CCJ from Civil Enforcement Ltd - advice please

Emmanat

Hi,

I was recently applying for a loan and was made aware of a CCJ being obtained against me for £325. After speaking with CNBC, I’ve confirmed that the claimant is Civil Enforcement Ltd and have also been sent the following:

Particulars of claim:

CLAIM FOR MONEY RELATING TO A PARKING CHARGE FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT TERMS/CONDITIONS(TCS) FOR PARKING IN PRIVATE CAR PARK (CP) MANAGED BY CLAIMANT. DRIVERS MAY ONLY PARK PURSUANT  TO TCS OF USE DISPLAYED IN CP AND AGREED UPONENTRY/PARKING. ANPR CAMERAS OR MANUAL PATROLSMONITOR VEHICLES ENTERING/EXITING THE CP AND TC BREACHES. CHARGES OF GBP182.00 CLAIMED.  

VIOLATION DATE: 01/10/2021                  

PAYMENT DUE DATE: 30/10/2021               

TIME IN: 17:33

TIME OUT: 19:00              

PCN: REFXXXXXXXXXXX                         

VEHICLE REG MARK: XXXXXXX

CAR PARK:-         XXXXXXXXXX

TOTAL DUE- GBP182.00                        

(PAY:WWW.CE-SERVICE.CO.UK OR 01158225020)   

THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS THE SUM OF GBP217.02     FOR THE UNPAID PARKING CHARGE INC GBP35.02   INTEREST UNDER S.69 OF THE CCA 1984          RATE: 8.00% PA FROM DUE DATE TO- 26/02/24    SAME RATE TO JUDGMENT OR SOONER PAYMENT      AT DAILY RATE OF- GBP0.04                    TOTAL DEBT AND INTEREST DUE- GBP217.02     

I believe I have a good case to get this set aside, but would appreciate a bit of guidance as to whether my belief is correct and if so, the best approach to do so given the points below:

 · I haven’t seen any correspondence on this matter and the particulars of the claim don’t state which address they were sent to. I’ve checked the PCN details on the CEL website and they still have my old address which I moved out of in July 2021, so I suspect this is where letters were sent. My impression from posts that I’ve read on the forum is that, given I moved out of that address 3 months before the ‘violation’ date, it should be reasonable enough to assume that CEL should have taken adequate steps to find the most up to date address (please correct me if I'm wrong)

 · Perhaps more importantly, I’ve also checked my bank statement and receipts for that period and have proof of payment. The parking rates in this particular location are £1 for 2 hours or £2 for 5 hours. My email receipt shows payment of £1 being made at 17:36 (only 3 minutes after the ‘TIME IN’ stated in the particulars) which means I paid within the grace period and should have been fully covered for the time spent at the location. The only (potential) sticking point with the receipt is that for some reason it says ‘Finished time of parking… at 18:00:00’. I’ve parked at this venue multiple times, both before and after this event, and £1 has always bought you a 2 hour stay, so the only reasons I can think of for the receipt saying 18:00 is if charging stops after 6pm or an error on their end as a specific time allocation of 24 minutes for the payment makes no sense to me.

 Apologies that this has become a bit long-winded, but is someone able to let me know if

1.  I have a strong enough case to get the CCJ set aside

2.  If so, should I do it on the basis of one or both of the points above and with or without consent?

3.  I should contact CEL on the number provided by CNBC to ask them to remove the claim/CCJ (not sure this is advisable or even possible)

 Thanks very much in advance for any help provided.

Gr1pr

You can probably get it set aside due to them using the old address, nothing is certain but highly likely to succeed, especially if there is a strong defence to the origin claim 

I hope that you have updated both your driving licence and also the V5c as well. ? Each being a separate task

CEL are unlikely to remove it of their own volition, so its either 

A set aside with consent, perhaps around £110 or more. ?

Or

A contested set aside, which I believe now costs about £303 

If the set aside is successful, you may well have to contest the original claim in court as well, meaning 2 court visits 

Study the newbies sticky thread in announcements regarding set asides, plus read a dozen other CCJ set aside threads on here within the last couple of years 

Coupon-mad

My impression from posts that I’ve read on the forum is that, given I moved out of that address 3 months before the ‘violation’ date, it should be reasonable enough to assume that CEL should have taken adequate steps to find the most up to date address (please correct me if I'm wrong)

You are correct. You WILL get this set aside. And you will probably get your £303 back too.  Then CEL will probably throw in the towel and discontinue the claim after that.

Game, set and match to you.

You certainly don't phone them but should follow what the NEWBIES thread tells you, and email the suggested first email linked there (written by a solicitor poster).

BUT DON'T GIVE THEM TOO LONG TO REPLY.  You will be expected to act 'promptly' with your N244 application which means (when CEL fob you off or ignore you) crack on and get the N244. WS and Draft order in this month, not in June.

Send CEL the suggested email.  Obviously just search this forum for their litigation email address because we do this all the time and it's not new.  In fact CEL are the worst offenders for default CCJs with no 'soft trace' (no address checks at all) being done first.

Prepare your WS while you wait a week for them to say no.

The very latest good example WS to accompany a CCJ Set Aside application is the one full of new case law.  It is a cracker!

See the thread by @Zbubuman

LDast

It is a mandatory set aside under CPR 13.2. You changed address after the date the PCN was issued and therefore the claim was never served.

Emmanat

Thank you all for your help and responses, it's much appreciated.

I have drafted the email below to send to CEL, based on the example linked to in the NEWBIES thread. Please would someone be able to give it a quick once over to check I have hit the pertinent points?

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Civil Enforcement Limited (CEL) v [My Name] - Claim Reference [Insert Reference]

I am writing to you regarding a matter of significant concern that has come to my attention. I was recently made aware of a County Court Judgment (CCJ) obtained against me by Civil Enforcement Limited (CEL) in relation to an alleged unpaid parking charge notice (PCN) at [LOCATION].

This news was particularly surprising given that this is the first I have heard of any such claim against me. Despite diligent efforts to maintain updated contact information, it appears that correspondence regarding this matter has been sent to an old address at which I no longer reside. This oversight has left me entirely uninformed of the proceedings until now.

Upon contacting the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) to obtain further details, I was provided with the particulars of the claim, which allege a breach of contract terms and conditions for parking at the aforementioned location. The claim asserts that I owe a total of £217.02, including interest, for the alleged parking violation on 01/10/2021.

Additionally, I have noted with concern that despite my change of address, CEL continues to have outdated information on file. This became apparent when I accessed the PCN details on the CEL website and discovered that they still have my old address listed. This raises serious questions about the adequacy of CEL's efforts to ensure accurate communication and underscores the deficiencies in their approach to customer correspondence.

I must emphasise that I have never received any pre-claim correspondence, including a letter of claim, which is a requirement outlined in the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. This lack of communication has deprived me of the opportunity to address the matter in a timely manner and to potentially resolve any issues or disputes before legal action was taken.

Furthermore, upon reviewing the details provided, I have strong reason to believe that the claim is without merit. I have evidence, in the form of bank statements and receipts, to demonstrate that I made a valid payment for parking at [LOCATION] on the date in question.

Specifically, I made payment via the Phone and Pay service, and I possess an email receipt confirming the transaction. According to this receipt, payment of £1 was made at 17:36, which is within the grace period specified for the parking rates at the location. This payment should have covered the duration of my stay, as per the advertised parking rates of £1 for 2 hours or £2 for 5 hours.

It is worth noting that while the receipt indicates a finished time of parking at 18:00:00, this appears to be inconsistent with the timing of my actual departure and the duration of parking typically permitted at this location. Given my prior experience with parking at this venue, I strongly suspect an error in the recording of the parking duration, rather than any failure on my part to comply with the terms and conditions of parking.

In light of these circumstances, I hereby invite CEL to join me in an application to set aside the judgment and dismiss the claim. It is my firm belief that the failure to serve the claim form at my current address, coupled with the lack of substantive evidence supporting the claim, warrants such action. Furthermore, I request that CEL bear the responsibility for the associated court fees, and that no order be made as to costs.

I urge CEL to respond to this proposal at the earliest opportunity to facilitate a mutually beneficial resolution to this matter. Please consider this correspondence as an earnest attempt to address the situation in a fair and equitable manner.

To allow for due consideration and the possibility of collaboration in resolving this issue, I propose a reasonable deadline of [Date 2 weeks from day email is sent]. Should CEL fail to respond or decline the invitation to join in the application to set aside the judgment by this deadline, I reserve the right to pursue alternative legal avenues to protect my interests and seek redress.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I anticipate your prompt response.

Yours faithfully,

[My Name]

Coupon-mad

That's too long and reads like it was re-written by ChatGPT.  We hate ChatGPT.  It doesn't write words properly.  It's awful (not you, that useless incoherent app).

Don't try to reinvent the wheel; use our version, carefully crafted by a parking expert solicitor poster.

LDast

ChatGPT fingerprints all over that. I can smell it from here.

As mentioned above, just use the template we already advised you use. Trying to re-invent the wheel, especially using ChatGPT, if offensive and does you no favours.

Emmanat

Thank you again for your feedback. Does the below work better?

Dear Sirs,

CIVIL ENFORCEMENT LIMITED (THE ‘CLAIMANT’)  V [                        ] CLAIM REFERENCE [             ]

I recently received the attached letter dated [                      ] 2024 from the Claimant's legal team. This came as a tremendous shock as it is the first and only communication I have received from the Claimant in relation to this claim.   

I made immediate enquiries of the CNBC from which I was able to establish that:

1.       The claim relates to an alleged parking event in October 2021;

2.       The Claimant has an old address at which I no longer reside on file; and

3.       If I had been given the opportunity to do so, I would have successfully defended the claim as I have evidence, in the form of bank statements and receipts, to demonstrate that I made a valid payment for parking on the date in question which covered the duration of my stay

I did not receive any pre-claim correspondence, not even a letter of claim as required by the PAP. Nor did I receive the claim form or any particulars of claim and was thus deprived of the ability to defend the claim. The Claimant is well aware that people move home from time to time. They also know that I did not respond to any communications sent to me at my old address.

This situation is explicitly dealt with in the Civil Procedure Rules which provide at CPR 6.9(3):

 (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’).

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.

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. 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.

By reason of the Claimant’s breach of the Civil Procedure Rules, 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 and the claim dismissed because it is now too late for the particulars of claim to be re-served.

In view of the foregoing, I invite the Claimant to join with me in an application to set aside the judgment and dismiss the claim, with the Claimant paying the court fee and no order as to costs.

Please respond to the above offer as soon as possible so that, if the offer is acceptable to the Claimant, we can work together to right the wrong that the Claimant has done to me.

To give you a reasonable time to take instructions and for us to agree a suite of documents for the Court, I am willing to defer making a unilateral application to set aside the judgment until 4 pm on 24 May 2024. If a joint application has not been made by that time, I intend to instruct a solicitor to apply to the Court unilaterally for an order setting the judgment aside, striking out the particulars of claim, dismissing the claim and awarding costs against the Claimant on a full indemnity basis.

Pease respond by immediate return.

Yours faithfully,

Coupon-mad

All good except remove "to instruct a solicitor".

Emmanat

Coupon-mad said:

All good except remove "to instruct a solicitor".

Thank you, will do.

Nellymoser

Industry correspondence problems...consider supporting this.
So many people don't receive 1st/2nd pcn but the £170 payment due letter often manages to drop through letter boxes. PPCs always claim discounted/full rate pcn/court claim letters were sent though offer no evidence to prove this. A letter's issue date is not it's sending date nor does it prove the letter was sent.

Since PPCs CHOOSE NOT to provide evidence of their posting date and delivery we must continue to press gov to ensure they do. Please sign/share these petitions.

Require communications from Private Parking companies to be traceable/trackable. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/652355

Immediately Reintroduce Private Parking Code of Practice. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/660922

Thanks. Good luck getting that CCJ set aside.