Civil enforcement ltd - county court

miss_angie · 18 April 2017 at 11:19PM

Hello...I have been to the Newbies section to find help but there is soo much information im getting all confused. Please help if you can or signpost me to the relevant link if possible..Anyway here goes.
Back in June 2016 my sister and I together with our 3 children went to KFC Deptford for lunch, we noticed the new parking signs that had just been put up. We obtained verbal consent from their staff to park for longer as the kids took too long to finish lunch. About a month later we both received parking tickets from Civil Enforcement LTD. I felt that the tickets were both unfair as we had been given consent by their staff and we were paying customers. KFC responded saying that we needed to contact the franchisee who was of very little help. So I ignored the tickets. I have now received a Claim Form from COUNTY COURT BUSINESS CENTRE (Northampton). I am now scared of ruining my credit rating or worse a CCJ.. The claim is now for £326.41. There were no pictures and 'Im assuming they got my details from DVLA. I have no proof that their staff member gave us permission to park.I have to respond by the 20th April. Because of the Easter holiday the letter is dated 07/04 but only got to me on the 15th! PLEASE HELP ME

Redx · 18 April 2017 at 11:56PM

acknowledge the claim ASAP by reading and following the advice in post #2 of that NEWBIES sticky thread

then start reading recent threads on similar court claims and do the same as they have done , and draft your own defence by reading and plagiarising the defences in those other threads

dont read anything more than 12 months old

if you do the work people will help you, but you wont get a free lunch from volunteers doing it for free

miss_angie · 19 April 2017 at 9:23AM

Thank you Redx..Let me get started.

The_Deep · 19 April 2017 at 11:23AM

£326 seems wildly optimistic, have they given a breakdown?

The_Slithy_Tove · 19 April 2017 at 11:29AM

The_Deep wrote: »

£326 seems wildly optimistic, have they given a breakdown?

I suspect this is a result of the usual merry-go-round CEL use. They issue an LBA some way back in the process (for a smaller amount). Then, instead of making a claim, they send it on another round of debt collectors, thus artificially inflating the claim (especially as they never pay the debt collectors if they are unsuccessful). Once the claim is suitably inflated, they issue another LBA for a much higher amount, which this time goes on to become a real claim.

Such "inflation" must be challenged. This thread shows what CEL tend to do. Has the same sequence happened here? Maybe the OP could give a full breakdown of what was received when.

yotmon · 19 April 2017 at 11:55AM

I totally agree that the figure has been artificially inflated, especially as it is only 10 months old.
Perhaps they are hoping that you do not defend and it goes through as a default.

miss_angie · 19 April 2017 at 2:22PM

The breakdown on the claim form
Amount Claimed - 251.41
Court Fee - 25.00
Legal Rep costs - 50.00
Total - 326.41
I have acknowledged the claim and am now in the process of writing the Part 18 letter.

The_Deep · 20 April 2017 at 6:20PM

For the record, if they were to take you to court and won a contested claim, the most they would be likely to receive is c@ £200. They cannot claim legal fees, court fees unless they have actually paid them, or DBA costs.

If there is a solicitor involved you should complain to the SRA.

You should

Civil enforcement ltd - county court

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