CCJ N244 fee & parking charge notice

nwusr

Hi all,

I'm applying to set aside a default County Court Judgment (CCJ) for a private parking charge from PCM. The claim was sent to my sister's address (the vehicle’s registered keeper) while she was abroad, so I didn’t see the original claim form or the CCJ until a couple days ago when I got access to the mail. As a result, I didn't get a chance to defend myself even though I think I have a really robust defence. I was the driver at the time and am now thinking to submit an N244 form promptly. I am a couple days away from the 30 day timeframe so wondering if I should pursue the N244 and defence or just pay the fee (close to £300) and avoid the hassle of it going on my sister's credit record.

The alleged contravention involved briefly stopping on private land for a couple seconds (dead end) outside a café while someone jumped out to ask where we could park and reversed back out in which time the passenger came and jumped back in the car — I never parked. I have photo evidence showing we left within 1 minute and went to park in the suggested car park (also managed by PCM for which I have the receipt). I also have a photo showing that signage was unreadable or obscured by cafe furniture. I even asked the parking agent there who was taking pics where we could park and he said he didnt know even though we saw him in the same car park later. 

My question is: (1) Do you think I can get the judgment set aside, and if so, (2) do I have grounds to ask for my £313 N244 fee to be covered by the claimant? Or is it likely I’ll have to bear the cost even if I win seeing as the claim form and legal letters were sent to the right address but nobody was there to receive them?

Thanks in advance!

Gr1pr

It seems to me that the fact that the registered keepers home address was used indicates that the default CCJ was issued against the RK, not You

Therefore,  you are a stranger to the case,  so I doubt that you can initiate anything,  but the person named on the default CCJ might be able to do so

nwusr

Yeah, I mean my sister will be happy to initiate if it's even worth it.

Gr1pr

nwusr said:

Yeah, I mean my sister will be happy to initiate if it's even worth it.

If so, she would be trying to resurrect the original court claim against her,  as the non driving RK

Its too late for her to name the actual driver,  so your task would be to assist her

Coupon-mad

If it's still within the 30 days maybe she should pay it off tomorrow, to avoid the CCJ?

If not, then she firstly sends an altered version of the email (to Gladstones who I assume filed the claim?) attaching proof that she was abroad at the time of the claim form arriving and asking them to consent to set aside. 

nwusr

Yes, I will definitely assist her if the original claim comes back into question and allows us to defend our position. It's just a matter of if we have grounds for the N244 fee to be covered by the claimant. I mean, sure, she missed the letters as she wasnt here but they should never have been sent in the first place and we shouldn't have been fined. But if it's a risk that the N244 fee wont be reimbursed then may as well just pay the CCJ and get it over with seeing as both amounts are so similar.

Coupon-mad

There is only maybe less than 50/50 chance of getting the fee ordered against the C in this case. They served the claim to the right address. Nothing unreasonable there.

nwusr

I hear you, that's what i'm worried about and makes me think the risk isn't worth it. Sucks because the original fine was a total scam and I have my own receipts/photographic evidence to prove it!! Really annoyed about not seeing the original claim in time. Guess i'll have to take this one on the chin

Gr1pr

There was no fine,  just a private parking charge 

They pursued the Registered Keeper as they are allowed to do if they complied with POFA 2012, at the registered address,  for the alleged breach of the parking contract 

That Keeper should ensure that mail is checked regularly,  for numerous reasons 

If they had received a private parking charge notice and wanted the driver to deal with it,  they should have named the driver so that the driver could dispute it direct,  in which case you would then be their target,  not your relative. Its the original NTK PCN letter that kicked this off, not dealing with that letter and subsequent letters led to the court claim,  not dealing with that led to the default CCJ 

The moral of the story is to check postal letters regularly and deal with them appropriately,  otherwise it could be a council pcn, bus lane fine,  Caz or Dart charge or a police notice,  with even worse consequences and greater sums involved