Please Help Parking CEL

WITNESS STATEMENT

7. I am xxxxxx and I am the defendant in this matter. This is my supporting statement to my application dated 24th September 2018 requesting to:

a. Set aside the default judgment dated 23/04/18 as it was defectively served using an old address.

b. Order for the claimant to pay the defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee.

c. Order for the original claim to be dismissed.

DEFAULT JUDGMENT

8. I understand that the claimant obtained a default judgment against me on 24th April 2018. However, it was not served at my current address, therefore I was not aware of the county court judgment until 23/09/19 when I checked my credit report with Experian and noticed a dramatic decrease in my credit score. On further investigation I found that I had a CCJ on my file from Civil Enforcement LTD.

9. I have never received any correspondence from the claimant, therefore I was never able to challenge the original charge nor the judgment.



10. I have never received any correspondence and at no point prior to 24th September 2018 did I have any contact with the claimant.

11. I believe the claimant has behaved unreasonably by not ensuring they used my correct contact details. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. Civil Enforcement LTD’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results in an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system.

12. I suggest the claimant did not make reasonable enquiries as to my current address before perusing the court order especially considering they had good reason to believe they did not hold my current contact details. Furthermore, considering they received no response from me to their correspondence this should have been a clear indication of the obsolescence of the address xxxx

13. The claimant was able to obtain my correct and current address after (date of judgement) to make me aware of the money owed but only after such time that a CCJ had been passed. This clearly demonstrates that they were aware that they did not have the correct address at the time of perusing the court order.

14. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim. Therefore, I believe that the default judgment against me was irregular and I respectfully request it is set aside.

ORDER DISMISSING THE CLAIM

15. I further believe that the original parking charge notice has no merit and should thus be dismissed. 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 driver.

16. The claimant has obtained details of the vehicle for which the defendant was the registered keeper and used those details to raise a parking charge notice. I dispute this charge 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 have come into force.

17. If the claimant can evidence that the alleged incident relates to the vehicle xxx any notice to keeper issued by the claimant must comply with 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 registered keeper of the vehicle automatically liable.

18. A requirement of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is that any notice to keeper must be served within 14 days of the date of the alleged incident. Since I have not received any documentation I submit the claimant has not complied with the requirements of the Act and thus cannot claim this charge against me as the registered keeper in any case.

19. I further submit that the parking charge notice is without merit due to substantial issues in law. This is for the following reasons:

a. Lack of Standing by Claimant: The claimant is not 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 claim for any damages or trespass.

b. 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 driver of the vehicle of which I was the registered keeper. I further submit that any loss to the landowner (which would be the only party able to claim such losses) would be minimal.

c. The Charge is an Unenforceable Penalty: I further submit that the parking charge is nothing but an unenforceable penalty as it is not based on any loss suffered due to the alleged infraction.

d. 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 driver. Therefore, there is no consideration from the driver to Civil Enforcement Ltd.

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

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

Statement of Truth:

I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.

The website only has mail address no email should I just write to them?

Thanks I am now on with writing my defence statement with help of some of the threads I will also get the letter sent off tonight for the SAR. Really appreciate all your help guys. I will post my defence in when ready.

Sorry yes defence.

It is ordered that

1. The judgement entered on 23/4/18 is set a side
2.By 4pm 3/1/19 the claimant shall serve the defendant with a copy of the claim form and file and serve further particulars of claim which must fully comply with CRP 16.4 and CPRPD16 and set out the legal basis of the claim against the defendant and the facts relied upon, fully particularise the loss alledged and show how this has been calculated.
3. In default of compliance with par 2 of this order by the claimant, the claim shall stand struck out without further order.
4. Upon compliance by the claimant with par 2 of this order, the defendant shall by 4pm on 17/1/19 send to the court and the claimant his defence to the claim by reference to the particulars of claim what is admitted, what is disputed and why.
5.Further directions will be given upon compliance by the parties with this order
6. The cost of this application are reserved to the final hearing
7.The defendants address for service is recorded as xxxxxxxxxx

Morning coupon-mad. I did have a look on the privacy page and only came accross the email address regarding data protection so assumed this wasn’t the department that I needed. Would you advice to send to this address?