Court summons - Civil enforcement Ltd

[khardy]

Hi,

I parked in a Civil enforcement Limited car park in February 2012 and didn't realised I had over stayed the allocated free parking time.

 

The system was fairly new also and I didnt know that the pay machine was in the entrance to the downstairs supermarket

as there are virtually no signage detailing what to do.

 

They sent me a fine, to which I researched on the internet about what to do.

All advice was to not pay, and send a letter to same effect.

i did not admit I was the driver as advised online.

I had one more letter then nothing more until

 

last week when i recieved a court summons (N1) for breach of contract.

 

The amount is £165.

 

I dont know what to do now.

 

I can't afford that or need the black mark on my credit.

 

I tried calling CIvil Enforcement Ltd but the number on the claim form and internet are not working.

Either saying the are not recieving calls or wont accept my PCN number.

 

I have until the 28th of July to respond.

 

I only just picked up the letter as I am living away from home while our communal roof is being fixed

so I need to send something today or they will pass judgement on me as detailed in the letter!

Many thanks

K Hardy

[citizenB]

What is the issue date on the claim form - has it been sent from Money Claim online (MCOL)

 

Can you please let us have more details.

 

The issue date is most important for us to be able to advise you further. The timeline would be..

 

Issue date XX + 5 for service = ?? + 14 days to acknowledge claim = ?? + 14 days to submit defence = ??

 

So from the date of issue to date of acknowledgment is 19 days and if you havent acknowledged the claim by that time, then they would almost certainly have already requested a default judgment.

[khardy]

Thank you for your response.

 

I need to reply by monday 28th July so need to send something today or tomorrow.

 

The issue date was 9.7.14 and date of service 14.7.4.

 

The letter has notes with a HM Courts and Tribunals Service logo/heading at the top of letter,

 

I can't see any thing about MCOL.

 

The actual claim form has same logo as notes with N1 in the bottom left corner.

 

Hope this is the information you need.

[citizenB]

I think the timeline is the same so if the issue date is

 

9th July 2014, then your timeline is as follows.

 

Issued ate 9.07.14 + 5 days for service = 14.07.2014 + 14 days to acknowledge = 28 July 2014 (this is where you acknowledge that you have received the claim and you are requesting a further 14 days in which to submit your defence) once you have acknowledged the claim, you will receive the extra 14 days which will take you to 11.08.2014.

 

I will ask someone from site team to look in and advise.

[Andyorch]

Is the claim from Northampton and does it have a claim number khardy ?

[armadillo71]

The initial event is from feb 2012 .

 

This is pre POFA schedule 4.

 

This means only the driver can be held liable and not the registered keeper.

[ericsbrother]

This is the 3rd court claim by CEL for supposed breaches before the PoFA came into effect so they are getting desperate.

Probably a last attempt to stop the company going under but that is by the by.

 

CEL's biggest problem is that since this predates the Oct 2012 Protection of Freedoms Act

they can only pursue the driver of the vehicle and they have to prove who that was.

 

CAn you post up exactly what CEL put in their particulars of claim

as another person here has a claim that goes on about the provisions of the PoFA being met when it didnt exist at the time!

 

If yours is the same the claim

can be destroyed quite easily

by saying that there is no basis of claim

as legislation didnt exist so cannot be adhered to.

 

What you need to do immediately is to return the acknowledgement of service form

saying you intend to defend in full and say that a defence will be submitted within the prescribed time.

 

This gives you another fortnight to put together your defence and forces CEL to pay the allocation fee,

which is in itself a bit of a blow for them as they probably expect you to roll over and pay up since they must know their claim is dodgy to say the least.

 

MCOL= money claim online.

this government gateway allows you to do the court paperwork online

and monitor the progress of any cases you are involved in.

 

You would need to register so get your paperwork sent in

and then think about the registration.

[llerah]

Have a look at my thread

[llerah]

Today I received a letter from the court after submitting my full defence stating they haven't even paid the £25 court fee yet - they've been given a further 7 days to do this but if they don't im going to them for costs

[ericsbrother]

ask the court to strike out their claim and award costs in your favour. there is a N form for this but I cant remember the number. Also ask that the claim be struck out as an abuse of process as you believe that the company never intended to pay the allocation fee and were merely abusing the process as a method of unregulated debt collection rather than recovry of monies owed.