(DIR) Return Create A Forum - Home --------------------------------------------------------- FreeTrafficLegalAdvice (HTM) https://ftla.createaforum.com --------------------------------------------------------- ***************************************************** (DIR) Return to: Private parking tickets ***************************************************** #Post#: 21753-------------------------------------------------- CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I did no t know I still owed By: Karl Date: May 7, 2024, 11:05 am --------------------------------------------------------- In 2022, I lived in rented accommodation in Birmingham. After living there and parking in my designated parking space for about 6 months, I received a parking ticket. I assumed a mistake had been made and contacted the agency to tell them so. They replied that no error had been made and that I would have to pay, because I had not displayed a permit in my car. At the time, I did not know that a permit was required; I did not have a permit. When I moved in, I had been shown where to park but told nothing about parking permits. I had received no other communications about parking permits up to the point that I receive the charge. In the time it took me to respond to the initial charge, receive the response and chase up my landlady for a permit, I received two more tickets for the same reason. This was in the space of two weeks and the charges now totaled £300. I approached the site manager for the property and explained what had happened. He was surprised and told me that he would follow up. He came back to me to say that the charges had been dealt with and that the contract with the agency had been terminated, as it turned out that other residents had had similar experiences and the site management were not happy about it. Note: this was all in spoken conversation, nothing written. I took that as good news, and I heard nothing more about the parking tickets. I moved house 3 or 4 months later. Just recently, in April 2024, I noticed that my credit score was in decline and had no idea why, so I requested a statutory credit report. On it, I saw a CCJ and a £685 charge. I had no idea what this was, but after some searching and a few phone calls and redirects, I found that it pertained to the parking charges. I do not know what the additional fees are for. Anybody that I have spoken to since (the court, the original claimant’s solicitor and another legal advice dot-com) has told me that I have one choice: pay. However, (1) I have seen some guidance online that suggests I can have the CCJ set aside if I was never informed of it, which I wasn’t. Also, (2) while I accept that almost everybody seems to ultimately give up and just pay the charge because claims of excessive fees are never entertained, I feel that my case is unique: I accept that I would probably have no choice but to pay the initial ticket, no matter how unfair I personally feel it to be. But the successive two tickets that I received before I had had a reasonable chance to comply seem unlawful? Finally, (3) the charges that I was aware of, even including the two successive tickets, totaled £300. What of the additional £385 that is now a part of the charge? What advice can you offer regarding these three points? Any guidance is much appreciated. P.S. if it is relevant, I have no other debts and never have. #Post#: 21758-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: b789 Date: May 7, 2024, 12:20 pm --------------------------------------------------------- This CCJ must be set side mandatorily under CPR 13.2 as the claim was never properly served. (HTM) https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part13 1. As you did not receive the original claim, you had no opportunity to respond to it. 2. You are completely wrong on this point. Just rolling over and accepting that you had to pay the original PCNs and now are liable to pay the CCJ is exactly what these unregulated private parking companies want you to believe. They rely on the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree to fall for their scams and capitulate and pay up. Once the CCJ is set aside, the original claim will either be thrown out or allowed to be re-served, depending on several things that we will come to. 3. The additional charges in the CCJ will be made up of fake damages/debt collector fees that, ordinarily, would not be allowed in a "small claims" case, together with the court fee and fixed legal costs. Unfortunately, in a "default" CCJ, there is no human intervention and these fake add ons, which would ordinarily not be allowed, are included. You have two options to get this set aside. The first option is to get in touch with the solicitors who filed the claim on behalf of the unregulated private parking company. You need to find out who this was by contacting the CNBC and asking them for the details of the claimant and their representative. You also need to tell them to send you a copy of the Particulars of Claim (PoC). Be prepared for a long wait on the phone but persist and wait on the phone until they have emailed you the PoC and you have the claimant/solicitor details. You can either request that the clamant agree to a set aside which will not involve a hearing and will cost £108. However, most claimants are greedy thugs and intellectually malnourished enough not to consent, thereby risking them being to being liable for the full costs. They hope most defendants aren't clued up enough to know how to go about this procedure. The clamant may only agree to a set aside with consent as long as the defendant pays the £108 fee, which you should not agree to. The second option is that you go for a set aside without consent which will involve a hearing and will cost £275. However, you can request that the clamant refund the fee. The judge may decide that the fee is "reserved" until the original claim is decided. The problem with this is that, depending on who the claimant/solicitor is, they may then decide to discontinue the claim, leaving you with an uphill struggle to get the set aside fee back. Fist things first... which PPC issued the PCNs? Do you still have them? Phone the CNBC first thing in the morning, preferably exactly at 8:30 to try and avoid a long telephone wait and get the details of the claimant and their solicitor, if they used one and, importantly, you need to wait on the phone while you get them to email you the PoC. Once you've got those details, we can advise on how to move forward. It is important that you act promptly as no judge likes to find out that you sat on this information once you found that you have a CCJ. #Post#: 21771-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: Karl Date: May 7, 2024, 1:39 pm --------------------------------------------------------- Thank you. I appreciate this comprehensive, no-nonsense response. I did call CNBC as soon as I opened the Statutory Credit Report. I had no idea what I was doing at the time, so I basically called to ask them what it meant. At that time, they did tell me the name of the solicitors who had filed with the court. It was Gladstones Solicitors. I didn't know to request anything else, so at that point I hung up and tried calling Gladstones to explain to them the circumstances as I have laid them out here. Unsurprisingly, Gladstones simply told me I had to pay. The company that sent the PCN was District Enforcement. I do not have the letters that they sent me anymore, this being almost two years in the past and, to my knowledge, already cleared up. I have also moved house since then. In hindsight, it would be great if I had kept them, obviously, but I didn't. I do have the response that they sent by email to tell me that the ticket was not a mistake. To be very clear: where you say I am absolutely wrong about point 2, it seems you are saying that I'm wrong about having to pay any of the charges at all. Is that the correct reading, or are you saying I am wrong about not having to pay the successive charges? #Post#: 21772-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: DWMB2 Date: May 7, 2024, 2:05 pm --------------------------------------------------------- Regarding #2, assuming the CCJ is set aside and another hearing takes place, it would be for a judge to decide whether or not you had to pay (and if so, how much). Even if you lost at that stage, there's a fair chance the figure demanded would be less than the current one, as some of the debt collector charges etc. they add on can be challenged. #Post#: 21773-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: b789 Date: May 7, 2024, 2:11 pm --------------------------------------------------------- The first thing you now need to do is get back in touch with the CNBC and request the PoC to be emailed to you whilst you wait on the line. Regarding point 2 almost every PCN issued by an unregulated private parking company has errors and omissions that can be appealed and defended in court. Without knowing the exact circumstances of the actual parking incidents and without seeing the PCNs, it is difficult to advise. Do you still have a copy of your AST/lease agreement with your landlord from the time you were living at the address? What the AST/lease says about parking is very important as is what it doesn't say bout parking. More often than not, PPCs are introduced to residential car parks in breach of the lease. A lease can't just be "amended" to allow a third part to fetter the tenants rights. Often, the requirements to display permits is not mentioned nor is there any legal requirement to display one. Some tenants/leaseholders d display one out of courtesy. There is much more to this but for now you need to get those PoC and if possible SAR the DPO at Civil Enforcement so that you get copies of the PCNs. #Post#: 21832-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: Karl Date: May 8, 2024, 8:34 am --------------------------------------------------------- I have now been sent the following by CNBC. [quote] Claimant: DISTRICT ENFORCEMENT LIMITED Claimant solicitor: GLADSTONES SOLICITORS LIMITED (7372) Telephone: Reference: Judgment amount:£685.93 Particulars of claim: THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE WITH REGISTRATION ..... (THE 'VEHICLE') PARKED IN BREACH OF THE TERMS OF PARKING STIPULATED ON THE SIGNAGE (THE 'CONTRACT') AT B5 CENTRAL, ON 12/04/2022, 15/04/2022, 29/03/2022, THUS INCURRING THE PARKING CHARGES (THE 'PCN'S'). THE PCN'S WERE NOT PAID WITHIN 28 DAYS OF ISSUE. THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS THE UNPAID PCN'S FROM THE DEFENDANT AS THE DRIVER/KEEPER OF THE VEHICLE. DESPITE DEMANDS BEING MADE, THE DEFENDANT HAS FAILED TO SETTLE THEIR OUTSTANDING LIABILITY. THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS £100 PER PCN, £60.00 PER PCN CONTRACTUAL COSTS PURSUANT TO THE CONTRACT AND PCN TERMS AND CONDITIONS, TOGETHER WITH STATUTORY INTEREST OF £39.75 PURSUANT TO S69 OF THE COUNTY COURTS ACT 1984 AT 10.25% PER ANNUM, CONTINUING AT £0.13 PER DAY. [/quote] To reiterate: - I was NOT aware of "the contract" and had been issued NO parking permit - I DID receive the tickets and WAS aware at the time that the 28 day period had passed (during this time, I was pursuing guidance) - The second and third tickets were issued WHILE I was still disputing the first and WHILE I was still waiting to receive my permit. - I was then under the impression that the charges had been withdrawn, so was UNAWARE of continuing charges and, consequently, any interest due - I NEVER received any further communications that it was going to court; I did NOT receive an invitation to appear at court; I did NOT receive communication that a judgment had been made against me. - I have NEVER at any point received any contact from Gladstones Solicitors of any kind. #Post#: 21836-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: Karl Date: May 8, 2024, 9:04 am --------------------------------------------------------- Additionally, I am here copying from the Tenancy Agreement the articles relating to parking: [quote]15. Cars and Parking 15.1. To park in the car parking space, garage or driveway allocated to the Property, if applicable. 15.2. To keep any garage, driveway, or parking space free of oil and to pay for the removal and cleaning of any spillage caused by a vehicle of the Tenant, his family, contractors or visitors. 15.3 To remove all vehicles belonging to the Tenant, his family or visitors at the end of the Tenancy. 15.4. Not to park any vehicle at the Property that is not in road worthy condition and fully taxed. [/quote] Note: - This is the entirety of all mentions of parking in the documentation associated with moving into the property - There was a double parking spot allocated to our house with the house number clearly signposted - The only way the parking agency were able to send the tickets to me was by finding my address from the DVLA, at which point they will have found that the address of the vehicle and the place it was parked were one and the same - There WERE signs in the car park which explained the need for a permit, but I don't know when they appeared and admittedly always assumed they were to warn non-residents / unauthorised vehicles. - On said sign, which I read after receiving the charges, are the following two, separate points: - - a valid permit is not clearly on display, or - - the vehicle is not pre-authorised to park I would dispute that being the resident and having the vehicle registered to the address would constitute authorisation to park, and given that these are "OR" criteria, that would preclude the necessity to display a permit. #Post#: 21841-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: b789 Date: May 8, 2024, 11:27 am --------------------------------------------------------- Don't worry. This is going to go away if you follow the advice. For information, Those PoC are woefully inadequate and there is a very good chance e that the claim will be fully dismissed at the set aside hearing. This is because there is no mention in the PoC of what terms, if any the defendant is supposed to have breached. This was shown in an appeal court ruling a year or so ago, CEL v Chan, that because the PoC fail to comply with Civil Procedure Rule 16.4 (HTM) https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part16#16.4<br />and Practice Directions Part 16 (HTM) https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part16/pd_part16.<br />The claim (and many others since) have been thrown out because of this breach of the rules. Additionally, Gladstones have mendaciously claimed interest at 10.25% which is a violation of Section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 (HTM) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/28/section/69#:~:text=69%20Power%20to%20award%20interest%20on%20debts%20and%20damages.&text=the%20defendant%20shall%20be%20liable,the%20date%20of%20the%20payment..<br />Section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 permits interest to b e added to most non-commercial debts at the rate of 8% per year. This is a statutory interest rate and can usually be claimed from the date the debt was due up to the date the claim is issued. At the point of issuing court proceedings, other court fees and costs can also be added to the amount that is being claimed. However, that as with any other element of a claim, interest can only be claimed at 8% and is awarded at the discretion of the court. Gladstones should be reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (HTM) https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/ for this embarrassing breach of the County Courts Act 1984. From what you have told us about the AST and the little that it mentioned about parking, it does not appear that DE never had any right to impose parking charges and there was no requirement to display a permit. These things will be part of your draft defence and also mentioned in your Witness Statement for the set aside order. It may be worthwhile trying to get a copy of the Head Lease for the property from the landlord, just in case there are any items in there about parking that could supersede your rights in our AST. The first thing you should do now is email Gladstones with the following information. They need to be informed that you intend to have the CCJ set aside and give them an opportunity to do so at their expense. The nest steps will depend on their response to this letter. I suggest it is written and saved in a PDF format and the emailed to Gladstones as an attachment to the email. This will serve as proof of delivery. [quote]Dear Sirs, [center]DISTRICT ENFORCEMENT LIMITED (THE 'CLAIMANT') V [ ] (THE 'DEFENDANT')[/center] CLAIM REFERENCE [ ] In April 2024, I noticed that my credit score was in decline and had no idea why, so I requested a statutory credit report. On it, I saw a CCJ and a £685 charge. This came as a tremendous shock as it is the first and only communication I have received from the Claimant or any organisation representing the Claimant in relation to this claim. I made immediate enquiries of the CNBC from which I was able to establish that: 1. the claim relates to alleged parking events in March and April 2022; 2. the claim form was sent to an old address at which I no longer reside; and 3. if I had been given the opportunity to do so, I would have successfully defended the claim. I did not receive any pre-claim correspondence, not even a letter of claim as required by the PAP. Nor did I receive the claim form or any particulars of claim and was thus deprived of the ability to defend the claim. The Claimant is well aware that people move home from time to time. They also know that I did not respond to any communications sent to me at my old address. This situation is explicitly dealt with in the Civil Procedure Rules which provide at CPR 6.9(3): (3) Where a claimant has reason to believe that the address of the defendant … is an address at which the defendant no longer resides or carries on business, the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant’s current residence or place of business (‘current address’). The Claimant is a member of the International Parking Community (the ‘IPC’) and is bound by the IPC’s Code of Practice which states the following terms: 22.1 Operators must take reasonable steps to ensure that the Motorist’s details are still correct if 12 months have passed from the Parking Event before issuing court proceedings. Also: 25.1 The Code complements the relevant legislation and related guidance, which will define the overall standard of conduct for all Operators. Operators must be aware of their legal obligations and implement the relevant legislation and guidance when operating their businesses. Civil Procedure Rule 6.9(3) is relevant legislation and has not been implemented as required by the IPC Code of Practice. If the Claimant had taken the actions required by the Civil Procedure Rules and the Code of Practice, my current address would have been found easily. If those actions had been performed at the correct time, I would not have been deprived of the ability to defend the claim. By reason of the Claimant’s breach of the Civil Procedure Rules, which amounts to an abuse of the process of the Court, the claim form was never properly served and the judgment must be set aside at the Claimant’s expense and the claim dismissed. In view of the foregoing, I invite the Claimant to join with me in an application to set aside the judgment and dismiss the claim, with the Claimant paying the court fee and no order as to costs. Please respond to the above offer as soon as possible so that, if the offer is acceptable to the Claimant, we can work together to right the wrong that the Claimant has done to me. To give the Claimant a reasonable time to take instructions and for us to agree a suite of documents for the Court, I am willing to defer making a unilateral application to set aside the judgment until 4 pm on Wednesday 22nd May 2024. If a joint application has not been made by that time, I intend to apply to the Court unilaterally for an order setting the judgment aside, striking out the particulars of claim, dismissing the claim and awarding costs against the Claimant on a full indemnity basis. Pease respond by immediate return. Yours faithfully,[/quote] Can you please find out the date the claim was issued as there could be other points to have the claim dismissed if more than 4 months have passed since the issue date of the claim. #Post#: 21843-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: DWMB2 Date: May 8, 2024, 11:36 am --------------------------------------------------------- In addition to the useful information from b789 above, I noted this from your previous post: [quote]15. Cars and Parking 15.1. To park in the car parking space, garage or driveway allocated to the Property, if applicable.[/quote] It would probably be worth seeking to acquire some evidence that this clause is applicable, that is, evidence that a parking space was indeed allocated to the property, meaning that your lease did entitle you to park where you did. The Head Lease mentioned by b789 may help with that. #Post#: 21845-------------------------------------------------- Re: CCJ I did not know I had pertaining to a parking charge I di d not know I still owed By: b789 Date: May 8, 2024, 11:55 am --------------------------------------------------------- The OP has stated: [quote]There was a double parking spot allocated to our house with the house number clearly signposted[/quote] Although it may be useful to know in what document was this "allocation" stated. ***************************************************** (DIR) Next Page