Parking tickets and CCJ for parking in residents parking

Harvez63

Coupon-mad said:

Stay the writ? How much are we talking about?  What happened with the HCEOs?

Do not pay it off.

Read the thread by @Harvez63 who also had HCEOs to his door and overcame it all.

I never had the HCEO's at my door sorry

D_P_Dance

Read this

UKPC issuing PCN's on OUR PRIVATE BUSINESS LAND without a contract - off to court - UKPC liable for trespass - **SUCCESS** - Private Land Parking Enforcement - Consumer Action Group

There may be an opportunity for revenge here

LizA70

Harvez63 said:

Coupon-mad said:

Stay the writ? How much are we talking about?  What happened with the HCEOs?

Do not pay it off.

Read the thread by @Harvez63 who also had HCEOs to his door and overcame it all.

I never had the HCEO's at my door sorry

I can attest that its not a pleasant experience !! Mine has gone straight from CCJ to HCEO, its shocking to think that these guys have no duty of care to ensure that paperwork is delivered to the correct place and one of the threads I was reading last night was a the first time they get your address right (albeit it was still not correct) is when they knock at your door !! Glad yours got sorted 

LizA70

D_P_Dance said:

Read this

UKPC issuing PCN's on OUR PRIVATE BUSINESS LAND without a contract - off to court - UKPC liable for trespass - **SUCCESS** - Private Land Parking Enforcement - Consumer Action Group

There may be an opportunity for revenge here

Thank you very much 

LizA70

Spoke with CNBC who have said its been delivered to the wrong email box, spoke to local courts and been asked to send it there, CNBC stated notes have been added to their system to reflect incorrect information given.  Local High Court have given me Email box to send to them, do I use this as an opportunity to redraft my N244 to style I've been seeing in threads ?  I may spontaneously combust !!  asked High Court this morning if I should add additional commentary of what has been happening with my application since first sent 2nd Feb, not sure whether I should add to WS, email or both ? Any help appreciated 

Coupon-mad

Yes why not grab the chance to append a WS and evidence this time?

I suggest adding something like this (put right any factual mistakes) and attach evidence of your move (utility bill etc.), and your email exchange about trying to get a permit, and a link to the BPA CoP 2020 - v8 - of the PPC is a BPA AOS member.  See below.

Which PPC?  If it is NOT a BPA AOS member you must change para 11 below completely, to cite the equivalent clause that you can find in the IPC CoP instead.

Which solicitors filed the claim?  DCB Legal?

Is it right that you had mail redirection in place for over a year?  Sounds unlikely?  Change 'November 2023' to 'November 2022' below if the year 2023 was a mistake in your earlier post.


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


IN THE HIGH COURT and COUNTY COURT

Claim No. XXXXXXXX

BETWEEN:

CLAIMANT’S NAME

Claimant

– and –

YOUR NAME

Defendant

_________________________________

WITNESS STATEMENT OF YOUR NAME
_________________________________

This Witness statement is being sent to the CNBC and to the High Court. I, YOUR NAME of YOUR ADDRESS, being the Defendant in this case will state as follows;

1. I make this Witness Statement in support of the application made on 2nd February 2024, for an order that the High Court Writ be stayed and that judgment in this case be set aside, pursuant to CPR 13.2., due to improper service of the claim form.

2. Further, should Court be of the view that the generic Particulars of Claim (which fail to break down or properly specify the various purported multiple 'parking charges' and their extortionate multiple 'damages' enhancement) are inadequate and thus in breach of CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7, I respectfully ask that the entire claim be struck out.


Prompt application made

3.  I learnt of the existence of this claim in January 2024, when I checked my Credit File and was shocked to find a CCJ of £4xxx registered against my previous address.  I sought urgent advice and have promptly followed what I've been told by Court Staff and Citizens Advice.  I have subsequently been subjected to the shock of a visit from an Enforcement Agent aggressively demanding payment of the judgment detailed in paragraph 1. [EXHIBIT A - HCEO enforcement letter, which appears to have added more than the capped £75].

4.  My application was made over a month ago.  Last week I spoke every day to the CNBC about where my application is up to (4 weeks after sent to a mail box that send automated responses that it will be dealt with in 10 working days).  I acted promptly and have made every effort to resolve the matter.  By contrast, the Claimant has acted improperly throughout, including in the pre-action phase as well as when filing the claim itself.

5.  By reason of the Claimant’s breach of the Civil Procedure Rules - see below - which amounts to an abuse of the process of the Court, the claim form was never properly served and the judgment must be set aside at the Claimant’s expense, being ordered to refund the fee of £275 that I paid to the CNBC [EXHIBIT B - receipt for £275 fee].

The claim was served to an old address

6.  My address changed and I left the property where this rogue parking company had operated in August 2022.  I had mail redirection in place until mid November 2023.  I updated my financial details, bank account and my driving licence at the DVLA. I also changed my car soon after and the DVLA have my new address (above in paragraph 1) registered against my new car.   [EXHIBIT C - proof of my property move date, various documents showing that my address had been changed with multiple agencies, and screenshot proof from my credit file 'current address' that I was there to be found].

The Claimant's breach of the CPRs and the applicable Code of Practice at the point of filing this claim.

7. The claim form was sent to an old address at which I no longer reside and, as can be seen by my efforts to obtain a permit in 2020, and my efforts in 2024 to stay the Writ and set aside the CCJ, I am not the sort of person to have ignored a c£4000 court claim.  If I had been given the opportunity to do so, I would have successfully defended the claim and in fact I would probably have counterclaimed.

8.  I did not receive a letter of claim as required by the Pre-Action Protocol. Nor did I receive the claim form or any particulars of claim and was thus deprived of the ability to defend the claim. 

9.  The Claimant is well aware that people move home from time to time, especially those renting flats.  They took advantage of the fact that I did not respond to any 2023 communications sent to me at my old address, which was in sharp contrast to how they had seen me engage and badger them for a permit in 2020.  They also knew my status was 'tenant' at the time (the average stay in one property is approximately one year by tenants in the UK). There was clearly 'reason to believe' I was no longer at that flat.

10.  This situation is explicitly dealt with in the Civil Procedure Rules which provide at CPR 6.9(3):  "Where a claimant has reason to believe that the address of the defendant … is an address at which the defendant no longer resides or carries on business, the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant’s current residence or place of business (‘current address’)."

11.  The Claimant is a member of the British Parking Association (the ‘BPA’) and is bound by the BPA’s Code of Practice which gives voice to CPR 6.9(3) in the following terms:

" 24.1c Before serving a Letter Before Claim and prior to the issue of proceedings, Operators must, if no responses have been received to the NTD/NTK/reminder letters, take reasonable endeavours to ensure that the contact details for the person you are writing to are correct."

12.  If the Claimant had taken the actions required by the Civil Procedure Rules and the Code of Practice, my current address would have been found easily, which is obviously what DCBL did before seeking their High Court Writ, knowing from the Credit Ref Agency simple 'soft address trace' (that they did far too late) that the address on the claim had been the wrong address.

13.  If those actions had been performed at the correct time rather than after judgment, I would not have been deprived of the ability to defend the claim. 

Primary defence:

Improper parking charges - no contract and no breach by my conduct; the term requiring display of a non-existent permit was void for impossibility

14.  I reserve the right to file a full defence and potentially a counterclaim, should the court not strike out this claim for want of service and/or inadequately pleaded POC, but to assist the court my primary defence (if required) will be as follows:

14.1.  When I discovered the CCJ in January 2024  I made immediate enquiries of the CNBC from which I was able to establish that the claim relates to over 10 parking tickets in 2020 when my old car was parked in my allocated residents parking area, at a flat I was renting. This Claimant repeatedly failed to issue my residents parking permit and were subsequently thrown off the site in 2021.

14.2.  In an email that my landlord forwarded to me, the Managing Agents ('MA') of the site referred to this Claimant's failure to respond to phone calls or issue permits in a timely manner.  There had been mass ticketing of residents and I was advised by my landlord not to pay, as the charges were unfair and the parking firm had apparently breached their Contractual obligations with the MA, had been removed and did not have jurisdiction at the estate. [EXHIBIT D].

14.3.  After 6 weeks of being in that flat in 2020, having called this Claimant almost every day, I finally received a form which I completed via email and attached the requested documentation the following day. However, i still never got a permit from these Claimants (only Parking Charge Notices) and I had to continually go out of my way to renew and display temporary paper permits from our building rep. From what I can see on the CCJ (information from the CNBC) it mentions "failure to display valid parking permit".  This was never my failure by conduct so any breach of terms will be denied. I made every reasonable endeavour to obtain a permit but by delaying it, this Claimant made their own contractual terms void for impossibility.

Conclusion:

15.  In view of the foregoing, I respectfully ask that my application is granted:

- staying the High Court Writ;

- setting aside the CCJ;

- awarding my costs of £275 (plus my hearing attendance costs if a hearing is required) against the Claimant pursuant to 27.14(2);

- striking out the claim for want of service, breach of the Code of Practice, breaches of various CPRs listed above and/or the fact that the claim has no prospects of success;

- any further order deemed proper in the premises.

16.  Merely reserving my costs as part of a CCJ set aside Order would not protect my position. Attention is drawn to the (very often-seen) distinct possibility of an unreasonably late Notice of Discontinuance after the CCJ is set aside, which parking firms are noted to do in order to escape liability for Defendants' application costs.

17.  It is noted that CPR r.38.6 does state that the Claimant is liable for the Defendant's costs after discontinuance (r.38.6(1)) this does not 'normally' apply to claims allocated to the small claims track (r.38.6(3)). However, the White Book clarifies (annotation 38.6.1): "Note that the normal rule as to costs does not apply if a claimant in a case allocated to the small claims track serves a notice of discontinuance although it might be contended that costs should be awarded if a party has behaved unreasonably (r.27.14(2)(dg))."   

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.

Signature:

Date:

LizA70

Coupon-mad said:

Yes why not grab the chance to append a WS and evidence this time?

I suggest adding something like this (put right any factual mistakes) and attach evidence of your move (utility bill etc.), and your email exchange about trying to get a permit, and a link to the BPA CoP 2020 - v8 - of the PPC is a BPA AOS member.  See below.

Which PPC?  If it is NOT a BPA AOS member you must change para 11 below completely, to cite the equivalent clause that you can find in the IPC CoP instead.

Which solicitors filed the claim?  DCB Legal?

Is it right that you had mail redirection in place for over a year?  Sounds unlikely?  Change 'November 2023' to 'November 2022' below if the year 2023 was a mistake in your earlier post.


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


IN THE HIGH COURT and COUNTY COURT

Claim No. XXXXXXXX

BETWEEN:

CLAIMANT’S NAME

Claimant

– and –

YOUR NAME

Defendant

_________________________________

WITNESS STATEMENT OF YOUR NAME
_________________________________

This Witness statement is being sent to the CNBC and to the High Court. I, YOUR NAME of YOUR ADDRESS, being the Defendant in this case will state as follows;

1. I make this Witness Statement in support of the application made on 2nd February 2024, for an order that the High Court Writ be stayed and that judgment in this case be set aside, pursuant to CPR 13.2., due to improper service of the claim form.

2. Further, should Court be of the view that the generic Particulars of Claim (which fail to break down or properly specify the various purported multiple 'parking charges' and their extortionate multiple 'damages' enhancement) are inadequate and thus in breach of CPR 16.4, 16PD3 and 16PD7, I respectfully ask that the entire claim be struck out.


Prompt application made

3.  I learnt of the existence of this claim in January 2024, when I checked my Credit File and was shocked to find a CCJ of £4xxx registered against my previous address.  I sought urgent advice and have promptly followed what I've been told by Court Staff and Citizens Advice.  I have subsequently been subjected to the shock of a visit from an Enforcement Agent aggressively demanding payment of the judgment detailed in paragraph 1. [EXHIBIT A - HCEO enforcement letter, which appears to have added more than the capped £75].

4.  My application was made over a month ago.  Last week I spoke every day to the CNBC about where my application is up to (4 weeks after sent to a mail box that send automated responses that it will be dealt with in 10 working days).  I acted promptly and have made every effort to resolve the matter.  By contrast, the Claimant has acted improperly throughout, including in the pre-action phase as well as when filing the claim itself.

5.  By reason of the Claimant’s breach of the Civil Procedure Rules - see below - which amounts to an abuse of the process of the Court, the claim form was never properly served and the judgment must be set aside at the Claimant’s expense, being ordered to refund the fee of £275 that I paid to the CNBC [EXHIBIT B - receipt for £275 fee].

The claim was served to an old address

6.  My address changed and I left the property where this rogue parking company had operated in August 2022.  I had mail redirection in place until mid November 2023.  I updated my financial details, bank account and my driving licence at the DVLA. I also changed my car soon after and the DVLA have my new address (above in paragraph 1) registered against my new car.   [EXHIBIT C - proof of my property move date, various documents showing that my address had been changed with multiple agencies, and screenshot proof from my credit file 'current address' that I was there to be found].

The Claimant's breach of the CPRs and the applicable Code of Practice at the point of filing this claim.

7. The claim form was sent to an old address at which I no longer reside and, as can be seen by my efforts to obtain a permit in 2020, and my efforts in 2024 to stay the Writ and set aside the CCJ, I am not the sort of person to have ignored a c£4000 court claim.  If I had been given the opportunity to do so, I would have successfully defended the claim and in fact I would probably have counterclaimed.

8.  I did not receive a letter of claim as required by the Pre-Action Protocol. Nor did I receive the claim form or any particulars of claim and was thus deprived of the ability to defend the claim. 

9.  The Claimant is well aware that people move home from time to time, especially those renting flats.  They took advantage of the fact that I did not respond to any 2023 communications sent to me at my old address, which was in sharp contrast to how they had seen me engage and badger them for a permit in 2020.  They also knew my status was 'tenant' at the time (the average stay in one property is approximately one year by tenants in the UK). There was clearly 'reason to believe' I was no longer at that flat.

10.  This situation is explicitly dealt with in the Civil Procedure Rules which provide at CPR 6.9(3):  "Where a claimant has reason to believe that the address of the defendant … is an address at which the defendant no longer resides or carries on business, the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant’s current residence or place of business (‘current address’)."

11.  The Claimant is a member of the British Parking Association (the ‘BPA’) and is bound by the BPA’s Code of Practice which gives voice to CPR 6.9(3) in the following terms:

" 24.1c Before serving a Letter Before Claim and prior to the issue of proceedings, Operators must, if no responses have been received to the NTD/NTK/reminder letters, take reasonable endeavours to ensure that the contact details for the person you are writing to are correct."

12.  If the Claimant had taken the actions required by the Civil Procedure Rules and the Code of Practice, my current address would have been found easily, which is obviously what DCBL did before seeking their High Court Writ, knowing from the Credit Ref Agency simple 'soft address trace' (that they did far too late) that the address on the claim had been the wrong address.

13.  If those actions had been performed at the correct time rather than after judgment, I would not have been deprived of the ability to defend the claim. 

Primary defence:

Improper parking charges - no contract and no breach by my conduct; the term requiring display of a non-existent permit was void for impossibility

14.  I reserve the right to file a full defence and potentially a counterclaim, should the court not strike out this claim for want of service and/or inadequately pleaded POC, but to assist the court my primary defence (if required) will be as follows:

14.1.  When I discovered the CCJ in January 2024  I made immediate enquiries of the CNBC from which I was able to establish that the claim relates to over 10 parking tickets in 2020 when my old car was parked in my allocated residents parking area, at a flat I was renting. This Claimant repeatedly failed to issue my residents parking permit and were subsequently thrown off the site in 2021.

14.2.  In an email that my landlord forwarded to me, the Managing Agents ('MA') of the site referred to this Claimant's failure to respond to phone calls or issue permits in a timely manner.  There had been mass ticketing of residents and I was advised by my landlord not to pay, as the charges were unfair and the parking firm had apparently breached their Contractual obligations with the MA, had been removed and did not have jurisdiction at the estate. [EXHIBIT D].

14.3.  After 6 weeks of being in that flat in 2020, having called this Claimant almost every day, I finally received a form which I completed via email and attached the requested documentation the following day. However, i still never got a permit from these Claimants (only Parking Charge Notices) and I had to continually go out of my way to renew and display temporary paper permits from our building rep. From what I can see on the CCJ (information from the CNBC) it mentions "failure to display valid parking permit".  This was never my failure by conduct so any breach of terms will be denied. I made every reasonable endeavour to obtain a permit but by delaying it, this Claimant made their own contractual terms void for impossibility.

Conclusion:

15.  In view of the foregoing, I respectfully ask that my application is granted:

- staying the High Court Writ;

- setting aside the CCJ;

- awarding my costs of £275 (plus my hearing attendance costs if a hearing is required) against the Claimant pursuant to 27.14(2);

- striking out the claim for want of service, breach of the Code of Practice, breaches of various CPRs listed above and/or the fact that the claim has no prospects of success;

- any further order deemed proper in the premises.

16.  Merely reserving my costs as part of a CCJ set aside Order would not protect my position. Attention is drawn to the (very often-seen) distinct possibility of an unreasonably late Notice of Discontinuance after the CCJ is set aside, which parking firms are noted to do in order to escape liability for Defendants' application costs.

17.  It is noted that CPR r.38.6 does state that the Claimant is liable for the Defendant's costs after discontinuance (r.38.6(1)) this does not 'normally' apply to claims allocated to the small claims track (r.38.6(3)). However, the White Book clarifies (annotation 38.6.1): "Note that the normal rule as to costs does not apply if a claimant in a case allocated to the small claims track serves a notice of discontinuance although it might be contended that costs should be awarded if a party has behaved unreasonably (r.27.14(2)(dg))."   

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.

Signature:

Date:

Thank you so very much, couple of questions as I’m getting paranoid, not receiving anything major to do with this makes me doubt myself.

email from management committee was for all residents not just me reference reason to Chuck them off May 2021  but my landlord was the one was the one who told me not to pay, he verbally said it many times and confirmed it in writing, all be it a one line on an email, so don’t want courts thinking it was Management Committee instructing me not to pay.  But do have the email from the management committee to attach and landlord to attach, as that with combination of landlord is what lead me to continue to ignore until mid 2021. 

Checked all documents for moving house council tax, utilities etc, got all the usual stuff done when moved into my house, I need to verify with DVLA dates, licence done but want to check car, know definitely done summer 2023 as I got and paid for PCN congestion charge and changed my car in August 2021.  My bank and clearscore,  I didn’t change until April 23, realised error when needed new bank card as all stuff online  I do all banking online and realised at that time, but DCB  told me LBC was sent out October 2023, and courts advised claim form was sent 30/11 so presume that’s okay and fact HCEOs found me, mean I’m covered ? 

But my concern is mail redirect now as I did have it on until November 2023 and DCB sent LBC 30th October, I was a temporary resident August-Nov 2022 whilst waiting for my house to go through, so did 3 months for this and then  12 months extra, can understand that not everything gets  to you and I know I didn’t get DCB LBC, but guessing again fact they’ve gone for HCEO and used my current address, but still didn’t get their letter advising of visit as it’s got another house name at my postcode, possibly sitting in someone else’s home.  And it’s not the correct postal address I gave to the courts when I found out and called on the 8th Jan.  just don’t want to put anything down incorrect 

Hugely appreciate all the work you’ve done so far, this is so stressful and I’m starting to doubt my own sanity, never had anything like this before !! 

Thank you 

LizA70

DVLA confirmed licence to new address done Nov 22, log book it’s a different car so won’t be registered keeper, I’m assuming they’ve not checked at all before issuing LBC or
 court docs
 

Coupon-mad

No worries. My suggested wording covers this.  A landlord is not a MA, so it isn't misleading.

They've not checked at all before litigation and the DVLA is a red herring because they are not allowed to check again with the DVLA. My wording also more than covers that and the fact not doing a soft trace (costs from 28 pence to do it in bulk) is a CPR and CoP breach.

More important than the above are your answers to this and changing the quoted CoP completely, if it's an IPC parking firm:

I suggest adding something like this (put right any factual mistakes) and attach evidence of your move (utility bill etc.), and your email exchange about trying to get a permit

and a link to the BPA CoP 2020 - v8 - of the PPC is a BPA AOS member.  See below.

Which PPC?  If it is NOT a BPA AOS member you must change para 11 below completely, to cite the equivalent clause that you can find in the IPC CoP instead.

Which solicitors filed the claim?  DCB Legal?

LizA70

Coupon-mad said:

No worries. My suggested wording covers this.  A landlord is not a MA, so it isn't misleading.

They've not checked at all before litigation and the DVLA is a red herring because they are not allowed to check again with the DVLA. My wording also more than covers that and the fact not doing a soft trace (costs from 28 pence to do it in bulk) is a CPR and CoP breach.

More important than the above are your answers to this and changing the quoted CoP completely, if it's an IPC parking firm:

I suggest adding something like this (put right any factual mistakes) and attach evidence of your move (utility bill etc.), and your email exchange about trying to get a permit

and a link to the BPA CoP 2020 - v8 - of the PPC is a BPA AOS member.  See below.

Which PPC?  If it is NOT a BPA AOS member you must change para 11 below completely, to cite the equivalent clause that you can find in the IPC CoP instead.

Which solicitors filed the claim?  DCB Legal?

It’s the beautiful MP and yes DCB, I’m hugely appreciative of this, so the wording as it is ?