CCJ from parking fine originally paid for.

Mumndaughterofdavid

Hi Everyone. 

Please be patient me as this maybe long winded as l am new to this.

I received a letter from DCBL titled "Notice of debt recovery- unpaid county court judgement £271.84.

Date of judgement was 24/12/24

Date of letter is 06/02/2025.

This is the first I am hearing about a parking fine, I had not received any letter or notice before this letter. I called dcbl on the 12 to double check if they had made a mistake. They said no, it was correct, they had been sending letters to my old address but did not get a response. I asked for the date, he gave me and when I check, I had paid for that  parking with my card and have the bank statement confirming that i paid, the amount and the time i paid.

He said it was none of their business because i had not changed my V5 on time i was liable to the debt! He was a nasty, horrible young man. I explained that I moved out in August, and changed the V5 in November but I had paid for the parking.. He was just wanting the money, not a care! I can't afford to have a CCJ on my credit.

I was given 14 days on the letter to pay to avoid the CCJ going on my record but as at when I received the letter, it was well over a month after the CCJ has been issued. I am a lone parent of 2 very young children and without credit i will not survive. I have contacted citizens advice they were awful 😖. 
I have been advised on here to look at the Newbies thread on how to set the CCJ aside. I can't find it!

Can anyone help? Where and how do I start? 

Any advice would be helpful please. 

Many thanks in advance 

Worried Mum

DE_612183

Here is your link: 
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou/p1

And here is what you need to know:

CCJs are different, but beatable:

HAVE YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT A CCJ (JUDGMENT FOR CLAIMANT) AND NEED IT SET ASIDE?

PAYING IT DOES NOT WIPE THE CCJ UNLESS JUDGMENT WAS LESS THEN 30 DAYS BEFORE. DO NOT PAY UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU'RE WITHIN 30 DAYS.

A Defendant may apply to ‘set judgment aside’ by completing form ‘N244 – Application notice’ with a Witness Statement (NOT ABOUT YOUR DEFENCE OR THE PCN). About not receiving the Claim.

DO NOT ring the parking firm up...and do not just pay! If you pay you will damage your credit rating for SIX YEARS which multiplies the cost of car insurance and stops you opening bank accounts, renting or getting a loan.

If they used an old address then miraculously found you after CCJ, send THIS written by @troublemaker22
(a solicitor poster):

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80636476/#Comment_80636476

ONLY GIVE THEM A SHORT 2 WEEK DEADLINE AND DO NOT DELAY/WAIT LONGER. You must 'act promptly'.

If they refuse or fail to reply within 2 weeks, read this thread for what to send with your N244 that you email to:

Applications.CNBC@justice.gov.uk

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6134970/surprise-ccj-please-help/p1

...and read this guidance from Johnersh, a solicitor, suggesting you attach a separate 'chronology' sheet about when you moved house/heard about the CCJ from the first time::
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77715639/#Comment_77715639

And read this from henrik777 (and click on his username and read LOTS more, as he mainly posts about setting aside a CCJ):
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76473858#Comment_76473858

A summary of your choices regarding a SET ASIDE:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71776504#Comment_71776504

Here is a case which shows what you have to do, in order to satisfy the points the Judge will be wanting to hear:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/74864199#Comment_74864199

After emailing your N244 application and attachments bundle you must phone the CNBC to pay (unless they are in a low income and qualify for ‘help with fees’ - Google it).

There is a £303 fee up front BUT if you get a good Judge, you should get that fee ordered for the Claimant to pay you back, as well as your CCJ set aside.

A recent October 2023 completed thread, ending with the parking CCJ set aside, PCN cancelled/claim dismissed - and all their costs back - is by @Troublesum1 (that is a link).

Here's a 2023 'CCJ set aside' example where the Judge ordered for the Claimant (PPC) to pay the N244 application fee back and the whole claim was dismissed in a single 15 minute hearing:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6423700/suprise-ccj-civil-enforcement-ltd/p1

Also read the threads and CCJ witness statements by:

@Zbubuman

and

@icy_fox

= Two great (recent) examples with persuasive case law.

* It's a NO-BRAINER to get a CCJ set aside if you qualify for free court fees, and lost of people do! (low income):
https://www.gov.uk/get-help-with-court-fees

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-help-with-court-and-tribunal-fees

Mumndaughterofdavid

Hi All 

Thank you very much. I'll send this off soon, however, I found out, it was Excel Parking that issued the parking fine. I rang them up to see if I could get some of the correspondence that was sent to my old address, and when I told them that I had paid for my parking and have proof of that and the time i paid, she told me to hold, came back and said yes they could see the time I had paid but I was 5 mins too late in paying for the parking!! I had gone in at 16:03 and I paid at 16:12 that is why I have been issued a CCJ!!! What??!! I am gobsmacked!! I am in shock!! 

Is this right? 

Worried Mum 

Le_Kirk

You have a CCJ because you did not respond to a N1 claim form.  This may be because you didn't receive it, the usual reason being your V5C was out of date with wrong address, or you decided to ignore it.   You now need to follow the advice given above.

1505grandad

As above.

"..it was Excel Parking that issued the parking fine."  -  please never refer to this invoice (parking charge) as a "fine" in any correspondence  -  you will never see it in the ppc's docs.

Bazarius

As you are a lone parent with 2 dependent children.  You should be able to get help with fees which is assessed on a sliding scale .  

I had a defendant who was on a low income , earning £1300 a month , only had to pay £40 on a £255 fee which was back then (he was awarded that fee plus other costs upon the claim being set aside and  dismissed as it was without merit .)  

Coupon-mad

Mumndaughterofdavid said:

Hi All 

Thank you very much. I'll send this off soon, however, I found out, it was Excel Parking that issued the parking fine. I rang them up to see if I could get some of the correspondence that was sent to my old address, and when I told them that I had paid for my parking and have proof of that and the time i paid, she told me to hold, came back and said yes they could see the time I had paid but I was 5 mins too late in paying for the parking!! I had gone in at 16:03 and I paid at 16:12 that is why I have been issued a CCJ!!! What??!! I am gobsmacked!! I am in shock!! 

Is this right? 

No, it's abusive, unfair and wrong on every level but is a 'scam' rule used until recently.

Presumably you've read the MSE and BBC articles this week about this rogue '5 minute rule' being banned because it always was unfair? Surely you saw that all over the news just days ago?

It really helps your case.

This will be easy to get set aside and you can ask the court for any part of the court fee that you pay, to be refunded by Excel AND for the abusive claim to be struck out.

Mumndaughterofdavid

Le_Kirk said:

You have a CCJ because you did not respond to a N1 claim form.  This may be because you didn't receive it, the usual reason being your V5C was out of date with wrong address, or you decided to ignore it.   You now need to follow the advice given above.

Hi Le_kirk

Thank you for taking the time to respond but I clearly did not "decide to ignore it" because I had moved to a county 4 hours away. 

It's not an opportunity for a reprimand but to offer advice "if you can" once again. Thank you.

Coupon-mad

We are trying to help and the written word can be misconstrued. Le Kirk is a valued regular poster and (although using the word 'you') wasn't referring to you necessarily 'ignoring the claim, just explaining generally that this happens in two 'maybe' circumstances.

In your case it seems it was the first scenario.

Easy enough to set aside the CCJ & beat the unfair PCN in one fell swoop (probably at one hearing, and with your costs awarded). Just a bit of work needed to do the N244 and a WS and a Draft Order, which is explained (with links to worked examples) in the 'CCJ set aside' bit of the sticky thread at the top of the forum.

We'll all help!

Mumndaughterofdavid

Coupon-mad said:

We are trying to help and the written word can be misconstrued. Le Kirk is a valued regular poster and (although using the word 'you') wasn't referring to you necessarily 'ignoring the claim, just explaining generally that this happens in two 'maybe' circumstances.

In your case it seems it was the first scenario.

Easy enough to set aside the CCJ & beat the unfair PCN in one fell swoop (probably at one hearing, and with your costs awarded). Just a bit of work needed to do the N244 and a WS and a Draft Order, which is explained (with links to worked examples) in the 'CCJ set aside' bit of the sticky thread at the top of the forum.

We'll all help!

Dear Coupon-mad 

Thank you very much for your email. It does really does help. 
I'll follow the sticky thread and see if I can find my way through/around it. 

Best wishes 

Coupon-mad

If struggling, Contestor Legal (Google...) can do it for you at a fee and their barrister can appear at your hearing.

Unlike other legal firms, they specialise in parking cases and will aim to get the whole claim struck out plus all costs back for you