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CCJ from CEL - incorrect address

Hi folks,

I found out yesterday when checking my credit file that I have a CCJ. However, it has been served to an old address - not only that, they have got the property number wrong, so it was essentially sent to an old neighbour. Worried and confused, I then visited this neighbour yesterday afternoon who luckily had the ‘Judgment for Claimant’ letter, but nothing else relating to it.

I called the Court this morning to find out what this CCJ relates to and they advised me it was for a parking charge notice issued by CEL in July 2018 (at a KFC apparently). I can only presume that the original notice was sent to the incorrect address too (if at all) however my old neighbour isn’t likely to admit throwing any of my post in the bin.

I have spent most of the day scouring similar stories on here and on the basis of not ever receiving anything relating to this judgement, I feel like my best option is to try and get the judgment ‘set aside’, pay the £255 fee and also submit a defence statement to get the original charge dismissed and the £255 reimbursed.

I have drafted up a statement to submit with my N244 application – I have used the Saggi case as a template as this seems to bear similarities to my own situation.

Questions

1. Is the set aside approach my best option at this stage?
2. Is the below statement good enough to successfully get the judgment set aside?
3. Am I right to try and get the claimant to pay the £255 and have the original charge dismissed?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

M



WRITTEN STATEMENT

I am XXXXXX and I am the Defendant in this matter.
This is my supporting Statement in support of my application dated XXXXXX to:

• Set aside the Default Judgement dated XXXXXX as it was served to an incorrect address;
• Order for the Claimant to pay the Defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee;
• Order for the original claim to be dismissed.

1. Default Judgement

1.1. I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgement against me as the Defendant in XXXXXX. However, this claim form has been served at an incorrect address and I was therefore not aware of the Default Judgement until XXXXXX when I was doing a routine check on my credit file.

1.2. I understand that this Claim was served to No.11 XXXXXX. However, my address between the dates of XXXXXX and XXXXXX was No.12 XXXXXX. Furthermore, I have since moved to a new address in XXXXXX. In support of this I can provide DVLA registered driving licence information as well as confirmation from XXXXXX County Council showing my updated details for the purposes of paying Council tax.

1.3. I have never received any previous documentation from the Claimant in this matter and thus was never able to properly challenge the Claimant’s claim.

1.4. On XXXXXX, following the discovery of the Default Judgment on my credit file, I visited my previous neighbour at No.11 XXXXXX to request any post addressed to myself and was provided with a letter dated XXXXXX containing the Default Judgement. No previous documentation from the Claimant relating to this Default Judgement was received.

1.5. On XXXXXX, I contacted XXXXXX County Court to find out details of the Default Judgement. I was advised that it related to a parking charge notice from XXXXXX. Aside from this, I still do not have any details of the incident the Claimant alleges has taken place.

1.6. I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s current and correct contact details. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. The Claimant’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results is an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country.

1.7. On the basis provided above I would suggest that the Claimant did not fulfil their duty to use the Defendant’s current and correct address when issuing the claim.

1.8. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim properly. I therefore believe that the Default Judgement against me was issued incorrectly and therefore should be set aside.



2. Order dismissing the Claim

2.1. I further believe that the original Claim by the Claimant has no merit and should therefore be dismissed. I understand that the Claimant is a Parking Company which seeks to claim for “Parking Charge Notices” which the Claimant believes are due as a result of an alleged breach of contract for parking by a motorist.

2.2. If the Claimant has obtained details of the vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, and used those details to make a claim for a “Parking Charge Notice’’, I therefore dispute the claim in its entirety as I do not know the wording of the contract nor do I know the means by which the contract was alleged to come into force.

2.3. If the Claimant can evidence that the alleged incident relates to a vehicle for which the Defendant is the Registered Keeper, any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant would have needed to comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Otherwise, the Claimant is required to prove the driver of the vehicle they claim was involved in the alleged incident. I submit that the Claimant cannot provide such evidence and further submit that the Claimant does not include ‘Protection of Freedoms Act 2012’ wording on the Parking Charge Notices they issue and therefore cannot hold the Defendant automatically liable for the alleged incident merely for being the Registered Keeper of a vehicle.

2.4. A requirement of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is that any Notice to Keeper served by the Claimant must be served within 14 days of the date of the alleged incident. Since I have not received any documentation from the Claimant prior to finding out about the Default Judgement, I submit the Claimant will not have complied with the requirements of the Act and therefore cannot claim this charge against me as the Registered Keeper in any case.

2.5. I further submit that the Claimant’s claim is without merit due to substantial issues in law. This is for the following main reasons:

2.5.1. Lack of Standing by Claimant: The Claimant is unlikely to be the landowner of the car park in question and will have no proprietary interest in it. This means that the Claimant, as a matter of law, will have no locus standi to litigate in their own name. Any consideration will have been provided by the landholder, and only they would have been able to charge for any damages or trespass.

2.5.2. No Loss Suffered by Claimant: Their claim is presumably based on damages for alleged breach of contract. It is a fundamental principle of English Law that a party who suffers damages through breach of contract can only seek through court action to be put back in the same position as they would have been if the breach had not occurred. In order to do so, they must demonstrate their actual, or genuine, pre-estimate of loss. I submit that no loss has been suffered by the Claimant as a result of any alleged breaches of contract on the part of any motorist of the vehicle of which I am the Registered Keeper. I further submit that any loss to the landholder (which would be the only party able to claim such losses) would be at most a few pounds.

2.5.3. No contract with the claimant: Any contract must have offer, acceptance and consideration both ways. There would not have been consideration from the Claimant to the motorist; the fee for parking benefits the landowners, not the Claimant. Therefore, there is no consideration from the motorist to Civil Enforcement Limited.

2.6. On this basis I believe that the Claimant has not provided any reasonable cause of action and therefore the claim should be dismissed in its entirety.

2.7. In order to make informed decisions and statements in my defence as keeper of the vehicle, I will require copies of all paperwork and pictures of all signs from the Claimant.

Comments

  • The_Deep
    The_Deep Posts: 16,830 Forumite
    Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams so complain to your MP.

    Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

    Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

    Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.
    You never know how far you can go until you go too far.
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 130,639
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    Forumite
    Why is your WS headed:
    WRITTEN STATEMENT

    There are far, far newer cases to read than Saggi's (that one even has a really OLD section about ''no loss'' which has NO CHANCE) and we always suggest a 6 point draft order as well as the WS.

    Search the forum for CEL set aside draft order
    1. Is the set aside approach my best option at this stage? Yes.
    2. Is the below statement good enough to successfully get the judgment set aside? Look at the newer ones please.
    3. Am I right to try and get the claimant to pay the £255 and have the original charge dismissed? Yes but that comes into the draft order that you are missing.

    This is a dreadful old point, remove it entirely. The Beavis case killed it:
    2.5.2. No Loss Suffered by Claimant: Their claim is presumably based on damages for alleged breach of contract. It is a fundamental principle of English Law that a party who suffers damages through breach of contract can only seek through court action to be put back in the same position as they would have been if the breach had not occurred. In order to do so, they must demonstrate their actual, or genuine, pre-estimate of loss. I submit that no loss has been suffered by the Claimant as a result of any alleged breaches of contract on the part of any motorist of the vehicle of which I am the Registered Keeper. I further submit that any loss to the landholder (which would be the only party able to claim such losses) would be at most a few pounds.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top of this/any page where it says:
    Forum Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
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