CCJ for parking fine in Tesco, never received claim Form

[ParkingNightmares]

Hello
About 18 months ago I was parked in a large Tesco in a disabled bay with my badge on display. I was there about 2 hours. I received a 'fine' for allegedly contravening parking rules, something about not displaying my badge correctly. I ignored it and received a few more letters.

I eventually phoned the Solicitors, Gladstone, who are actually the same company as Horizon Parking and they Said to challenge on their website, which I did. Didn't hear anything until today when a default judgement arrived for £287.

At no point did I ever receive a claim form, they haven't sent it. To challenge it will cost £303 just to have it looked at by a Judge with a view to setting it aside. No guarantee that will happen.

Im furious, I wanted it to go to a hearing so I could have my say, that I was properly parked.

I will probably end up paying the CCJ instead of emerging myself on a long drawn out battle with these people. This seems to be a tactic of theirs, say they've sent the forms when they haven't and claim default judgement.

Not an excuse for ignoring the first few letters but it was and still am undergoing cancer treatment, death of both parents, caring responsibilities for my sick DP and still trying to work full time. If I was on benefits I could claim Help With Fees to challenge this but I can't.

Any advice welcome

You can ask for the cost if the application to be paid by the Solicitors if you are successful. You’ll need to state this in your application form.

Thanks, yes I am aware I can ask for a Costs Order but what is the chance they will pay it ? I would have to enforce it at yet more cost and stress. This company holds all the power. If I was on benefits I could do it for free but I work but I can't afford a prolonged legal battle with these arseholes.

The route used for pursuing private parking fines is, to the best of my knowledge, almost always going to be through the County Court Business Centre and the court serves the forms if so, not the parking company. Even if it was through a local county court that would still be the case as I understand it. So not the claimant or their solicitor’s fault if it actually wasn’t sent (which, being essentially automated, is unlikely I’m afraid). You could query with the court for their records but it is unlikely to get you anywhere.

And make sure you pay it quickly and do the paperwork so the CCJ isn't on your credit report for (I think) six years! It can make your life very difficult if you can't get credit.

Yea absolutely, i 100% did not get a claim form...i'll ring the court on Monday but you are right, the form comes from the court. Begs the question as to why I should pay for their error and the claimant's solicitor won't want to either if they have done everything correctly. There is another address in the town I live in, same road name, we get each other's post all the time. Suspect this is what has happened.

Unless you are able to establish it wasn’t sent (which is not impossible but highly unlikely) then proving it wasn’t received just isn’t going to be something you can do unless you can evidence why (wrong address provided by the claimant, provable issues with the post in your area etc). However frustrating it is if you genuinely didn’t get it, you can understand why “I never received it” would be easily open to abuse if it flew with the court. If that is your only hope of overturn then it would almost certainly be good money after bad.

What was the objection you were told to put it online? That’s unclear from your post.

I am going to approach the people at the same address as me, they may agree to a statement that we get each other's post frequently. We had friends send Xmas cards this year that never arrived...there are postal issues nationwide but as you say how can it be proven. This is why they should send recorded delivery, indisputable in that case.

The objection was that I was parked displaying my Disabled Badge....the initial fine said I didnt. Considering it is a camera rather than a parking attendant, not sure how they have evidenced it. I was never sent any proof of what they claimed, no pictures on the original fine.

Did they think you stayed over their time limit? I was once fined by a jobsworth council car park warden who thought I had stayed over their 4 hour limit because I forgot to adjust the clock.

No it said i hadnt displayed a valid badge which is absolutely not the case. I thought it was a hoax at first which is why I initially ignored it

Sorry, I may not have been clear. At this point you had received a number of letters so presumably had missed the opportunity to appeal as part of the standard process? What was the stage / process you were raising the objection in relation to? Did you hear anything back?

As it stands I don’t think you’re going to have a basis to challenge the CCJ but trying to make sure I understand the fact pattern.

I never heard back from Gladstones ref challenging their position until today when I received the default judgement.

I can ask for a set aside on the basis I never received the claim form from the court. My post is always going to the same address 5 miles away, I suspect this is what has happened. Clearly wasnt sent recorded delivery 🙄

I’d imagine this is too late now but all you had to do was admit to being the owner of the car and not the driver at the time of the alleged offence

It’s not a fine, it’s an invoice

It’s a private parking company trying their luck. Only a parking ticket issued by the Council or Police is something you need to be worried about

I challenged an invoice that I got for £75 for an eleven minute overstay at a retail park using advice from MSE and they cancelled it immediately

The golden rule is to never admit to being the driver

It's way beyond that stage, It has proceed to court and a default judgement has been issued and I now have a CCJ. The problem is, for whatever reason, I didn't receive the court claim form. Likely would have been issued in December, loads of my post was going astray then.

Unfortunately unless you have evidence it hasn’t been served it is unlikely to make much difference. Ultimately the courts deem service to have taken place, they don’t need to evidence it has. So whilst you can mention it if you try and set aside the judgment but you are on a hiding to nothing if it’s the only basis and it would be good money after bad.

Court do have some sympathy with individuals against parking companies so there is atill
scope to set aside but but you are going to take steps to set aside you need to do so on the merits ie that they have not proved what they need to or met their Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 obligations to be able to enforce the penalty. And you would need to do so as quickly as possible if the court is going to be persuaded to set aside default judgment. Whether you have a case on the merits isn’t something I can speak to as I haven’t seen the original notice etc.

This is bad advice. They are not just “trying their luck”, it is well established in England that they can enforce the terms and conditions of a private car park (the Supreme Court case in ParkingEye is the key one). They do have to meet the relevant requirements and if someone knows the rules there are almost always ways to push back HOWEVER if they meet those requirements they can take you to court and that includes against a registered keeper who refuses to confirm who was driving. Of course, when challenging them (as soon and early as possible) and pointing out where they have failed to meet the necessary requirements under POFA 2012 you are right you shouldn’t confirm you were driving (and the OP shouldn’t if seeking to set aside either) but it isn’t a silver bullet and private parking charges absolutely can be enforceable so should never be ignored.

But I was driving, I was parked, im not going to dispute that. The issue was was I displaying a valid disabled badge which I was. The court deeming service to have taken place doesn't account for issues with Xmas post, the same address less than 5 miles away. The post is not foolproof, no system is and as a result I can't challenge this.

I can’t help on the basis of challenging on the merits because you haven’t shared the original evidence they provided of you being parked without the blue badge showing. You can also appeal on the basis of the notice they sent you not meeting the technical requirements that it has to.

What I am telling you about actually having received the claim form is to make it clear that you are on a hiding to nothing if that’s the sole basis on which you try and set aside default judgment because (and I appreciate how unfair you feel this is) the court rules don’t rely on actual service but deemed service. What you say about service might help the court be sympathetic to your overarching arguments but you need to challenge the penalty itself.

I think it is too late to challenge the basis on which they served the notice, they definitely didnt supply any photographic evidence..however it is to my detriment I didnt challenge it when it happened. I was diagnosed not only with cancer but a neurological illness that was affecting my memory and functioning. I was also the victim of DV and had to move to a safe house whilst all this was going on.

I am not minimising my part in this but the system is at fault. I cannot prove a negative at this stage and disabled people have it hard enough without fighting a system that is weighted against them.

No, it’s not, as I’ve said. Far too late to challenge via the company itself but any attempt to set aside the judgement via the courts would require you arguing on the merits as well as any procedural challenge. Think of it this way, even if you had cast iron evidence it was never served (let’s say the court realised there was a glitch and it was never sent) they would be almost guaranteed to set aside the default judgment but would still need to hear the case on the merits to decide if you were legally obligated to pay. You have to explain to the court why they should find in your favour not just why the default judgment should be overturned, otherwise you’re wasting your money challenging it.

If you’re going to challenge it, do it quickly to show your took action as soon as possible once you were aware of it and do some research on the basis to actually challenge the penalty.

Bit of an update - the claim form from the court turned up on 2nd Feb, dated 19th Dec, 6 weeks after it should have arrived.

I have stills from my cctv, date and time stamped with the Postman holding the letter, you can see it's from the court.

I've completed it, acknowledged service and sent it back with a covering letter explaining what has happened and copies of the stills. Let's see what happens now !

Complaint to HMCTS still not responded to, formal complaint made to Royal Mail which I will escalate to The Postal Redress Service if necessary, which I am sure it will be.

Nothing will happen if the CCJ has been granted. You'll need to apply to have the judgement set aside, so that you can respond and defend the case. CCJ claim letters are sent in bulk; they're never recorded delivery. If you're on a low income, you can apply for help with the fee for having it set aside. For this, you'd need to send income proof, and an explanation that you didn't receive the claim form.

Then you'll need to respond to the new claim form when it arrives, and defend your position. Have you got proof that you displayed your blue badge? You should be given all the evidence that they're going to rely on, but you probably can't log in to the online system anymore - it's worth a try anyway, even if you can't respond now, because you'll be able to see what photographs they've got.

Agree with the last poster. Your complaint to HMCTS will not get you anywhere. They cannot overturn the CCJ. The only way that will happen is if you get the judgement set aside. The longer you wait before starting that process, the less likely it is that you will succeed.

Yes i was displaying the blue badge, i've said that multiple times. If I apply for a set aside it will cost £303, more than the judgement ?

Can you not see the irony here ? I will be worse off for trying to remedy the situation back to the point of original claim.

Im not eligible for HWF.

It's a system that is failing and innocent , disabled, sick people like me are paying the price. It is wrong that I have no redress at this point.

Proof of displaying my blue badge ? Does anyone take a photograph everytime they park and display their badge? That is a ludicrous suggestion and extremely ableist. Do you take a picture as proof that you are not parked on double yellows or straight in a bay, just in case you might need it 18 months later.
Of course you don't.

Why on earth should anyone need to do that ? These parking companies are thieves, nothing more and nothing less.