Chances of successfully contesting a CCJ

Multiblue · 2023-03-24T22:08:57+00:00

DS has received notice that a CCJ will be registered against him in respect of a parking fine supposedly owed to Parking eye. £185, original fine £100 plus costs. It's for a Marriot hotel last summer. It's possible he was there, he did go to a conference at a hotel in the area, but he doesn't have the details or the date. He hasn't received any correspondence at all about this. He can be a bit flaky, but I'm sure this is true, I generally pick the post up off the mat and I would have noticed anything "interesting" - I found this letter and realised what it was. There certainly hasn't been any number of letters. The form says he was offered the opportunity to appeal but didn't take it, that's not the case. So whilst he may have owed the original fine, he'd have either paid or contested it at the time, if he'd know about it. He has had a fine from a different hotel carpark before actually and dealt with it promptly (successfully had it cancelled) so I don't think he's hidden from it. He's put all this on the form. What are the chances of successfully appealing it? Presumably the company will have given the court "proof" that letters were sent?

FrangipaniBlue · 24/03/2023 23:29

I once tried to contest a CCJ that I knew nothing about, I was basically told tough.

However, if you pay it within 30 days of the CCJ you can have it removed from your credit file so I would just do that if you can?

VanCleefArpels · 24/03/2023 23:47

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/borrowing-money/county-court-judgments-and-your-credit-rating/

This gives details of how to get a CCJ set aside. It costs £600+ and you have to show a valid defence to the initial claim.

If your DS is the registered keeper of the vehicle and has lived at the same address throughout the chances of him actually missing the initial ticket, debt collector letter(s) and a Summons to court are very small.

He should pay the debt and get the CCJ removed from his credit file pronto

Original poster

Multiblue · 24/03/2023 23:50

His argument would be that it was never sent, not that he's missed it.

There's only me and him here. The post is on the mat when I get home, before him. This is the first letter of any sort regarding this fine.

OP posts:

Original poster

Multiblue · 24/03/2023 23:53

I understand why she'd want to defend it.I don't understand why she's in court all the time, outside of giving her own evidence.

OP posts:

VanCleefArpels · 24/03/2023 23:55

Has the matter actually gone to court yet- your OP is not clear? If there is not yet a CCJ then your DS can put them to proof ie ask for copies of the documents on which they rely when seeking payment of the fine.

Original poster

Multiblue · 24/03/2023 23:57

Sorry, that's the wrong thread.

Back to DS. If there'd been an initial letter about the fine he'd have either paid it or had it cancelled then, but he didn't becuase he knew nothing about it.

I could accept that he's ignored one letter that I didn't see arrive, but surely to get to this point there should have been several?

OP posts:

Original poster

Multiblue · 24/03/2023 23:59

VanCleefArpels · 24/03/2023 23:55

Has the matter actually gone to court yet- your OP is not clear? If there is not yet a CCJ then your DS can put them to proof ie ask for copies of the documents on which they rely when seeking payment of the fine.

He's had a "claim form" from the court which gives him a limited time to reply.

I reads like he can put his defence. It doesn't say anything about charges to contest it?

OP posts:

Wannaloseastone · 25/03/2023 00:03

@VanCleefArpels I agree. I've worked in appeals for parking violations and appeals (😴) and once a PCN is served and then either not paid or appealed, DC would have received notification of it going to court where a chsrge notice/CCJ is awarded. Unless he can prove he changed address or in some other way could not have received this correspondence, he will be liable to pay full amount. Any paper work you have now received will explain fully if you can appeal and how to do, usually within a strict period of time, say 28 days. As to whether he can successfully appeal depends on the reasons he's given and whether they're believable

Original poster

Multiblue · 25/03/2023 00:08

Wannaloseastone · 25/03/2023 00:03

@VanCleefArpels I agree. I've worked in appeals for parking violations and appeals (😴) and once a PCN is served and then either not paid or appealed, DC would have received notification of it going to court where a chsrge notice/CCJ is awarded. Unless he can prove he changed address or in some other way could not have received this correspondence, he will be liable to pay full amount. Any paper work you have now received will explain fully if you can appeal and how to do, usually within a strict period of time, say 28 days. As to whether he can successfully appeal depends on the reasons he's given and whether they're believable

Wouldn't there be reimnders/threats though? He can't have missed all the letters, if they were sent.

OP posts:

Wannaloseastone · 25/03/2023 00:19

That's what I'm saying. Yes, there should (would) have been and thats why am saying, did he move address and that's a reason he's not received them? It's hard to believe every single communication has gone astray before it reached his welcome mat. But even if he may have only missed one letter that he's not told you about, that might have been the one letter that said 'pay xxx or appeal before xxx' or this will incur a CCJ, plus original PCN and costs. It's obviously been overlooked or ignored and it got to that stage. It's not like he's denying he contravened the parking rules, so I'm afraid it looks like he will be liable. Telling the court that it's his mum's fault because she picks up the post might not cut it unfortunately. And cut yourself some slack - if he's old enough to drive, he's old enough to open, read his post and then do what is necessary of him before it got to caught

Original poster

Multiblue · 25/03/2023 00:25

Wannaloseastone · 25/03/2023 00:19

That's what I'm saying. Yes, there should (would) have been and thats why am saying, did he move address and that's a reason he's not received them? It's hard to believe every single communication has gone astray before it reached his welcome mat. But even if he may have only missed one letter that he's not told you about, that might have been the one letter that said 'pay xxx or appeal before xxx' or this will incur a CCJ, plus original PCN and costs. It's obviously been overlooked or ignored and it got to that stage. It's not like he's denying he contravened the parking rules, so I'm afraid it looks like he will be liable. Telling the court that it's his mum's fault because she picks up the post might not cut it unfortunately. And cut yourself some slack - if he's old enough to drive, he's old enough to open, read his post and then do what is necessary of him before it got to caught

I'm not taking responsibility for it, if he's old enough to drive he's old enough to deal with it, I'm just saying I would know if letters had arrived , like I saw today's first and I don't believe they were sent. I.e I'd be quite happy to believe he'd ignored them, but I don't think I'd have missed them.

It is really hard to believe they've gone astray. It's not so hard to believe they weren't sent.

Plus he's had this happen before and he got straight onto the hotel and had the fine cancelled as he was their guest at the time. So he knows what to do.

He hasn't moved, there's no other reason he didn't get them.

OP posts:

Wannaloseastone · 25/03/2023 00:35

Ok, OP. There's not much else I can tell you. If you're adamant you pick up all post at all times and would know what each envelope contained before handing it over to your son, then you must believe they were never sent in the first place. If you have the chance to appeal still after this amount of time, then go for it. Nothing ventured nothing gained. But bear in mind that more costs might be getting incurred while CCJ is not being paid

Foreversearch · 25/03/2023 00:55

@Multiblue the problem is time. You can do a subject access request to parking eye for a copy of all correspondence. That way you can check the address it was sent to. The difficulty is Parking eye have 40 days to respond.

MargotMoon · 25/03/2023 01:09

They should have sent a Pre Action Protocol form before taking it to court, as well as giving him the opportunity to contest it or pay before going to court. If he's in time to defend it he should do do, stating that they have not followed the PAP procedure, nor sent any other letters, and say that they should bear their own costs.

Has he actually received a court notice or is it a letter from Parking Eye threatening court?

If they have already got the judgment without him receiving the claim form he should apply to set aside as he didn't get the chance to defend. Setting aside is more difficult, and potentially costly if he loses and has to pay the other side's costs for the hearing, but the fee is £155, not £600 stated above. You might get a remission if he's on a low income though.

My advice would be to have a look at the resources on National Debtline about dealing with county court claims. Or ring the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline

Soontobe60 · 25/03/2023 01:10

The difficulty is that he HAS received a letter, so they will have his correct address. The letter he has received will have been sent automatically after he failed to respond to their previous letter. There isn’t some bloke sitting in an office saying - blimey we forgot to send this chap his fine letter, never mind we’ll go straight to the next stage.
They will be able to send proof that they’ve sent those letters. Your DS would need proof that his post has been disrupted. How he would do that I’ve no idea. I actually inadvertently threw away a letter from the GP a while ago. Luckily I put it in the recycling so when I called the GP about it they said it had been posted. A quick search through the bin found it. Throwing away letters in error isn’t that uncommon.

VanCleefArpels · 25/03/2023 08:12

Multiblue · 24/03/2023 23:59

He's had a "claim form" from the court which gives him a limited time to reply.

I reads like he can put his defence. It doesn't say anything about charges to contest it?

Show quote history

So they have commenced proceedings.

You can argue till the end of time about who got what letters. But the sensible thing to do now is admit the claim (one of the options which will be set out in the claim form) and arrange to pay it either in one go or by instalments if he can’t afford that.

Having a CCJ is not fun - it will sit on the credit file for years and will impact his ability to rent, get a mortgage and buy stuff on credit

BrowniesnotBlondies · 26/03/2023 20:35

What about the postal strikes and the mountains of post in the press? Would it have been about that time?

No idea if this would be any defence though.