Default CCJ - VCS used wrong address even if I emailed them the correct one

Coupon-mad

That wording is great.

You can see that the point there about CPR 7.6 applies because it's a quote from Boxwood, which is one of the 4 authorities you will be appending later to your skeleton argument.

As seen in the thread by @Brokenchief

So it all ties in nicely.  You are interpreting it right.

1505grandad

Some observations:-

DEFAULT JUDGMENT  -  is the correct spelling however there are several Judgments containing an erroneous middle "e" (if only for consistency)

"3.     I have not received any documentation relating to this case (from the Claimant even if I identified as the Driver) and provided Vehicle Control Services with current address and contact details in writing at the earliest opportunity on 28 August 2021, on the same day a Privacy Notice had been placed on the car’s windscreen."

Should (this) read "from the Claimant even though I identified myself as the Driver"?  -  also similar in para 11

"4.     Vehicle Control Services acknowledged the receipt of my email on 31 August (2022) (Exhibit"

Is (this) a typo? (follow on from para 3)

Para 13  -  (typo) "‘reasonable (endeavors)’"

Para 15

"b)    On 31 October 2022, I discovered a CCJ......"

"c)     On 3 and 4 November (2021), I searched the registers on Trust and Online...."

Is (this) a typo?

bridgefixer

Thank you very much for your comments, I fixed the typos, edited the parts I put together yesterday, and included the missing parts. 

The witness statement is a much more complete now. I added the basics for my draft defence, but I'll adjust that tomorrow, or over the weekend if there is no time to do it tomorrow. In either case, my plan is submit and pay the appeal on Monday. I will call the County Court Business Centre to learn what is required, unless someone has a handy link/info package at hand. I may have missed or forgot the details of the process when reading the threads. And I need to move the text to right kind of templates, put the exhibits together, and make copies to all relevant parties. 

At paragraph 34 I requested that: 

a)     the Court sets aside the Default Judgment against me, and

b)    dismisses the claim in its entirety as the claim form has not been served within 4 months of issue, and/or

c)     advises the parking charge notification to re-issued as a response to the discovery of a serviceable address (as per the parking code of practice, allowing for a due appeals process, or

d)    allows me to present my defence to this claim in Court.

I'm not sure if offering options is a good strategy? Or should I remove the last line (d)? Comments are welcome 

DRAFT ORDER:

Upon reading the defendant’s application dated NN Month YYYY.

It is ordered that:

1.     The judgment dated NN Month YYYY be set aside.

2.     The claim be struck out as the claim form has not been served within 4 months of issue.

3.     The claimant to pay the Defendant’s costs of this application of £275 on an indemnity basis.

------

WITNESS STATEMENT

1.     I am My Name and the defendant against whom this claim is made. The facts below are true to the best of my belief and my account has been prepared based upon my knowledge.

2.     This is my supporting statement to my application dated NN Month YYYY requesting:

a)     Mandatory set aside for the default judgment dated NN Month YYYY as it was served using an old address, pursuant to CPR 13.2. The Claimant confirmed having received a current address and contact details from the Defendant by email, but I received no correspondence and was unable to deal with this matter or defend myself.

b)    An order for the original claim to be dismissed as it was not served within 4 months of the issue, pursuant to CPR 7.5, and the Claimant having failed to apply for an extension, pursuant to CPR 7.6.

c)     An order for the claimant to pay the defendant £275 as reimbursement for the set aside fee, plus the cost to attend the hearing and relevant litigation in person costs.

DEFAULT JUDGMENT

1.     I was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence. 

2.     I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgment against me as the Defendant on NN Month YYYY. I am aware that the Claimant is Vehicle Control Services Ltd, represented by their solicitors Elms Legal Ltd, and that the assumed claim is related to the alleged parking contravention on NN Month YYYY at my then residence at (Address 1). (I also contest the alleged contravention for the reasons outlined in the attached draft defence – I added an outline of my defence at paragraph 24 ). 

3.     I have not received any documentation relating to this matter from the Claimant, even if I identified myself as the Driver and provided Vehicle Control Services with current address and contact details in writing at the earliest opportunity on NN Month YYYY, on the same day a Privacy Notice had been placed on the car’s windscreen.

a)     On the day I received the Privacy Notice (Exhibit A), I went to discuss with a camera car driver, asking about what the privacy notice is about, what might follow after that, and what should I do as the rental car was not mine and I was moving to a new home at the time.

b)    Based on his advice, I contacted Vehicle Control Services and identified myself as the driver. I explained the car is a rental car and provided them with my current and serviceable postal address (Address 2), phone number, and email address. I also encouraged Vehicle Control Services to contact me should they have any questions or concerns regarding parking-related matters (Exhibit B  ); I was never trying to ignore this matter.

4.     Vehicle Control Services acknowledged the receipt of my email on NN Month YYYY (Exhibit B  ). This indicates that their operations administrators become aware of the identity of the named driver’s, alongside his then-current and serviceable address and contact details. But for some reason they failed to use this address in subsequent correspondence, even there was no practical or legitimate reason to do so.  

5.     Following the acknowledgement of my contact details, I did not receive any further communication from Vehicle Control Services. I did not receive a Letter of Claim, a letter before claim, Parking Charge Notification, charges or payment reminders at (Address 2), or any other form of communication through email or phone. As I was unaware of the charges and claims against me, I was deprived of my rights to deal with this matter.

6.     Since the claim form was not served at my current and serviceable address at (Address 2), I was not aware of the Court Proceedings. I learned about the Judgment entered in Default when I received a letter from Direct Collection Bailiffs for debt collection on NN Month YYYY at the address where I currently reside (Address 3) (Exhibit C).

7.     Having learned about the Judgment, I immediately called Direct Collection Bailiffs and emailed them to request further details. Direct Collection Bailiffs advised me to email Vehicle Control Services, and they in turn directed me to their legal representatives who were not aware of my case. These inquiries did not produce any meaningful information about how the events had transpired.

8.     To verify the existence of the Judgment, I searched the registers on Trust Online on 3 November and contacted the County Court Business Centre from where I received the Judgment and the Particulars of Claim on NN Month YYYY.

9.     Upon reading the claim, I noticed the address on the claim was the address (Address 1) at which I resided at the time I pre-booked the rental car. It was valid at the time of booking, but it was no longer serviceable at the time of the alleged parking contravention.

10.  Acting in good faith and to avoid any miscommunication, I had provided Vehicle Control Services with my current address and contact details to at the earliest opportunity. I moved to a new home at (Address 2), and I lived in this address until NN Month YYYY. Vehicle Control Services could have reached me at this address throughout the process. In support of this, I can provide a copy of my (document), alongside (document), and (document).

11.  Instead of using the current address they had acknowledged having received, Vehicle Control Services used an old and non-serviceable address, which presumably obtained from the vehicle’s Registered Keeper they had identified using the DVLA database.

12.  It should be highlighted Vehicle Control Services had no practical or legitimate reason to contact the Registered Keeper or request them to provide the Driver’s contact details, pursuant to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

a)     The current address and contact details of the named driver were known to Vehicle Control Services all along, provided to them by the driver immediately at the earliest opportunity and acknowledged by them.

b)    Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 states that the creditor’s right to claim unpaid parking charges from the keeper of the vehicle applies only if the creditor “is unable to take steps to enforce that requirement against the driver because the creditor does not know both the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver”, pursuant to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 5(1)(a). In this case, the creditor knew the driver’s name and current address all along but failed to use them in any relevant correspondence.   

c)     Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 also states that a notice sent to the Keeper of the Vehicle must state that the creditor does not know both the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver. As shown above, in this case, the creditor knew the name and the address.

13.  Besides failing to use the address provided by the Defendant, I believe the Claimant has not adhered to CPR 6.9 (3) as they had failed to show due diligence in using an address that the Defendant no longer resides. The claimant failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of my current residence despite their letters going unanswered. I was ‘there to be found’ via an inexpensive bulk credit check as I had a permanent address on my record, at (Address 2). This address was registered to my bank statements and credit file (Exhibit E).

CPR 6.9 (3): “Where a claimant has reason to believe that the address of the defendant referred to in entries 1, 2 or 3 in the table in paragraph (2) is an address at which the defendant no longer resides or carries on business, the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant’s current residence or place of business (‘current address’).”

14.  The Claimant’s failure to ascertain the address of the Defendant’s current residence in the absence of response has led to the claim being incorrectly served to an old address and an irregular judgment, pursuant to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and CPR 6.9 (3). Thus, they have caused the claim to be improperly served. I.e., they failed to serve it at all.

15.  In addition, as per the Private Parking Code of Practice published on 7 February 2022, reasonable endeavours must be undertaken to establish the correct contact details of the driver if parking charge notices or subsequent correspondence goes unanswered. This is expanded on and better explained in Section 10 of the Private Parking Code of Practice cited below. 

a)     “If a driver, keeper or hire company does not respond to a notice of parking charge or subsequent correspondence, or a parking charge has not been paid in full, reasonable endeavours - including contacting credit reference agencies to undertake a ‘soft trace’ - must be undertaken by the parking operator and/or its appointed debt recovery agent to establish the correct correspondence details of the driver, keeper or hire company before commencing enforcement action. Where a new address is discovered the notice of parking charge should be re-issued at the original rate but with a further 28 days from service for a response (payment or appeal).”

16.  I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably by negligently or deliberately disregarding the rules whilst pursuing charges and a claim against the Defendant without using the current address provided to the Claimant or confirming the correctness of address and contact details when they letters were not responded.

17.  Under CPR 13.2, the court must set aside a judgment entered under part 12 if judgment was wrongly entered.  Given that CPR 6.9 (3) was not met, CPR 13.2 applies and the CCJ should be set aside.

18.  Further to the Defendants points in paragraphs 4 to 12, I also refer to the following authorities to support that claim is defective as it was not served to a “last known address”: 

a)     HHJ Hacon in MB Garden Buildings Ltd v Mark Burton Construction Ltd & Anor [2014] EWHC 431 (IPEC) (28 February 2014) 

b)    HHJ Behrens in Broadside Colours And Chemicals Ltd, Re (No 2) [2012] EWHC 195 (Ch) (20 February 2012) 

19.  Given that more than 4 months has passed from issue of proceedings and service of the claim was defective (i.e. it was never served) the Defendant submits that this particular claim is dead and the period for service cannot be extended by this application process, pursuant with CPR 7.6.

20.  The Defendant relies on the judgment in Boxwood [2021] EWHC 947 (TCC), which is a reminder of the strictness of the requirements of CPR 7.6 and how difficult it is to use other parts of the Civil Procedure Rules to rectify a failure to serve the claim form within the requisite period: 

“A claimant is not entitled to rely on the wide, general powers under CPR 3.10 or CPR 3.9 to circumvent the specific conditions set out in CPR 7.6(3) for extending the period for service of a claim form.

21.  Considering the above I was unable to respond or defend this claim. I believe that the Default Judgment 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.

22.  The Defendant also relies on Vinos v Marks & Spencer plc [2001] 3 All ER 784, where the Court of Appeal considered whether any extension of time should be granted under CPR 7.6 in circumstances where the defendant had been notified of the issue of a claim form, but the claim form had not been served within four months as required by CPR 7.5, and the application was made after expiry of that period. The court refused to grant relief on the basis that it did not have power to do so.

23.  The Defendant also relies on the judgment of Deputy Master Marsh in Croke & Anor v National Westminster Bank Plc & Ors [2022] EWHC 1367 (Ch) the claimant was one day late in properly serving the Particulars of Claim to the Defendant and the claimant’s application for relief from sanctions was refused. In section 65 of the transcript of the trial Deputy Master Marsh stated:

a)     “The defendants were entitled to know within the four month period specified in the CPR whether a claim had been made against them and to be able to understand that claim. [...] Unless an extension of time is granted, the claim will cease to have any validity and will be struck out."

24.  Additionally, CPR 13.3 also applies as there are very good reasons to set aside this claim:

(these are the factors that came to my mind, but I need to work a little more on this part)

a)     The particulars of the claim state that: PARKED IN A RESTRICTED / PROHIBITED AREA. AT ALL MATERIAL TIMES THE DEFENDANT WAS THE REGISTERED KEEPER AND/OR DRIVER. THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS UPON ENTERING PRIVATE LAND WERE CLEARLY DISPLAYED AT THE ENTRANCE AND IN PROMINENT LOCATIONS. THE SIGN WAS THE OFFER AND THE ACT OF ENTERING PRIVATE LAND WAS THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE OFFER HEREBY ENTERING INTO A CONTRACT BY CONDUCT. THE SIGNS SPECIFICALLY DETAIL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE TO COMPLY, NAMELY A PARKING CHARGE NOTICE WILL BE ISSUED, AND THE DEFENDANT HAS FAILED TO SETTLE THE OUTSTANDING LIABILITY. THE CLAIMANT SEEKS THE RECOVERY OF THE PARKING CHARGE NOTICE, CONTRACTUAL COSTS AND INTEREST, Totalling at £277.         

b)    When I arrived at the location late at night, there were no visible signs at the entrance, and therefore I did not know I was about the enter a contract by conduct.

c)     After receiving a Privacy Notice, I looked around and found a fallen, partially hidden sign, which proves that the signs were not clear. I have a picture of the sign and also the images from Google Street View as of June 2022 shows the absence of signage.

Continues in the subsequent post....

bridgefixer

25.  In addition to above, it should be highlighted that the integrity and law-abiding intention of the Defendant should be taken into consideration on the basis that I provided Vehicle Control Services with contact details at the earliest opportunity, that I have quickly obtained the necessary information, attempted to resolve this with Vehicle Control Services and their solicitors, and ultimately, having not received any response from the Claimant or their solicitors, submitted this appeal a month after the discovering the Judgment entered in default. The course of events is summarised below:

a)     On NN Month YYYY, I provided Vehicle Control Services with my address and contact details immediately on the day I received the Privacy Notice. I acted in good faith, and it was never my intention to ignore this matter, but to handle it in a timely, professional, and courteous manner (Exhibits A and B ).

b)    On NN Month YYYY, I discovered the default County Court Judgment (CCJ) when I received a letter by debt collectors. I immediately contacted the debt collector, the Claimant, and one of their solicitors trying to learn about the situation, but this did not produce tangible results.

c)     On NN Month YYYY, I searched the registers on Trust and Online and contacted the County Court Business Centre to obtain relevant information relating to this default judgment (Exhibit X).

d)    On NN Month YYYY, I sent a letter to the Claimant and their solicitors where I explained the situation (Exhibit X). Invited them to appeal to have the Judgment set aside with consent as the claim was never served, but they have chosen not to reply.

e)     On NN Month YYYY, I submitted a Subject Access Request to the Claimant requesting my personal information to learn about the relevant details of this matter. 

f)     On NN Month YYYY, having not received any reply from either the Claimant or their representative, I have submitted my case in order to set aside this judgment and to fairly handle my case if the claim will not be struck out on the grounds that the form was not served within 4 months of issue.

g)    Throughout the process, I have acted in good faith and tried to solve the matter with the relevant parties at the earliest opportunity. I have also proceeded with my appeal to set the Judgment as promptly as possible considering my work commitments and the need to learn about the Civil Procedure and relevant regulation to be able to lodge this statement and appeal.

26.  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.

27.  The Government is addressing poor practice and behaviour of some parking operators, Following the introduction of Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 by Sir Greg Knight MP, Private Parking Code of Practice was published on 7 February 2022. This Code of Practice seeks to address the inherent unfairness of Private Parking firms who often adopt a “labyrinth system of misleading and confusing signage, opaque appeals services, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees”

28.  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."

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 above. 

29.  I have also read the consultation on Default County Court Judgments by Ministry of Justice published 21 February 2018. Some key excerpts are: ‘the claimant must consider whether there is an alternative place or method by which the claim may be served’. And, ‘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’. ‘Where the claimant is unable to ascertain the defendant’s current postal address, the claimant may apply to the Court for service at an alternative place. This may include service via an email address if the claimant and defendant have been in communication via those means and the Court agrees this is appropriate’.

30.  I believe the Claimant’s practice is a clear example that parking companies’ conduct is not anymore used as a deterrent for citizens to park insensibly, majority of which are law abiding, instead an impending and instantaneous launch of legal action against most of them, leading to default Judgment by Court in 85% of the 1.1 million cases in year 2016/2017, and majority of these were parking tickets.

31.  Due to Vehicle Control Services’ failure to use my correct address and contact details, even if they had them all along, I never received any parking charge notices, paperwork regarding the court claim, or any other relevant communication from VCS, their solicitors, or the County Court Business Centre. Therefore, the judgment entered in default must be set aside.

32.  Considering all above I submit that the Claimant has not met the service requirements of CPR 6.9 and 7.5. respectively: 

a)     Service has not been effected at a valid address and, 

b)    For want of valid service, these proceedings have not been served within 4 months of issue. 

33.  I therefore submit that the court should set aside the judgment entered under part 12 as judgment was wrongly entered, given that CPR 6.9 (3) was not met and thus CPR 13.2 applies, requiring the CCJ to be set aside.

34.  Considering the above and that I was unable to deal with this matter or defend myself against this claim, I respectfully request that:

a)     the Court sets aside the Default Judgment against me, and

b)    dismisses the claim in its entirety as the claim form has not been served within 4 months of issue, and/or

c)     advises the parking charge notification to re-issued as a response to the discovery of a serviceable address, allowing for a due appeals process, or

d)    allows me to present my defence to this claim in Court.

35.  I also request the Court to kindly consider the reimbursement of the fee of £275 plus the cost to attend the hearing and relevant litigation in person costs from the Claimant, should this request be successful.

Statement of Truth:

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.

Full Name:  XXXXX XXXXXX  (Defendant) 

Dated: xxxxxx

Signed:

  

Coupon-mad

That's very very good, IMHO.  Tells it like it was and it's specific to your case.

bridgefixer

It's time to return to this topic. I submitted my appeal on 5 December, and after waiting for a bit over two weeks, I received a letter from the County Court Business Centre saying that my appeal has been referred to my local court. The local court is yet to inform the hearing date, but better start preparing earlier than later. 

If I've understood things correctly, now I need to prepare a skeleton argument that summarises my legal case and reasoning, condensing it all to the legal essentials. Will browse the forum for examples, but do let me know if there's something else I should consider.  

The appeal package ended up being rather extensive. It was 12 documents altogether: Cover letter, N244 Application Notice, Draft Order, Witness Statement, Schedule of Exhibits, Exhibits, and the Payment Receipt. (Took me three calls and hours to get the instructions and payments sorted.)

Compared to the witness statements above, I expanded my witness statement around CPR 13.3 and the Parking Code of Practice (see below). I could add the final versions of the witness statement and draft order below in case someone finds them useful. However, as a forum etiquette and readability matter, would it be better just to add modified parts, or the whole statement and then delete older posts, as the texts are mostly similar. 

I also received a response to my SAR. It shows they got the keeper's (hiring company) address from DVLA and then submitted a notice to keeper who then gave them an outdated address. The SAR did not show the email I had sent to them or their response to it, so perhaps I could send them a follow up SAR to probe on that. 

I wish a very merry Christmas for everyone! I don't know what I'd have done without this forum and the kind souls who provide their help and advice. 

--- 

CPR 13.3 

1.     Additionally, CPR 13.3 also applies as there are other good reasons to set aside this claim. CPR 13.3 states that:

a)     ”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.”

2.     Pursuant to CPR 13.3(a), the Defendant has a real prospect of defending the claim as I have outlined in the draft defence below.

a)     The particulars of the claim state that the Defendant had: ”Parked in a restricted / prohibited area. At all material times the defendant was the registered keeper and/or driver. The terms and conditions upon entering private land were clearly displayed at the entrance and in prominent locations. The sign was the offer and the act of entering private land was the acceptance of the offer hereby entering into a contract by conduct. The signs specifically detail the terms and conditions and the consequences of failure to comply, namely a parking charge notice will be issued, and the defendant has failed to settle the outstanding liability. The claimant seeks the recovery of the parking charge notice, contractual costs and interest.” The cost totals £277, composed of £170.00 for debt (and interest to date of judgment) and £107.00 for costs.   

b)    As the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged contravention, I contest the charge on the grounds that “the terms and conditions… were clearly displayed at the entrance and in prominent locations.”

c)     When I arrived at the location late in the evening when it was already dark, there were no clearly displayed or visible signs at the entrance or any other prominent locations. Therefore, I was not offered to enter a contract, which I would have declined by parking the car somewhere else. In other words, I did not enter the said contract by conduct because I was not informed about the presence of the contract nor its terms.

d)    After receiving the Privacy Notice, I looked around and found a fallen, partially hidden sign. I took a picture of the sign, and it shows the signs were not clearly displayed or in any way in a very authoritative state. In addition, the images from Google Street View as of June 2022 show the absence of signage at the entrance to the site.

e)     As there was no contract between the Claimant and Defendant, the underlying charge, which led to the (unserved) claim and Judgment entered in default is without foundation, giving the Defendant a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, pursuant to CPR 13.3(a).

3.     Pursuant to CPR 13.3(b), the court may set aside or vary a judgment entered under Part 12 “if it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why the (i) the judgment should be set aside or varied; or (ii) the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim.”

a)     In this case, the Defendant has acted in good faith and proactively provided the Claimant with his address and contact details at the earliest opportunity. It was never his attention to ignore this matter but to proceed to a swift resolution of the alleged contravention by following a due parking charge notification appeals process and adhering to its outcome. The Defendant submits that his proactive approach to resolving this matter constitutes a good reason to set the Judgment in default aside, pursuant to CPR 13.3(b)(i). This supports the appeal to set the Judgment aside on the grounds that the claim was never served, pursuant to CPR 13.2.

b)    Pursuant to CPR 13.3(b)(i), so far, I have been deprived of my rights to deal with this matter or to defend myself, even if I have indicated my readiness and willingness to do. If the case will not be set aside and struck out on the basis the claim form had not been served within four months as required by CPR 7.5, the Defendant should be granted a fair opportunity to defend this claim in Court. 


Parking Code of Practice 

1.     In addition, as per the Private Parking Code of Practice published on 7 February 2022, reasonable endeavours must be undertaken to establish the correct contact details of the driver if parking charge notices or subsequent correspondence goes unanswered. This is expanded on and better explained in Section 10 of the Private Parking Code of Practice cited below.

a)     “If a driver, keeper or hire company does not respond to a notice of parking charge or subsequent correspondence, or a parking charge has not been paid in full, reasonable endeavours - including contacting credit reference agencies to undertake a ‘soft trace’ - must be undertaken by the parking operator and/or its appointed debt recovery agent to establish the correct correspondence details of the driver, keeper or hire company before commencing enforcement action.”

2.     Section 10 of the Private Parking Code of Practice also states when a new address is discovered, the process should start from the beginning by re-issuing the notice of a parking charge as the original rate with 28 days from service for a response.

a)     “Where a new address is discovered the notice of parking charge should be re-issued at the original rate but with a further 28 days from service for a response (payment or appeal).”

Coupon-mad

If I've understood things correctly, now I need to prepare a skeleton argument that summarises my legal case and reasoning, condensing it all to the legal essentials. Will browse the forum for examples, but do let me know if there's something else I should consider.  

Yes you might need a skeleton argument to explain the '4 months dead' argument. As seen in the thread by @Brokenchief and he also linked the 4 case law exhibits you need (assuming those have not yet been filed).

bridgefixer

Thank you - I will take a look at that thread and the case law exhibits. I haven't filed anything like that yet. 

bridgefixer

The wheels of justice have been turning, and I’ve been given a provisional listing for an in-person hearing on 18 January 2023. This also activated the Claimant who approached me for a set-aside, but more on this towards the end of this message.

As per the listing letter, before the hearing, the Claimant and I:

• “should seek to agree (1) an indexed, paginated electronic trial bundle and (2) any indexed paginated electronic authorities bundle”,
• send the electronic bundle(s) to the court no less than 3 days and no more than 7 days before the hearing date, and
• a hard copy bundle to be filed 3 clear days before the trial date. (Does anyone know what’s the difference between 3 days and 3 clear days?)

 Therefore, I need to prepare two bundles and send them to the claimant’s lawyer who should put the bundles together and send the electronic versions to the court. For hard copies, it will most likely it will be me who takes them there as I live nearby.

Bundle 1: I need to append/update my first appeal package. I need to write and add the skeleton argument, update the header details for all documents and exhibits, and update the witness statement where needed (to show that they obtained the address from DVLA based on SAR).

Bundle 2: The 4 authorities/case law exhibits that are relevant for the 4 months dead argument. These are Boxwood, Croke, Pipenbrock, and Vinos from @Brokenchief thread. I will refer to these in the skeleton argument.

After the provisional listing, the claimant’s representative approached me. They would be willing to assist the judgment aside and propose that (1) the judgement be set aside, (2) the claim be allocated to the small claims track for a full hearing about the claim, and (3) no order as to costs, i.e., no further costs to either of the parties.

But this offer falls a little short. Point 1 for a set-aside is ok, but point 2 would go against my interests as that would walk over the 4 months dead argument, and point 3 would seem to leave me £275 out of pocket, which is not great given they did not reply to my messages before they received the provisional listing. I may propose to have (1) Judgement set aside, (2) the claim to be withdrawn, and (3) they pay me £275. And if they do not agree, then we’ll leave it to a judge to decide.

Anything else I should consider? 

Grizebeck

You simply do not agree to thier draft consent order