CCJ discovered on Credit report. Claim Form sent to old address.

mric2000

Hi all,

I discovered a CCJ on my Clearscore report at the start of the month.
I have found out that this relates to a PCN issued through Premier Park in April 2018 and the Court Claim was issued by Gladstones.
My car was a lease car which has since been returned and I moved address 3 years ago.

I have read through a lot of the posts in here and will continue to do so. For now I just wanted to post a timeline of what has happened in the hope that one/some of you can confirm if I have a strong enough case to get the CCJ set aside and hopefully to get the Claimant to pay my £275 set aside fee.



Here is the summary timeline:

10th April 2018 - Parking Ticket Issued

28th June 2018 – The vehicle in question was returned to the lease company.
The lease on this vehicle had expired at this time, so there was no further requirement to update the V5 for that vehicle from that time onward.

28th January 2019 – I moved address.

30th April 2019 – Royal Mail Redirection terminated.

>>>

22nd December 2019 – I posted a Subject Access Request (SAR) letter to Premier Park. This SAR letter confirmed my updated address.
This was for a different PCN, which was issued at the same location for the same vehicle, that was issued on 5th March 2018. I had received a Court Claim Form dated 19th December 2019 from Premier Park (the claimant) via their representative BW Legal. 

The 2nd line of this SAR letter & subsequent email was as follows:
"My details are as follows:
**My name and new address**. Previous address was **My old address**."

6th January 2020 – Sent a second SAR by email as I had had no reply to the letter mentioned above.
This time I sent the request by email to Premier Park. Again I confirmed my old and new address.

6th January 2020 – Sent a copy of the above SAR email to Premier Park’s legal representative (BW Legal). I again made an additional clear confirmation of my change of address.

6th January 2020 – Auto reply received from Premier Park acknowledging receipt of my email.

6th January 2020 – Premier Park acknowledged my email and requested additional information - car registration along with proof of identity.

8th January 2020 – Reply sent to Premier Park confirming additional information.
I confirmed the car registration, along with 2 forms of identification, which both had my updated address included.

Between 28th February 2020 and 21st April 2020 there were at least 6 more points of contact between myself and BW Legal (as representatives of Premier Park) confirming my new address.
This includes emails and letters from myself to BW and also to the County Court, which all included my new address. There were also emails from BW Legal to me, which have my updated address included on them, as well as 2 instances where they posted documents to my new address.
The Claim Form for that case was also sent to my new address.

NOTE: All of the above contacts were relating to a different case (which incidentally was the same claimant, same vehicle, same location).
I remember receiving a postal PCN (in early 2018) for which this current CCJ has been issued, but I do not recall receiving any further correspondence regarding this particular PCN.

Then, out of the blue...

7th March 2022 – Letter Before Claim received (at my new address) from Gladstones Solicitors on behalf of Premier Park.
The opening line of this letter state the following:
“We wrote to you on 25th February 2022 at an alternate address. We have since carried out a UK Search trace, which has produced a new address for you”.

April/May 2022 – Court Claim From issued – presumably to the old address*, but has certainly not been received at the new address, despite Gladstones confirming they now have the correct address (as per their LBC).
The exact date of this is unknown, based on Gladstones “LBC response deadline” of 15th April 2022 and the court date which records confirm to be 1st June 2022.

* when I contacted the County Court Business Centre to clarify the CCJ details, they had my address as the old address.

>>



Essentially, before taking up any more of your time, or before going through the process of compiling my required information I was hoping someone can confirm if I have a case worth pursuing.
Based on any feedback, I will continue with the N244 Form and supporting information.


Thank you for taking the time to review this request.

Coupon-mad

You have a case very much worth pursuing as the Claimant has held your new address for three years!

Your huge mistake (in April) was not replying to this (below) and by your silence, letting them choose which address to use.  This absolutely needed a response to tell them and their client to ERASE the old address (too late to take that simple step now but you certainly have a case): 

Then, out of the blue...
7th March 2022 – Letter Before Claim received (at my new address) from Gladstones Solicitors on behalf of Premier Park.
The opening line of this letter state the following:
“We wrote to you on 25th February 2022 at an alternate address. We have since carried out a UK Search trace, which has produced a new address for you”.

Follow the example in the thread by @Jack5656 except you can't use the extra '4 months dead claim' argument.

mric2000

Great to hear. Thank you @Coupon-mad

My Mum passed away in early April, so this was understandably the last thing on my mind. She passed on 13th, so by the time I returned home from being with her and the family the deadline had passed. 
I also assumed they would have continued with the correct address having established it. Sounds like that was a mistake on my behalf.

Thank you for the specific thread reference. I will check that out with interest. 
Best regards

mric2000

OK, I believe I now have everything ready to submit.

I have filled out the N244 form, as per Henrik's template.
For the Court Reference in the top right of the form, I have entered my local court, not the Northampton CCBC where the CCJ was entered. 

Unless advised otherwise by you amazing people, my intention now is to submit the NR244 along with my Draft Order and Witness Statement, by email to my local County court. 
I will save the NR244 as a signed PDF document and will attach the DO & WS as Word Documents.
I will also email all 3 documents as PDFs to Gladstones as representatives of Premier Park. Or should I send it direct to PP?

I will also pay the £275 Set Aside fee and include a covering letter to the Court outlining the dates that I will be unavailable for a hearing in the next 6 weeks.



Here are the redacted details included in my DO & WS:

>>>

IN XXXXXXXX COURT

Claim No. XXXXXXXX

BETWEEN:

PREMIER PARK
Claimant

– and –

XXXXXXXX
Defendant

_________________________________

DRAFT ORDER
_________________________________



Upon reading the Defendant’s application, dated 25th June 2022

It is ordered that:

1. The judgment dated 1st June 2022 be set aside.

2. The Claimant do pay the Defendant’s costs of this application (£275) on an indemnity basis.

3. Unless the Claimant serves a copy of the Claim Form on the Defendant by 4pm on _______________ the claim will be struck out without further order.

4. If the Claimant serves the claim form as directed in paragraph 3 the Defendant shall file and serve a defence by 4pm _______________

5. All enforcement be put on hold pending the outcome of the application.

6. Should the court reserve costs in the case as an alternative to paragraph 2, such costs of this application will become payable if the Claimant discontinues it's claim.

>>>>>
>>>>>


IN XXXXXXXX COURT

Claim No. XXXXXXXX

BETWEEN:

PREMIER PARK
Claimant

– and –

XXXXXXXX
Defendant

_________________________________

WITNESS STATEMENT OF XXXXXXXX
_________________________________

I , XXXXXXXX of XXXXXXXX, being the Defendant in this case will state as follows;

1. I make this Witness Statement in support of the application for an order that the judgment in this case (Claim No. XXXXXXXX Judgment dated 01/06/2022) be Set Aside.

2. I learnt of the existence of this claim on 11th June 2022, when I received an email from ClearScore, advising of a change to my Credit Report. This Report update confirmed the basic details of the judgment detailed in paragraph 1.

3. Upon discovering the existence of the Default CCJ, as detailed in paragraph 2, I contacted NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE to clarify the details of the claim. They confirmed that the Claim had been issued to my old address (XXXXXXXX), despite the multiple times I had advised the Claimant of the updated address (XXXXXXXX) as detailed below, in paragraph 6, and the fact that the Claimant had previously established my correct, updated address, to which they posted the Letter Before Claim - see paragraph 7.

4. My address changed on 28TH JANUARY 2019 and a Royal Mail Redirection service was in place from 28TH JANUARY 2019 to 30TH APRIL 2019.

5. I applied to the DVLA on 25th JANUARY 2019 to get my driving licence updated with the new address, as detailed in paragraph 3. The vehicle in question (XXXXXXXX) had been returned to the lease company on 28th June 2018.

6. Between the dates of 22nd DECEMBER 2019 and 21st APRIL 2020, there were no less than 12 instances of contact between myself and the Claimant (or their legal representatives), which all included confirmation of my updated address, as detailed in paragraph 3. These contacts were in relation to a similar, but unrelated claim from the Claimant for a parking ticket that had been issued on 5th MARCH 2018.

These communications included emails and posted mail, to and from the Claimant, as well as the inclusion of 2 separate “Proof of Address” documents (Council Tax bill and Utility bill), as requested by the Claimant to confirm my identity and address.

All email communication from myself made specific confirmations of my address change and subsequent replies from the Claimant acknowledged this address change, as well as them posting physical mail to my new address.  

Evidence is available if required for each of these points of contact.

7: On 7th MARCH 2022 I received a Letter Before Claim (LBC) from Gladstones Solictors, representing the Claimant. This LBC was posted to my new/correct address as detailed in paragraph 3.
The opening paragraph of the LBC stated “We wrote to you on 25th February 2022 at an alternate address. We have since carried out a UK Search trace, which has produced a new address for you.”.

As I was away a lot at that time, caring for my Mother (who passed away on 13th April 2022), I did not respond to this LBC. I was also waiting for the Claim details to be delivered to the correct address (which had clearly been established), with the intention of defending the case, for which I deny that the Claimant is entitled to relief in the sum claimed, or at all.

Unfortunately, for an unknown reason, the Claimant and their representatives chose to ignore the newly established correct address and processed the Claim Form using my old address.

8. I therefore respectfully request that the Court sets aside the judgment in this claim and allows 14 days for me to submit my defence.

Statement of Truth

I, XXXXXXXX, the Defendant, believe the facts stated within this Witness Statement to be true.


Signed: ________________________________


Dated: ________________________________


>>>>>

Does this course of action seem appropriate? Have I missed anything important/useful?

Thanks for any advice given. As ever, it is very much appreciated

KeithP

Your Statement of Truth should be the more comprehensive...
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true. I understand that 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.

Coupon-mad

I will also pay the £275 Set Aside fee and include a covering letter to the Court outlining the dates that I will be unavailable for a hearing in the next 6 weeks.

I'd plot six months, right through to new year, in case there are 2 hearings.

Your WS looks OK to me, given it's a case where you can't use the Boxwood '4 months dead' argument.

I'd attach proof of all the contact you had with the Claimant about your new address, and state that the trader was obliged under the DPA 2018 to rectify their database relating to ALL records about the data subject (the Defendant). Clearly all PCN records relating to you and your car were required to be updated to show the correct new address for service. No such attempt was made which is in itself a data breach due to a failure to comply with the GDPR 'right to rectification' and the Data Protection principles of data being required to be updated in a timely fashion and that data must be accurate.

mric2000

Fantastic!
Thank you @KeithP @Coupon-mad
I'm very grateful for your input and advice.
I'll get the changes made as advised and will get this submitted tomorrow. I will update in due course.

Coupon-mad

Great!

Please, please come here every week over the Summer so you do not miss adding your own voice to the Public Consultation:
https://www.nationalworld.com/lifestyle/cars/parking-rules-uk-private-parking-code-of-practice-fine-limits-easier-appeals-under-threat-3743008

"A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities dept said the code would be introduced once a second consultation had taken place.

They said: “We have received a legal challenge from parking operators on two elements of the code and we now have to go back and reconsult with the industry.

“The other elements of the code remain intact and we are very much hopeful that the two we are reconsulting on will also remain.”

We ALL need to ensure that happens. 

New posters included (especially) as you have up to date 2022 experience of how intimidating this crap is and who can genuinely tell the Govt, for example, that:

(A) had the signs been crystal clear, no breach would have occurred because drivers don't set out to break rules (therefore the deterrent is in the signage message, not the sum of money) 

and

(B) had the 'penalty' been lower, no doubt you'd have paid it or appealed.

 

mric2000

Sure thing @Coupon-mad
Is there a specific thread I should be following to keep up-to-date with that?

1505grandad

A heads-up:-
"BETWEEN:

PREMIER PARK
Claimant"

No doubt you will state the full name of the claimant in the Court docs.

mric2000

Thank you @1505grandad
I will now