How to Set aside a Parking Eye CCJ

How to set aside a Parking Eye County Court Judgement

Have you received a Parking Eye CCJ?   Or perhaps a CCJ from any other parking company.

This page explains first what a CCJ is, and then further down, it explains what your options are in dealing with it – such as getting it set aside, or satisfiying it.

The following are all explained on this page:

1. What is a CCJ?

2. How does a CCJ affect my Credit Rating?

3. Your options in dealing with a CCJ that is less than 28 days old.

4. Your options in dealing with a CCJ that is more than 28 days old.

5. Cost options in a set aside application

6. After a CCJ has been set aside – what happens now?

7. How to check if you have a CCJ.

1. What is a CCJ?

A CCJ is also known as a County Court Judgement.  It is an order from the court that you are required to pay a certain amount of money to someone else.  The CCJ is legally binding and if you do not deal with it in some way, then you risk having have property or other assets legally seized.  A County Court Judgement normally comes about in one of the following two ways.

The first way a CCJ can come about is if you went to court to defend a claim against Parking Eye (or another parking company).  Let’s say your defence wasn’t accepted by the court, you lost the case, and the court determined you owed money to the other party.   The judge then issues a CCJ against you stating the amount that you owe and whom you owe it to.

The other way a CCJ can come about is if you were required to go to court to defend a claim against the parking company, but you didn’t show in court – in this case you receive what is known as a “default judgement” (or default CCJ) which effectively means you lost by default and now the court has made an order that you owe money to someone.  A default CCJ usually comes about when the person didn’t receive the court papers and didn’t know about the case, and so the person didn’t notify the court that they wanted to defend the case, and so ultimately the court issued a default judgement against the person.  The normal sequence of events is:

i) a written claim to the registered keeper at their last known address (usually the address held by the DVLA)

ii) This is normally followed by a “Letter Before County Court Claim” (LBCCC) which is a written
demand, usually from a lawyer’s office notifying you that the parking company is about to issue a County Court Claim against you.

iii) The final notification of court action is when you receive a County Court Claim (N1 form) in the mail from the Parking Company.  When you receive a County Court Claim you have 14 days in which to lodge your defence with the court.  If you get your defence in withing 14 days, then the court will then allocate you a hearing date in which both parties will appear in court and argue their various positions.  If the County Court does not
hear from you within 14 days, then the court will assume you do not wish to defend the matter and you will eventually receive a “default judgement” (or default CCJ) against you.

2. How does a Parking Eye CCJ affect my Credit Rating?

When a CCJ is issued against you, it initially shows that you owe money to someone and that a court has ordered you to pay it.  This information is stored on a central register.  The credit rating providers such as Experian or Equifax access this register when you apply for credit (such as applying for a home loan, a credit card, or applying for a post-paid telephone plan).  Intially the register shows that you owe money, but if you later pay the money owed, then the register is updated to say the debt has been paid or “satisfied”.  After you have paid it, it normally stays on your credit record for 6 years (subject to various exceptions explained further below).  If the register shows your judgement as being “unpaid” then this is often seen as a red flag by most lenders and you will usually find your request for credit is been denied.  On the other hand, if the register shows your judgement as being “satisified” (i.e. paid) then this not so often not seen as a red flag and your application for credit will continue, although you may lose points on your overall credit score.  Most lenders use a scoring system to work out if they will lend you money or give you credit.  You get plus points for good things (like having a job) and you get minus points for things such a having a county court judgement in the last 6 years (even if it has been since paid).

There are also certain jobs (such as those in the financial sector involving the handling of large sums of cash or access to electronic funds) where your credit rating will be checked when you apply for a job and if a county court judgement can affect your ability to get that job.

3. Your options in dealing with a CCJ that is less than 28 days old.

If the CCJ was issued within the last 28 days, then  you have the option of paying out the CCJ in full before the 28 days are up.  If you do this, then the judgement is permanently removed from the register of judgments and will no longer appear on your credit record.  The date the 28 days starts is the judgement date as recorded on the certificate of judgement (N30 form).  The court will send you a copy of the N30 form after the judgement has been made, although if the court doesn’t have the correct address for you, then you won’t receive it.  If you have found out about some other way (perhaps you have had a credit application rejected) then you can contact the court and ask them the judgement date, or ask them to forward the certificate of judgement to your new address.  Note that if you pay the judgement amount after the 28 days have expired, then the judgement won’t be removed  from the register, it will only be marked as “satisfied”.

4. Your options in dealing with a CCJ that is more than 28 days old.

i) You can put a notice of correction next to the judgement on your credit file.  This is a short explanation surrounding the debt. Not all creditors will take this into consideration when assessing for credit, but it can give a debt a bit more context.

ii) Ignore the CCJ, and risk getting bailiffs.
Many people ignore their CCJ’s.  If they think their creditors can never find them, or they have no assets the creditor can seize, and they don’t care about their credit rating, then ignoring a CCJ might be an option for them.

ii) Apply for a payment plan.
If you have received a CCJ and want to pay, but can’t afford to, then you can apply to the court to go on payment plan.  Going on payment plan will leave your CCJ on the register marked as “unsatisfied” until you make your final payment, but it prevent your assets from being seized by a creditor so long as you keep up with the payment plan.  Applying for a payment plan is done on a N245 form.

iii) Pay it in full to have it marked “satisfied”.
If you believe you owe the money, or don’t believe you will be successful in having the judgement set aside, then then you can go ahead and pay the full amount of the judgement.

iv) Apply to have the CCJ set aside.
The final option is to apply to the courts to have the judgement set aside by lodging an N244 form.  If you are successful in having the judgement set aside, then it means the judgement is totally removed from the register.  To remove your CCJ, you need to apply to the courts to have the CCJ set aside.    If you have just found out about the CCJ you should be able to achieve this. This application to the court will cost you about £150.   This application will lead to a court case in its own right, at which you will need to satisfy the court of three things:

- That you have made your set aside application promptly (for example, shortly after finding out about the judgement).

- That you have a valid reason for not responding to the original County Court Claim forms that were sent to you.  If you didn’t receive the County Court Claim then this is usually accepted by the court as a valid reason.  A county court claim is an official court document telling you that you must got to court. If you have no recollection of receiving a county claim, then you can say that on your application and in court as your reason for having the CCJ set aside.  Sometimes you have received a LBCCC, and other letters, but not a County Court Claim.   If you received the other documents, but not a County Court Claim, then this is a valid reason to ask for a set aside order.

- That you have a realistic prospect of a successful defence?.  For private parking charges this is usually quite arguable since there is an abundance of case law that shows private parking companies lose their cases in court.  You only need reference one of these cases and you can be pretty assured of satisfying this point.

You put the above three things on your application form and submit it to the court along with your £255 application fee.  You will then be allocated a hearing date and will need to attend court on that day.  Getting it set aside doesn’t happen automatically and is decided by the court on the day of the hearing.  But if you are able to swear you never received the county court claim, and you can show you have some chance of defeating the claim at a re-hearing, then you have an excellent chance of succeeding in getting it set aside.

5. Cost options on a set aside application

1. By Consent

If the claimant (i.e. the car park company) agrees (or “consents”) to the set aside, then the cost is £100 since the matter does not need to go to a hearing.

2. Contested Application

If the claimant doesn’t agree (or doesn’t respond to your communications) then the cost is £255 as it needs to go to a hearing. These prices are as at 21st March 2016 when they were increased from the old fees of £50 and £155 respectively. If you pay £255 for a set aside hearing, and the set aside is granted, and when the original matter is heard, then if you win, then it is possible to claim the £255 back.

If you are on a low income and/or certain benefits then you may be exempt from court fees and should refer to the information provided  on the EX160 form.

6. After a Parking Eye CCJ has been set aside – what happens now?

If you are successful in having the judgement set aside, then it will take the proceedings back to the County Court Claim stage, and you will be able to start your defence fresh.

Having had it set aside, you have the following two  options:
i)  pay out the company the amount they are asking and then they will no longer have a reason to lodge court proceedings against  you.  The matter is now over – you don’t owe any money and you don’t have a CCJ against your name.

ii) advise the company you will be defending the re-hearing and make sure they have your current address.  Wait till they re-issue proceedings against you and then lodge your defence with the court withing 14 days.  wait for the court to notify you of the hearing date, and then attend court on that day defend your case.  Best case scenario is you win and have no CCJ and nothing to pay.  Worst case scenario is you lose the case and have a new CCJ made against you.  However, your 28 days grace to pay starts again and  if you pay the full amount owed (including court and legal costs claimed against you) within 28 days, then the CCJ is totally removed from the register.

 7. Do I have a CCJ?

To find out if you have any CCJ’s you can perform a search of the register by going to http://www.trustonline.org.uk/index.php/search-yourself   There is a £4 fee.