Excel parking fine - Help needed to review my CCJ set aside application documents

Coupon-mad

Remove the words 

'defense' (wrong spelling in the Draft Order)

'freedom of information' (nope!)

'fine' (it isn't a fine, it's a parking charge).

In the Northampton County Court [Is this the same as Northampton CCBC?]

Not the same.  Put your local court as your N244 bundle will be sent there.

noubee

Thanks @Coupon-mad I have corrected as advised. Please see below:

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Draft N244

Name of court: Birmingham County Court

Claim no.: KXXXXXXX

Fee account no.:

Help with Fees – Ref. no.:

Warrant no.:

Claimant’s name: Excel Parking Services Limited

Defendant’s name: Bxxxxxxxxxxy

Date: 07/07/2023

1.      What is your name or, if you are a legal representative, the name of your firm? Bxxxxxxxxxxy

2.      Are you a: Defendant

3.      What order are you asking the court to make and why? The Defendant seeks an order that the judgment dated xx/05/2023 be set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2 and CPR 13.3. The Defendant seeks the order to set aside because she was unaware of the proceedings as the Claimant served proceedings at an address not used by the Defendant since 2019. The Defendant only discovered the Judgment when she received a ‘Notice of Debt Recovery’ letter from Direct Collections Bailiffs Ltd at her current address and has acted promptly in making this application. The Defendant further seeks an order to be allowed to file a defence in the case.

4.      Have you attached a draft of the order you are applying for? Yes

5.      How do you want to have this application dealt with? at a hearing

6.      How long do you think the hearing will last? 1 hour

7.      Give details of any fixed trial date or period

8.      What level of Judge does your hearing need? District Judge

9.      Who should be served with this application? Claimant

        a.      Please give the service address, (other than details of the claimant or defendant) of any party named in question 9.

What information will you be relying on, in support of your application? the attached witness statement.

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Draft Order

In the Birmingham County Court

Claim no.: KXXXXXXX

Between:

Excel Parking Services Limited

Claimant

--- and ---

Bxxxxxxxxxxy

Defendant

 

Draft Order

Upon reading the Defendant’s application dated 07/07/2023

It is ordered that:

1.      The judgment dated xx/05/2023 be set aside.

2.      The Claimant do pay the Defendant’s costs of this application, assessed at £275.

3.      Unless the Claimant serves a copy of the Claim Form on the Defendant by 4pm on DD/MM/YYYY, 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 on DD/MM/YYYY.

5.      If the Claimant discontinues it’s claim after the judgment referred to in paragraph 1 is set aside, the Claimant shall pay the Defendant’s costs of this application, assessed at £275, plus the Defendant’s costs for attending the hearing.

6.      All enforcement be put on hold pending the outcome of the application.

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Witness Statement

In the Birmingham County Court

Claim no.: KXXXXXXX

Between:

Excel Parking Services Limited

Claimant

--- and ---

Bxxxxxxxxxxy

Defendant

 

Witness Statement

I, Bxxxxxxxxxxy of [Birmingham address], am the Defendant in this matter.

This is my witness statement in support of my application for an order to set aside the judgment dated xx/05/2023.

1.          I learned of the existence of this claim on the 27/06/2023 when I received a ‘Notice of Debt Recovery’ letter [attached in Appendix A] from Direct Collections Bailiffs Ltd at my current address [Birmingham address].

2.          It is my understanding that the claim was served at [Stafford address]. However, I no longer live at that address.

3.          I have lived at my current address since December 2020. This is evidenced by my driver’s licence [attached in Appendix B], my most recent update to the electoral register [attached in Appendix C], my most recent council tax bill [attached in Appendix D], and my mortgage completion statement [attached in Appendix E].

4.          Prior to the document stated in paragraph 1.1, I have never received any previous documentation from the Claimant regarding this matter and as such I was never able to defend the claim.

5.          Given that this claim is related to a parking incident which occurred in October 2022, it follows that the Claimant would have had reason to believe they did not hold my current contact details having received no response from me for over 6 months.

6.          It is therefore unreasonable for the Claimant to pursue a claim against me without ensuring that they had my correct and current contact details, especially given the multitude of avenues that could have been used to obtain my current address, vis, tracing agencies, etc.

7.          Based on the above, I believe the Claimant did not fulfil their duty to use my current address when making their claim, meaning I did not have the opportunity to defend this claim properly.

8.          I contacted the Claimant’s legal representative (ELMS Legal Ltd) via email [attached in Appendix F] on 30/06/2023, to inform them about my intention to apply for the case to be set aside but I have not received any response from them.

9.          As a result of all the above, I respectfully request that the Court sets aside the judgment in this claim under CPR 13.2 for improper service of the court documents.

10.       Alternatively, if the court is not inclined to set aside the judgment in this claim under CPR 13.2, there are good reasons why the judgment should be set aside under CPR 13.3

10.1.  I believe that I have good prospects of defending the claim because, given the circumstances, a reasonable grace period should have been given before issuing a charge. When I parked my car, I purchased and displayed my parking ticket on my dashboard, went about my business, realised my parking ticket had expired, and returned to purchase and display another ticket in order to extend my stay at the car park.

Statement of truth: I, Bxxxxxxxxxxy, 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.

Signature:

Date: 07/07/2023

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noubee

I have now submitted the application. I will keep this thread updated with my progress. Thanks very nuch for your help @Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad

noubee said:

I have now submitted the application. I will keep this thread updated with my progress. Thanks very nuch for your help @Coupon-mad

Great and please do come back here in 2 or 3 weeks as explained here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80160565#Comment_80160565

noubee

Sounds good @Coupon-mad. I'll be checking that thread regularly for any updates

noubee

I have a new development in my case.
After having submitted my application last Friday, I received a response from ELMS Legal, re: my request for them to consent to a set aside. As predicted, they were not inclined to do so and they advised me to submit a N244 application form to the courts. I then responded indicating that I had already done so, and they replied back thanking me for the update.
Fast-forward to today, I have received another letter from DCBL reminding me to pay the debt or I would be at risk of enforcement action being taken out against me.

What do I do? This has got me worried.

I would appreciate your advice. Thank you.

Coupon-mad

Send DCB a copy of the N244 and tell them that Elms Legal are already aware, so to go swivel.

noubee

Hello @Coupon-mad, here is the email I'm planning to send them
-----
Good day,

I have just received a letter from yourselves concerning the above case reference. As I have now submitted an application to the courts to set the judgment aside, I would request that no further threatening letters be sent to me until a resolution of the matter is received from the courts. I already notified your clients (ELMS Legal Limited) last Friday (07/07/2023) about my N244 application.

Thank you.
-----
Just a couple of questions please:
1. Wrt sending them the N244 form, I was of the impression that once my application is processed, the court would send them a copy? There's a checkbox on the N244 which asks if you want a copy of the application to be sent to the Claimant and I checked it.
2. If I do have to send them a copy as part of this email, is it just the form to be sent or the form alongside with all the supporting documents that I sent to the court?
3. When I send this email, should I copy in ELMS Legal as well?

Thanks

B789

If you’re sending a formal letter to a scamming scumbag firm of tenth rate solicitors, don’t be so informal. You may as well have started with an emoji and signed that off with love and kisses! 

Start all formal correspondence with “Dear Sir” and end with “Yours faithfully”.

These are not your chums and they wouldn’t pee on you if you were on fire. They are scumbags and you should treat them as such. Scumbags who are out to fleece you of your hard earned cash. Think about it.

noubee

Hello @B789, thanks for your feedback. I have edited as advised. Please see below.

-----
Dear Sir/Madam,

I have just received a letter from yourselves concerning the above case reference. As I have now submitted an application to the courts to set the judgment aside, I would request that no further threatening letters be sent to me until a resolution of the matter is received from the courts. I already notified your clients (ELMS Legal Limited) last Friday (07/07/2023) about my N244 application.

Yours faithfully.
-----
Just a couple of questions please:
1. Wrt sending them the N244 form, I was of the impression that once my application is processed, the court would send them a copy? There's a checkbox on the N244 which asks if you want a copy of the application to be sent to the Claimant and I checked it.
2. If I do have to send them a copy as part of this email, is it just the form to be sent or the form alongside with all the supporting documents that I sent to the court?
3. When I send this email, should I copy in ELMS Legal as well?

Thanks