Panicking over County Court Claim form (dreaded Parking Eye!!!)

[patienceisvirtuous]

Wondering if anyone can quell my panic :(

In November last year I drove myself to hospital in the middle of the night because I felt ill and was having chest and arm pains (thought I was having a heart attack, turns out it was anxiety). Anyway, was there for a couple of hours and sometime after that I received a parking fine of approx. £70 from Parking Eye for my stay.

Misguided by advice online I've ignored all comms from them until I received this County Court Claim Form - now I've looked online at up-to-date advice and it seems they will take me to court.

So, I want to pay (fine is now £135 which includes solicitors costs etc) because I don't have time to research and fight etc. My problem/worry is this - the letter is dated 17 Dec but I only picked it up yesterday (we're moving house - my mail is redirected to new property and I went yesterday to pick up the mail ). Apparently the date of issue is classed as 5 days after the date on the letter. I have 14 days after the issue date to pay my fine - by my reckoning 5 Jan. So now my plan is to send a cheque for recorded first class delivery on Monday. However, it also stated you need to allow 4 days for payment to clear. So if the cheque arrives on 31 Dec - ignoring 01 Jan bank holiday - it does allow exactly four days for payment to clear.

Do you think I will get any leeway with it being the holidays. I am majorly panicking in case I get a CCJ (I have sold my property, we're renting temporarily but want a mortgage in next six months or so and we need my salary to count towards that mortgage).

Just hoping for a bit of advice or reassurance... Surely they won't take me to court if they receive my cheque?! Or is it an automatic process now I'm 'in the system'?

Bump

Could you not pay by bank transfer?

You don't get the option. Only cheque or postal order :-(

You don't get the option. Only cheque or postal order :-(

If you pay a CCJ within one month you can have it removed from the register so that it won't show in credit searches. Note that if this does go to court on the small claims track Parking Eye will not be able to claim their solicitor's fees. They will be able to claim their court costs. It is also possible that you would win if you choose to go to court but I can understand why you may not wish to do so.

Thanks prh. How do you get a ccj removed from the register?

Please look on pepipoo and moneysavingexpert. Yes, the advice now is not to ignore these things but you still don't have to pay yet. I can understand wanting them just to piss off but you can still get advice on how to beat them at court. These companies are charlatans.

To get it removed you contact the court that dealt with the case. They will give you a form to complete. You will need the claim number and written confirmation from Parking Eye that you have paid. There is a £10 fee for this. But hopefully you won't need any of that.

Advice varies. There are still many who believe you should ignore parking companies. But as SwedishEdith says it may still be possible to win if you are willing to go to court and put up a defence.

We have one at the moment. Partner stayed in car, not in a space, hovering in carpark, engine running. I bobbed into a shop for milk. Got a notice in the post weeks later and partner phoned them. They said we would have had a ticket on the car. Think we would have noticed that! Have a look at the statute to see if the notice etc complies. Ours doesn't, so if they take it to court, we have a defence. It is a faff though.

Please don't drive yourself if you think you are having a heart attack - call 999 much safer for both you & other road users.