CCJ for PCN I knew nothing about

hallie28

It's me again living in PCN hell! 

I checked my credit report today for this first time ever as my mortgage application was declined - to find that I have a CCJ.

I haven't received any information about this PCN, and it's registered to my old address (I moved in 2017). 

I have contacted the courts and they have sent the particulars over. Please can someone help me what what my best steps are. Here are the particulars of the claim:

Claimant: UK CAR PARK MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Claimant solicitor: GLADSTONES SOLICITORS LIMITED (7372)

Judgment amount: £295

 

Particulars of claim:

THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE WITH REGISTRATION XXX (THE 'VEHICLE') PARKED IN BREACH OF THE TERMS OF PARKING STIPULATED ON THE SIGNAGE (THE 'CONTRACT') AT XXX RETAIL PARK BIRMINGHAM (PATROL) ON 08/07/2021 THUS INCURRING THE PARKING CHARGE (THE 'PCN'). THE PCN WAS NOT PAID WITHIN 28 DAYS OF ISSUE. THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS THE UNPAID PCN FROM THE DEFENDANT AS THE DRIVER/KEEPER OF THE VEHICLE. DESPITE DEMANDS BEING MADE, THE DEFENDANT HAS FAILED TO SETTLE THEIR OUTSTANDING LIABILITY. THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS £100 FOR THE PCN, £70.00 CONTRACTUAL COSTS PURSUANT TO THE CONTRACT AND PCN TERMS AND CONDITIONS, TOGETHER WITH STATUTORY INTEREST OF £16.15 PURSUANT TO S69 OF THE COUNTY COURTS ACT 1984 AT 8.00% PER ANNUM, CONTINUING AT £0.04 PER DAY

My Recollection:

I have googled the location and I have been there once. I was pregnant and driving and I was sick. I stopped for no longer than 3 minutes to run into the co-op and get things to clean the car with. I can't remember where I parked (it's a small retail space with parking spaces, a co-op, a Greggs and flats above). 

B789

Read the second post in the Newbies/FAQ thread on what you need to do to get this set aside. You probably didn't update your V5C logbook when you moved. You need to get your V5C updated (online).

You will need to act swiftly now that you know you have CCJ as the courts will not look favourably at your application for a set aside if you delay without a reasonable excuse.

hallie28

Thank you - I have spent a while looking through all of the information. I feel a bit panicked due to the urgency of getting the CCJ removed. I know that solicitors in this matter often charge a fortune, but I have limited time to do this justice and feel quite vulnerable. Is it correct that paying the CCJ wouldn't help me with improving my credit? at this point, I am willing to pay to get this matter solved asap. 

The CCJ was issued in November 2022 so it's been in place for a while. My main defence is CPR 13.2 (a) as the claim form was never served to my current address. The fine is for July 2021 and I sold the car in August 2021, so I don't have any documentation left apart from one credit agreement (with my correct address on). 

I have started filing out the N244 with the advice from the various threads. I feel lost in terms of what additional information I need to submit and the templates. Does it all go into box 10?

- Draft Order - I have a template for this, so assume this needs submitting with the correct details as below
- Witness Statement - I have copied mine below, is this adequate?
- Supporting Statement - I have seen this on other threads, so I need to add this as well? How does this differ from the witness statement? 

IN THE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX COUNTY COURT

Claim No. XXX

BETWEEN:

UK Car Park Management Limited

Claimant

– and –

Defendant

XX
_________________________________

DRAFT ORDER
_________________________________



Upon reading the defendant’s application dated ……………….

It is ordered that:

1. The judgment dated XX XX 2022 be set aside.

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

3. Unless the Claimant serves a copy of the Claim Form on the Defendant by 4pm on XXXXXX 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 XXXXXX

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 THE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX COUNTY COURT

Claim No. X

BETWEEN:

UK Car Park Management Limited

Claimant

– and –

Defendant

X

_________________________________

WITNESS STATEMENT OF X
_________________________________

I , XX of XX , 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 XX Judgment dated XX2021) be set aside.

2. I learnt of the existence of this claim on the 15th May 2023 when I checked my Credit File for the purpose of re-mortgage.  

3. My address changed in October 2017.

4. The previous address (XXX) was owned by the defendant’s partner until October 2020. We had mail re-directed successfully for the 2 years following this. We never received correspondence about this claim.  

5. The CCJ was issued against a PCN dated XXXX/2021. The defendant notes that she was 6 months pregnant. The defendant did not receive a PCN on the windscreen of her car to notify her of the alleged charge. She has visited the address in question on one occasion, for approximately 5 minutes, when she needed to use public facilities due to being sick whilst driving.

6. The vehicle that the claim refers to was sold 23rd August 2021, thus the defendant has limited supporting documentation. As she was not notified of the PCN, she was unable to collect supporting information for the defence. The settlement agreement (attached) shows the correct address.

7. The defendants correct personal details can be found in multiple public sources, such as the electoral register. It appears that the claimant continued to issue correspondence to the incorrect address intentionally.

7. 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, YOUR NAME, the Defendant, believe the facts stated within this Witness Statement to be true.

Signed: ________________________________

Dated: ________________________________

Half_way

Where is xxx retail park? I can't find it on Google.
Some places crop up on here more often than others and there may be previous posts from that site

Le_Kirk

Have a look at some of the other CCJ set-aside threads and you will see they are a lot longer and also have a different statement of truth (the correct one). Witness statements (WS) are written in first person so no "the defendant" but "I".

hallie28

Half_way said:

Where is xxx retail park? I can't find it on Google.
Some places crop up on here more often than others and there may be previous posts from that site

Apologies I blanked it out. The park is: PARK CENTRAL RETAIL 1 LEXINGTON GARDENS BIRMINGHAMB15 2DU

hallie28

Thanks for the advise .. I've updated the witness statement accordingly, is there anything else that I've missed? I want to try and get this submitted today

I , XXXof XX , being the Defendant in this case will state as follows;

I make this Witness Statement in support of the application for an order that the judgment in this case (Claim No X Judgment dated XX2021) be set aside.

The claim form was not serviced at my current address and thus I was not aware of the existence of this claim on the XXX 2023 when I checked my Credit File for the purpose of re-mortgage.  

My address changed in October 2017 to XX. I have attached supporting documentation of this X

The address on the claim (XX) was owned by the defendant’s partner until October 2020. We had mail re-directed successfully for the 2 years following this. We never received correspondence about this claim. 

The CCJ was issued against a PCN dated XX2021. I was 6 months pregnant at this timepoint. I did not receive a PCN on the windscreen of my car to notify me of the alleged charge. I visited the address in question on one occasion, for approximately 5 minutes, when I needed to use public facilities due to being sick whilst driving.

The vehicle that the claim refers to was sold xx 2021, thus I have limited supporting documentation The finance settlement agreement (attached) shows the correct address.

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 onto my credit file on the 15th May 2023.

On the same day (15th May 2023) I contacted the County Court Business Centre to obtain relevant information relating to this default judgement.

The following day on 16th May 2023 I have wilfully submitted my case in order to set-aside this judgement and fairly present my case.

I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s correct contact details at the time of the claim.

On that basis, I believe the Claimant has not adhered to CPR 6.9 (3) where they had failed to show due diligence in using an address that the Defendant no longer resides. The claimant did not take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of my current residence despite having 16 months to establish an address. This has led to the claim being incorrectly served to an old address and an irregular judgement.

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.

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.

The defendants correct personal details can be found in multiple public sources, such as the electoral register. The claimant did not have any contact with the defendant, and thus should have considered they had obtained incorrect details. It appears that the claimant continued to issue correspondence to the incorrect address intentionally, in line with the concerns raised by the government regarding this abhorrent industry.

Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim. I believe that the Default Judgement 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

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 believe that the facts stated in this defence 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.

Defendant’s signature:

B789

Not sure if that statement is up to date as the N244 fee is now £275. It would make it a lot easier for us to read and check if you didn't put XX2021. Just put the dates. It is not a secret and these bottom-dwelling companies are not going to have anyone scouring the internet to see if they can identify a post on a forum is from someone that they are dealing with. Even if they did, what do you think they could do about it? They are going to receive whatever is advised on here anyway.

In the earlier example, you mentioned that the set aside should be granted under CPR13.2. You haven't mentioned that in your latest one. You also should have a fallback on CPR 13.3 because you have a reasonable prospect of successfully defending the claim.

1505grandad

"I've updated the witness statement accordingly,....."
But:-

"Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this defence are true."

hallie28

Thanks for that guidance - I've added the CPR notes, changed the cost, and also the other bits of case law. I've amended the statement of truth to 'witness statement', 

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

I make this Witness Statement in support of the application for an order that the judgment in this case (Claim No X Judgment dated 14/11/2021) be set aside.

This is a breach of CPR 13.2 (a) as the claim form was never served to my current address. Due to this, the judgement was wrongly entered as I was unable to submit an acknowledgement of service in the absence of notification of the case (CPR 13.3). I was first aware of the existence of this claim on the 15th May 2023 when I checked my Credit File for the purpose of re-mortgage.

My address changed in October 2017 to XXX. I have attached supporting documentation of this X

The address on the claim (XX) was owned by the defendant’s partner until October 2020. We had mail re-directed successfully for the 2 years following this. We never received correspondence about this claim. 

The CCJ was issued against a PCN dated 08/07/2021. I was 6 months pregnant at this timepoint. I did not receive a PCN on the windscreen of my car to notify me of the alleged charge. I briefly visited the address in question on one occasion, when I needed to use public facilities due to being sick whilst driving.

The vehicle that the claim refers to was sold 23rd August 2021, thus I have limited supporting documentation The finance settlement agreement (attached) shows the correct address.

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 onto my credit file on the 15th May 2023.

On the same day (15th May 2023) I contacted the County Court Business Centre to obtain relevant information relating to this default judgement.

The following day on 16th May 2023 I have wilfully submitted my case in order to set-aside this judgement and fairly present my case.

I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s correct contact details at the time of the claim.

On that basis, I believe the Claimant has not adhered to CPR 6.9 (3) where they had failed to show due diligence in using an address that the Defendant no longer resides. The claimant did not take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of my current residence despite having 16 months to establish an address. This has led to the claim being incorrectly served to an old address and an irregular judgement.

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.

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.

In Collier v Williams [2006] 1 WLR 1945 (CA) LJ Dyson said

"What state of mind in the server is connoted by the words "last known"? … As we have said, there is an important distinction between belief and knowledge. It is a distinction particularly well understood in the criminal law, but elsewhere too. The draftsman of the rules deliberately chose the word "known". In our view, knowledge in this context refers to the serving party's actual knowledge or what might be called his constructive knowledge, i.e. knowledge which he could have acquired exercising reasonable diligence. We arrive at this conclusion on the basis of what we understand the words to mean. We do not believe that there are any policy reasons which require us to give the words a strained or unusual meaning. The risk of satellite litigation is inherent in whatever interpretation is adopted. It is true that a defendant who has not in fact received the claim form should have no difficulty in setting aside a default judgment. But it is not desirable that defendants should be put to the trouble and expense of making applications to set aside default judgments."

Whilst these comments were echoed by:

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

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


In Broadside Colours And Chemicals Ltd, Re (No 2) [2012] EWHC 195 (Ch) (20 February 2012) it would appear that obtaining the information from a source that an individual is required by law to keep updated is adequate knowledge. However, i would submit that it is incumbent to have recent knowledge and not outdated knowledge as HHJ Hacon put it in MB Garden Buildings Ltd v Mark Burton Construction Ltd & Anor [2014] EWHC 431 (IPEC) (28 February 2014)

As it was put in Dubai Financial Group Llc v National Private Air Transport Services Company (National Air Services) Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 71 (09 February 2016) by LJ McCombe

“If a defendant has never become under a valid obligation to acknowledge service, either as specified under the rules or by order of the court, I do not see how it can be that a judgment can be entered against him in default of such acknowledgment. He is simply not in default at all."


In this case, the defendants correct personal details can be found in multiple public sources, such as the electoral register, DVLA, HMRC. The claimant did not have any contact with the defendant, and thus should have considered they had obtained incorrect details. It appears that the claimant continued to issue correspondence to the incorrect address intentionally, in line with the concerns raised by the government regarding this abhorrent industry.

Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim. I believe that the Default Judgement 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 £275 from the claimant should this request be successful

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 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.

Defendant’s signature:

Coupon-mad

Eek at the wrong word "wilfully"!  We know it came from that old template, which is awful.

Your newer draft above is much better (remove that silly word though) but you do need to point out that a historic vehicle address provided by the DVLA merely to help indemnify a driver back in (YEAR of PCN), is never intended to be a reliable address for service court documents.  And certainly it must never be assumed to be good enough months/years later, after reminder letters have been met with silence.  This is reason to believe the DVLA address may be out of date, and this is why the IPC Code of Practice says (QUOTE THE SECTION ABOUT CHECKING ADDRESSES IF MORE THAN 12 MONTHS HAVE PASSED BEFORE LITIGATION).