Hi, my adult step daughter has received a PCN from PE for an alleged carpark overstay infringement in August 2024 in a car park in England. It is disputed with solid evidence in favour of the driver and they are willing to see the legal process through to the bitter end. My wife and I have successfully challenged PE before which resulted in them dropping the case days before a hearing, so we are familiar with most of the process. The first communication (08.24) was the letter outlining the alleged infringement and photos supporting the identity of the vehicle concerned. The second letter sent 24.12.24 is titled 'County Court Judgement' and a hiked fee to pay to PE. It claims that no defence was offered but there are no details of where/when the case was heard. There is a single reference number which is the same as the PE reference number on the first letter. There are no court details in the letter. The reference number is not recognised by the Registry Trust. We know from experience that there should be many more stages to this before a proper CCJ is issued, including the part where the details of defence are submitted. Is this letter just another scare tactic used by PE to get paid or has something gone wrong? Our previous encounter took many months to even have a hearing date issued. Any advice appreciated.
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Please show us all of the documents you have received. Redact personal information etc. but leave all dates visible.
Is this letter just another scare tactic used by PE to get paid or has something gone wrong?
Something definitely seems to have gone awry. Are those two documents the only ones received? If so, at a minimum, the following seem to have somehow gone missing:
- Parking Charge Notice reminder (these are not mandatory, but ParkingEye usually send them if no appeal/response is received)
- Letter of Claim from ParkingEye's legal team
- County Court Claim Form
- Letter of judgement in default (CCJ) from the County Court
Absent any known issues with the post, assuming everything was properly addressed, the chances of all 4 of those documents simply getting lost in the post are extremely low. A couple of questions to try and investigate this:
- Is the address on the original Parking Charge Notice from August correct?
- You mention your daughter has solid evidence to refute PE's allegations - was the original Parking Charge Notice from August appealed or ignored?
- Has your daughter moved at any point between the issuing of the original PCN and now?
- Is your daughter organised and on top of her post, or is there a chance correspondence may have been binned or ignored? (I don't post this to be judgemental, but we often get relatives/friends posting on behalf of others, and it turns out down the line that they've only been told half a story)
Thanks for the reply. In answer to your questions;
1. Correctly addressed as per the V5
2. I believe it was ignored, pending further contact
3. Her address hasn't changed
4. I collect about 99.7% of the post. She collects zero. The other 0.3% would be her mother so between us we would have spotted the envelope.
Regarding point 4., we would have been on the look out for the letter from Northampton Court, but would have expected other correspondance before that.
Is the second CCJ letter a genuine document? Can we proactively contact someone/somewhere to see if it factually correct?
You need to call the CNBC first thing in the morning on 0300 123 1056. Be prepared for a long wait but calling early in the day is likely to lead to a faster response.
When you get through you must ask them for the details of the claim. Did ParkingEye issue the claim themselves or were they represented by a solicitor? What address was the claim sent to? What was the issue date of the claim?
Whilst on the phone, and this is particularly important, you tell them to email you the Particulars of Claim (PoC).
AS above, if the defendant (your step daughter) has not changed address and it is correct on the V5C and the original PCN was received as a postal Notice to Keeper (NtK) it is unlikely that the claimant (ParkingEye) has erred. Something is not right and for so many pieces of communication not to have been received is not right.
Once we get to the bottom of why the defence was not submitted, we can look at whether an application to have the CCJ set aside is worthwhile. Time is of the essence. If the CCJ is not paid in full within one calendar month of the judgment (the date we do jot know because we haven't seen the order) or set aside, then your step daughter is going to be in a lot of financial pain for the next 6 years.
As soon as you get the information from the CNCB, let us know.
Thankyou. I shall get onto it in the morning.
An upate.
I paid for the online portal that checks if there is a CCJ in the system and there was.
It appears that the intermediate letters that I thought hadn't been delivered had been, but picked up unbeknown to me and ignored.
So, the upshot appears that it was a legitimate process and the now the car owner is now siginficantly more out of pocket than she should have been.
Thanks everyone who offered advice, my sincere apologies for wasting your time.
Lessons learned;
1. There was a stone-bonker excuse, correctly declared at the right time would have seen no financial charge.
2. If anyone still thinks that 'ignore them and they'll go away' is a valid option, it is not.
I can only hope the CCJ has been settled in time to show it as satisfied. Records of the transction were made every step of the way.
What do you mean that you "paid" for the online portal checks? No one pays a penny for that. Why didn't you simply phone the CNBC as advised?
A CCJ marked as "satisfied" is about one degree less financially painful than one that isn't. If it is simply marked as "satisfied", your daughter is going to find it almost impossible to get any credit whatsoever. Things like mobile phone contracts will be impossible to obtain or renew. Insurance quotes for things like car or home insurance will go through the roof.
This will be the case for the next 6 years. Without knowing all the other details, it may have been worthwhile trying to get the CCJ set aside. However, you seem to have given up and accept the situation as it is.
The advice said I would be on the phone waiting for hours. I don't have the time to spare unfortunately and the 'victim' needed some clarity sooner rather than later due other very significant personal matters taking place in her life right now. I shall pass on your advice about getting the CCJ set aside.
I haven't given up anything, this was never my battle, I was trying to help in any way I could.
Thankyou for all the advice.