CCJ from Court: PCN from Civil Enforcement that had been sent to wrong addresses, live in USA now

dannyr1

Apologies if there is already a similar situation but I spent some time in the previous forums and couldn't find this. I am living in the US since last year but I still one day plan to return to the UK and do not want the CCJ to impact my credit. I am a US citizen with a US address, so I am not sure if that would affect any of this. 

I would like to request some support and help with the next step of my fight with Civil Enforcement and DCBL regarding a parking charge notice last year. 

Summary

I had received a letter from DCBL back in July/August 2022 over parking and not registering my car in a hotel on February 2022. I had never received the original PCN. 

It turns out that they had sent all letters to a previous address despite me having updated my address with DVLA. (Some have said they had possibly obtained the address from V5, but they had never confirmed.)

I had sent DCBL and Civil Enforcement multiple letters last year following the letter received in July 2022. I explained the situation that it was sent to the wrong address. 

Furthermore I spoke with the hotel. I do tango there and I spoke with the tango teachers there in an attempt to get it cancelled. It turns out that this happens often as signage is poorly lit in the nighttime when the tango classes take place and the teachers do not always let us know that we need to register. 

The tango teachers contacted the hotel to cancel the tickets but when they contacted Civil Enforcement, they said it was with the debt company and it was too late. 

Now back in December 2022, I moved to the USA. I had my mail forwarded to an address in England that I am not staying in and that does not get checked often. I was still receiving letters from Civil Enforcement. 

In late May they sent a letter of action form, I had a friend open the letter with only one week left to reply. I sent a letter from here stating that I no longer live in the UK and wished to deny the debt. 

Unfortunately, another letter came in to the UK address showing that the County Court made a judgement in default dated 8 June 2023. The costs have also nearly doubled to about £310. All of this and despite my requests for proof, they still never sent me any photos of the contravention to my updated address. 

After doing much research, I still wish to fight this. I had read that setting aside the CCJ is an option. Will this affect my credit. Could I still fight this and should I still fight this? 

What options do I have since I live in the USA now? Could I set the CCJ aside and negotiate for a lower amount? I would have paid the original ticket if I had received it and it was in the original amount, but CE has refused that offer. 

I would like to avoid this appearing in my credit file in case I move back to England.

I spoke with a few companies, some solicitors want to charge upwards of £500-1,000 and a company called Lawyers4U said I should just pay it to avoid on my credit. I am considering going this route and also asking that company to pay it for me just to make sure I don't make any mistakes.  They charge £99 for this service

Thank you very much for reading, any advice would be appreciated. 

Coupon-mad

Does a UK CCJ matter to you if you live in the US?  Nothing will happen.

Certainly DO NOT offer money to CEL.

You can apply to set it aside as shown on lots of CCJ set aside threads.  That does not involve paying it.

Umkomaas

When realistically do you anticipate a move back to the UK, and would that likely to be permanent or temporary (if so, for how long)?  If you're talking about holidays, your US credit card will carry you through any vacation period. 

Johnersh

sent a letter from here stating that I no longer live in the UK and wished to deny the debt. 

Hang on. Was the USA address provided before the claim form was issued?   Tell me you have a copy of that letter and/or that it was emailed? 

If C was on written notice that D no longer resided at the address used, this may be an immediate set aside.

They needed permission to serve outside the jurisdiction and to send it to the usa. They cannot serve an old address because it's convenient for them. 

dannyr1

Hello, just replying here. No I did not provide CE or DCBL with my US address. Their correspondence was automatically forwarded to a friend's address.


I plan to go back end of year/next year. Does doing a set aside avoid any issues with Credit?

Le_Kirk

If you are applying for a set-aside due to the claim form having been served on an incorrect address and you are not "credit-cleansing" which judges dislike (I've read), then when/if you are successful, the CCJ is wiped from you record as if it never existed.  When you write: -

I plan to go back end of year/next year.

do you mean go back to the US, therefore you are in UK now or do you mean go back to the UK, meaning you are in US now?

Umkomaas

Le_Kirk said:

If you are applying for a set-aside due to the claim form having been served on an incorrect address and you are not "credit-cleansing" which judges dislike (I've read), then when/if you are successful, the CCJ is wiped from you record as if it never existed.  When you write: -

I plan to go back end of year/next year.

do you mean go back to the US, therefore you are in UK now or do you mean go back to the UK, meaning you are in US now?

..... and if back to the UK, will that be permanent, or temporary (if so for how long)?  Do you have dual UK/US nationality?

dannyr1

Hello, I have permanent residency in the UK and one day I would like to return on a more permanent (half the time there and half the time here in the US). I wholeheartedly disagreed with the entire reason I received the parking ticket (wrong address) However, seeing that they used the V5C (not updated and the one they had originally sent the PCN to) and not the DVLA (which I did update ) one I am not sure that would stand up as a good defence. and furthermore should I seek a solicitor to fight this or just pay the £310 inflated rate to avoid having this reach my credit at all. 

The goal here is to avoid the credit reporting (the CCJ was made 8 June) but it seems the best shot I have is to simply just pay the fee as I think doing a set aside doesn't automatically mean it won't be on my credit report. Not sure if that makes sense. Thank you all!

Umkomaas

However, seeing that they used the V5C (not updated and the one they had originally sent the PCN to) and not the DVLA (which I did update ) one I am not sure that would stand up as a good defence.

But they are required by the BPA Code of Practice to undertake a trace to ascertain, in the event of radio silence from the defendant, whether the address has changed before issuing proceedings. Please read the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) 13.2, and thereafter 13.3. 

dannyr1

Thanks Umkomaas. However, I was referring to the original letter and not proceedings. The CCJ paperwork had been sent to the most up to date mail forwarding address I had in the UK. In that case, I am not sure I have a good defence. 

Umkomaas

dannyr1 said:

Thanks Umkomaas. However, I was referring to the original letter and not proceedings. The CCJ paperwork had been sent to the most up to date mail forwarding address I had in the UK. In that case, I am not sure I have a good defence. 

Do you mean the County Court Claim form (N180 - that's not a CCJ, many confuse them) sent via the Northampton CCBC, or the actual Judgment in Default (the CCJ)?

Do you think your 6 months here/6 months there pattern of stays will commence in earnest in the next 6 years?  If so, what difficulties are you anticipating in the context of your credit rating whilst in the UK?