UK PARKING CONTROL LTD are taking me to court over an unpaid private parking ticket

CH1991

I today received a court letter stating that unless I pay £334.04 by November 07 2022 I will have a CCJ on my credit rating and that bailiffs may take my goods to be sold. Is this really true? I have no idea what to do in this situation. This parking notice is probably from around 2/3 years ago. Any help please? 

Grizebeck

So you received a judgment in default, what happened when you got the claim form itself 

Le_Kirk

What did you find out when you read the NEWBIE sticky?  Did you receive PCNs that you ignored, did you receive a letter before/of claim that you ignored?  Did you receive a court claim form (N1) and did you submit a defence and then a witness statement?  Was there a court hearing and did you attend, did you lose?  Is your V5C up-to-date with your correct address, if not that could explain why you did not receive communications except for the bailiff.

CH1991

Okay. I received PCN's that I ignored. I then on 07th October 2022 received a 'Judgement for claimant' letter from the County Court Business Centre instructing that I as the defendant am ordered to pay £334.04 

I have not submitted a defence, given a witness statement or anything. I have just been reading this forum trying to gain an understanding of what the next best steps are! 

CH1991

No, my V5C has my old address as I moved into London but left my car at my old address. So I did not receive the most recent PCN's etc. The residents at my old address forwarded on the Judgement for Claimant letter to me as they assumed it was important. So I have not been receiving correspondence for the last 12 months. 

I have not had a court hearing as of yet - I believe this court letter is the first I have received and I have until 07th November 2022 to act. I have read through the NEWBIES sticker but could not find the relevant instructions for my situation. Do I just use the templates on there and copy paste them as my defence?

Trainerman

From what I understand, it is too late for defence, ws or anything else. The Court has already ruled, and given Judgment by default. As far as I know, your only options are pay quickly, to get it off your record OR apply for set aside.

The real experts on here can give you advice on set aside, so I would wait for them to comment

CH1991

Thanks, Trainerman.

Even if I did not receive the previous letters or the claim form? I did not ignore the claim form, I just did not receive it as it was sent to my previous address? My address on the DVLA is in London now... I just had no idea of the court proceedings until I was forwarded the Judgement by default letter a few days ago? 

Trainerman

As far as I am aware, lack of receipt of the claim can be a reason for set aside, but I am not an expert on such things. Hopefully, someone will be along soon to tell you what hoops you would have to jump through !

CH1991

You'd imagine the claim form would be delivered special delivery? To guarantee the recipient has received before a court order?! I feel very frustrated as I would have acted much more quickly if I had known!

Thanks again, Trainerman. Appreciate your help. 

Le_Kirk

Yep, looks like not keeping your V5C up-to-date has meant that all the paperwork that would have enabled you to put in a defence and then a WS and attend court went astray.  You won't be getting a court date, as others have said, that boat has sailed. You have until 7th November to pay the monies demanded by the court or have a CCJ on your credit file/record.  You could try for a set-aside and hope to use the "claim not served" correctly as it went to an old address.  The PPCs are supposed to check before issuing claim forms that defendants have not moved and they can do this using a Trace that allegedly costs them a massive 29 pence!

CH1991

Thanks for this, Le_Kirk. 

I did not update my V5C as I do not use my car in London and if I did change it, my insurance would have doubled. As I do not use the car anymore I decided to leave it as was. Which i believe is completely legal. 

How would I go about trying for a set-aside? Do you think there is a chance this could work? I can prove that I have moved address and I could get a letter from my current landlord to state the dates I moved in etc etc 

Thanks for all the responses so far, please let me know what you think I should do.