Bw legal and ccj!

[Paulw4]

hello I received a parking ticket from premier parking solutions in 2015 and tried to appeal but they rejected it. I then didn’t pay it as I saw a lot online of people saying just leave it and I didn’t hear anything since. I recently applied for a mortgage and was shocked to see I had a ccj on my credit file. I never received and post from bw legal or any court proceeding letters etc. I contacted my old landlady and she did have one letter from bw for me. What are my chances of setting it aside. I have paid the debt today but obviously don’t want the ccj on my record. Thank you

[ploddertom]

If you have paid the debt then basically you have admitted owing it and would then be difficult to go for Set Aside.

[Paulw4]

I don’t doubt owing it as I’m not fussed about the money. It’s the ccj I want to set aside as they sent all my post to an old address and I didn’t receive anything. If I had known how serious it was I would have paid it before the ccj was put in place. Thank you

[R0b]

Hi PaulW4,

As you have paid the CCJ amount, you are deemed to have admitted the debt. A court is likely to ask, if you knew the post was sent to an old address, why did you choose to pay up rather than get the judgment set aside?

Any chance of getting the judgment set aside is going to be even more difficult and in the first instance I would suggest you contact Lowell to see if they will agree to consent to set aside the default judgment. I think in this case you should offer to pay all application fees and enclose a draft consent order for them to sign. I have attached a consent order example, which is worded in a way to say you've already discharged the liability and therefore the judgment should be set aside and the claim withdrawn. There's no guarantee it will work even if Lowell agree to sign it and there's a possibility a judge might want to order a hearing to explain why it should be set aside.

Just so you know, there is also no obligation for them to sign the consent order so if they refuse, then your only other option is to submit a claim and hope that a judge would set it aside.

If you do have to make an application, it might be possible for you to rely on a Court of Appeal case, Godwin v Swindon Borough Council [2001] EWCA Civ 1478 where one of the judges said the following (see underline)

“Rule 13.3(1)(b) has a disjunctive alternative, so that the court may set aside or vary judgment entered in default if it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why the judgment should be set aside or varied or the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim. In my view, this is plainly capable of extending to circumstances where the defendant has not received the claim form and particulars of claim before judgment was entered against him. It is not an absolute right, but does not have to depend on the defendant having a real prospect of successfully defending the claim. The court therefore has sufficient power to do justice in these cases and will, no doubt, normally exercise this discretion in favour of a defendant who establishes that he had no knowledge of the claim before judgment in default was entered unless it is pointless to do so. The defendant, for instance, may have no defence to the claim, but may justifiably want to have the judgment set aside on the basis that, had he known about the claim, he would have satisfied it immediately without having an embarrassing judgment recorded against him.

[Paulw4]

Thanks for the reply. I paid it as I was worried I would have bailiffs etc coming to my door. And didn’t know about setting it aside to begin with. I didn’t know it was being sent to my old address. It wasn’t until my ex landlady gave it to me and when I checked my credit file the ccj was already on there. She gave it to me on the 1/12/18. The ccj was already on my file by then and I paid it on the 2/12/18 then found out about setting it aside. As I said. This is the one and only letter I have ever seen from bw legal and have never seen a county court letter or judgment etc. Bw said they got that address for me in June 2018 although I moved out and changed my address with the DVLA by March 2018. If it was sent to the address I was at I would have paid it there and then but I never ever knew about it?

[R0b]

Well I think the above still stands, you became aware of it at the beginning of the month, we are now 9 days later and nothing as yet has been done. Applications for setting aside a judgment have to be done promptly so you need to get on it asap. You should in the first instance email the parking company and seek their consent in setting it aside, if they refuse then you can tell them that you will have to make an application to set aside the CCJ and there could be potential cost consequences such as application fees.

Otherwise, give up and accept you made a hasty judgment and learn from it.

[Paulw4]

The reason it’s not been done is because I have been researching it and didn’t want to just rush into it. Also I can’t just move on as I was just about to apply for a mortgage and now the ccj has ruined it all. I am so angry as in my eyes yes I got a parking ticket but I knew absolutely nothing of the ccj or court proceedings

[R0b]

I appreciate that you didn't want to rush into it but you still need to be prompt but the courts won't accept you being weeks late. My position still stands as per the above so you've got what you need, there's nothing that should stop you from getting the wheels in motion.

I would suggest you take a read of the set aside guide (link here) so you familiarise yourself with the process.

You can also find an example letter of what to write to the parking company at post #6 of this thread. You may need to adapt it to suit your situation and I would suggest you offer to pay for the application fees since they have no obligation to consent or agree to it.

If you need feedback on anything post up your drafts here for one of us to comment.