Unpaid CCJ £400!! - Was in the right and had no communication of court hearing!

Beansy45

Nothing I said suggested I was going to pay the judgment and set it aside. That would be completely illogical. It was an either or question. Will start my own thread.

Coupon-mad

Beansy45 said:

Nothing I said suggested I was going to pay the judgment and set it aside. That would be completely illogical. It was an either or question. Will start my own thread.

Ah, so sorry, I see you said pay £500  or...' which I misread at speed as 'and'. Phew!

Anyway we'll help on your bespoke thread.

Blazedsin

Oh dear, Coupon-mad ... Apparently she had submitted a defense from her old address and just received the following email back. I wasn't aware she did this... a family member had advised her. Are we dead and buried from here??

Email from DCB Legal

"Thank you for your email.

We note that you allege you did not receive the Claim Form as it was sent to an address you no longer reside at. You are respectfully reminded that following proceedings being issued to "(HER OLD ADDRESS)", you filed a Defence. A copy has been attached to this email. Given you filed a Defence, it is reasonable to assume you were in receipt of proceedings.

Further, it is also noted that within your Defence you confirmed that the aforementioned address was the address to be used for service of documents. If you had changed address at this point, you ought to have informed both the Claimant and the Court. You did not do so.

On 08/06/2023, the Court issued a General Sanctions Order that gave you 7 days to file your Directions Questionnaire with the Court, failing which your Defence would stand struck out. You did not file your DQ and as such, the Claimant was entitled to enter Judgment in Default against you.

Given the above, service was effected in accordance with CPR 6.9 and we will not be agreeable to set Judgment aside on this basis.

If you are unsure of your position then we recommend you seek independent legal advice."

She were on holiday and then staying with family in the 7 days after that date (08/06/2023). She then moved in with me. She was a student in student accommodation beforehand and they clearly knew when to send these time based letters 🙄

Her defense was as follows:

"I wish to dispute the claim made against myself by First Parking LLP for the following reasons. Before starting at the University of Sussex I requested a parking permit due to personal family reasons, the University agreed to my request and as such I was issued with a parking permit which allowed me to park on site. The parking permit number was PTA 202100003 and expired on 31 August 2022. I can provide evidence of this if requested. I note the date of the Penalty Notices in question we issued on 24th March 2022, reference 4320523090 and 7 April 2022, reference 466052309015.

Defence Particulars Continued: Charge Notice (PCN) of £60 will be issued in the following circumstances. “Not Clearly Displaying a Valid Permit.” I can provide a photograph of this sign along with images of my car parking location as well as an image showing the permit on display in my vehicle if requested. I’d like to make the court aware that I have attempted to discuss this matter directly with First Parking when the notices were issued, however they have refused to discuss this matter or accept that a valid parking permit is displayed. I am concerned that it has taken First Parking 8 months to file this claim in the County Court and that the timing of the claim coincides with the festive period where most students leave campus or rented accommodation during the first week of December and do not return until the middle of January. By issuing the claim at such time when students are not at their rented accommodation prevents defences being submitted which appears to be an underhanded tactic to claim for monies relating to PCN’s where a student has followed the rules purchasing and displaying a parking permit allowing them to park on campus. Based on the information provided I would like to dispute the whole of the claim issued against me and I’ll be more than happy to send further images and or information if requested. I look forward to hearing from you."

Thanks for any help you can give on this!

Blazedsin

Also to note: The date she has on the defense she submitted was 31/12/2022.

Coupon-mad

So the CCJ was for not responding to a DQ letter six months after she had defended, by which time she was on holiday and had moved because she's a student.  Could not have seen the DQ,  

I'd still immediately apply to set aside the CCJ but not using a template for the WS except copy only the start and end of our exemplars. 

The D must act PROMPTLY.  Date the application with today's March date, not April because the Judge WILL look at promptness.

- based on CPR 13.3 ('some other good reason why' - read it)

- showing attached evidence of her move and holiday at the time of the DQ, and stating that she thought the case must have been dropped (having taken time to address - not ignore - the claim over Christmas and demonstrating a robust defence in December 2022) and at all times she had very good prospects of success.  She knew nothing at all about any Directions Questionnaire the following Summer.  She heard nothing more after her defence.

- she only discovered the CCJ in March 2024 and has acted promptly to apply to set it aside. There is a defence in the case.  There are good reasons for the court to set aside the CCJ pursuant to CPR 13.3.

Blazedsin

Okay thank you Coupon-mad. Your knowledge is invaluable at the moment and we really appreciate your help. 

I'm filling out the N244 currently and need some help...
Name of the court: Civil national business Centre Is this correct?
1. Her name
2. Defendant 
3.  Set aside CCJ + Costs. Request that enforcement action is 'stayed' until my application is heard. CCJ was for not responding to a DQ letter six months after I had defended, by which time I was on holiday and had then moved because I finished as a student and was pregnant, needing partner's help for heavy morning sickness. Is that ok?
4.??
5. Ticked all ??
6. ??
7. ??
8. ??
9. ??
9.a ??

10. Sorry for this but what exactly should I write in here now? Do I just tick "The evidence set out in the box below"?
Then write something along the lines:
Dates of holiday. Returning from holiday and staying with family. Then moving in with me, and how she didn't go back to the property. Is my word enough here or is there a way to attach images as evidence?? 
State that she thought the case must have been dropped since she took time to address (not ignore) the claim over Christmas and demonstrated a robust defense in December 2022 and at all times had very good prospects of success. She knew nothing at all about any Directions Questionnaire the following summer. She heard nothing more after her defence. In March 2024, she discovered the CCJ and has acted promptly to apply to set it aside. There is a defense in the case. There are good reasons for the court to set aside the CCJ pursuant to CPR 13.3.

Should I attach her original defence ? 

Once we finish this form, she emails it directly to Applications.CNBC@justice.gov.uk ...
Then do we pay £275 somehow? Will we get this back or is it a risk?

Thanks

Coupon-mad

I don't know what the questions are but aren't the standard answers covered in the CCJ set aside section in the NEWBIES thread, where the example CCJ case WS links also are?

The order the D is seeking is:

To set aside the CCJ pursuant to CPR 13.3 and for the court to issue a N180 directions questionnaire to the D's current address.  The CCJ should be set aside in view of the prompt action of the D, there being a defence in the case and the D did not receive the subsequent N180, having been a student in temporary short-term University accommodation who had moved away during the long delay period between defence and N180, and was in any case away on holiday at the material time.  The N180 was not received at all.

Blazedsin

Okay how do these look? I'm terrible with legal stuff and mostly cannibalized your words whilst trying my best. Obviously not asking for it to be written for me, but what do I need to add/change/remove? When I email this, I am going to attach the original defence. Could you explain the WS part to me like I'm an idiot?

Coupon-mad

That's good.

To see what others have done in their WS to support CCJ set asides, click on the 5 usernames that leas to examples in the CCJ section at the end of post 2 of the Newbies thread.

Yours will be different in the middle because your argument is different from those (they are all about claim forms not being served) but you can see the format - headings, intro and the statement of truth at the end - copy that.  Stick in the middle, the same story you put in that box above, only add in EXHIBIT numbers as the D will be appending evidence of moving and the holiday & flights & the pregnancy & the letter that alerted the D to the CCJ this month.

Date everything March.   Not April.  It'll look better; promptness can persuade a Judge.

You should also create a Word doc Draft Order stating formally the Order you want the Judge to hopefully sign off. Those are seen in the 5 exemplar threads.

Which is your local court? I'm just wondering if you can get away with £108 fee and tick 'no hearing' which would only be recommended if yours is a good court that hates PPCs.

Blazedsin

Thank you - I'll take a look this morning and get the WS and Draft Order set up.
 
Nearest local Court to me is Worthing County Court and Family Court.