CCJ Sent to old address from Britania Parking - Letter from DCBL - Advice needed

death_and_taxes

Hi, 

Today 16/01/2025 - I received a letter from DCBL titled:

NOTICE OF DEBT RECOVERY - Unpaid County Court Judgement £261.60 

Letter is dated 09/01/2025

I had no idea of any CCJ being issued against me so i took the claim reference number from the letter and searched on the Trusts Register 

I did indeed find a judgement issued against me on the 23/08/2024 to an old address from CNBC 

I then contacted CNBC directly to obtain more details of the judgement.

The lady on the phone told me the following:

Original Claimant: Britania Parking 
Date of offence: 01/10/2023 
Place: Talbot Pub 

Then gave me a recollection of events:

11/12/2024 - Original PCN Received - Disputed claim with fact that my registration had indeed been registered at reception and i had food and drink at the establishment with a friend

Britania parking did not respond

28/04/2024 - Clam Form N1 - Issued to current address
28/04/2024 - Claim disputed online with the same information as original PCN dispute 

This is where it gets odd.. 

No further correspondence received to current address... 

From the court im told:

08/05/2024 - Directions Questionnaire sent to old address, to respond by 28/05/2024 
19/06/2024 - Reminder letter sent to old address (7 days + postage to respond) 

13/07/2024 - Defence struck out as i did not respond 

23/08/2024 - Judgement letter issued to old address 

===============================================================

The lady at court said that parking organizations often do this on purpose as they know they will get Default Judgement due to no response from the defendant 

The thing i find most suspect is that the original forms were sent to my current address and then the timely manner forms were sent to an old address which I have not lived at for over 10 years, is not listed as my current address on any credit report or with the DVLA 

I've viewed other threads on this forum, and I can see the correct action is to submit an n244 to the court to get the judgement set aside? 

This is my first time dealing with anything like this and I'm wanting to get a mortgage this year, this sets me back and it seems completely unfair as I didn't even get chance to pay the judgement within 1 calendar month because it was sent to an old address.

As a last resort I would have paid the judgement.

It's got to be criminal at this point what these parking organizations do surely? it's basically extortion 

Any advice is greatly appreciated 

Thanks 

Nellymoser

Expert posters here will be able to advise you. Will help if you have a read of NEWBIES ANNOUNCEMENT THREAD on P1.
Post 2 Small Claim will have info on CCJ

Coupon-mad

Hmmm if you are saying that the CNBC sent your DQ to an old address, despite the fact that your address for service on the claim form had been the right address (and you defended) then you do not need to do an application.

This will cost you no fee.

This needs a complaint to the CNBC.

But I don't understand how this address switch happened but your description suggests maybe DCB Legal put your old address on their DQ and the court staff lazily read it from that.

How else would the CNBC have your old address?! Unless you included dome evidence along with your defence and it had your old address on?

...COMPLAIN, PROVIDING YOU ARE CERTAIN THE CLAIM FORM HAD THE RIGHT ADDRESS ON IT AND WASN'T JUST REDIRECTED FROM THE OLD ADDRESS.

DO YOU STILL HAVE THE CLAIM FORM? CHECK THE ADDRESS ON IT.

If the claim went to new address but the DQ randomly went somewhere else, this needs a formal complaint by email to the CNBC and you must describe what happened and insist on:

1. an explanation as to the source of your old address;

2.  An apology and compensation for the immense distress caused by causing a CCJ for no reason then a bailiff letter arriving over Christmas;

3. the CCJ to be set aside by a CNBC Judge without cost or application by the Defendant. The claim to then be reinstated and a DQ to be sent to the right address at last.

death_and_taxes

Thank you for the responses,

As suggested I read the newbies forum and sent DCB Legal the following on 16/01/2025

===============================================================================
= Letter sent to DCB Legal (16/01/2025) 
===============================================================================

URGENT
Dear Sirs,

[CLAIMANT] V [DEFENDANT] CLAIM REFERENCE [REDACTED]

On [DATE], I received the attached letter dated [DATE] from [COMPANY]. This came as a tremendous shock as I was not aware of any judgment being issued against me.

I made immediate enquiries with the [COURT] from which I was able to establish that:

1. The claim relates to an alleged parking event in [MONTH, YEAR].
2. The claim form was sent to my current address, and I disputed it online.
3. The directions questionnaire form and all follow-up correspondence were sent to an old address.
4. If I had been given the opportunity to do so, I would have successfully defended the claim.

I did not receive any correspondence past the claim form, which I responded to—no directions questionnaire as required by the [PROTOCOL] or any particulars of claim—thus depriving me of the ability to defend myself. 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 my old address.

I find it very suspicious that the claim form was sent to my current address but then the follow-up correspondence was sent to a previous address.

This situation is explicitly dealt with in the Civil Procedure Rules, which state 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 [ASSOCIATION] and is bound by its Code of Practice, which gives effect to CPR 6.9(3) in the following terms:

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 endeavors to ensure that the contact details for the person you are writing to are correct.

Had the Claimant taken the required actions under the Civil Procedure Rules and the Code of Practice, my current address would have been found easily—just as [COMPANY] did before sending their letter dated [DATE]. Had those actions 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 process, the claim form was never properly served. The judgment must therefore 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 me in an application to set aside the judgment and dismiss the claim, with the Claimant covering 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 correct this procedural error.

To allow reasonable time for instructions and for us to agree on 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 [DATE]. 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 aside the judgment, striking out the particulars of claim, dismissing the claim, and awarding costs against the Claimant on a full indemnity basis.

Please respond immediately.

Yours faithfully,
[REDACTED]

============================================================================

They responded with 

============================================================================
= DCB Legal Response (30/01/2025)
============================================================================

[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]

Our Reference: [REDACTED]
30th January 2025
WITHOUT PREJUDICE SAVE AS TO COSTS

Dear [REDACTED],

Re: Our Client: [REDACTED]
Claim Number: [REDACTED]

We act for the Claimant and write following your recent correspondence in relation to the County Court Judgment that has been issued against you.

The matter has been reviewed, and our Client’s position is as follows:

On [REDACTED], you were issued with a Parking Charge at [REDACTED] following your failure to comply with the Terms and Conditions of parking, namely that your Vehicle remained on the Land without being registered.

Following the contravention, Parking Charge Notices were issued, which afforded you the opportunity to make payment or appeal the Charge. No payment was made, nor was there a successful appeal. The matter was therefore referred for debt recovery, and as no payment was made, the Charge progressed and legal proceedings were issued against you.

Prior to issuing a Claim, a trace was conducted pursuant to CPR 6.9 (3), which confirmed that your last known address for service was [REDACTED]. As such, the Claim Form was issued to this address.

You filed a defence in response to this Claim, which was reviewed by our Client, and it was confirmed that our Client intended to proceed with the Claim, and subsequently, a Directions Questionnaire was issued to you.

The Court then issued an Order directing you to file your Directions Questionnaire in response, and in default of this, the County Court Judgment was entered against you for the sum of [REDACTED].

Upon review of your email, we note you allege that you were unaware of the County Court Judgment until you received correspondence from our sister company, [REDACTED], and you state that the address the Court held - [REDACTED] – was your previous address.

We have reviewed the Claim in light of the above and confirm that you provided the address of [REDACTED] on your defence as your address for service. Accordingly, our and the Court’s systems were updated, and subsequent correspondence, including the Judgment Order, was issued to this address.

In light of your confirmation that your address remains [REDACTED], our Client accepts that you would therefore not have been in receipt of the Order to file your Directions Questionnaire and the subsequent Judgment Order.

In respect of the above, our Client has taken a commercial view and is agreeable to setting aside the County Court Judgment on the condition that the Judgment and the Court fee for the Consent Order are paid in full.

If you agree to the above and the same is sealed by a Judge, the Judgment will be removed from your credit file and no longer affect your credit rating.

It is submitted that you remain liable for the debt as you failed to comply with the Terms and Conditions of parking.

Respectfully, it is our Client’s position that they are not liable for the Consent Order fee, as it was yourself that amended your address for service to [REDACTED] within your defence, and therefore, the correspondence issued after this was deemed correctly served.

If you are agreeable, payment of £261.60 Judgment and £119.00 Consent Order fee (£380.60) is to be made within the next 14 days.

Please find enclosed a Consent Order for your signing.

For ease, the correspondence referred to within this letter has been attached.

If you are unsure of your position, we recommend you seek your own independent legal advice.

Yours faithfully,
[REDACTED]

==================================================================

They attached a reference copy of the claim form with my Defence and it does indeed contain the incorrect address in the Give an address to which notices about this case can be sent to you

However, I really cannot see me inputting this address when I have not lived there for 13 years,

If I did accidentally put the old address this would have been result of Autofill or a mental lapse, where do i stand if this is the case?   

I would have responded the claim via the online service, is there any way to check the original? 

Is it possible they have altered it on the reference document? 

I really don't want to pay the £380 and let DCB Legal win by default, as it still seems unfair 

Can anyone help me how to respond? 

Thanks 

Coupon-mad

What response have you had from the CNBC? Have you actually seen proof that the box did autofill with your old address?

Of course you won't be paying the CCJ to DCB Legal but it is the CNBC's explanation that matters.

And if DCB Legal can see the old address given in answer to that question on your MCOL history, then you can see it too.

death_and_taxes

Called CNBC and they said the old address is the only address they have against the case, 

I have done a SAR request to both CNBC and DCBLegal 

Coupon-mad

death_and_taxes said:

Called CNBC and they said the old address is the only address they have against the case, 

That's not correct though, is it, because:

28/04/2024 - Clam Form N1 - Issued to current address