Unknown CCJ which I have recently discovered... Looking to apply for a set aside...

[Bowdie1]

Good morning...

I have joined the forum ( and another ) to assist me in my current dilemma. I have 'briefly' outlined the details below..

1. 6th May 2021 - Letter from DCBL Debt Agency requesting £275 for an unpaid CCJ. They were unable to give me any further details of whom and why the CCJ was in place.

2. I eventually found out that I had received a parking charge from Vehicle Control Services Ltd (VCS) for a contravention - 46 STOPPING IN A ZONE WHERE STOPPING IS PROHIBITED.

3. Contacted VSC who would not engage and directed me back to the DCBL. I am the confirmed driver of the vehicle that day - VCS are aware

4. The charge was dated 09/09/2019 at Southend Airport

5. I have since had copies of the original Parking Charge Notice (PCN) and the Notice to Keeper (NTK), Final Demand and Letter Before Claim, which confirms all correspondence from VCS was sent to my previous address which I had moved from 9 months previously.

6. Unfortunately I did NOT change the address details of my V5... ( completely didn't register with me, for some unknown reason )

7. I DID however change the details of my driving licence, Council tax, Electoral Roll and utilities at the time of moving.

8. I want to apply for the CCJ to be set aside and defend the now inflated 'charge'. The CCJ against me will have potentially devastating effects going forward...

9. My concerns: Time of me knowing about CCJ and now is over a month.... - I now understand that the set aside application has to be 'prompt'...reasons which may or may not be helpful in front of a judge I have had qualifying exams at work which took precedent.. I'm now in a position to look closely at my options.

10. Do I have grounds to have to CCJ set aside now?

11. My thoughts are that I would like to approach VCS informing them of my intentions. I would be aiming to have the CCJ removed and an opportunity to address the original charge without the inflated 'costs' as per the CCJ. - Is this likely? Any costs occurred as a result of a successful CCJ set aside i would then look to also recover from the claimant.

12. I have a draft application in progress but am unsure if I need to show a draft 'defence'... If so would the defence be me defending the inflated cost of £275, as opposed to the original 'charge' of £60..

(I am clearly shown in photographs as stopping, albeit very briefly, and would not object to paying the £60 rather than defending it as an unlawful charge.)

13. In my N244 do I need to, or is it ' a good to have' a draft defence ready or do I worry about a draft defence once or if the set aside is granted..?

Please feel free to sign post me if these answers are elsewhere on the forum. I do apologise I am awful around a computer and have difficulty navigating around them.. I have found a huge amount of useful information on my other forum but am struggling to piece it together for me to fully understand...

Kind regards

[R0b]

Hello

First of all, it's no good making an application to set aside a default judgment unless you know what the rules around it are. I would suggest you have a read of my guide (link here) to familiarise yourself on what to expect and a few hints and tips.

It would appear that you may have grounds to have the judgment set aside, although perhaps you have made our life a little more difficult now that VCS are aware of the driver.

If I were you, I would look to be setting aside the default judgment under CPR 13.2 on the basis that VCS failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain your last known address. It would be helpful to know the date of the first correspondence and the date of the judgment entered by VCS. Essentially what you are trying to argue is that due to the passage of time between the first letter and obtaining judgment, plus the lack of responses to the numerous letters issued to that address, VCS ought to have known that there was a possibility that you were no longer residing at that address. By failing to carry out reasonable checks as to your last known address, service of the claim form is deemed invalid meaning that the time limits for filing a defence did not expire.

In plain english, VCS failed to comply with the rules, and because the claim form sent to the wrong address was not valid service (which is a requirement for obtaining judgment) the normal time limits for filing a defence did not start to run until the claim form had been properly served to the correct address. Therefore VCS had no right to obtain a default judgment. The benefit of getting a claim set aside under CPR 13.2 is that it is a mandatory set aside, the court has no discretion and must set it aside even if you have a hopeless defence.

Would be good to see the contents of your N244 form and witness statement too, because your application will be judged according to what you are asking for.

Filing a draft defence is not necessary as part of your application but it helps to show the judge you have an arguable defence and if all else fails, it should be set aside on that basis.

[Bowdie1]

ROB, Thank you very much indeed.

I had read your link previously - very helpful indeed, thank you..!

I have some answers to your questions. (It would be helpful to know the date of the first correspondence and the date of the judgment entered by VCS.)

1. VCS sent the first letter dated 18/09/2019

2. Date of judgment - The CCJ was filed on 10th March 2020

I am currently writing out my application and had intended to apply under CPR 13.2, as you have also suggested.

I have today emailed VCS asking for consent to set aside. I doubt I'll get anything back today from them but assume i should still wait the requested 7 days for a reply before submitting application? I am aware of the time concerns.

[Bowdie1]

Good afternoon..

I have set out a 'draft' copy of my witness statement below:

Any advice from those who have experienced this before would be greatly received...

Thank you


IN THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COURT

Claim No. G9QZ101M

BETWEEN:

VEHICLE CONTROL SERVICES LIMITED


Claimant

– and –

Defendant

MY FULL NAME


_________________________________

WITNESS STATEMENT OF YOUR NAME
_________________________________

I (MY FULL NAME) of (MY FULL ADDRESS) , being the Defendant in this case will state as follows;

1. I make this Witness Statement in support of the application for an order that the judgment in this case Claim No. G9QZ101M Judgment dated 10/03/2020 be set aside.

2: CPR 13.2 The court must set aside a judgment entered under Part 12 if judgment was wrongly entered because–

(a) in the case of a judgment in default of an acknowledgment of service, any of the conditions in rule 12.3(1) and 12.3(3) was not satisfied;

(b) in the case of a judgment in default of a defence, any of the conditions in rule 12.3(2) and 12.3(3) was not satisfied; or

(c) the whole of the claim was satisfied before judgment was entered.

3. I learnt of the existence of this claim on the 06/06.2021 when I received a letter from DIRECT COLLECTIONS BAILIFFS LIMITED (DCBL) requesting payment of the judgment detailed in paragraph 1. [EXHIBIT A - copy of letter]

4. My address changed in DECEMBER 2018 . [EXHIBIT B - COUNCIL TAX STATEMENT]. The claimant has confirmed that all correspondence was sent to my previous address.

5. I received no communication from the Claimant and was unaware of any outstanding charge or of any action being taken against me. The initial PARKING CHARGE NOTICE (PCN) from the CLAIMANT was dated 18/09/2019. The Judgment was then filed 10/03/2020. My driving licence details with DVLA had been updated and a simple tracing service would have allowed the claimant to find me at the correct address. (EXHIBIT C - Copy of Driving Licence). I was there to be found at the new address before court papers were issued.

This shows defective service under CPR13.2

6: On 24th JUNE 2021 I made a written request to the Claimant inviting them to consent to set aside the judgment due to the reasons in paragraph 4.

7. The Claimant did not respond to my request / turned down my request. ( TO BE CONFIRMED )

8. I therefore respectfully request that the Court sets aside the judgment in this claim and allows 14 days for me to submit my defence.

Statement of Truth

I, (MY FULL NAME), the Defendant, believe the facts stated within this Witness Statement to be true.

Signed: ________________________________

Dated: ________________________________

[Bowdie1]

Hello..

Am I right in saying that a set aside under CPR 13.2 is Mandatory therefore 'promptness' may not be an obstacle in this application?

[R0b]

Correct, promptness does not come into it under 13.2 but it does under 13.3.

Your witness statement seems to lack in a little detail. It has no background to the case and simply goes straight into arguments about setting aside. I've attached an example witness statement that I did a few years ago which might help you construct something a bit more robust.

Note that the statement of truth in the document is wrong and out of date. The correct statement of truth that you should insert is:

[I believe][the (claimant or as may be) believes] that the facts stated in this [name document being verified] are true. I understand] [The (claimant or as may be) understands that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

[Bowdie1]

ROB - Thank you very much... Agree with Statement

Again, thank you..

[Bowdie1]

ROB

Excellent help and advice. I am currently reading your attachment. I feel a little relief now that i won't be discounted on lack of promptness and can now consider fully my Witness Statement.

Thank you

[ostell]

Your driving licence being updated is irrelevant to the case, was the V5, vehicle registration, updated?

[Bowdie1]

No... Of all things this wasn't changed early on enough.. This is one of my concerns as per my original post above.

I originally thought this was going to be an issue, however from what I can gather so far this doesn't necessarily go against...

Should this a concern...(?!)

From what I understand (?) Whilst VCS may have made an enquiry with DVLA that can only do this the once and subsequently from having had no correspondence from myself would have 'raised reasonable suspicion that I may no longer live there and ought to have prompted further steps to ensure that the old address was my most recent address; the debt collection agency found me soon enough'...

What are your thoughts, have you come across difficulties with this before?

[Bowdie1]

Electoral Register, Council Tax, Utilities, Bank everything, apart from V5...

[Bowdie1]

Good evening...

In the unlikely event of this being read, as its quite stale now, would anyone mind looking over my attached Witness Statement please..?

I realise the time scale - unforeseen

Thank you in anticipation...

[ostell]

Dont forget that this was a forbidding sign, ie no offer of a contract to park. The only claimant would be the landholder and then only for trespass

[Bowdie1]

Thank you for your reply. Appreciated.

[Bowdie1]

Good morning.

Having read through a more posts and guidance pages within this forum am I correct in saying that my draft defence in this case is solely for the inflated costs of the original charge, or should I also consider challenging the charge as per OSTELL’s reply above?

VCSL are aware I was the driver - my error in replying to the original email before researching my options.

My aim in this is solely to have the CCJ set aside under 13:2 and to defend the inflated costs of the charge because VCSL sent all correspondence to the incorrect address.

A photo clearly show my car stopping in the zone they have ‘charged’ for..?

N244 - apologies could I please be sign posted to a completed version? Do I include the whole wording of 13: in question 3 or just the sentence containing 13:2 (?)

I apologise if this is so obvious but I’ve seen so many posts now I’m confusing myself.

kind regards