CCJ from Parkingeye. Claim form not received as driver resides abroad. Can I set aside?

Whiteorchid

I have recently been advised that I could request to set aside this CCJ based on the fact that I reside overseas and the claim forms were not served correctly. My car is registered with DVLA at my UK holiday home address, so the claim forms were sent there while I was residing overseas. I did not discover them until last month.

I parked in an underground carpark monitored by Parkingeye in April 2024, while taking my 87 year old mother to the library. There is no phone signal in this underground carpark so could not use the app or make calls. The signs gave information about terms and condition and how to pay, showing the hourly tariff. There was no mention of the timeframe starting on entry and exit by ANPR cameras. Once outside with my elderly mother having slowly climbed the many stairs to exit (the only exit), and finally with mobile phone signal, I made payment for 2 hours. (Unaware the clock for parking had started the minute the car entered the premises!) I returned and left the carpark within this 2 hours. 

A month later, a letter was received from PE with a fine of £100 for not paying for parking. I assumed it was a mistake, and promptly sent them a photo of the payment receipt. I was then told I had overstayed by 4 minutes! I was given the option to appeal online with POPLA. An explanation of the circumstances were given. POPLA rejected the appeal in August 2024. Claiming there had been an overstay of 4 minutes, due to paying for parking late! I had been 14 minutes late due to the unavoidable circumstances found within the underground carpark. They had allowed a 10 minute grace period. I offered to pay the extra hour I had unknowingly gone into, but they refused. I heard nothing more by email. I then travelled back to my home overseas.

I was not in the UK between October 2024 and May 2025, when the Claim forms were posted to my holiday home in March 2025. Therefore there was no opportunity to appeal. Consequently there is now a CCJ which I had no knowledge of at that time.

I am about to complete the N244, and can hopefully do this correctly by reading the many useful posts on this forum, thank you. I have written to Parkingeye to ask for their consent to set aside, but they have not responded within my 7 day deadline.

Am I doing the right thing so far? Can I ask for a Set Aside for incorrect service of the Claim form and also for incorrect signage on display?  The signs explain you are bound by the terms and conditions set out in the Parking Contract. Yet the Parking Contract is nowhere to be seen! And payment cannot be made onsite.

For added info: The POC on the Claim Form states,  "... vehicle captured on ANPR and parking without paying to park"!  I paid and can prove I paid for parking!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Gr1pr

If the claim form went to the correctly registered UK address of the RK here in the UK, then I cannot see how it can be incorrect service of papers   ( unless you have previously given them your foreign address for the service of papers   ?  )

CCJ set aside is stage 1 of a possible 2 stage process,  there is usually a second hearing regarding the defence to the original claim,  later on , stage 1 is about a judge granting the set aside,  or not  ( not about the original claim per se  )

Car1980

My car is registered with DVLA at my UK holiday home address, so the claim forms were sent there while I was residing overseas

Did you tell Parking Eye the correct address at any point?

Coupon-mad

Your mum sounds like she meets the definition of disability, so she (and you as her carer that day) was/were legally entitled to more time. And they KNOW these facts from your appeal, I guess?

The CCJ can be set aside either under CPR 13.2 (not served, citing VCS v Carr and the Overriding Objective) or CPR 13.3 (other good reasons, including the fact you have a strong defence re unfair terms, unclear signage and the Equality Act 2010 reason that I just stated.

Was the claim issued by ParkingEye in-house or by DCB Legal for them?

Whiteorchid

Thank you for the quick response...

I received the claim paperwork from HM Courts & Tribunal Service. There is nothing showing DCB on the paperwork. 

My mother has Dementia and is very slow on her feet due to age related aches and pains.... I did explain this to Parkingeye and offered a doctors report etc.

It all seems so unfair and unjust! 

Whiteorchid

Car1980 said:

My car is registered with DVLA at my UK holiday home address, so the claim forms were sent there while I was residing overseas

Did you tell Parking Eye the correct address at any point?

No I didn't as had been in regular contact by email so assumed they would continue in the same way.

Gr1pr

Court claims are issued by post, from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL,  not by email,  so the claimant had every reason to issue it to the RK address,  same place where council tickets,  Dart charges,  bus lane violations,  speeding tickets go, very dangerous for you to not get mail checked weekly or fortnightly 

It is all unfair and unjust,  which is why people here have been fighting against it for over a decade,  so complain to the government in the new survey that coupon mad recently posted about, especially because she is trying to get things changed at government level 

Coupon-mad

I am about to complete the N244.

Copy a recent one with VCS v Carr and the argument that the claim has EXPIRED.

But firstly ring the CNBC for 3 things:

- a copy of the POC (emailed to you urgently)

- the breakdown of the heads of cost in the claim and

- ask whether ParkingEye filed the claim themselves or did DCB Legal do it?

Whiteorchid

Gr1pr said:

Court claims are issued by post, from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL,  not by email,  so the claimant had every reason to issue it to the RK address,  same place where council tickets,  Dart charges,  bus lane violations,  speeding tickets go, very dangerous for you to not get mail checked weekly or fortnightly 

It is all unfair and unjust,  which is why people here have been fighting against it for over a decade,  so complain to the government in the new survey that coupon mad recently posted about, especially because she is trying to get things changed at government level 

Thank you, yes I am realising now about certain documents required to be posted and not emailed. I do travel back and forth a couple of times a year and until now I have not had a problem. And yes I will definitely be making a comment to the government regarding this.

Whiteorchid

Coupon-mad said:

I am about to complete the N244.

Copy a recent one with VCS v Carr and the argument that the claim has EXPIRED.

But firstly ring the CNBC for 3 things:

- a copy of the POC (emailed to you urgently)

- the breakdown of the heads of cost in the claim and

- ask whether ParkingEye filed the claim themselves or did DCB Legal do it?

Thank you. I have the original claim form showing amount claimed and fees etc, and a section giving the POC. Is this what you mean? The form was signed by a solicitor employed by Parkingeye. This was dated 10 March 2025 giving me 28 days to respond.

Coupon-mad

Show us that. Redact 4 things: your VRM, password, your data and the Claim number.