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

Coupon-mad

DCB aren't the Claimant.  You can copy in Elms Legal but I'd only attach the N244.  No need for the likes of DCB to see chapter & verse about where you live/have lived.

noubee

Thank you @Coupon-mad. I have sent the email with the attached N244.

noubee

Yesterday I received the email below from DCBL. Basically, it looks like they won't stop sending me letters until after the set aside has actually been granted. I guess I can just ignore them, right? Or do I need to make some kind of response?

@Coupon-mad

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

Collections	Tue, 18 Jul, 13:35 (1 day ago)
to me

Dear Bxxxxxxxxxxx,

 

DCBL write further to your correspondence.

 

We are instructed by our Client ELMS Legal Limited on behalf of Excel Parking Services Limited, to recover the outstanding balance of £277.00 in relation to the County Court Judgment (CCJ) issued to you, reference number KXXXXXXX.

 

DCBL note from your correspondence that you have filed to have the judgment set aside and have requested no further correspondence be sent by DCBL.

 

DCBL debt recovery action will continue until the we receive confirmation from our Client that the judgment has been set aside and we have been instructed to stop the debt recovery process.

 

Please remember you can pay easily by using Scan to Pay, simply scan the QR code located on our letters with your phone and pay by card. You can also pay by card on the secure payment page on the website 24 hours a day www.dcbltd.com/pay-online/.

 

Alternatively, use our 24/7 Payment line: 01xxxxxxxxxx— Office number: 02xxxxxxxxxx Office opening hours: Monday—Friday 8am—5pm.

 

Bank Transfer

Sort Code:                        20-xx-xx

Account Number:            60xxxxxx

 

Please quote your DCBL reference number XXXXXXX as the payment reference.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dxxxxxxxxxxxx

Collections Associate

Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd

Coupon-mad

Ignore them.

As it's under £600 they can't send HCEOs and will just send daft letters which you should collect to show to the Judge their unreasonable conduct.

They know you've applied to set the CCJ aside so they should shut up.  These further demands are vexatious.

noubee

@Coupon-mad thanks so much for your help. I have now received a letter with a court date set for 24th October. This was after having previously received another letter informing me that my case had been transferred to another judge.
I am a little bit worried about appearing in court, so I would appreciate any help or advice. When I get in front of the judge, how will I defend my case?
Will I simply re-iterate what I outlined in my witness statement? Or are there specific questions that the judge will ask which I need to be prepared for?

Thank you

Le_Kirk

Read and know your defence, witness statement and evidence inside out, make yourself a crib sheet so that, if you are given a chance by the judge to talk, you can make sure you get across ALL your points.  Make sure your crib sheet contains pointers from your WS to the evidence page and paragraph. Be there early in case the cases in front of you move up the queue and also to allow time for security checks etc.  Do not allow yourself to be sidetracked into a room so that a well-dressed lawyerly type can "have a few words".  Do not accept any bits of paper.  Have a spare copy of your witness statement in case the claimant tries the "we did not receive the defendant's WS" trick!  Be polite and do not talk over the judge, address the judge as "Judge" even if a lady judge and finally - good luck.  Don't forget, when you win, to ask for your costs.
Is this for the set-aside or for the underlying defence?

noubee

Hello @Le_Kirk thanks a lot for your detailed comment. This court date is for the set-aside only. Once the set-aside is granted, is a date automatically set for the underlying defence? I wonder if it's even worth me fighting the original charge or should I just go ahead and pay it? Apologies if that seems like a silly question to ask! This whole going to court makes me feel very queasy

B789

But if you just pay the claim amount, you are admitting liability and you are also paying the illegal amount they have added. This is not Rumpole of the Bailey court. It is small claims county court and there are no wigs and gowns. Just you, the judge and a legal rep on behalf of the claimant in a side office. All very civilised.

What about recovering your costs? Don't you want to try and get them back?

Le_Kirk

Bear in mind what @B789 has written; have a copy of the defence that you might consider using when you attend the hearing just in case the judge asks.  The judge, when he grants the set-aside, will probably tell you that a hearing will be set at some future date and the court will be in touch to tell you when it will be.  Looking back through your thread, it would appear you are claiming set-aside due to claim form not served properly CPR 13.2 so you should not be relying on CPR 13.3 good prospect of defending the underlying claim and the judge may therefore not want to see the defence.

milkybk

noubee said:

Hello @Le_Kirk thanks a lot for your detailed comment. This court date is for the set-aside only. Once the set-aside is granted, is a date automatically set for the underlying defence? I wonder if it's even worth me fighting the original charge or should I just go ahead and pay it? Apologies if that seems like a silly question to ask! This whole going to court makes me feel very queasy

I've been through both the set aside hearing and claim hearing process recently. It's not as daunting an experience as you think, easy said once you've done it but the entire process (of the actual hearing day etc) is actually quite informal. As B789 mentioned, it's just small claims court, in my case via a cloud service (so I was at home). If your case is defendable then you should defend it. You can't let these companies walk over you. They're incredibly ill-informed, their defence etc are poorly written and usually their representative in court doesn't even know the case. At my set aside hearing Excel's rep just continually read the same statements from a script and at my claim hearing the lawyer clearly hadn't looked at the evidence pack from the claimant, as he hadn't even noticed that dates were wrong or the pictures were all illegible etc.

This company has caused you distress, is harassing you and has attempted to hold you at ransom by damaging your credit record in a fraudulent manor. Defend yourself.