Please help — CCJ set aside, but can I recover my £300+ application fee?

JJGreenman

I’m looking for some advice about a parking charge and the costs I have been left with.

A CCJ was entered against me in relation to a parking charge I was completely unaware of until recently. I applied to have the judgment set aside because I had moved house and my V5C/logbook had not been updated ahead of the parking charge and as a result, all correspondence was sent to my old address and not forwarded to me. It was only when the debt collectors issued a letter to me at my current address I became aware of either the parking charge or the CCJ.

The judge has now set aside the CCJ and has said that the matter will be referred to the small claims court. However, the judge did not order the claimant to reimburse me for the court application/hearing fee, which was over £300.

There are a few things that seem relevant:

• My driving licence, electoral roll registration and bank statements had all been updated to my new address before the parking charge was issued.
• The claimant says they carried out a multiple-agency trace/search before commencing legal proceedings, but they have not provided any evidence showing what searches they actually carried out or what address information they obtained.
• Despite this, they proceeded with the claim using my old address, meaning I had no opportunity to defend it before the CCJ was entered, and state that I was not the driver at the time of the offence.

My question is: can I ask the small claims court to consider the £300+ court application fee as part of the costs of the claim, or is there another way to seek reimbursement?

Would it be realistic to pursue recovery of this fee, or am I likely be out of pocket because the judge did not deal with it when setting aside the CCJ? I would prefer to avoid taking any further steps that could result in additional costs with little prospect of recovering the money.

I’d particularly appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with a similar parking/CCJ set-aside situation, or who understands how costs are dealt with when a judgment is set aside and the claim proceeds to the small claims court.

Many thanks in advance.

JJGreenman

Yes exactly.

Umkomaas

Did the Judge state ‘costs reserved’?

JJGreenman

No he simply said they would be referred to small claims.

Gr1pr

You should have asked for reimbursement in your set aside application and in court

The Judge tends to reserve costs for the case hearing Judge to decide , so did they. ?

JJGreenman

I included the request for both the CCJ to be set aside and for the hearing fee to be reimbursed in my application yes.

Coupon-mad

But you had to ask at the hearing; really push for the costs and point out that the case wasn't allocated to track, etc.

I fear the written order will say 'no order as to costs' which means you cannot have them. If it says 'costs reserved' you can try.

JJGreenman

OK thanks so much. I haven’t received the written order yet. I didn’t push because the way judge positioned it was costs were an issue for the small claims court and that his role was simply whether to set the CCJ aside.

If costs are reserved and I try again at the small claims court, is there an additional application fee and/or any chance I could be liable for the claimant’s cost? That is my concern. That my potential costs will continue to increase.

Coupon-mad

"If costs are reserved and I try again at the small claims court, is there an additional application fee and/or any chance I could be liable for the claimant’s cost?"

No and no.

In fact if it was Civil Enforcement or a DCB Legal claim, they'll discontinue now, so there won't even be another hearing.

Which PPC and which solicitors?

JJGreenman

Parking Awareness Services and ELMS Legal.

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82163040#Comment_82163040

Elms Legal probably won't proceed but let us know.