Change of address and bogus letter?

H14emmo · 8 July 2018 at 2:37PM

Good afternoon,

I have read through the main Q&A section and lots of my questions have been answered - thank you! However I’m struggling to find information regarding the fact we moved home and that a claim letter I have received seems bogus.

On 31/07/2017 I received a Parking Charge via post from NCP. The images captured show my car entering and leaving the car park 19 mins apart (we pulled in as my partners daughter felt sick and he ran across the road to get her some water whilst I circled the car park then we left when she felt better - we never parked in a space and there is no evidence of this).

Fast forward to 13/09/2017 and I receive a Demand for Outstanding payment letter from Trace and then a final demand on 05/10/2017.

Gladstone’s then sent a letter on 10/11/2017. Then a Letter Before Claim on 09/02/2018 and again on 13/03/2018.

We then moved house and my VC5 from the DVLA form states that our change of address was on 01/05/2018.

The people who moved into our house got in touch last week with two letters - a claim form issued on 24/05/2018 and then a ‘Judgement for Claimant (in default)’ on 18/06/2018.

Having spoken to friends and reading the threads I know we need to reposed to this however obviously the time period has long passed. A friend says Gladstones and such like are not allowed to store our details but instead request it from the DVLA, well if they had done this then they would have our new address. So where do I stand with it being so far past the deadline and what about if they had never been able to get in touch and I’d never received it?

My second concern/query is the letter itself. My first instinct is it looked fake. It claims to be from County Court Business Centre in Northampton however the court crest looks blurred like it’s a terrible photocopy with no motto or anything on it - just some basic looking rubbish crest. And the ‘stamp’ again looks completely fake and basic. This morning I have searched on goggle to check the phone number and google reviews are all terrible - can’t get through; no answer; they hang up after 15 minutes; phoned Watchdog who say it’s a scam and not to pay etc etc.

It claims there will be a judgment against me if I do not pay. Obviously this is to scare and I can see how it works, I’m now feeling very anxious about it all and at times have been close to bottling it and paying but I know I shouldn’t based on what I’ve read. It also seems to have escalated very quickly to a judgement which again makes me feel like it’s fake and a clever scare tactic.

Please advise where I stand on the fact I never received the letter in time despite correctly updating my details with the DVLA and also how genuine it even is.

Thank you in advance.

Fruitcake · 8 July 2018 at 2:56PM

It sounds like you have a CCJ against you because the original claim was not acknowledged or defended.
The scammers will use the address they got from the DVLA at the time of the alleged event and have no legal requirement to look again.

You need the more experienced regulars to help you now, but I think the only way out of this us to apply for a set aside, which costs £255, and see if you can then start from scratch to beat the scammers in court to get the decision overturned.

You need to contact the courts to determine if judgement has been made, and then start from there.

H14emmo · 8 July 2018 at 3:33PM

The court in uncontactable it seems - apparently emails get bounced back. I’ll try and see where I get.

It seems very early on for a CCJ - within a year?

twhitehousescat · 8 July 2018 at 3:44PM

umm , a DEFAULT ccj will be issued without going to court if a reply to the claim form was not received by the court , as above , the parking Co can only get your info ONCE from the DVLA , your mistake was not setting up mail forwarding

1:I am surprised NCP went this far

2: the charge was NOT for parking , but being on there land , there is a grace period , after arriving to "drive around" typically 10 mins

Fruitcake · 8 July 2018 at 3:46PM

Do you have the actual letters from your previous address? You need to get hold of these and see what they actually say.

twhitehousescat · 8 July 2018 at 4:13PM

Fruitcake wrote: »

Do you have the actual letters from your previous address? You need to get hold of these and see what they actually say.

Gladstone’s then sent a letter on 10/11/2017. Then a Letter Before Claim on 09/02/2018 and again on 13/03/2018.

We then moved house and my VC5 from the DVLA form states that our change of address was on 01/05/2018.

The people who moved into our house got in touch last week with two letters - a claim form issued on 24/05/2018 and then a ‘Judgement for Claimant (in default)’ on 18/06/2018.

Letter Before Claim on 09/02/2018 and again on 13/03/2018.

a claim form issued on 24/05/2018
and then a ‘Judgement for Claimant (in default)’ on 18/06/2018.

seems they sent a letter before claim (giving 31 days) and the OP failed to answer , did not update them of intended new address and did not set up mail fowarding

a sensible person would realise a LETTER BEFORE CLAIM addressed correctly and giving 31 days to reply , would be followed by a court claim and set up mail redirect OR TOLD THEM OF INTENDED NEW ADDRESS

in this case what happens when a judge ask questions ?

Fruitcake · 8 July 2018 at 4:43PM

I agree.

What I was trying to confirm was whether the letters had been forwarded to the OP, and they had actually seen them, or whether the OP was relying on being told something perhaps over the 'phone or by email by the new home owners that may or not be completely accurate.

Coupon-mad · 8 July 2018 at 4:45PM

It claims there will be a judgment against me if I do not pay. Obviously this is to scare

It's a real court judgment and you can't resolve this by email.

You need to read the set aside section of the NEWBIES thread post #2 and pay £255 to the court with an N244 form and draft Order, and witness statement. Not as hard as it sounds, copy what other people did already and show us your draft Order and WS.

You need to show the court you acted FAST, as soon as you were aware of this loss by default. Please don't ask what to write - this is ALL covered in the NEWBIES thread and in other recent set aside threads...we have threads exactly like yours, every single week.

twhitehousescat · 8 July 2018 at 5:05PM

Fruitcake wrote: »

I agree.

What I was trying to confirm was whether the letters had been forwarded to the OP, and they had actually seen them, or whether the OP was relying on being told something perhaps over the 'phone or by email by the new home owners that may or not be completely accurate.

The people who moved into our house got in touch last week with two letters - a claim form issued on 24/05/2018 and then a ‘Judgement for Claimant (in default)’ on 18/06/2018.

two weeks back from today would be june 24th

and my VC5 from the DVLA form states that our change of address was on 01/05/2018.

generally takes about 2 weeks to update , so say request was made on approx 18th may

Coupon-mad · 8 July 2018 at 5:13PM

Either way, the PPC would only ever have the earlier address, as they can't ask the DVLA again later/before court.

twhitehousescat · 8 July 2018 at 5:17PM

I am surprised NCP , gladstones and actual claim?

however this is not a case of finding a ccj from 5-6 yrs ago , the OP received the letter before claim less than 8 weeks before they progressed

Change of address and bogus letter?

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