CCJ - Receieved claim form with no prior communication

avocadobacon

Hello!  Apologies as this may be a repeat, but I have read and reviewed the Newbies thread but there is a slight difference in my case and I am eager to double check some things.

I received a claim form from ParkingEye LTD that they were taking me to court over an alleged parking fine in October 2023. The claim was issued on 12th Feb 2024, and I received this letter on 6 March 2024, I also acknowledged the letter via MCOL on 6th March 2024. 
Over the next few days I was very sick and then ended up doing to A&E on March 17th/18th and staying in a hospital ward for 10 days. I was also sent home with several medications and was unable to eat or move really at home for another week or so. 
In any event, the judgment was issued against me on 26th March 2024. And I was still in hospital anyway so even if I was able to keep track I wouldn't have been able to attend. 
Since then, I was incredibly sick for a while, I underwent one small surgery and I am due for another major abdominal surgery in July. 

All this to say, I finally was able to check MCOL last week and this is when I saw that I had the judgment on me (CCJ) at this point it has been 30 Business days since it was issued but including the weekends it has been longer so this is why I was worried to pay it and it would just show up as 'Settled' rather than removed. 

Given that I received no communication at all from Parking Eye before suddenly receiving the Claim Form. (No letters from them, no request to pay the fine etc.) and given that, I did intend to defend all of the claim at the time (Acknowledgment of Service) given that I hadn't received any fine from them beforehand. Unfortunately I was sick and unable to submit my form and have been sick since then. Do you believe that I am able to pass the judgment to have the CCJ set aside? and how should I go about filing this ? 

In terms of the particulars of the ticket I received, here is what happened on the day they are fining me for : 

On that day, I was in the Eltham Sainsbury's car park briefly to drop off my partner, his mother, and his infant sister for shopping and I did not park. I entered via Passey Place, helped change the infant’s clothes in the back of the car due to an accident, and left the car park shortly thereafter. I believe I was in the car park for less than 15 minutes, well within the usual grace period and it was also approximately 6:25PM when I left which is 5 minutes before the end of the Car Parking hours. If there was any misunderstanding about the duration of my stay, I would have promptly paid the fine had I received any notification or evidence from Parking Eye.

The cost of the claim that ParkingEye have claimed was £205 - but unfortunately I don't believe I was given a fair opportunity to even pay in the first place or appeal due to them not communicating with me in the first place. 

The reason I started this thread is because I have already filed the 'Acknowledgment' and missed the cut off. Do you have any advice for me at all? Many thanks in advance for the help!!

LDast

You should be able to request a set aside under CPR 13.3. Illness and hospitalisation are valid reasons due to unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances - namely, serious illness and hospitalisation. The defendant was physically or mentally incapable of responding within the given timeframe.

You will need to provide medical records or a letter from the hospital confirming the dates of hospitalisation and the nature of the illness. This evidence supports the claim that you were genuinely unable to respond due to being incapacitated.

You will also need to provide a draft defence in your WS for the set-aside showing that you have a very good prospect of successfully defending the claim. This all has to happen as soon as possible after you discovering the CCJ.

The Newbies/FAQ thread is where you will find the information on how to set aside a CCJ. There will be other threads you can search for successful set aside cases.

Whatever you do, don't do anything else until you understand the process and then we will provide the necessary advice on what to do next.

It may well be worthwhile contacting ParkingEye and explaining the situation to them and suggesting that they agree to a set aside without a hearing. As it is not their fault for your lack of defending the claim and it was served to the correct address, they will most likely insist on you paying for the set aside fee of £109 and that the claim be re-served and defended.

The other option is to go for a set aside with a hearing which costs £303 and with no guarantee that the judge will order any costs to be reserved. However, there is the possibility that at the set aside hearing, the original claim will be struck out for various breaches of Civil Procedure Rules and you could ask for the cost of the set aside application to be paid by the Claimant because those CPR breaches are an abuse of process and therefore unreasonable behaviour by them.

avocadobacon

Thank you @LDast ! 

I would appreciate an overview of what I have drafted - I have added some of the points you mentioned : 

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to request that the judgment against me be set aside for the following reasons:

a. Illness and hospitalisation 

b. The original fine / claim was not received by defendant and therefore had no opportunity to defend.

Lack of Prior Communication: 

I had not received any communication regarding the alleged contravention before receiving the court claim form. The first I heard of this matter was upon receipt of the Court Claim form which came as a surprise to me. 

Circumstances of the Alleged Contravention: 

Upon receiving the claim form, I reviewed the particulars and recalled the events of the date in question by checking my phone gallery. On that day, I was in the car park briefly to drop off my partner, his mother, and his infant sister for shopping. I entered via Passey Place, helped change the infant’s clothes in the back of the car due to an accident, and left the car park shortly thereafter. From my records I was in the car park for less than 15 minutes, well within the usual grace period and I did not park. It was also approximately 6:25PM which was 5 minutes before the end of operation hours of the car park. If there was any misunderstanding about the duration of my stay, I would have promptly paid the fine had I received a fine for the alleged contravention and had an opportunity to defend myself before receiving the court claim form. 

Denial of Fair Opportunity to Respond: 

I was not given a fair opportunity to pay or appeal the alleged contravention due to the lack of prior communication from ParkingEye. The claim went straight to court without giving me the chance to resolve the matter. 

i. I would have been able to defend myself successfully if I had been provided the opportunity to do so with the necessary evidence and documentation.

Medical Circumstances: 

I was extremely unwell for a few days before I was taken to A&E then hospitalised for approximately 10 days starting from 17th - 18th March 2024. This medical emergency prevented me from completing the response form after I had acknowledged receipt of the claim form. I am able to provide medical evidence to support this claim. Such as Discharge forms and files from the hospital and sick leave from my place of employment. Since then, I have been unwell and I am due to be scheduled for major abdominal surgery in the coming weeks, which has further hindered my ability to manage this matter.

In this case, it would be acceptable for the judgment to be set aside under CPR 13.3. Illness and hospitalisation. These are valid reasons due to unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances - namely, serious illness and hospitalisation. I was physically incapable of responding within the given timeframe.

Procedural Irregularities: 

It is not unreasonable to assume that this judgment would not have occurred if ParkingEye had filed the PCN correctly and provided me with the opportunity to address it. I did not receive any correspondence, including but not limited to phone call, letter or email regarding this matter before receiving the Claim Form. My research indicates that ParkingEye employs in-house lawyers who often file claims without due consideration of the individuals involved. This practice has led to an unfair and unjust judgment against me. In addition to my Illness and Hospitalisation; As I did not receive any fine beforehand, there has clearly been a breach of the Civil Procedure Rules and these breaches are an abuse of process and therefore unreasonable behaviour by Parking Eye.

Given these circumstances, I respectfully request that the court set aside the judgment. I am prepared to provide all necessary documentation to substantiate my claims and to cooperate fully in resolving this matter justly.

LDast

Do not go into any detail of what happened on the day. Show us the original claim with your personal details, VRM, PCN number, Claim number and MCOL password redacted.

In your draft defence you will be answering the cause of action mentioned in the PoC. It is guaranteed that they are either not stated or abysmally poorly stated. This will be one of the arguments for the claim to be dismissed at the set aside. So not great detail.

You are only asking PE to agree to a set aside due to your incapacity to defend at the time. As stated, if they agree, they are likely to insist that you are liable for the cost of the application and that the claim will be re-served. You would be £109 down before you even start a defence.

Before anything, please let us know if this was a claim issued by PE themselves or are were they using a solicitor, DCB Legal possibly? The Claim form has all this information on it.

Depending on whether the claim was issued by PE themselves or a solicitor, you would only need to ask something along the lines of the following:

I am writing to you regarding a County Court Judgment (CCJ) issued against me on [date of CCJ] for [PCN number/claim reference number]. Whilst I did acknowledge the claim (AoS) on [date of acknowledgment], I was unable to file a defence in time due to being incapacitated and hospitalised.

Given these exceptional circumstances, I am requesting that you agree to a consensual set aside of the CCJ under CPR 13.3, which allows for judgments to be set aside where there is a good reason why and my incapacitation and hospitalisation during the relevant period rendered me incapable of managing any legal matters.

Please find attached [medical records/hospital admission documents] that confirm my hospitalisation and incapacitation during the period in question. This evidence clearly demonstrates my inability to defend the claim within the required timeframe.

To facilitate this, I request that you draft a consent order for setting aside the CCJ. I would appreciate it if you could send me the draft consent order for my review before I agree to it.

Please note that if I do not receive a response from you or if you do not agree to a consensual set aside of the CCJ within 10 days of receiving this email, I will have no choice but to apply for a set aside with a hearing and I will include a request for costs in this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Before you send anything, please show us the Claim form with the PoC as requested and whether PE issued it themselves or through a solicitor.

Coupon-mad

No. Email Parking Eye telling them you did not park, merely set down passengers.  And you received none of their letters until the claim arrived when you were very ill and then hospitalised. And tell them about your illness that prevented you from defending.

Tell THEM to provide a Consent Order and they pay the fee because they failed to serve a PCN and breached the BPA CoP by not tracing the right address and issuing a new PCN before litigation.

Adapt the suggested first email shown by @troublemaker22 in the CCJ set aside part of the NEWBIES thread second post.

Before you send anything, please show us the Claim form with the PoC as requested and whether PE issued it themselves or through a solicitor.

avocadobacon

Hi all - looking for advice as I have a court hearing on 24th October RE: a CCJ from Parking Eye. I haven't been able to defend this to the greatest of my ability unfortunately, just looking for any help I can get!

I received a claim form from ParkingEye LTD that they were taking me to court over an October 2023 Parking Ticket. The claim was issued on 12th Feb 2024, and I received this letter on 6 March 2024, I also acknowledged the letter via MCOL on 6th March 2024. 

Over the next few days I was very sick and then ended up doing to A&E on March 19th and staying in a hospital ward I was also sent home with several medications and was unable to eat or move really at home for another week or so. 
In any event, the judgment was issued against me on 26th March 2024. (I was still in hospital anyway, I wouldn't have been able to attend.)

All this to say, by the time I was able to check MCOL it had been 30 Business days since it was issued but I didn't want to show up as 'Settled' rather than removed.
 
I have just had another major abdominal surgery and a bowel resection on August 30th 2024 - 7 weeks ago and I have to make the journey into the courts which isn't ideal. That to say I have been unfortunate on the health side this year and it's been difficult to keep on top with everything. I unfortunately added some details of the day in my claim form. I requested to Set aside without Hearing and paid £300odd for this.

Can you give me any advice on what I need to do at this hearing? I received a large pack from Parkingeye LTD (written by Emily Hamer of Parkingeye Ltd) in the mail on Friday to say they received the courts directions and they 'Ask the court to oppose this application' They note that travelling to the court would incur a cost to them and they don't mean to disrespect the court but they will not be attending. They 'Wish to confirm that' they 'are seeking that no order be made as to costs. In this regard, we respectfully remind the court of its duty to consider the Overriding Objective, as set out in Civil Procedure Rules.' They quoted ' CPR 1.1(2)(b), (c) & (f)' 'Which place a duty upon the Court to deal with claims in a proportionate manner, including as to costs, and to ensure compliance and enforcement of the Civil Procedure Rules and Practice Directions.' 

Please find the letter uploaded via wetransfer here: (add https:// first) we.tl/t-xUk2UXIxJn

My claim is
1. I did not receive any PCN or letter prior to receiving a Claim form from the on March 6th
2. I had no opportunity to defend myself or pay the PCN as I didn't receive one
3. I was hospitalised and sick so although I acknowledged the claim form, I was unable to handle the matter.

-- 
In this thread I'm looking for advice, what I need to bring, etc. Thank you in advance for the help I'm really struggling here and anxiety is through the roof!

Coupon-mad

You'll need to be ready to say what your defence to the PCN will be, to convince the Judge to set aside the CCJ in this case.

So, back in June I asked for this:

Before you send anything, please show us the Claim form with the PoC as requested and whether PE issued it themselves or through a solicitor.

Show us the POC and/or the PCN. Both will be in their bundle I expect?

avocadobacon

Yes thanks for the help, here is the PCN they have included in their bundle (I did not receive this) also I'm a bit perturbed by the timestamp as I recall arriving at around 6:20 (I think I put in my response approximately 6:25) not 3:20 - that is a very big difference

avocadobacon

Also to add, I did come back again later to pick them up! So I definitely entered and exited twice

Castle

avocadobacon said:

Yes thanks for the help, here is the PCN they have included in their bundle (I did not receive this) also I'm a bit perturbed by the timestamp as I recall arriving at around 6:20 (I think I put in my response approximately 6:25) not 3:20 - that is a very big difference

That's the reminder, not the original PCN.

(And can you show us a copy of the POC as well).

avocadobacon

Now that you mention, they haven't event included a copy of the original PCN in their bundle, just the reminder. 
Here is the POC