CCJ while abroad with the military for a ticket i know nothing about. Please help!

[paulc1983]

Hi

I have been working for a big defense organisation in the Hague on and off for the last 2 years. I come back to my house in the UK very briefly every 90 days. I have just opened the post from the last time I went back and found both a ccj claim and decision against me for something i know nothing about.

The date of the alleged offence is back in march 2017. I did not have a ticket on my window or windshield as I would certainly remember that. I did not open any post around that time that would suggest I had a parking ticket. I do think i may have opened a letter a few months ago, but it looked like a school child had done it on an inkjet printer and it made no sense so i dismissed it as fraud or a scam along with all the other junk mail. I have not seen a photo of any violation so i can only assume that when i sold the car somebody has taken the number plate off the photos from the sales sites and tried to scam me.

I rang the court and asked for more information. I have been sent a very vague description which makes no sense and lists that there are 2 offences on the same day. I have seen no further evidence and have no further information, but it says I have to pay 250 to appeal. I replied asking for more evidence and asking if the fee can be waved as i can prove i was posted abroad with the military at the date both letters were sent. I'm not expecting a response!

Can anybody offer some advice what to do? the total fine including all court bills is around £450. I don't want to pay £250 to appeal just to find out what this is about. Can i track down the claimant and contact them, or maybe the solicitors they used?

Am i justified in thinking i should at the very least be given an opportunity to find out what this is for and see some evidence before paying £250?

I am back in the Hague again now. sadly i have just checked and i was not in Holland on the day the alleged offence took place

any advice would be a great help.

Thanks

Paul

[Amethyst]

The vague details you have received from the court, does that include the particulars of claim ( brief details of claim) and a bit of a timeline when the claim was issued etc ? Does it say who the claimant is/and/or the solicitors bringing the case?

Regarding the CCJ you would have to apply to set the judgment aside as it was obtained by default ( because you didn't receive/reply to the court documents )

What's the date of the judgment ? ( you do have 28 days to pay after judgment so that it isn't entered on the judgment register or your credit file - if you wanted to do that )

If over 28 days then the only way to get rid of the CCJ is to have it set aside - so a £255 application - or £100 if you can get consent of the judgment holder first. As you were posted overseas at the time you have a good reason not to have received the claim, but you would have to show that if you had received it, you would have responded and defended the claim - so show you have a reasonable prospect of success at defending the claim.

Anyway, let us know what details you did get from the court - if you can type out the particulars of claim it would be useful.

[paulc1983]

The vague details you have received from the court, does that include the particulars of claim ( brief details of claim) and a bit of a timeline when the claim was issued etc ? Does it say who the claimant is/and/or the solicitors bringing the case?

Regarding the CCJ you would have to apply to set the judgment aside as it was obtained by default ( because you didn't receive/reply to the court documents )

What's the date of the judgment ? ( you do have 28 days to pay after judgment so that it isn't entered on the judgment register or your credit file - if you wanted to do that )

If over 28 days then the only way to get rid of the CCJ is to have it set aside - so a £255 application - or £100 if you can get consent of the judgment holder first. As you were posted overseas at the time you have a good reason not to have received the claim, but you would have to show that if you had received it, you would have responded and defended the claim - so show you have a reasonable prospect of success at defending the claim.

Anyway, let us know what details you did get from the court - if you can type out the particulars of claim it would be useful.

Hi

Thanks for your reply. the exact details were sent to me by email and are below (with some information replaced with asterisks for privacy - there is a typing error in the actual description. im not sure if that is relevant)

THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE REGISTRATION ******* (THE 'VEHICLE') INCURRED THE PARKING CHARGE(S) ON 09/03/2017 & 09/03/2017 FOR BREACHING THE TERMS OF PARKING ON THE LAND ATSTRE**ON COURT - ST****ON COURT 66 RU***ND GARDENS HOVE BN3 *** THE DEFENDANT WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE AND/OR IS THE KEEPER OF THE VEHICLE. AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS £320 FOR PARKING CHARGES / DAMAGES AND INDEMNITY COSTS IF APPLICABLE, TOGETHER WITH INTEREST OF £34.46 PURSUANT TO S69 OF THE COUNTY COURTS ACT 1984 AT 8% PA, CONTINUING TO JUDGMENT AT £0.07 PER DAY.


The name and address of the carpark management company is given as well as the solicitors they have used. There is also a phone number for the solicitors

the initial issue date is 13 aug 2018 and the decision is dated 19 sept 2018 so i am running short on time.

This all feels very unfair. If this is something i have done wrong and somebody can present some evidence then that is fair enough but I dont know what this is for, and the best case scenario seems be minimum of £250 cost just to find out what this is for.

Should i try to contact the car park company or the solicitor?

I am surprised this can happen. I would expect something of this importance to be sent recorded delivery at the very least. I keep thinking about how in american TV they are required to actually serve you with the documents. If that does not happen there should be a system in place for people who legitimately did not receive the documents .

Anyway thanks in advance for any advice or help

Paul