CCJ from Parking Eye - help to get it set aside and contest charge

freddiefluff

Hi all, 

I have read through the threads and would love some support with my next steps. 

I have already written to Parking Eye solicitors to ask them to join me in an application to set aside, following the format in a previous thread, but had no response. 

I am now preparing the N244 form and would appreciate any advice. 

The speed at which I have been able to follow the guidelines has not been very quick, due to ill health, but I am absolutely focussed on getting this next step done asap. I know this is important. 

Here is the timeline: 

Feb 2024 moved house.
Updated on the electoral roll and council tax. 
Did not update VC5 or driving licence as was not aware I needed to and in the midst of a divorce. 
Feb 2025 received a debt collection letter from DCBL. 
Contacted CNBC to find out the details as this was the first I had heard about it. 
March 2025 sent letter to Parking Eye Ltd solicitors as above. 
No response so now preparing N244. 

Is this ok for the DRAFT ORDER? 

Notes - do I need to fill in the XX's? I get help with my fees so I won't have to pay anything, so do I need to amend point 6? 

Thank you in advance. 

DRAFT ORDER

_________________________________

Upon reading the Defendant's application dated XXX and the annexed witness statement of XXXXXX dated XXX

It is ordered that:

1. The default judgment dated 17th of September 2024 be set aside.

2. Costs to be reserved.

3. Unless the Claimant serves a copy of the Claim Form on the Defendant by 4pm on XXXXXX the claim will be struck out without further order.

4. If the Claimant serves the claim form as directed in paragraph 3 the Defendant shall file and serve a defence by 4pm XXXXXX.

5. All enforcement be put on hold pending the outcome of the application.

6. Should the court reserve costs in the case as an alternative to paragraph 2, such costs of this application will become payable if the claimant discontinues it's claim.

Coupon-mad

Was the claim from DCB Legal solicitors or from ParkingEye issued 'in-house'?

Have you got the Particulars of Claim? Show us those.

No you don't send that. Read a more recent example: e.g. the thread by @Truss_me

freddiefluff

Yes it was a Notice of Debt Recovery from DCBL. Shall I upload a picture? 

Ah ok, thanks. I'll take a look now at the more recent thread. 

Thank you for your help 

Coupon-mad

freddiefluff said:

Yes it was a Notice of Debt Recovery from DCBL. Shall I upload a picture? 

Nope, because that's not the same exact company I was asking about.

I was asking which legal firm filed the claim. DCBL is not the same Ltd company as 'DCB Legal' (who I can see were not involved in your case).

It was ParkingEye in-house.

freddiefluff

The Notice of Debt recovery was DCBL. The claimant solicitors are ParkingEye Limited (7359). 

I had to get my previous comment deleted by admin, so apologies for the delay, but here are the particulars: 

POC = CLAIM FOR MONIES OUTSTANDING FROM THE        DEFENDANT IN RELATION TO A PARKING CHARGE    (REFERENCE 197626/151837) ISSUED ON          20/05/2024. THE SIGNAGE CLEARLY DISPLAYED    THROUGHOUT BOOTHS STATES THAT THIS IS PRIVATE LAND,   MANAGED BY PARKINGEYE LTD, AND THAT IT IS    SUBJECT TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS, INCLUDING A MAX STAY PERIOD, BY WHICH THOSE WHO PARK     AGREE TO BE BOUND (THE CONTRACT).            PARKINGEYE'S ANPR SYSTEM CAPTURED VEHICLE    XXXXXXX ENTERING AND LEAVING THE SITE ON     16/05/2024, AND OVERSTAYING THE MAX STAY     PERIOD. PURSUANT TO SCH 4 OF THE PROTECTION  OF FREEDOMS ACT 2012, NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN  TO THE REGISTERED KEEPER, MAKING THEM LIABLE FOR THE PARKING CHARGE PAYABLE UPON BREACH.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

freddiefluff

Thanks for your time - I appreciate it! 

Coupon-mad

OK.

Read the 2nd post of the NEWBIES thread and a recent worked example: e.g. the thread by @Truss_me

freddiefluff

Thanks. That is the thread and post (2nd) I have been following. I have now found the @Truss_me one you referred to too.

So this is the draft order template that you suggest? 

UPON the Defendant's application dated [                ] November 2024 (the "Application")

AND UPON READING the witness statement of XXXX dated [                ] November 2024

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

1                 The default judgment entered against the Defendant dated 12 July 2024 (the "Default Judgment") be set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2 [CPR 13.3(1)];

2                 The claim (no. XXXX) ("Claim") is dismissed.

3                 No order as to costs in respect of the Claim.

4                 The Claimant/Respondent shall pay the Defendant's/Applicant's costs of and occasioned by the Application. 

 

freddiefluff

And then I should use this as a template for my witness statement? To go with my N244 application? 

Just want to make sure I am understanding correctly and I am aware of the time pressure to get this completed. 

I, XXXX of XXXX STATE AS FOLLOWS:

1                 I am the Defendant in these proceedings.

2                 I make this witness statement in support of my application (the "Application") to set aside the default judgment dated 12 July 2024 (the "Default Judgment") pursuant to CPR r.13.2 and/or r.13.3.  

3                 The facts and matters set out in this statement are within my own knowledge unless otherwise stated, and I believe them to be true. Where I refer to information supplied by others, the source of the information is identified; facts and matters derived from other sources are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

4                 I refer to a paginated bundle of true copy documents marked " Exhibit XXXX". All references to documents in this statement are to Exhibit XXXX unless otherwise stated.

Background

Factual background

5                 I am an XXXX employed by XXXX. From time to time in my role I am required to attend sites to carry out emergency works on XXXX and in doing so I play a role in safeguarding the public and helping to prevent or minimise damage to other public or private property. For these purposes I am considered a category 2 emergency worker.

6                 On XXXX, I was called out to carry out emergency isolation and safeguarding work due to storm Eunice.  I entered a car park at XXXX which I now understand is controlled by Civil Enforcement Limited ("CEL"). I entered the car park in my vehicle with registration XXXX ("Work Vehicle"). I am the registered keeper of my Work Vehicle. I use my Work Vehicle for my employment and it is subject to an employee car scheme with XXXX.

7                 I pulled my vehicle up to a colleagues vehicle in the car park and we proceeded to have a discussion about the emergency works that were required and to update job notes. Although I do not remember precisely how long I was in the car park, I have seen from the Parking Charge Notice ("PCN") that CEL alleges that my vehicle was in the car park for 21 minutes and I agree that I was in the car park for only a short time. During the visit I did not exit my vehicle or park in a parking space.

8                 Due to the weather and ongoing situation with fallen trees and conductors I was not aware we had stopped in a car park which required payment. As far as I recall there were no barriers or sign upon entry.

9                 I subsequently received a PCN to my former residential address at XXXX. The PCN is referred to in the summary of the Claimant's Particulars of Claim (PCN ref XXXX) which I have received from the Civil National Business Centre by email following my request to them for details of the claim (which I refer to further below).

10              I do not consider that I am liable to pay any penalty for entering into the car park as signage was inadequate and I did not park and leave my vehicle, but merely had a brief meeting relating to emergency works in the area with a colleague. 

11              I appealed the issue of the PCN on the CEL website after I received it. My appeal was submitted via a webform on CEL’s website and I was not provided with a copy of the appeal I wrote on their website after I submitted it. As such I do not have a copy of that appeal. As far as I recall, the response at the time was that CEL did not have my Work Vehicle recorded as an emergency vehicle and as such my appeal was unsuccessful.  I do not remember any further correspondence with CEL following this decision.

12              On XXXX I moved residence. A copy of my mortgage agreement is included at Exhibit XXXX. I had a postal redirection service in place with Royal Mail for a period of 3 months, until [date] October 2023. A copy of an email from Royal Mail confirming my postal redirection is at Exhibit XXXX. [On date / During the 3 month period of my postal redirection / shortly after moving on XXXX], I updated my home address with the DVLA, including by updating the address on the "V5C" for my Work Vehicle. The new V5C for my vehicle is dated XXXX. Exhibit XXXX.

13              My residential address from 5 July 2023 has been XXXX ("Home Address") and the V5C for the vehicle in question was issued on 30.08.2023.

14              On 1st October 2024 I received a letter at my Home Address dated 25 September 2024 from Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd ("DCBL") stating that pursuant to a CCJ entered against me I owed £309 to CEL. This was the first time that I learned that a claim had been made brought against me by CEL and that a default judgment had been entered against me in respect of that claim. The same day I received the letter I began looking into the claim by looking up details on the Trust Online service.

15              I have never received or been served with a copy of the Claim Form and/or Particulars of Claim or a copy of the default judgment. On 07.10.2024 to try to ascertain the details of the judgment referred to in the letter from DCBL. I was informed that CEL had been awarded a default judgement and the POC would be forwarded to me. I then received an email setting out summary information relating to the Particulars of Claim, a copy of that email dated 7 October 2024 is included at Exhibit XXXX.

16              Subsequently I received a further letter from DCBL dated 16 October 2024, a copy of which is included at Exhibit XXXX.

17              On XXXX I approached CEL via email inviting them to make a joint application to set aside the judgment with CEL picking up the costs. Exhibit XXXX. CEL then responded with a settlement offer in respect of the default judgment on 9 October 2024 by email. In summary CEL offered a draft consent order to set aside the judgment provided that I pay £95 towards the PCN and £119 for the Court filing fee for the consent order. Relevantly, the email from CEL states that:

17.1         CEL's debt resolution partner, DCBL, carried out an address check on 7 June 2022 and were "unable to locate a new address";

17.2         "Following this check, a claim was therefore issued to your last known address in accordance with rule 6 of the Civil Procedure Rules on 13/5/2024".

18              By their own admission, CEL stated in their email of 9 October 2024 to me that they had failed to check my address before attempting service on around 13 May 2024, and instead relied on an address they had checked over 23 months earlier. The date of the alleged service of the claim on 13 May 2024 was approximately 10 months after I moved home and over 6 months after updating my Home Address on my V5C.

19              For the reasons set out above, this claim should be struck out. I became aware of the Particulars of Claim and default judgment only upon receiving the letter from DCBL dated 25th September.  If I had been given an opportunity to defend the claim I would have done so within the time limits required by the Civil Procedure Rules. I also consider that I have a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, as set out below. As such I rejected the settlement offer and made a counter-offer by email dated 14 October 2024. CEL rejected this counter-offer by email dated 14 October 2024. Copies of this correspondence is included at Exhibit XXXX.   

20              I consider that CEL's settlement offer of 9 October 2024 acknowledges that service was defective in that CEL agreed to consent to an order to set aside the Default Judgment provided I pay a contribution towards the PCN and the Court filing fee as set out above at paragraph X.

Defective Service

21              For the reasons set out above at paragraphs 12 to 20 , it is my understanding that service of the Claim Form was defective and in contravention of CPR 7.5.

22              Additionally, CEL failed to serve the claim at my usual or last known address, in breach of CPR 6.9. My current address was easily ascertainable from multiple publicly available sources such as the DVLA, the HMRC and/or the electoral register. 

23              I understand that CEL is a member of the British Parking Association (the ‘BPA’) and is bound by the BPA’s Code of Practice which states at paragraph 24.1c "Before serving a Letter Before Claim and prior to the issue of proceedings, Operators must, if no responses have been received to the NTD/NTK/reminder letters, take reasonable endeavours to ensure that the contact details for the person you are writing to are correct."

24              I was not provided with any Pre-Action Protocol ("PAP") Letter of Claim by CEL or any party on their behalf. I understand that the CEL has breached the BPA Code of Practice and the Civil Procedure Rules both in terms of its failures to carry out adequate checks prior to service and its failure to send a PAP Letter of Claim.

25              As above, I have not seen or received a copy of the default judgment. However, I have confirmed with the Civil National Business Centre and on the Registry Trust website that the default judgment has been entered against me.

My Application

26              I apply on two bases: CPR 13.2 and CPR 13.3.

27              As to the Defendant’s application under CPR 13.2, the relevant rule is as follows:

The court must set aside a judgment entered under Part 12 if judgment was wrongly entered because–

(a) in the case of a judgment in default of an acknowledgment of service, any of the conditions in rule 12.3(1) and 12.3(3) was not satisfied…

28              The relevant condition is at rule 12.3(1). This sets out that a claimant may obtain judgment in default of an acknowledgement of service only if at the date on which judgment is entered (a) the defendant has not filed and an acknowledgement of service…and (b) the relevant time for doing so has expired.

29              The relevant time for filing an acknowledgment of service had not expired because the Defendant had never been properly served for the reasons explained above.

30              As such, the Defendant was not obliged to acknowledge service within a specified time or at all or file a defence. 

31              In those circumstances, the Court must set aside the judgment entered under Part 12.

32              Further or alternatively, the Defendant applies under CPR 13.3.

33              CPR 13.3 provides as follows:

…The Court may set aside or vary a judgment entered under CPR Part 12 if:

(a) the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim; or

(b) it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why –

(i) the judgment should be set aside or varied; or

(ii) the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim.

(2) In considering whether to set aside or vary a judgment entered under Part 12, the matters to which the court must have regard include whether the person seeking to set aside the judgment made an application to do so promptly.

34              I address each of these matters in turn.

Real prospect of defending the claim (CPR 13.3(1)(a))

35              I believe that the Defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim on this ground as set out above at paragraphs x to y. The Default Judgment should therefore be set aside for this reason.

 Other good reasons (CPR 13.3(1)(b))

36              In the alternative, I request that the Default Judgment is set aside on the basis that it was entered before the claim was brought to the Defendant's attention and/or served on it.

Requirement to act promptly (CPR 13.3(2))

37              As set out above, the Default Judgment was only brought to my attention on 1 October 2024, which I received the first letter from DCBL dated 25 September 2024. I believe that I have acted promptly thereafter, including by making enquiries from 1 October 2024 onwards as to the claim. I made a reasonable counter-offer as explained above in 16 above (exhibit XXXX on 9th October and since that time I have prepared this application.

Relief against sanctions

38              I understand that in considering an application under CPR 13.3, the Court will consider the application as being subject to the principles applicable to applications for relief against sanctions under CPR 3.9. I understand those principles to be that when deciding whether to grant a party relief from sanctions, the court will:

38.1         Identify and assess the seriousness and significance of the breach of the relevant rule, practice direction or court order;

38.2         Consider the reasons why the default occurred; and

38.3         Evaluate “all the circumstances of the case”.

39              In relation to each of those matters:

39.1         I accept that if the Claimant had properly served the Claim Form then the failure to acknowledge service was a serious and significant breach.

39.2         As explained above, the reason for the breach was that I was not served with the Claim Form – rather the Claim Form was sent to my previous address some 6 months after I had updated my address on the V5 with the   DVLA. The Claimant made no proper attempt to identify my current Home Address before attempting service at my previous residential address or to otherwise pass on the relevant documents to me or bring them to my attention.

39.3         As to all the circumstances, the Defendant will rely on the matters set out in this witness statement, but in short: I believe that there are serious questions about the correctness of the method by which I was purportedly served, such that the claim was not properly brought to the my attention. I have a strong defence to the claim, or at least at a minimum a defence which has real prospects of success and I acted promptly when I learnt of the default judgment against me.

40              In circumstances where my failure to file the appropriate acknowledgment of service within the prescribed time was outside of my control, the Court should grant relief against sanctions and allow the default judgment to be set aside in all the circumstances of the case.

41              The Claimant will suffer no prejudice from the setting aside of the judgment.

Costs  

42              I respectfully ask that:

42.1         the Claimant pay the Defendant's costs of the Application;

42.2         there is no order as to costs of the underlying claim and default judgment.

Conclusion

43              For the reasons set out above, I respectfully ask the Court to set aside the default judgment under CPR 13.2 and/or 13.3 and enclose a draft order to this effect.

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 .........................

Coupon-mad

freddiefluff said:

Thanks. That is the thread and post (2nd) I have been following. I have now found the @Truss_me one you referred to too.

So this is the draft order template that you suggest? 

UPON the Defendant's application dated [                ] November 2024 (the "Application")

AND UPON READING the witness statement of XXXX dated [                ] November 2024

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

1                 The default judgment entered against the Defendant dated 12 July 2024 (the "Default Judgment") be set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2 [CPR 13.3(1)];

2                 The claim (no. XXXX) ("Claim") is dismissed.

3                 No order as to costs in respect of the Claim.

4                 The Claimant/Respondent shall pay the Defendant's/Applicant's costs of and occasioned by the Application. 

 

3 and 4 make no sense as 'no costs' isn't right. Remove 3.  And obviously no copying the 2024 dates shown there.

Other recent CCJ WS examples are in threads by 

@icy_fox

and

@Lia_F

freddiefluff

Appreciate it! I will get on this tomorrow.