Just received this .. no idea what to do .. confused.

babymoo

Hi all, just after a touch of advice please ...

I have just receved a letter from S C Gray Solicitors Limited and it says

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Vie at Home -V- Ms ****** *******

As you are aware a CCJ was entered against you recently ordering you to discharge the sum of £404.01 immediately. Unless you do so within the next 7 days we are instructed to proceed forthwith against you without further notice. Should you be unable to discharge the debt in full we would be obliged to hear from you as to reasonable instalments you offer to make, upon which we will obtain our clients instructions.

If you ignore this letter further proceedings will be taken against you immediately.

Yours faithfully



S C Gray Solicitors Limited.



Now a few things. I for 1 wasn't aware that I owed any money to this company, when I left my balance was £0.00. I wasn't aware they were chasing me for any money, this is the first I have heard about it. I wasn't aware that a CCJ has been entered against my name. I left Vie at home at the end of 2008 as I was far too poorly to do any work for them and they are stating that I owe £68 for October 2008 and £209 for February 2009, the rest is court costs.

I have called them and told them this and have been told to write a letter to them that they can pass onto Vie at home, stating that I do not believe that I owe this money and that I stopped working for them in 2009. I am ever so slightly ****ed off as had I been told about this before hand I would have dealt with it along with my other debts at the beginnig of the year, had it paid off and not ended up with a CCJ!! They had my old address which apparently all letters have been going to, I moved from that address 2 years ago almost and every other debt managed to find me at my new address so confused as to why it has taken them 2 years and a CCJ before they tracked me down.

If anyone could help with the wording of the letter to these people please I would be very greatful.

Thanks

Babymoo

Hannah_10

My first instinct, rightly or wrongly, would be to ignore Grays and phone the court that dealt with it asap. I would want to know what date the judgment was from and I'd then be looking into if I could have it re-heard or cancelled in any way as the debt is unknown. I think there is such provision, albeit time limited. I couldn't tell you in more detail what or how exactly it works, but calling a debt charity is a way to find out, also someone is likely to reply with more detail.

NorthernLas

I think, the letter is saying that they intend to take you to court and it does not mean that you already have a CCJ. You may want to ring them back and confirm this, but as they are asking you to send a letter to sort it out, it seems more likely to me.

Suggested letter below:

Dear Sir/Madam

Account No: XXXXXXXXXXX

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (COMPANY NAME).

I ceased working for .... and at this time my account showed that I owed nothing.


I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my liability for the debt in question.

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed.

mr.ton

The 1st thing is to find out if a CCJ was issued against you & from were?
Then you can instigate the "set aside" process on the basis that these rogues obtained 1 against you sneakily.
You can then demand proof of the debt.
If they dont provide it, then report them to the OFT/trading standards & sue them for compo.

babymoo

I have rung them back since after calming down from the initial shock. The lady I spoke to informed me that the CCJ went through at the beginning of August this year. She was quite shocked that I have been living where I am now for as long as I have and that I have been on the electoral roll since moving here allowing for 7 other debts to find me so why they couldn't is anyones guess. She has passed on what I have said to Vie at home and is waiting for them to get in contact to see what they want to do with the information. I shall still write a letter to them but as of yet have no idea what to put.

northernlas thank you for your suggestion will attempt to write something along those lines into my letter although as they have already issued a ccj against me I think it will have to be worded differently.

mrton what is the set aside process? I will happily pay the debt providing they can provide me with proof that I do owe the money and unforuantely I have no paperwork here that will prove from my end that I don't owe it.

Thanks for your input, all of you

Hannah_10

National Debtline will know the set aside process... 0808 808 4000 or http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

I found this on the CAB site here http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/search.htm?pr=adviceguide_index&query=CCJ+set+aside&Search.x=16&Search.y=8

1. How county court judgments affect your credit rating
Information on how your credit rating is affected if a county court judgement has been made against you and how to get your debt record cleared.

If you click the link a .pdf opens, on the second page under the heading "you don't owe the debt" is a little relevat information.

Another Google search came up with this, from direct.gov >> http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/CourtClaimsAndBankruptcy/DG_10013083

What to do if you disagree with a CCJ If you have a genuine reason to disagree with a CCJ, you can ask the court to remove the judgment ('set it aside'). You may have to pay a fee for this. If you don't have a genuine reason, your application could be treated as wasting court time or even perjury - serious offences that can incur fines and prison sentences.
If the judgment is set aside, things go back to the start of the claim. You have another chance to reply to the Claim Form and explain your situation. The CCJ is taken off the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines until a new judgment is made.
Applying to set aside a judgment

NorthernLas

You might also want to confirm how the solicitors got your address.

If it has come from Virgin Vie, they have no excuse for sending letters to your previous address.

Instead of you applying to set the judgement aside, you could in your letter ask them to set aside the judgement as it is an error. If you get them to reply to you within 28 days, then after that you can apply yourself. Maybe another call to the solicitor to check, but it would save you the set aside fee.

Suggested letter : CCJ awarded in error, prove you owe the debt, if not they apply for set aside and get your financial records updated pronto, ask that they compensate for distress (i.e. the time taken to resolve the problem)

RAS

Hi

Your starting point on this is to get the CCJ overturned as you were not aware of the court action. This is the NDL link for England and Wales http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=12_how_to_set_aside_a_judgment_in_the_county_court

It will cost you but also get the CCJ off your credit record.

Then you can deal with the case regarding the debt.

babymoo

Northern Las, I had a phone called a few days ago from a company who I cant remember the name of saying they were calling on behalf of Vie at home to make sure they have the correct address to send me a letter regarding a debt with them. I told them my correct address, had no reason not to and then this came through the door today. I figured that when I received the letter I would send the prove it letter straight off but as it is a bit further along than that which is why I am in need of assistance now.

RAS thanks so much for that, I saw a debt counsellor through the CAB a while ago and still have his phone number so I am going to contact him tomorrow morning, get a letter in the post and go from there. Thanks to you all so much.