Unknown CCJ from UK Parking Control

Hotpoint1234

Update from my side:

I made the formal complaint to Royal Mail about lack of delivery of court documents and also asked them to specify if there were any delivery issues around my areas during April - May 2024. I am still waiting to get a response from Royal Mail on this. They say they will get back within 4 working days but sometimes it takes longer so I have put in a chase email - hopefully they will get back to me soon

I also spoke to the CNBC and asked them to confirm when the court documents were sent and the delivery method. The agent confirmed the documentation was sent out on 3rd May 2024 and that they typically give 3-5 working days for post to be delivered but could not confirm whether it was sent by first class / second class post. I was advised to write to applications.cnbc@justice.gov.uk asking for the details on the delivery method. I am still waiting on a response from them - the acknowledgement email did say it takes 14 days for a response

I have held off from contacting DCB legal for the time being as I would rather argue my case if I have a realistic chance than pay them. I have been back through my bank records and visited the loaction and apparently the car park the PCN was for is the car park for a TGI Fridays that we went to for a friend's birthday. You get 2 hours free and you have to put your car reg into an ipad. Given the how long ago this was I have no idea if i put my car reg into the ipad or if we went over the two hours.

Do I have a chance at a defence if i was using the car park for a legitimate reason? My personal view is that I probably dont and I have no way of proving or disproving that i registered my vehicle or stayed for under 2 hours.

Is it worth contacting TGI Fridays to see if they passed my details on to the car park company or if they have had issues with other customers getting parking tickets for using the same car park even though they were at the restaraunt?

Otherwise I will probably have to bite the bullet and see if DCB Legal will agree to the set aside that Coupon-mad mentioned above

Hotpoint1234

A few questions if I contact DCB Legal:

- should I mention what my defence is likely to be or do I just say I believe I have a strong defence and leave it at that?

- should I mention anything around not assuming liability for the PCN in my email when asking for the set aside? I see references to 'without prejudice' in various discussions

Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad said:

You can try an application under CPR 13.3  if you have good prospects of successful defence. That should be enough but is at the court's discretion. Not guaranteed. Goes up tomorrow I think from £303 to £313, takes months and requires a hearing.

Or

Email DCB Legal who issued that claim (NOT DCB LTD). Tell them that you are putting in a complaint to Royal Mail because you have not moved house but the supposed Claim Form never arrived and you have good prospects of defence. However, you are a pragmatic person and rather than take time over a hearing you are prepared to pay the lower court fee of £129 to submit a joint consent order to set aside the CCJ under CPR 13.3, if they will agree.

(DO NOT OFFER TO PAY THE PCN. SEE WHAT TERMS THEY COME BACK WITH).

Just do the above.

Nobody said to actually offer to pay them. But find out their response, as that makes your application have more clout in court if they would consent.

Their reply will HELP you whatever they say! I wasn't suggesting you agree to their terms if it involves paying the scam PCN.

Yes, you have very strong chances of success in defending the PCN (likely the keypad failed or caused a VRM typo, or the facility staff forgot to exempt your VRM that day to extend your free time) none of which is your fault and none of which meets the legal high bar of 'legitimate interest and commercial justification' (Supreme Court's binding phrases) needed to enforce a punitive £100 parking charge. 

Hotpoint1234

Thanks Coupon-mad. Re contacting them:

- should I mention what my defence is likely to be or do I just say I believe I have a strong defence and leave it at that?

- should I mention anything around not assuming liability for the PCN in my email when asking for the set aside? I see references to 'without prejudice' in various discussions

Thanks!

Coupon-mad

I explained what to say.

There's even an example of the language & headings/salutation to use in these emails, suggested as the first thing to do with a CCJ (linked in the NEWBIES thread).

Hotpoint1234

Hi all - update from my side.

I wrote to DCB Legal requesting a joint set aside order as Coupon-mad suggested and gave them a deadline until the end of April which I considered reasonable given bank holidays and half term. I have not received a reply so am looking to make my set aside application to the court.

I made a formal complaint to Royal Mail and asked for any information they may have pertaining to delivery difficulties in the my area on or around the month preceding the CCJ date. I received a response from Royal Mail stating that they were unable to identify a reason for failure to deliver and that standard first and second-class post is not tracked through the network. They also stated that there were no known issues reported at the time.

I also contacted the CNBC again to request details on how the court documentation was sent to me. The call handler confirmed that documentation was sent on xx May 2024 but was unable to confirm how the documentation was sent out and advised me to email the CNBC requesting the details. I emailed the CNBC requesting the particulars on how the court documentation was sent out and received a confirmation of receipt email, but no further response has been forthcoming.

Hotpoint1234

Here's the witness statement I've put together reflecting my intent to seek a set-aside of the judgement under CPR 13.3:

WITNESS STATEMENT OF DEFENDANT 

 

1.         I am XXXXXXX of XXXXXXX, and I am the Defendant in this matter.  

2.         This is my supporting statement to my application dated xx May 2025 requesting to: 

a.         Set aside the default judgment dated xx May 2024 as it was not properly served. 

b.         Order for the original claim to be dismissed. 

c.         Order for the Claimant to pay the Defendant £313 as reimbursement for the set aside fee. 

 

DEFAULT JUDGMENT 

3.         I was the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time of the alleged event. 

4.         I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgment against me as the Defendant on xx May 2024. I am aware that the Claimant is UK Parking Control Limited and that the assumed claim is in respect of an unpaid Parking Charge Notice from xx April 2022. 

5.         The address on the claim is XXXXXX which is my current address which I moved to in XX December 2019. In support of this, I have provided evidence through a copy of my Experian credit report that I registered my current address with the electoral register in XX December 2019. 

6. I have never received any court documentation making me aware of proceedings or a notification that a County Court Judgment has been made against me to my current address. 

7. The claim form was not served to me, and I was therefore unaware of the Default County Court Judgment against me until I looked at my Experian credit report for the first time on xx March 2025. 

8. The particulars of the claim involved the legitimate usage of the car park in question to visit a restaurant and that the issuing of a PCN did not meet the legal high bar of legitimate interest and commercial justification set by the Supreme Court. 

9. CPR 13.3 applies in this instance, in particular CPR 13.3 (1) (a) that the Defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim. The Defendant must be allowed to defend the claim in court given its unreasonable nature and the very strong chances of success the defence can present in mitigation of the claim, including keypad failure, registration error or facility staff forgetting to exempt my VRM for the day. 

10.  In addition to the above, it should be highlighted that the integrity and law-abiding intention of the Defendant should be taken into consideration on the basis that; 

   

SEQUENCE OF RECENT EVENTS 

 

11.         I first discovered there was a default County Court Judgment against me when I looked at my Experian credit report for the first time on xx March 2025. 

12.         On xx March 2025, I purchased the County Court Judgment report from the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for England and Wales via the TrustOnline website in relation to claim XXXXXXX to confirm that this CCJ was linked to my name.  

13.      On xx March 2025, I contacted the County Court Business Centre to obtain relevant information relating to this default judgment. I was told I would receive an email containing the Particulars of the Claim which I duly received on the same day. 

14. On xx April I contacted DCB Legal proposing to submit a joint consent order to set aside the CCJ under CPR 13.3 with a deadline of xx April for a response. I received a confirmation of receipt email, but no further response has been forthcoming. 

15. On xx April, I made a formal complaint to Royal Mail complaining about the lack of delivery of court documents and asking for any information they may have pertaining to delivery difficulties in the XX area on or around the month preceding the CCJ date. I received a response from Royal Mail on xx April stating that they were unable to identify a reason for failure to deliver and that standard first and second-class post is not tracked through the network. They also stated that there were no known issues reported at the time. 

16. The Defendant is aware that letters and deliveries to the Defendant’s address are sometimes left outside of, or in the stairwell of, the Defendant’s block of flats rather than being delivered through the letterbox of the flat itself. Deliveries are also sometimes made to the next block of flats which has the same numbering but is in fact a different address. The Defendant has also sometimes received letters and deliveries meant for the next block of flats to the Defendant's address in error. 

17. On xx April I contacted the CNBC again to request details on how the court documentation was sent to me. The call handler confirmed that documentation was sent on xx May 2024 but was unable to confirm how the documentation was sent out and advised me to email the CNBC requesting the details. 

18. On xx April I emailed the CNBC requesting the particulars on how the court documentation was sent out. I received a confirmation of receipt email, but no further response has been forthcoming. 

19.      On XX May 2025 I submitted my case to set-aside this judgment and fairly present my case. 

20. CPR 13.3 applies and there are very good reasons to set aside this claim given the strength of the defence to the claim, which includes a disproportionate and indeed, false 'debt recovery' sum.  In fact, no debt recovery occurred nor cost the Claimant any money whatsoever, in addition to £100 parking charge.  The Government has described the false fixed 'fee' of £70 as 'designed to extort money from motorists' in the new statutory Code of Practice in February 2022 and has banned it.  The Defendant has very good prospects of defending a claim, if served with one, but has seen no evidence, basis nor particulars of claim and the Claimant should be required to file afresh, if they believe they have a cause of action. 

21.       Given that more than 4 months has passed from issue of proceedings and service of the claim was defective (i.e. it was never served) the Defendant submits that this claim is dead and the period for service cannot be extended by this application process.  The Defendant has no details of this claim, therefore, if the Claimant believes there is a cause of action, then the correct procedure would be to file a claim afresh and allow the Defendant the opportunity to respond. 

22.      Furthermore, former Prime Minister May publicly pledged to investigate ‘abuse’ of the CCJ System and so called ‘Credit Clamping’ as reported in the Daily Mail article dated 12 September 2016.  

The Right Honourable Sir Oliver Heald on 23 December 2016 "announced a crackdown on unresolved debts which can damage people’s credit ratings without them knowing.” The Minister added, "It cannot be right that people who are unaware of debts can see their lives and finances ruined by county court judgments.”  

23.      Considering the above, I was unable to defend this claim. I believe that the Default Judgment against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside, and I ask the Court to kindly consider the reimbursement of the fee of £313 from the claimant should this request be successful. 

  

Statement of Truth 

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.  

Signed ________ 

Date __________ 

Hotpoint1234

Is it reasonable to request that the claimant reimburse the court fee of £313 given they haven't actually done anything wrong? I've seen these in the other witness statements shared on this site but seems unrealistic in my case.

Could someone advise on the case law for the 'legitimate interest and commercial justification' standard set by the Supreme Court? Cavendish Square Holdings B.V. v El Makdessi and ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67 keeps popping up on Google - is this the one I should refer to / use in the witness statement?

Thanks for the excellent help received so far on this site

Hotpoint1234

Also the proposed draft order (this is the same as the first one I shared, just updated with the new cost of £313):

DRAFT ORDER 

CLAIM No: XXXXXX 

BETWEEN: 

UK Parking Control Limited (Claimant) 

-- and -- 

XXXXXXXX (Defendant) 

 

UPON reading the defendant’s application dated XX May 2025 

IT IS ORDERED THAT: 

1. The default judgment dated XX May 2024 be set aside.  

2. The claim struck out due to the claim form having not been served within 4 months of issue 

3. The Claimant do pay the Defendants costs of this application of £313 on an indemnity basis. 

Coupon-mad

Remove para 5 and exhibits about where you live, as they aren't needed in your case.

And remove that quite from Royal Mail that there were 'no known issues'. No need to say that.

Add in the legal arguments to support that a claim expires if the POC are not served within 4 months. As seen in CCJ set aside threads by:

@Jack5656 
@eb23456 
@msx999 
@paulr23 

The latter has the skeleton argument covered.