental stupidity on my behalf but do i have any possible comeback :-( 

Newbie post so apologies if this is already answered but having searched can't see the exact answer. Had 5 tickets from mid 2010's which were for overstaying at Motorway services. Stupidly Ignored them and they eventually end up with DCB Legal threatening court action etc.

Stupidly Ignored them as well and then get issued with county court papers in early 2021. At this point I stupidly paid 'Parking Fines Ltd' (Peter somebody) to fight the case. He lodges a defence and has the address of claim moved to his home (?) address which is up North somewhere in Derbyshire

It appears Parking Fines did nothing further so in April 2021 case is heard and is lost with CCJ against me. However the documents show my name but at the other address which i have no link to.

DCB legal then obtain a 'Writ of Control' with my name but again at the wrong address. DCB then send a letter of enforcement to the wrong address in June last Year. They might have gone there with Bailiffs but i don't know.

Then they have used some sort of credit search to get my correct address and have issued another letter of enforcement in January this year but this arrived when i was skiing and they then sent bailiffs round approx. 10 days after the letter turned up. i spoke to the bailiffs on the phone and ended up paying as i was stood at the top of a cable car in Switzerland and just wanted them to leave my wife alone at home.

So i appreciate i have been truly stupid all the way through and wish i had discovered this forum long ago but is there any sort of challenge I can mount with the wrong address etc. or should i just suck it up (and then spend the next 2 years living on baked beans as I'm now officially poor)

A fool and his money springs to mind 

Buzz

Buzz333

Sorry just for a bit more clarity - I didn't receive any court paperwork telling me I'd lost the case. I assume it all went to the address in Derbyshire. I suppose I should have kept a closer eye on what 'Parking fines' were doing but didn't. First I knew was when I get rung by my wife with the bailiffs at the door a couple of weeks ago.

KeithP

Skiing + Switzerland = officially poor         <== does not compute.  

Buzz333

KeithP said:

Skiing + Switzerland = officially poor         <== does not compute.  

Doesn't cost me anything as I go and work as a ski instructor. Only have to pay for food and drink (which is scary expensive in its own right)

Half_way

KeithP said:

Skiing + Switzerland = officially poor         <== does not compute.  

OP's job is a Ski instructor, so i'm guessing once all the expenses associated with that job - cost of equipment,, cost of qualifications etc are taken out then the remainder isnt that great.

There are a few options , one would be going after peter whats his face (?) to recover your losses that were caused by his shoddy administration, the company is no more : https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11791209

 But if there is a GDPR angle then it could be  possible to go for the individual

Another angle could be DCB legal , again with inaccurate data under GDPR

Third option would be to start at the beginning:

 How long are we walking about with the MSA overstay's ? and what motorway service area/operator?

KeithP

Half_way said:

KeithP said:

Skiing + Switzerland = officially poor         <== does not compute.  

OP's job is a Ski instructor...

Yes, I found that out after I had posted. Thanks.  

Buzz333

Half_way said:

KeithP said:

Skiing + Switzerland = officially poor         <== does not compute.  

There are a few options , one would be going after peter whats his face (?) to recover your losses that were caused by his shoddy administration, the company is no more : 

 But if there is a GDPR angle then it could be  possible to go for the individual

Another angle could be DCB legal , again with inaccurate data under GDPR

Third option would be to start at the beginning:

 How long are we walking about with the MSA overstay's ? and what motorway service area/operator?

Thanks for the comments
I cannot get hold of Peter so i imagine I'm going to struggle to do anything with him. 
The MSA's were back in 2016 thru 2018 where i had 5 separate occasions of staying for 2.5 hours instead of the allowed free period of 2 hours. Do you actually think that the operator might cancel these?
As for DCB Legal - having read a fair few forum posts i get that they are scumbags but do i have any sort of leg to stand on with the wrong address aspect. My gut feel is that you can't enforce a CCJ from one address at another address but i don't want to take this back to court based on a gut feel?

BigBrother1984

A truly sad result and sympathise with you. As one of the other comments said you could sue the appeals firm, but that might not be simple and could be costly. What contract did you enter into when you instructed the private appeals firm? Does the contract contain any clauses which protect you? 

I appreciate that they registered their address with the parking operator so that they may deal with the appeal on your behalf, but they should have corrected the address once the appeal failed. 

They should also have forwarded any legal documents to you. 

Paying £2k for a parking charge seems disproportionate, however this is how the justice system works. If you register a false address and legal action is taken against you, you will not receive the court paperwork and therefore matters will escalate significantly. The taking control of goods regulations were designed to underpin the justice system so that the courts are not powerless in civil matters. 

When you instruct private firms to fight your parking charges (unless they are solicitors), there is no consumer protection. They offer an appeals service on the cheap, but what indemnity protection do they offer? Do they have proper insurance? 

Fact is: Appeals firms and those offering advice on how to evade parking charges are completely unregulated. 

A much higher level of consumer protection would be gained by using a solicitor. 

Coupon-mad

The company no longer trades and the name was false.   I see no way you can get your money back.

This is very sad because you'd have got off all the PCNs had you appealed with the forum template at the time, as CP Plus are non-POFA (I assume it's CP Plus).

Buzz333

BigBrother1984 said:

A truly sad result and sympathise with you. As one of the other comments said you could sue the appeals firm, but that might not be simple and could be costly. What contract did you enter into when you instructed the private appeals firm? Does the contract contain any clauses which protect you? 

I appreciate that they registered their address with the parking operator so that they may deal with the appeal on your behalf, but they should have corrected the address once the appeal failed. 

They should also have forwarded any legal documents to you. 

Paying £2k for a parking charge seems disproportionate, however this is how the justice system works. If you register a false address and legal action is taken against you, you will not receive the court paperwork and therefore matters will escalate significantly. The taking control of goods regulations were designed to underpin the justice system so that the courts are not powerless in civil matters. 

When you instruct private firms to fight your parking charges (unless they are solicitors), there is no consumer protection. They offer an appeals service on the cheap, but what indemnity protection do they offer? Do they have proper insurance? 

Fact is: Appeals firms and those offering advice on how to evade parking charges are completely unregulated. 

A much higher level of consumer protection would be gained by using a solicitor. 

Coupon-mad said:

The company no longer trades and the name was false.   I see no way you can get your money back.

This is very sad because you'd have got off all the PCNs had you appealed with the forum template at the time, as CP Plus are non-POFA (I assume it's CP Plus).

Checking back in and thanks for your thoughts etc. 
Yes agreed I wish I had been aware of this forum and all the good advice etc.
Not sure it was a false address but Peter @ Parking fines assured me this was a normal thing to do. The one small upside of this is that i don't actually have a CCJ registered against me (checked Trust-online) as it's actually at the other address which i have no link to at all.
However I've just begun speaking to Sheila at Bailiff advice online and she seems to think there is some procedural problems with the way the case has been handled by DCB ltd (regarding the address issue) so she's helping me to draft a letter to them.
Its safe to say i wont get much back but perhaps i can reclaim some of it which might help to lessen the pain.
Right off to continue my new hobby of banging my head against a wall in acknowledgment of my stupidity

Coupon-mad

That sounds good (the involvement of Sheila, I mean).