To save time The Parking Prankster has now created a template so he can quickly report on Civil Enforcement Limited (CEL) cases.
CEL's strategy is to file large number of claims and to try and bully people into paying up. However, when faced with a robust defence they inevitably back down and either withdraw the claim or simply fail to turn up in court.
Here then, is the latest report.
Civil Enforcement Limited failed to turn up to a court hearing on [Thursday 20 November 2014] at [Croyden]. The claim reference was [A74YM041]. The motorist, having researched CEL, was aware that they hardly ever turned up, and therefore had a full schedule of costs prepared. The judge awarded [£40] in costs to the motorist.
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The Parking Prankster
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How much is not turning up costing the taxpayer?
ReplyDeleteHopefully the motorist will make an enforcement order if the £45 does not turn up promptly.
ReplyDeleteThe court bailiffs can then give CEL a professional demonstration in the art of turning up.
This whole scamming industry wants sorting out good and propper
ReplyDeleteThat actually looks like a win for CEL, or at least a loss for their victim. Presumably a "full schedule" of costs would have involved the victim's time, just as the footpads cost the time involved in having a paralegal paste someone else's signature onto a form letter.
ReplyDelete£40 for the tiny minority who call their bluff versus many times that for the majority who stand and deliver is still good business.
Indeed it is still good business which unfortunately is down to the fact that in the Small Claims track only very limited costs can be reclaimed from the party who loses the case (only travel to the hearing and loss of earnings at the hearing, capped at £90). So it is down to the individual District Judge ruling on the day to find whether CEL has behaved unreasonably (in which case some other discretionary costs can be awarded) or not. That and the fact that most people who attend a hearing don't know how to respond to a District Judge who (falsely) proclaims that no costs whatsoever can be recovered in the Small Claims track (which has happened several times now) explains why so few proper costs orders exist against CEL and other PPCs. So indeed, it is still good business for PPCs to use the court system as the final step in debt recovery.
DeleteWasn't there talk of someone on the Pepipoo boards preparing a case for CEL to be classed as a vexatious litigant??
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