CCJ Surprise can you help?

Brad08

Out of the blue today I had a letter from the courts saying that a debt collection agency has been granted a CCJ against me for £3,500 plus fees.

A few years ago I had a hire car with Bank of Scotland with payment by DD. A year after I sent the car back they tell me that they forgot to collect a lot of the payments over 3 years. I asked for a breakdown and they never gave me one for ages nearly 6 months then I was sent a email with a screen shot of what was owed. Straight away I spotted that they had duplicated some payments and others were not even for me, about £1,000 out of the £3,500.

In that time I was told they would look into it, then a few weeks ago I had a letter from a collection agency giving me 10 days to pay the full amount. I sent a letter explaining the dispute and called the bank. The bank said they would look into my dispute and not to worry about the collection agency.

I had no letter saying they were going to court but I hear they have to let you know and give you a chance to defend yourself, pay or do something about it. I had nothing which I hear is no defence. Today I had a very angry man from the bank making threats about sending in the collector within 15 days.

I never said I would not pay but argued the amount, he agreed to give me a credit for 2 errors he could see when he looked at my account but refused to talk about the other payments in question.

My question is how can they just go to court without letting me know? Can I do anything to get rid of the CCJ against me? I was told that I could appeal but no one ever wins, I could paying and then argue about the difference later but good look with that.

How can I get rid of this CCJ? we want to move house later this year but this could kill our chances of that now.
Last summer I was laid off and am only working part time but looking for work, I do not have £3,700 but will need to go into debt somehow.
Hope you can help.

sammahootexpress

not sure but have to go back to court, look up form n245 on the net , find your local court and then fill out that form.

RAS

yes, you can get the CCJ set aside becuase you did not recieve the paperwork and were not able to defend the case.

Howeve,r you are going to have to be a lot more precise about exactly when you disputed the debt etc. Do you have the old paperwork?

Brad08

Hi Ras, thanks, I only have my own bank statements showing some were paid but some were not collected. I asked them to confirm some dates so I couls see if they were paid or not but they never gave me them until a few weeks ago. Straight away I could see that some were paid and that some were duplicates, samd date same amounts, they agreed they were a mistake but never took them off the total. Then today this man agrees to deduct two but not talk about others. He knew he made a mistake but said it was too late now as the CCJ had been awarded.

DVardysShadow

Brad08 wrote: »

Hi Ras, thanks, I only have my own bank statements showing some were paid but some were not collected. I asked them to confirm some dates so I couls see if they were paid or not but they never gave me them until a few weeks ago. Straight away I could see that some were paid and that some were duplicates, samd date same amounts, they agreed they were a mistake but never took them off the total. Then today this man agrees to deduct two but not talk about others. He knew he made a mistake but said it was too late now as the CCJ had been awarded.

That is actually a fairly serious admission and grounds to insist that the lender goes back to court. Continue to try and get the judgement set aside, but wait to see if this admission turns up in writing.

Brad08

HI DV, I rang them again after going over the new invocices they sent me after they went to court and these confirmed an error by them to the tune of £480.

He said they would knock it off the amount owed. Do I just pay the new amount he gave me over the phone? Do I need to contact the collection company and surely they will want the full amount?

Also confirms that I was right about what was owed and they went to court with bad figures. Might that be enough to get the CCJ cancelled?

gonzo127

i would expect (however do not know) that now they have agreed there was an error and that at the time of the CCJ the account should still have been in dispute then you should be able to get the CCJ set aside,

however you might find that as soon as its set aside unless you can afford to pay it stright away they might re-start CCJ proceedings

RAS

Do you have the default letter for this account? if that is dodgy, you can fight the case when they try to re-instate the CCJ.

Brad08

At the moment I have a phone call from the agreeing they over charged on some and double charged a bit. No emails or letters confirming new balance. Yes if I can get it set aside I will quickly pay the balance. Always said I would but they wanted the full amount.

Can I ask, Set aside, does that mean cancelled or re opened? If it is reopened will they have to let me know the next date it goes to court?

And do I need to apply to the courts myself or go back to the collection agency?

Thanks for your help, been very stressful.

gonzo127

as i understand it

getting a CCJ set aside would mean it would be wiped off your record - cancelled, however if the DCA wants to argue it you would probably have to go to the court to put your case forward to get it cancelled so this is more like reopening it.

and i do believe you have to apply to the court to get it cancelled not the DCA (why would the DCA cancel it they have got what they want)

RAS

You need to follow samma's advice on post 2 above.