Set aside CCJ - did not receive claim form

Jamran

Which also reminds me that the vehicle was a motability vehicle so leased

Jamran

Here is the cleaned up WS. I am working on the defence now.

Draft order

Upon reading the defendant's application dated 14th April 2023

IT IS ORDERED THAT

 

1. The judgment for claimant dated 17th March 2023, be set aside pursuant to CPR 13.3, the court having accepted the evidence from the Defendant and her witness that:

(a) the claim form was not received at the defendant’s address, and

(b) the Defendant was in any event abroad when the claim was said to have been posted, and for weeks afterwards which would have prevented her being able to defend a claim even if it had arrived, and

(c) there are compelling reasons why the Defendant should be allowed to defend this claim, including but not limited to a coherent argument of disability discrimination (per the Equality Act 2010) and further arguments about a lack of fair grace period, lack of an overarching 'legitimate interest' justification to support the charge and an argument based upon primacy of contract, given the Defendant is a disabled resident at the location.

Witness Statement 

I am the defendant in this matter. This is my supporting Statement to my application requesting to:

1.       Set aside the default judgment dated 17th March 2023, as:

a)      it was not received at all (please see Witness Statement attached)

b)      Defendant was abroad when the claim was supposedly sent (evidence of flights attached)

c)      the claim itself - from what I can ascertain, not having seen the claim form - is meritless with no breach of a 'relevant contract or obligation' (per POFA 2012 schedule 4) and the conduct of the Claimant in issuing the PCN breaches the Equality Act 2010 such that the claim will not withstand defence by this Defendant, who is a disabled person.  See draft defence attached.

 

2.       Order for original claim to be dismissed. 

3.       Order for the claimant to pay the defendant £228 for time in preparation (12 hours as a litigant in person at a rate of £19 per hour).

4.       I understand that the claimant obtained a default judgment against me as the Defendant on 17th March 2023.

5.       I am aware that the claimant is UK Parking Control Ltd, and that the assumed claims in respect of unpaid Parking Charge Notices.

6.       The claim form was not received at my current address, and I thus was not aware of the Default judgment up until the arrival of the letter of judgment from the County Court Business Centre on the 22/03/23

7.       The missing claim has still not turned up to date, thus it remains unserved.

8.       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, I discovered a CCJ was lodged against my name on the 22/03/23 tarnishing my impeccable credit history. 

9.       In addition of not receiving the claim form, I was abroad from 11/02/23 to 11/03/23, so would not have been able to respond even if it did get served correctly.  

10.   I acted promptly by immediately contacting the CCBC on 23/03/23 raising my concern in relation to the Default judgment only to be told by the court administrator that they do not know why I did not receive the claim form as it was sent

11.   I contacted CCBC again on Monday 27/03/2023 to obtain more information asking for the Particular of Claim be emailed to me.

12.   I also refer to CPR 13.2(the court must set aside a judgment entered under part 12 if judgment was wrongly entered).

 

13.   In addition, I refer to CPR 13.3, which states:

 

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.

 

The fact that the I was abroad as well as the defence meets the "some other good reason" in CPR 13.3 to set aside the CCJ at the court's discretion in the interests of justice.

 

14.   I submit the CCJ should be set aside under CPR 13.2(a) as the claim form was not received.

15.   Should the judgment be set aside. I am confident I can robustly defend the original Parking Charge Notice.

16.   I also enclose a copy of my defence. This shows that the Defendant has very good chances of successfully defending this claim, should the court not in fact strike this claim out. 

17.   I am a disabled blue badge holder as well as wheelchair user. From what I can recall, this ticket was issue when I parked my vehicle outside my house and went into it to open the garage so I could park inside it.

18.   As a disabled person, it took me longer than a normal abled person would

19.   I am prepared to swear on oath that the claim was not served and that is still the position to date. 

20.   I have also attached a Witness Statement of my brother MR Mohammed Khan, who will swear on oath that he did not receive any claim form while I was away.

21.   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 of trust without an honest in its truth. 

 

Coupon-mad

I think remove 14, which is repetition and interrupts the flow.  Then re-number.

The Statement of Truth does not have to have a paragraph number so remove the number; she then signs and dates immediately below the SoT.

Typo here, should be 'in addition to':

9.       In addition of not receiving the claim

Jamran

I have compiled the defence and my WS also:

I am the defendant’s brother. This is my supporting statement to the defendant’s application.

 

I confirm:

1.    I handled all the Defendant’s postal correspondences while they were abroad

2.    No letters were received in relation to a court claim against her

3.    All correspondences receive via post were kept safe for her while she was abroad

4.    I am willing to swear on oath that I did not received any claim form while Defendant was abroad

here is the defence

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3qlzsjvcrwoacr8/2023_defence%20%281%29.docx?dl=0

Below is the final draft and WS

Draft order

Upon reading the defendant's application dated 14th April 2023

IT IS ORDERED THAT

 

1. The judgment for claimant dated 17th March 2023, be set aside pursuant to CPR 13.3, the court having accepted the evidence from the Defendant and her witness that:

(a) the claim form was not received at the defendant’s address, and

(b) the Defendant was in any event abroad when the claim was said to have been posted, and for weeks afterwards which would have prevented her being able to defend a claim even if it had arrived, and

(c) there are compelling reasons why the Defendant should be allowed to defend this claim, including but not limited to a coherent argument of disability discrimination (per the Equality Act 2010) and further arguments about a lack of fair grace period, lack of an overarching 'legitimate interest' justification to support the charge and an argument based upon primacy of contract, given the Defendant is a disabled resident at the location.

Witness Statement 

I am the defendant in this matter. This is my supporting Statement to my application requesting to:

1.       Set aside the default judgment dated 17th March 2023, as:

a)      it was not received at all (please see Witness Statement attached)

b)      Defendant was abroad when the claim was supposedly sent (evidence of flights attached)

c)      the claim itself - from what I can ascertain, not having seen the claim form - is meritless with no breach of a 'relevant contract or obligation' (per POFA 2012 schedule 4) and the conduct of the Claimant in issuing the PCN breaches the Equality Act 2010 such that the claim will not withstand defence by this Defendant, who is a disabled person.  See draft defence attached.

 

2.       Order for original claim to be dismissed. 

3.       Order for the claimant to pay the defendant £228 for time in preparation (12 hours as a litigant in person at a rate of £19 per hour).

4.       I understand that the claimant obtained a default judgment against me as the Defendant on 17th March 2023.

5.       I am aware that the claimant is UK Parking Control Ltd, and that the assumed claims in respect of unpaid Parking Charge Notices.

6.       The claim form was not received at my current address, and I thus was not aware of the Default judgment up until the arrival of the letter of judgment from the County Court Business Centre on the 22/03/23

7.       The missing claim has still not turned up to date, thus it remains unserved.

8.       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, I discovered a CCJ was lodged against my name on the 22/03/23 tarnishing my impeccable credit history. 

9.       In addition to not receiving the claim form, I was abroad from 11/02/23 to 11/03/23, so would not have been able to respond even if it did get served correctly.  

10.   I acted promptly by immediately contacting the CCBC on 23/03/23 raising my concern in relation to the Default judgment only to be told by the court administrator that they do not know why I did not receive the claim form as it was sent

11.   I contacted CCBC again on Monday 27/03/2023 to obtain more information asking for the Particular of Claim be emailed to me.

12.   I also refer to CPR 13.2(the court must set aside a judgment entered under part 12 if judgment was wrongly entered).

13.   In addition, I refer to CPR 13.3, which states:

 

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.

 

The fact that the I was abroad as well as the defence meets the "some other good reason" in CPR 13.3 to set aside the CCJ at the court's discretion in the interests of justice.

 

14.   Should the judgment be set aside. I am confident I can robustly defend the original Parking Charge Notice.

15.   I also enclose a copy of my defence. This shows that the Defendant has very good chances of successfully defending this claim, should the court not in fact strike this claim out. 

16.   I am a disabled blue badge holder as well as wheelchair user. From what I can recall, this ticket was issue when I parked my vehicle outside my house and went into it to open the garage so I could park inside it.

17.   As a disabled person, it took me longer than a normal abled person would

18.   I am prepared to swear on oath that the claim was not served and that is still the position to date. 

19.   I have also attached a Witness Statement of my brother MR Mohammed Khan, who will swear on oath that he did not receive any claim form while I was away.

 

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 of trust without an honest in its truth.

Jamran

I also got the SAR from UKPC. We had actually appealed the ticket. This was the appeal:

I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement and I

will be making a formal complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner and to my MP.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn. Since your PCN is a

vague template, I require ALL photos taken and an explanation of the allegation and your evidence, i.e.:

- If the allegation concerns a PDT machine, the data supplied in response to this appeal must include the

record of payments made - showing partial VRNs - and an explanation of the reason for the PCN, because

your Notice does not explain it.

- If the allegation involves an alleged overstay of minutes, your evidence must include the actual grace period

agreed by the landowner. If you fail to evidence the actual grace period that applies at this site or suggest that

only one period applies, this will be disregarded as an attempt to mislead. In the absence of evidence, it will

be reasonably taken to be a minimum of twenty minutes (ten on arrival and ten after parking time) in

accordance with the official BPA article by Kelvin Reynolds about 'observation periods' on arrival being

additional and separate to a 'grace period' at the end.

- in all cases, you must include a close up actual photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on

the material date.

Formal note:

Should you later pursue this charge by way of litigation, note that service of any legal documents by email is

expressly disallowed and you are not entitled to assume that the data in this dispute/appeal remains the

current address for service in the future.

I should add that I am a disabled blue badge holder. In order to resolve this dispute I attach copies of my blue

badge.

Yours faithfully.

They then sent her a letter asking for the driver details. After that she did not receive any more letters or POPLA code until they started sending NTK and then debt letters.

Le_Kirk

I confirm:
1.    I handled all of the Defendant’s postal correspondences while they were she was abroad
2.    No letters were received in relation to a court claim against her
3.    All correspondences received via post were was kept safe for her while she was abroad
4.    I am willing to swear on oath that I did not received any claim form while Defendant was abroad

Couple of suggestions above

Coupon-mad

Add to the defence, new paras 4 -7 that say:

4.  The Claimant knew the Defendant was disabled because their Blue Badge was provided at very first appeal on DATE/YEAR.  Therefore, there has been no 'legitimate interest' supporting this punitive charge since that date, and the Claimant should never have pursued it further.  

5.  Paragraph 16 of the British Parking Association's' Code of Practice says: "Disabled motorists

16.1 The Equality Act 2010 says that providers of services to the public must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to remove barriers which may discriminate against disabled people. [...] You and your staff also need to realise that some disabled people may take a long time to get to the payment machine." (In the extant case, the court should mentally substitute 'payment machine' and read it as 'key to open the garage' to reach the same effect and recognise the statutory 'reasonable adjustment' duty that this Claimant has breached). 

6.  Whilst the BPA Code of Practice gives some limited assistance to the court, it must be remembered that this is a self-serving Code for - and created by - the parking industry themselves. For the proper and lawful approach to pursuing (or not pursuing) parking charges against disabled persons, we must read the new incoming statutory Code of Practice linked later in this defence, where the Government refers (at the top) to the Equality Act 2010 and the EHRC statutory Code of Practice for Services and Public Functions.

7.  Having reviewed those statutes as part of the process of regulating this rogue industry, the Government has reintroduced a clause (that the BPA up until 2016 used to have as mandatory, then inexplicably dropped it) that on appeal, where a motorist provides their blue badge the parking charge MUST be cancelled.

7.1.  First, see clause 4 Accessible Parking:

"Where parking is being provided as a service, parking operators need to have regard to the obligations placed upon them by the Equality Act 2010 and the EHRC statutory code, in particular to make reasonable adaptations to accommodate disabled people. Reference should also be given to the car park accessibility section in Inclusive Mobility, guidance published on GOV.UK by the Department for Transport on the creation and maintenance of an accessible and inclusive built environment and public realm, an essential document for those seeking to produce an inclusive environment and meet the requirements of the Act."

"...adaptations are not purely physical - people with other disabilities might reasonably need longer consideration period and grace periods, more time to access payment machinery, and other ways to pay where payment is required. Recognition of these obligations is important in the consideration of appeals." [...] "8.3.4 In considering appeals, the parking operator’s process must provide for consideration of mitigating circumstances, with no presumption that these are to be accepted, in accordance with the considerations at Annex F.3. 8.3.5 When an appeal is accepted the parking operator must cancel the parking charge."

7.2.  And see Annex F.3 Appeals: "In considering appeals parking operators must recognise the following as mitigating circumstances warranting cancellation of a parking charge, subject to evidence being provided:
e) where a Blue Badge has not been displayed but the holder of the Blue Badge supplies a copy of the Blue Badge they hold that would have been valid at the time and in the circumstances identified in the notice of parking charge i.e. that the holder was in the vehicle whether or not as the driver);
g) where the parking operator has breached an obligation in this Code relating to the issue of a notice of parking charge, or such that the driver was unable to adhere to the relevant obligations."

--------------

Then re-number below that.

Jamran

I’m ready to email. Just wanted confirmation which email address to send it to please. 

County Court Business Centre Northampton

B789

Jamran said:

I’m ready to email. Just wanted confirmation which email address to send it to please. 

County Court Business Centre Northampton

Your answer is in the Template thread on the first page of the forum, in the first post, checklist item #4. I would advise to print off that checklist and use it as your reference of what to do and when and to whom.

Coupon-mad

Jamran said:

I’m ready to email. Just wanted confirmation which email address to send it to please. 

County Court Business Centre Northampton

Hang on wasn't this a set aside?  If so, it all goes together with the N244, evidence and costs list, to the CCBC FEES email and then she phones them up to pay the fee (or to confirm and apply for Help with Fees).

If unsure, she rings the CCBC first and double checks the email address and pays the fee immediately (or tells them she needs to apply for Help with Fees if applicable).

The Template Defence checklist isn't relevant to a set aside application.