Civil Enforcement Cretins Ltd - failure to file Certificate of Service.

[MrFisty72]

Hi - firstly, I know some people just refute/challenge anything, as is their right - but this is totally genuine and I'm on here asking for help.

Back in November 2017, one dark and wet night, I visited a KFC in Denby Dale with the family and parked in their Car park, oblivious to any warnings about the length of stay. No signs were seen and with the adverse weather conditions all we were bothered about was to go inside and eat. We ordered our food and sat quietly to eat. We waited for my 6 year old son, who takes forever to eat, to finish and left approximately 50 mins after arriving. There was nothing in the restaurant to warn us of any parking restrictions so we just left, unaware that we had over stayed the 45 min restriction on parking, in the KFC Car park.

So... Cue a letter from the a above company advising me that I had to pay a £100 fine. I immediately told them the situation, called the manager at the KFC and said I had not seen any signs and we totally unaware of any restrictions in place. The manager just sighed and said there was nothing she could do and CEC Ltd started to become more aggressive. Sending me threats etc.

I then spoke to one of their solicitors who advised me to pay. I said that, because I was not knowingly in the wrong, I did not intend to pay.. I then heard nothing and assumed they had reconsidered and had an attack of humanity.

Fast forward a few years and I get a letter to say I have to pay £347.22 - with an early offer of £265 (red warnings etc) - apparently they had registered a CCJ against me and that I had 7 days to pay or the bailiffs would be round.

So I rang Northampton County Court up and the clerk was very helpful and didn't seem to hold CEC in high regard. I told her I had not received 'any' paperwork and I had no knowledge that any court proceedings had taken place - or I would have defended myself. She advised me that, I could apply for the judgement to be set aside by making an application to the court, stating that I had no knowledge, and went on to tell me they had made a couple of errors in their paper work - my name the wrong way around for instance. Then she stopped in her tracks and told me that they had not complied with court protocol and returned the Certificate of Service. She referred it back to the district judge who simply said that I should make an application to have it set aside.

The judgement had been made in default of me not acknowledging the claim, or any notification, OR the Certificate being filed from CEC.

Is that right? I told CEC that I was going to challenge what they had done but they simply said that the debt still needed to be paid and it was awarded by default. The debt is now £347.22 - with costs and interest etc.

So I have had a CCJ on my credit report for over 2 years now and they are bullying me for the money. How can this be allowed to happen??

Can a judgement be made in default when the Certificate of Service was not returned?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. My family and I have suffered because of this.

Best wishes,
Andrew Walker.

[Guest]

I guess you have to appeal. PS It is surprising just how many Court summons letters go to the wrong address, but then seem to be delivered once you have a CCJ against you. I guess you will give KFC a miss from now on. Good luck against the bullies.

[MrFisty72]

I guess you have to appeal. PS It is surprising just how many Court summons letters go to the wrong address, but then seem to be delivered once you have a CCJ against you. I guess you will give KFC a miss from now on. Good luck against the bullies.

Thanks - like I said - since I had not had anything through the door I assumed they had accepted my side of things. As I understand it - regardless of where court papers end up (probably because of slack admin) - the process they need to follow is to inform the court that they 'had' served me particulars by issuing a Certificate of Service. 'Then' it was up to me, within the time frame, to acknowledge the claim? In this case CEC never told the court by which means they had issued me the details and the court made the judgement in their favour by default? The court clerk said this breached court protocol and she was puzzled why it had been granted.

I suspect they just assume that will roll over and they can rely on defaults. It's interesting that even though they are based in Liverpool they choose to use Northampton. Why is that? I wonder how many vulnerable people are taken advantage of in this way.

My question is - in the absence of any knowledge of how the particulars were served (by means of COS), can a court rule by default?

[MrFisty72]

I guess you have to appeal. PS It is surprising just how many Court summons letters go to the wrong address, but then seem to be delivered once you have a CCJ against you. I guess you will give KFC a miss from now on. Good luck against the bullies.

Also - the CCJ had been on my file for over 2 years before they sent me any correspondence to recover the money.

[ostell]

It's in Northampton because that is the clearing house for small claims. It eventually goes to a local court for the defendant. In your case they got no response so the default was issued by Northampton.

I think you have been misled by the court staff, Certificate of Service would be required IF the Particulars of Claim had been filed separately from the Notice of Claim. If, as is normal with parking companies, the Particulars of Claim was on the Notice of Claim issued then no certificate would be required.

If you have the claim number then get a copy of the claim from Northampton to see what they are saying. At the same time send a SAR to the parking company to find out what information they hold about you. SAR template in the shortcuts panel on this page.

Tried to find your KFC to look at the current signs via google maps but too many in the area.

[MrFisty72]

Thank you Ostell for the information. Its refreshing having a considered answer rather than some condescending pr*ck not reading what was written and being judgmental. Interestingly I got some separate legal advice around court rules and they think there are grounds for an application to set it aside based on due process not being followed. I have spoke to a few court clerks and they all echo the fact that a certificate of service was needed. Aside from the unscrupulous nature of their claim I am loathed to pay anything when it is simply opportunistic and no one in my part saw any notices. The KFC in question is the one at Denby Dale near Wakefield. Just off the M1. I will ask for the claim details tomorrow and make a SAR request with CEC Ltd. Thanks again.

[ostell]

Yes you can go for a setaside, especially if the claim was not made against the correct address.

Have you moved house recently?

[pt2537]

If the court served the claim then no certificate of service would be needed. If anyone tells you different then I'd say politely ask them to tell you which rule under the CPR applies where the court serves.

[MrFisty72]

If the court served the claim then no certificate of service would be needed. If anyone tells you different then I'd say politely ask them to tell you which rule under the CPR applies where the court serves.

CIVIL ENFORCEMENT LIMITED vs WALKER ANDREW

Tel: #############

Ref: #############

OUTSTANDING DEBT AND DAMAGES DATE--DESCRIPTION--AMOUNT--DUE DATE 07/01/17 ############' 07/01/17 TOTAL DUE- 236.00 (REF:WWW.CE-SERVICE.CO.UK OR TEL:##########)THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS THE SUM OF 250.22 FOR OUTSTANDING DEBT AND DAMAGES INCLUDING 14.22 INTEREST PURSUANT TO S.69 OF THE COUNTY COURTS ACT 1984 RATE 8.00% PA FROM DATES ABOVE TO- 09/10/17 SAME RATE TO JUDGMENT OR (SOONER) PAYMENT DAILY RATE TO JUDGMENT- 0.05 TOTAL DEBT AND INTEREST DUE- 250.22 I WILL PROVIDE THE DEFENDANT WITH SEPARATE DETAILED PARTICULARS WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM.

------------------------------------

-The claimant stated that they would serve separate detailed particulars within 14 days after service of the claim form which was issued by the court, at which point the Certificate of Service would be filed with the court detailing the means they used to deliver the 'Separate Detailed Particulars'.

In the absence of the COS a default judgement was made.

Aside from the legitimacy of their original claim, my question is - would I have a case to do the application for it to be considered to be set aside? The Clerks seem to think so. If I do the application then it will likely take up to 8 months to sort. The CCJ will remain on my file for 2 1/2 years - so its a question of should I roll over or not for the sake of waiting for it to expire. But the debt will still stand. Could I challenge the original judgement too?

At this point it is the principle of the thing for me.

Thanks,
Andrew.