Help - panicked a paid Parking Eye CCJ without asking for consent order first

[Parkingblues]

To cut a very long story (aren't they all) short, I was taken to court by Parking Eye for a Parking fine at a trampoline park where I dropped off my daughter for a party.
Parking was meant to be free, but I did not give my reg to reception (as it was a drop off).
Ignored the initial fine thinking it was a scam, then when I got the court threat I contacted the business, who told me they would deal with and have it cancelled. I continued to get notices, and continued to contact the business who, although slow to respond, said they were looking into it.

Fast forward 4 months and I received a notice from Parking Eye that a default court judgement had been made. It was dated 2 April, but did not give the date of the court judgement. I did not receive anything from the court saying there had been a judgement.

I emailed both Parking Eye and the business, and when I returned from holiday, 23 april, had emails from both. PE saying I owed £197, and the business saying that Parking Eye had decreased the amount to £60. I panicked and called PE and paid £197 over the phone on their automated system. I then called the court and found that my 28 days were up 5 days before, so I missed the date.

I have emailed PE stating that I had paid the amount and could they confirm with me that it was paid within 28 days as I did not have the court judgement with the date. (It was only after this email that I checked with the court).

I know I've messed up here, big time. I could have easily fought this claim but what's done is done. And I don't want to have a 'satisfied'' CCJ on my file.

I've done a lot of reading and have now realised that before paying them I should have asked for a set aside by consent. I have also read that PE are actually ok at issuing these. I have found some examples of 'tomlin' orders or consent orders on this site, but all of them seem to be worded in the way that 'the defendant agrees to pay xxx by xxx date'. Does anyone have any advice on drafting one if the fine has already been paid? I'm hoping that they might still agree to sign one if I send it to them (and I've contacted my MP to help).

I would be eternally grateful for any help at all.

Many thanks

[charitynjw]

Hi Parkingblues, welcome to LB.

The problem I can forsee is that, although the payment has been made by you, so satisfying the CCJ, there is little incentive for PE to do anything further.
Have you had a reply to your email?
If not, you could follow it up.
Or maybe try the organ grinder
https://ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-79...ing%20Director

[Parkingblues]

Thanks for your response. They haven’t replied yet but their auto response says 10 days. I’m hoping they agree to a set aside order, and I’ve asked my MP to pressure the local business (their client) to ask them to do so.

I’m just wondering - are their any cases that a N244 by consent has been filed and turned down by the judge?
Also, if I do get the consent order, am I best to just fill in ‘set aside by consent as per attached order’ in the info section, rather than an explanation/WS?

Many thanks again

[charitynjw]

Thanks for your response. They haven’t replied yet but their auto response says 10 days. I’m hoping they agree to a set aside order, and I’ve asked my MP to pressure the local business (their client) to ask them to do so.

I’m just wondering - are their any cases that a N244 by consent has been filed and turned down by the judge?
A tough question to answer, as county court records are notoriously difficult to access.
But at a guess I shouldn't think there are many, if any at all.
After all, it is with the consent of the Judgment Creditor.
Also, if I do get the consent order, am I best to just fill in ‘set aside by consent as per attached order’ in the info section, rather than an explanation/WS?
I believe you normally attach a draft order with the N244. (I'll give a nudge to someone more knowledgeable about the intracacies of these things.)

Many thanks again

R0b for guidance. (Morning, R0b)
..

[R0b]

All I can say is good luck.

I'm not aware of any judgment (but that's not to say there isn't one) whereby a default judgment has been set aside following payment of the judgment debt. There is a case I've mentioned on here before but I cannot recall right now, where I believe a court has said it might be possible that a good reason for setting aside a default judgment is to preserve one's credit rating, though I think that case was where the debtor hadn't paid the judgment debt but I could be wrong.

Unfortunately, many people tend to pay up first and then ask questions later but by then it is too late. I can't see a judge setting aside a default judgment that has already been paid unless there are some seriously exceptional circumstances. That's because when you set aside a default judgment, it does not end the claim but brings it back to the point of having to file a defence and that wouldn't make logical sense because the debt has already been paid. The courts have also become hardened against the excuse of "I didn't know" or "it was a mistake" and they are generally not good enough reasons to set the default judgment aside.

If you want to make an application to the court then you do run the risk of losing together with any costs incurred by ParkingEye if they choose to object to the set aside and/or send a representative to court. I would expect a judge to say that if you wanted to dispute it then you shouldn't have paid it and done your investigations first.

[Parkingblues]

Thanks Rob for taking the time to reply and thank you Charity!

What I mean is a ‘set aside with consent’, on the basis that I can obtain the consent from PE.

I seem to have read that these N244 filed without a hearing are waved through.

Many thanks

[charitynjw]

Thanks Rob for taking the time to reply and thank you Charity!

What I mean is a ‘set aside with consent’, on the basis that I can obtain the consent from PE.

I seem to have read that these N244 filed without a hearing are waved through.

Many thanks

I think what R0b is saying is that once a CCJ is paid for by the Defendant Judgment Debtor, it is taken as an admission of liability.

& the Judgment Creditor will be loathe to give up their leverage.

[R0b]

Sorry if I have missed the point but Charity is right anyway.

You can't however force PE to consent and if they refuse there is literally nothing you can do about it.

If you can somehow persuade PE to consent to a set aside of the default judgment that's likely to be the hardest hurdle but it is ultimately up to a judge to decide whether to grant the set aside. Some judges apply a strict interpretation of the law and may refuse to set aside if they get a whiff of what you are trying to do.

[jaguarsuk]

Even if parking eye consent the application and order have to go before a judge whether there is a hearing or not. You'd need to get them to provide a Notice of discontinuance with the set aside consent order and you'll have to tell them you'll pay for the cost of filing the order (£100).

You'll have to be economical with the order you file, so as not to alert the judge that it has been paid and hope that it just gets rubber stamped through. If that order reads as you didn't know about the CCJ, have agreed to negotiate a settlement, the claimant wishes to set aside and discontinue the claim you might just get away with it.

Something like

UPON the defendant being made aware of a county court judgement against him and the claimant consenting to set aside the judgement to enable out of court settlement between the parties.

It is ORDERED that:

1. Judgement dated X is set aside
2. Each Party bears their own costs
3. The claimant file a Notice of discontinuance or else the claim by stayed.

Point 3 being the reason for obtaining the Notice of discontinuance because the court can't order them to file one, it has to give them the choice. The fact it's with the application should be the reason it all goes through as the court can see this won't result in hearings or further proceedings with all their associated costs.

[R0b]

Even if parking eye consent the application and order have to go before a judge whether there is a hearing or not. You'd need to get them to provide a Notice of discontinuance with the set aside consent order and you'll have to tell them you'll pay for the cost of filing the order (£100).

Or you could simply ask the court to make an order that the claim be dismissed?