Story is, I got a parking fine from UKPC a year ago which I ignored through multiple threats from various debt collection places, thinking that it would eventually go away. It didn’t…

I received a County Court claim on the 8th Jan. I immediately rang UKPC’s debt collection people, who happily took £160 off me and told me that the matter was closed, no further action would be taken, that I could ignore the claim form and that they would contact the solicitors they use to close off the claim. I asked for confirmation, they said they’d mail me something.

By the 11th Jan I’d recieved nothing, so I rang them again, they confirmed it was closed, promised they’d send something out and I got a confirmation mail from them on the 13th Jan confirming thatpayment had been made and the account was closed.

They obviously did not contact the solicitors, as yesterday I received a judgement against me in default. I’ve just contacted the solicitors directly (why didn’t I do this in the first place…) who said that they were never contacted by their clients, but took all the details and said that they’d speak to the clients and be in touch. When I asked about what I should do about the the judgement, she said that I could get my own independent legal advice…

So, here I am.

From a quick Google, it seems that I can dispute the judgement, but to do so will cost me £155. Do I do that and, assuming it comes in my favour, do I then raise a small claims case myself against them for those costs? Or, if UKPC realise it’s their balls up, can they rescind the claim so the judgement is withdrawn?

Any help or guidance much appreciated.

I wish I’d just paid the £60 this time last year…

I’d dispute it, otherwise you’ll struggle to get CCs, loans, mortgages etc in the future.

I’d do whatever is necessary to get the CCJ rescinded.

Oh, I definitely want it gone, for exactly that reason. I’m just wondering the best way to go about that, that will not have me more out of pocket.

its to late now, if you want to get rid of the CCJ you will be out of pocket.

I wish I’d just paid the £60 this time last year…

You don’t work for UKPC do you?

Your only option is to ask for the judgement to be set aside on the basis that you don’t owe that money. It costs GBP155 as you’ve discovered. You may have to attend a hearing to explain.

try here

This is for parking eye CCJs but the principal is the same.

If you have “settled out of court” then shouldn’t that be the end of the whole episode?

surely UKPC should apply themselves to have the judgment set aside as it was their error that it was entered into in the first place (when the judgment was entered no money was due)?

Obv. trusting them to do so is another matter. But when applying to have it done yourself you could ask the district judge at hearing to order that UKPC reimburse the court fee to you. UKPC will need to have notice of the application to set-aside and will be cited on application notice.

Right, so, I’m thinking that my best course of action will be:

1) Hassle UKPC/UKPC’s solicitors to have the judgement set aside.

assuming that doesn’t work

2) Pay the £155 and apply myself to have the judgment set aside, stating everything that’s happened, all contact and dates, and within that application ask that the £155 be paid/reimbursed by UKPC.

For 1), am I best getting it all down in writing and sending it via recorded post to UKPC and their solicitor, stating that if they don’t get the judgement withdrawn I’ll be proceeding to 2)?

Do you have a receipt for the £160?
If any info has been entered incorrectly about you digitally then due to data protection laws the company is legally obliged to correct it.
If the CCJ has gone through you may have to get a cert of satisfaction, possibly about £15. But sounds like to me the parking company has made a mistake so I’d be phoning up there and speaking to a senior manager and make some trouble with them until it is resolved.

And I always thought you were the intelligent one in the group. Doesn’t bode well for the rest of us.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I’m not saying this in a ‘told you so’ manner – because you never asked and i never told you. I just want to put this on this thread in case anyone finds it in future.

On a matter that is as important as this – and it is because a CCJ can **** you up for credit pretty badly – JUST DON’T EVER RELY ON SOMEONE ELSE TO DO SOMETHING FOR YOU. ESPECIALLY NOT SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW. IT MIGHT BE A WASTED JOURNEY OR IT MIGHT NOT BUT I’D ADVISE ANYONE IN THE SAME SITUATION TO GET THEMSELVES TO THE COUNTY COURT IN PERSON AND MAKE DAMN SURE THAT THE JUDGEMENT DOESN’T GO AGAINST YOU BECAUSE SOMEONE FORGOT TO ADVISE THEM.

Sorry, know it’s no help now but just in case someone else reads it in future.

[on the helpful side]

Can you raise a small claim against the parking co / their solicitor for failing to carry out their duties which as a result have caused you to incur great inconvenience, stress, and potential future problems in gaining credit. Could be worth £1000’s!!

Right, so, a quick update.

Have just spoken to Debt Recovery Plus (who I paid the £160 to) and explained all the above. Cue a pause and a worried “sorry Mr Massey, that’s not supposed to happen”. No it’s not, is it.

Anyway, they’re going to contact the solicitors this afternoon and get back to me. And they make a great point of all their calls being recorded, so it’s all on tape somewhere…

Worst case, I dispute the judgment via the £155 form, which, given what’s happened and the paper trail I have, has to go my way. I can then either ask for the costs to be covered by UKPC/DRP, or I suppose raise a counter claim for them.

Worst, worst, worst case is I just pay the judgement amount (£257) within 30 days and it never touches my credit record.

Worst, worst, worst case

They take your house, your wife, your children, your car, your STW subscription and you spend the next 30 years in the Debtors jail.

😉

“and within that application ask that the £155 be paid/reimbursed by UKPC.”

Now that would be pretty impress if you get it happen.

Or you let the CCJ hit your records then apply for a Settled thingy which says its paid, then claim back to the court to have it removed once all the crap you have supports the claim.

I’d be tempted to have a go at them for whatever slander/perjury they committed in following though the CCJ for an invalid claim. It seems that they proceeded with a claim on the basis of a nonexistent debt. Of course it was an honest mistake, but it was their mistake and responsibility to clear up ASAP. I’m not a lawyer and have never been in this situation though.

Yeah, I’m not an expert either..

Tricky situ.

INH – stop what you’re doing, you mention legal beagles – there’s a site for that – called Legal Beagles, there’s lot of advice on their about this sort of thing.

Firstly, I would stop relying on the debt collectors to sort it themselves.

The cheapest and easiest way might be to deal with the court directly – whilst you can pay £125 to have it set-aside you might not have to – if you settle within 21 days it usually never finds its way onto your credit file in the first place – show you court it’s paid – even if it’s before the court date.

But really I’m guessing – go to http://legalbeagles.info/

Although the risk is small, having a CCJ will sod you’re credit worthiness right up for 6 years.

Judge may take a dim view of appealing if you didn’t attend in the first place and hence got the CCJ.

On thing I’d heard about the benefits of small claims against people and companies is the hope that they don’t turn up as it’s automatic default against them and then they’re screwed. It’s surprising how many don’t turn up.

It’s not about him not turning up in the first place though Kenny – he was told it was paid and cancelled.
They didn’t cancel it!
He has proof of payment and of cancellation but the didn’t follow through on it.
The issue is that whilst he can:
A: pay it and it never shows up on his file
B: pay it later and show it as “settled” on his file
C: send them a Letter before Action so that they have 14 CLEAR days and ending before the 30 days from judgement date for them to rectify their mistake at no cost to the OP.

Its really easy for their side to contact the court and request it to be struck off – happens all the time.
However many companies use it as a scare tactic to extort money due to the ccj showing and poor credit, etc.

UKPC. The company whose wardens issued fraudulent tickets by changing time stamps on photos. Lovely people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-34172701

Debt collectors are regulated by the FSA. That means that:

1 – the Financial Ombudsman service is available to you and they can award compo
2 – if they misbehave then the FCA can revoke their authorisation and the debt collectors can no longer do business until it is back in place

Also bear in mind that, even on the small claims track, your legal costs can be recovered if the other party has behaved unreasonably. Normally costs would not be recoverable, but that doesn’t apply if there has been unreasonably conduct…

So write to them giving them 7 days to remove the CCJ before you seek to have the judgement set aside. If they don’t, then boom. As they have behaved unreasonably, you will pursue them for all of your legal costs as per CPR 27(2)(g). You will also make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman to seek further redress. Finally, you will report their behaviour to the FCA with a view to having their authorisation revoked for their breach of regulatory requirements.

You’ll get plenty of “oh, oops, don’t know what happened” crap from anyone you talk to if you do a normal complaint. You need to force them to take notice.

Right, so, have spoken to the solicitors, this is what’s happening.

They’re going to mark the judgment as settled, and provide me with proof/confirmation of such.

As that settlement is within 30 days of the judgment, I can get the court to remove the judgement from the register at no cost, i.e it doesn’t find its way to the credit references agencies.

Ideally I wanted them to get the whole thing set aside, but from the conversation I had I could tell that was going to be painful. This way, I pay nothing more, and once I’ve contacted the court and been removed from the register, there’s no impact on my credit reference.

I’ve now read grumpysculler’s mail and may reconsider…

If the CCJ is settled before it becomes due, it leaves no trace so your record is in no better or worse position.

That doesn’t mean that a complaint isn’t warranted though… Getting a judgement against someone who has already settled just isn’t cricket.

Yeah i’d complain anyhow. I work for a FCA regulated company, believe you me these complaints get registered and dealt with as top priority.

Go ahead with plan A but log the complaint as well, push it as far as you can. After all it’s not like you’re taking the pi** is it? You have a genuine complaint.

NO – basically – NO.
There is no “judgement in default” because you’d paid them, had confirmation of it, etc.
It is not sufficient for it to be marked as “settled”.
Had them try that with me after several cock ups with the same company – made them withdraw the whole judgement not just marking it as settled.