Surprised Default Judgment regarding a private parking ticket

Goldyfish

Hello everyone,

I would greatly appreciate if someone could kindly advise which step should I take next after this correspondence with the CNBC and Complaint team. I’ve included some quotes and removed identifiable information. I also need to mention that they spelled out my first name incorrectly in the court order/Default Judgement.

Just to note that my mother and my partner's father passed away between end of November 2024 and mid-January 2025. We had to travel back home to attend the funeral on both occasions and of course I was not emotionally in good condition during this time to properly pursue this matter but did my best.

The issue is:

I received a Default Judgment dated November 2024, which was issued because I had not replied to the Claim Form which was noted in the court order while my Defence had been filed and submitted on time in July 2024.

My emails:

I emailed CNBC on 1st December 2024 to inform them that the Defence was filed on time and apparently it was mislaid/lost/ignored. A copy of the Defence was also attached to this email. No response!

I sent the second email on 7th January 2025 and raised my concern that I did not hear from them and attached a copy of my Defence to the email too. It was around this time that I noticed that a CCJ has been registered against me (dated November 2024) and I asked them to remove Default Judgment forthwith as the CCJ that has wrongly been registered against me was seriously impacting on my livelihood, and claimed compensation. No response!

On 17th January, I emailed them again and referred to my previous two emails and registered a formal complaint for the Court’s delay in dealing with this matter.  

Complaint team email:

On 23rd January, the Complaints Team finally responded that a Notice of Allocation being sent to me in August 2024, followed by a sanction order in October, which led to defence being automatically struck out and judgment entered against me. They suggested to make an application to the court asking for the judgment to be set aside using N244 application form. My other choice was that ‘if you're unhappy with the way I've handled your complaint please write to (name of a person) by replying to this email, requesting a review of your complaint with details of why you're not happy.”

My email:

I emailed back (to the same complaint team member not the person they’ve suggested), explaining that ‘the Default Judgment dated November 2024, which you will note was issued because (supposedly) I had not replied to the Claim Form! Given the wording of the Default Judgment, your reference to a Notice of Allocation being sent to me in August, followed by a sanction order in October, (neither of which was received), is equally complete nonsense, ‘as failure to respond to the latter would not have given rise to the Default Judgment. Instead, there would have been an order striking out my Defence - see CPR 26.4(9)(b).’

Complaint team email:

The Complaint team member replied and confirmed that they have received my Defence which made the claim defended claim ‘with requirement to file a directions questionnaire as stated in the notice of allocation and subsequent order of sanctions sent to you. I'm sorry if you didn't receive these, I appreciate your frustration, however, the delivery of post is beyond our control. I can only suggest that you contact Royal Mail.’

‘As these correspondence were deemed sent and we didn't receive a response to either, your defence was first automatically struck out and then judgment entered against you. Please follow the guidance in my previous email to apply to get the judgment removed and let the court know you disagree.’ 

My emails:

On 24th January 2025, I emailed back and said ‘kindly provide a copy of the Judgment referred to in the final paragraph thereof.’

I sent another email with the following content, ‘Further to my email on 24 January, please also provide copies of the notice and sanctions order referred to in the first paragraph of your email.  

I intend no disrespect, but given that your mail is sent by ordinary post, your suggestion that I contact Royal Mail is futile!’

Complaint team email:

Their final response was that ‘As these correspondence were deemed sent, you will need to contact the court directly to request copies and pay a small fee.’

 

 

BikingBud

Not much I can offer other than this appears not to be an issue, at the moment, with parking.

It may come back to parking but I feel this is currently about process failure and would likely need some specific advice about if due process has been followed and what remedies are open to you. Those options may not become apparent before you get the notice and sanctions order.

The claimant will be very happy as they have an outcome without effort.

Goldyfish

@BikingBud Thanks for your comment and help. I just wanted to make it clear that this CCJ is linked to a private parking ticket. Interestingly, I received the claim form and the Court order but did not receive the documents mentioned in the emails above!

Goldyfish

@BikingBud Shall I request copies of the notice and sanctions order?

Coupon-mad

I would.

You are entitled to them under SAR rights. Maybe they had a typo in the address?

Goldyfish

@Coupon-mad @BikingBud @Gr1pr
Thank you for your previous comments. I've requested copies of the notice and sanctions order from CNBC and they finally sent them today (after almost 5 weeks). Both documents were originally sent to a different address (same building but different flat), so I never received them. I would appreciate if you kindly could help with what the next step would be. 

Johnersh

1. Was the claim issued to the correct address?
2. If not, did the AoS (if filed) correct the address?
3. If the court has dispatched documents to an incorrect address this should a straightforward application to set aside.

The orders will be anodyne. The parties will have been directed to file an AQ, then the court will make an own volition order having received just 1 AQ linked to an unless order. Then presumably the strike out.

Goldyfish

@Johnersh
Many thanks. 

1.Yes
2. Defence was filed. Someone (representative) filed and submitted the Defence on my behalf. I checked it and noticed that he had put an incorrect flat number in the Defence. This made me concerned. However, the 'Default Judgement' was sent to the correct address. 
3. I will file N244 application to set judgment aside and re-instate my defence.

One more thing is that they had the spelling of my first name wrong. Is this something that I should mention in N244 application.

Coupon-mad

Yes you can add a line in the WS correcting it.

Unless you qualify for help with fees, your friend just cost you at least £119 for this application (tick 'without a hearing' if the court will let you pay that fee. If not, this will cost you £313 'with a hearing').

Ouch! And you won't get it back because neither the court nor Claimant did anything wrong.

Make sure your attached witness statement explains exactly what happened. Attach something like your council tax bill that shows the right address and name spelling.

Goldyfish

Thank you for your help.
I wonder can anyone kindly introduce a solicitor to me to help with removing the CCJ/setting aside a CCJ?

I just found out that the sanctions order has been served under the wrong CPR which makes it invalid and therefore unenforceable. I emailed the court, but they don't seem to bother. It almost takes a month for them to respond to any email I sent.

Many thanks.

Coupon-mad

Use Jackson Yamba at Contestor Legal. They are the only parking case CCJ specialists we trust. But I'd say you are unlikely to get back any costs in this situation.