Help Needed with ccj debt

Paul000

Hi all, i'll try to keep this long winded story short and easy to follow but here's our situation...

May 2009, wife enrolls on OU course A and withdraws before the start
September 2009, wife withdraws from course B 6 weeks into course.

Nothing else heard until March 2010

We check credit reports and she has 2 defaults and ccj recorded against her for these accounts, Course A value £225, Course B value £829, CCJ is for joint amount plus fees totaling £1242.

Having realised this by chance when checking experian we called OUSBA who say they sent out many letters and they have records of said letters sent.
We contest this and say we have never recieved any such mail otherwise we would have acted when we had the chance.
OUSBA gave us the number for solicitor dealing with case.

Called solicitor and they said they too had sent out letters and the court would have...we have recieved nothing from any party involved, making us look like liars
Do we have any grounds for getting this ccj set aside or should we pay the amount and take the poke in the bum for 6 years or should we be able to negotiate a settlement given she has done no course and we're possibly £1242 down

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Paul.

DarkConvict

If you received no paperwork i would ask them both to check their addresses they hold on file for you. This is a common reason for errors.

As you did not receive any paperwork, you can have it set aside.

Have you checked the terms and conditions of the courses, how much are you meant to pay for withdrawing before / during the course. If you knew charges were applicable and never paid, you will still have to pay up in full within 30 days of setting the CCJ aside. http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=12_how_to_set_aside_a_judgment_in_the_county_court
Now your aware of the CCJ you should gather some info quickly, and start setting it aside

Paul000

We found out about this last week, the ccj is registered 13/1/10 meaning our 1 month period has elapsed.
Spoken to OU and they claim although we're entitled to use 60% of course fee towards next course if debt is paid we can't get any money back.
All involved have correct address and contact details which just makes it worse as they keep saying things have been sent out and we know they haven't.
They also claim an email was sent regarding course A at £215 to withdraw they sent a response asking are we sure and we said yes we're sure yet they contest no reply is on record.

Don't know what to do now, i've asked for copy's of all mail sent and copys of default notices, whether they get here is another matter.
Feels like we're gonna have to bite the bullet and pay up.

Paul000

Any advice from anyone?

Happytogetdebtfree

I have no advice but just wante to say what a crap thing. Hope it can be sorted out all the best with it. :-)

DarkConvict

I think you may have misread part of the advice, If you get the CCJ set aside, you will have those 30 days again to pay it in full, as well as a chance to dispute it in court.

Do you still have the email in your outbox/sent box? It will have a date on it that it was sent.
It all sounds like they have 'conveniently' lost all correspondence to make it sound like you never replied or were interested in paying. I advise you make all future letters using recorded delivery.

Paul000

No email chain as the OU mailbox doesn't go back that far.

I was under the impression that as the ccj was more than 30 days ago, the only way I can get it set aside is by contesting that I don't owe the money, If there is no evidence she cancelled the course and we get proved liable for the money then they can claim more money for court time etc?

DarkConvict

If you pay a CCJ within 30 days it won't exist on the credit file, and will not be reported to credit files.
If you pay after 30 days it stays for 6 years on file, and lasts until paid off.

Set aside, reset a CCJ back to the day it was first requested. You need to have grounds for it, one ground is that you were unaware of any CCJ been made, you received no letters or correspondence about the alleged debt. This will basically start the CCJ from scratch, giving you a chance to put your case forward. And even if you lose still give you 30 days to pay so it does not last on the credit file for 6 years.

Paul000

A little update...
They sent copies of the default notices and the signed credit agreement.

The default notices are for different amounts to the debt taken to court

they acknowledge that we paid some of one course and default amount for course B is £615

Also, the credit agreement they sent was for an old course that was completed and paid for, not any of the ones in question, which is quite amusing as the wife never signed and sent back so I doubt they'll find it.

Does this alone give me grounds to challenge?

handyman123_2

Hi Paul000, I'm not an expert but it seems to me they have just given you grounds for a very good challenge. Anyway this reply will bump you back up where someone with more experiance could help.

Regards Handyman123.

DarkConvict

I don't think the OU courses would be credit agreements they are not giving you money before you pay, probably just contractual agreements.

If you cancelled the course and was done within the allowed cancellation period you shouldn't be charged the full price. you need to read the terms of your agreement for how to cancel and the cost of doing so.