Read up on set aside in the Newbies FAQ thread near the top of the forum.

If you never knew anything about the claim till now you should be successful.

Then it's up to the PPC to decide whether to continue with a new claim which you can defend

What precisely have DCBL done? £100 would be fair for a visit, but for sending a letter it may be a bit high. Did the PPC contact you before they involved the DBA, or did they write letters to a former address? I cannot but feel they they need a kicking her. I hope you are up for it.

Why do you wish to pay this rather than applying for a set aside? There are plenty of others here in your position, most go for set asides. There is also lots of similar cases on peppipoo, CAG, Legal Beagles and Paking cowboys.

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by Christmas.

Thank you Quentin, having read up on the Newbie information setting the case aside seems like a logical option however I don't really have the time to process this and attend a private hearing which I believe would be in Nottingham (3 hour drive for me) and defend a new claim once issued. This plus a potential loss of earnings from a day off would not make it particularly worthwhile.

With regards to my original question about the Administration and Recovery Fee, would I be able to pay the CCJ to settle without the extra amount (£100)?

Assuming there has not been any enforcement hearing over this then you can ignore DCBL.


Pay the claimant the amount stated on the CCJ


Enclose a receipt for them to sign and a SAE to return it to you so you have proof of payment should they not inform the court that you have paid (in which case you can do so yourself with the receiopt as proof)

As far as I understand it, a paid CCJ remains on your credit fine for six years, while not as bad as an unsatisfied CCJ it will still be there non the less causing damage to your credit file.

Its essetnailly as bad for any inmportant credit

Why on earth would you go to Nottingham? The set aside hearing would be at your local court.

If you think that the PPC have behaved unreasonably, have a look at unreasonable behaviour costs.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cpr-2714-2-g-what-constitutes-jake-burgess

Judges are reluctant to award these, but, imo, obtaining a CCJ by default can in certain cases, especially where you have moved house, set up a mail re-direct, and informed the DVLA in a timely manner, is unreasonable, and worth a punt.

No, have not had a visit from DCBL. I did not receive any correspondence with regards to the CCJ from the PPC, I assume it all went to my previous address.

The reason I am considering paying it over applying for a set aside is the potential time and money that would be involved, including taking an unpaid day to attend court. There is also the risk of me not winning and having to pay the £255 for the court date as well as the CCJ. Please correct any of these assumptions if they are incorrect.

I meant Northampton as that was the County Court Business Centre that issued the CCJ.

Excel passed me on to DCBL last time I spoke to them, can I insist on paying them the original amount? What if they refuse?

As an aside, why did you not sort the court case out? Did you not receive details and if so was it because the DVLA had the wrong address for the vehicle (not driving license)? If so make sure its corrected so there will not be any more in the future.

And, as pointed out. They arent a court, and any hearing would be at your local court

Are you within the 1 month deadline to pay? If yes, then paying cannot attract any additional fees, and can be padi directly. It also removes teh CCJ

If outside of 1 month then go for a set aside. IF you dont, then your credit is screwed for 6 years whether or not you pay up.

You don't need to speak to them.

Comply with the judgement and send payment to the Claimant. (Though only if you are within the month since judgement - get and keep a proof of posting)

Youd need more than that. Youd need a receipt for payment.

As already advised in #5

Northampton is the main government office for england and wales court cases (the main one , there is a manual handling one in Salford as well) - the clue was BC as in Business Centre , if you google the address and the court address you will find they are totally different postcodes in Northampton - its a common misconeception and you have assumed this instead of actually checking

there is no way you will go to Northampton unless its your local court , so if you live in Preston it will be heard in Preston county court

if you are too late to pay it (one calendar month) then only a set aside will remove it , so if you want your credit rating back, paying it wont help

Stop calling them on the phone, email or written communication only ( if writing keep a copy of what you send and when and send it via first class from the post office obtaining a certificate of postage

Whos car park was this?

If your case is anything like the other DCBL Excel CCJ cases on here recently (and we have had a few, all currently going for set aside) then the CCJ is presumably from 2017?

In which case paying it off does not clean up your credit, just marks it 'satisfied' which can still prevent a mortgage application, and continues to damage your credit for everything for 6 years from the judgment date.

So 'set aside' is the answer, despite the pain of the up front court fee (that might be refunded if the Judge agrees with you and holds Excel to have no cause of action against you as registered keeper - which they don't).

The hearing will be local, Excel are unlikely to turn up, you are in our experience, almost certain to get the CCJ set aside under the circs, and it should take no more than half an hour. i.e. half a day off work, again you can try to claim those costs from Excel along with the £255.

The alternative is a set aside 'with consent' as described in the NEWBIES thread, but not many people opt for that, partly because paying a £100 consent version of the court fee AND having to pay off the rogue PPC as well, is a lot more than £255 and sticks in the throat, seeing as Excel cannot hold keepers liable. They had no case, the claim would be defendable.

Any idea when the parking event was? Pre POFA, early 2012? No chance that you were liable (unless the driver was known to Excel) and the claim was speculative and doomed if pre-October 2012. Even if later, Excel have never had the right wording on their NTKs to hold a keeper liable.

I would do the £255 set aside, hold your head high and see off the outrageous scam* once and for all.


*Hansard 2.2.18

If this has gone to DCBL then it's highly likely it is beyond the month time scale to have it expunged.

If I'm correct then paying it would not be particularly helpful if you need a mortgage. A satisfied ccj usually causes credit problems for a few years before you are deemed an acceptable risk.

As above a hearing would be at your local court not in Northampton.