Unknown CCJ from UK Parking Control

Hotpoint1234

Hi @Coupon-mad

I have made the amendments you suggested as per below:

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. 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. 

6. 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. 

7. 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. 

8. 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. 

9.  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 

 

10.         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. 

11.         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.  

12.      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. 

13. 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. 

14. 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.  

15. 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. 

16. 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. 

17. 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. 

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

19. 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. 

20.      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.”  

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. Continuing a dead claim more than 4 months after it was raised (but never properly served) is impossible under any rule of law or practice (CPR 7.5).   

22.      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. 

23. There are several authorities for this, including the judgment in Boxwood [2021] EWHC 947 (TCC), which is a reminder of the strictness of the requirements of CPR 7.6 and how difficult it is to use other parts of the Civil Procedure Rules to rectify a failure to serve the claim form within the requisite period: “A claimant is not entitled to rely on the wide, general powers under CPR 3.10 or CPR 3.9 to circumvent the specific conditions set out in CPR 7.6(3) for extending the period for service of a claim form. 

24. In Vinos v Marks & Spencer plc [2001] 3 All ER 784 the Court of Appeal considered whether any extension of time should be granted under CPR 7.6 in circumstances where the defendant had been notified of the issue of a claim form but the claim form had not been served within four months as required by CPR 7.5 and the application was made after expiry of that period. The court refused to grant relief on the basis that it did not have power to do so. The transcripts for both above cases have been attached. 

25. In Croke & Anor v National Westminster Bank Plc & Ors [2022] EWHC 1367 (Ch) the claimant was one day late in properly serving the Particulars of Claim to the Defendant and the claimant’s application for relief from sanctions was refused. In section 65 of the transcript of the trial (which is attached) Deputy Master Marsh stated “The defendants were entitled to know within the four month period specified in the CPR whether a claim had been made against them and to be able to understand that claim. [...] Unless an extension of time is granted, the claim will cease to have any validity and will be struck out." 

26.      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. Further, I submit that the claim is dead and be struck out as more than 4 months have passed from issue of proceedings. The Claimant must file a claim afresh and allow the Defendant the opportunity to respond. 

 

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

I assume I dont need to provide a skeleton arguement until I have a court date?

Also, I remember reading somewhere on this forum that someone mentioned their autism to the court. Is this something I should be doing as part of my witness statement or is that a matter for further down the line when I get a court date?

Hotpoint1234

I have kept the Draft Order the same:

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. 

Le_Kirk

Presumably when you submit that, you will fill in the actual application date and date of judgment.

Coupon-mad

I doubt you will get your £313 costs back because the Claimant did nothing wrong, if they used the right address for the claim. Maybe better not to say that in your draft Order or in the first box in the N244, and instead say that:

- the Claimant must re-serve the Claim form within 14 days

- if the Claim is so served, the Defendant will have 14 days to file and serve a defence.

- no order as to costs.

Or leave it as it is and hope your judge likes you better than parking firms who don't bother to turn up to hearings! 

Remove this as it isn't true:

"and has banned it."

Hotpoint1234

Le_Kirk said:

Presumably when you submit that, you will fill in the actual application date and date of judgment.

Yes, I'm keeping everything anonymous on this forum. All dates will go in when I make the application

Hotpoint1234

Coupon-mad said:

I doubt you will get your £313 costs back because the Claimant did nothing wrong, if they used the right address for the claim. Maybe better not to say that in your draft Order or in the first box in the N244, and instead say that:

- the Claimant must re-serve the Claim form within 14 days

- if the Claim is so served, the Defendant will have 14 days to file and serve a defence.

- no order as to costs.

Ir leave it as it is and hope your judge likes you better than parking firms who dob't turn up to hearings! 

Remove this as it isn't true:

"and has banned it."

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 must re-serve the Claim form within 14 days 

4. If the Claim is so served, the Defendant will have 14 days to file and serve a defence 

5. No order as to costs 

-------------------

Are there any additonal changes you would recommend to my Witness Statement? I have removed the 'as it is banned' from my offline version (wont upload here as a small change to keep things shorter)

Coupon-mad

That draft Order now makes no sense because the claim can't be struck out AND defended!

Maybe this:

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.

(either)

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

(or)

2. The Claimant must re-serve the Claim form within 14 days. If the Claim is so served, the Defendant will have 14 days to file and serve a defence. 

3. No order as to costs.

Make sure your N244 answer to 'What Order are you asking for?' matches your draft Order. 

Hotpoint1234

Coupon-mad said:

That draft Order now makes no sense because the claim can't be struck out AND defended!

Maybe this:

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.

(either)

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

(or)

2. The Claimant must re-serve the Claim form within 14 days. If the Claim is so served, the Defendant will have 14 days to file and serve a defence. 

3. No order as to costs.

Make sure your N244 answer to 'What Order are you asking for?' matches your draft Order. 

Thanks @Coupon-mad- I have amended the draft Order to read as follows:

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 Claimant must re-serve the Claim form within 14 days. If the Claim is so served, the Defendant will have 14 days to file and serve a defence.  

3. No order as to costs. 

----

I think it's more likely the judge would grant me my day in court rather than give a full dismissal as the Claimant hasnt done anything wrong. Part of me hopes they wont turn up to the hearing or re-issue the claim but that's a future consideration!

Hotpoint1234

I have also removed the paragraphs relating to the 4 months from my witness statement as they are no longer relevant, have removed any reference to claims for cost and added point 2.c requesting the claim form be re-served:

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 set aside 

c. The Claimant must re-serve the Claim form within 14 days. If the Claim is so served, the Defendant will have 14 days to file and serve a defence. 

 

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. 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. 

6. 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. 

7. 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. 

8. 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. 

9.  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 

 

10.         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. 

11.         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.  

12.      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. 

13. 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. 

14. 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.  

15. 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. 

16. 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. 

17. 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. 

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

19. 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.  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. 

20.      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.”  

21.      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. The Claimant must file a claim afresh and allow the Defendant the opportunity to respond. 

 

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 __________ 

 

 (for some reason the formatting in playing up re spacing)