Can I issue a CCJ against someone who is unemployed?

justruth

Ok so I sound like a !!!!!!!!!!!!! but June 2005, yes 2005, I sold my car that had an approximate value of £3000, to a work collegue for £2500, for the quick easy sale on the provision that he would tax it as it had just over a years MOT, and I wanted to avoid re-insuring etc.

He had it a couple of days then parked it outside my home and posted the keys back with the slip from the log book tippexed all over and sent me a text saying that his mate had said that the car wasn't worth that much and I had ripped him off, he didn't want it. I replied telling him that the paperwork had already been sent off, that I was uninsured to drive it and offered him the Parker guide showing the market value for this type of sale of this car having done that many miles. I also showed him a quote for £300 for the minor bodywork damage that had left me to value the car at £3000. As I had sold it at £2500 I found his claims that I had 'ripped him off' offensive and unjustified.

Sure enough the log book arrived at his house within a couple of days, and he text me again calling me childish, telling me his mate was a police officer and that I had broken several laws by sending off the log book that he had signed when he brought the car. Again the car was by now untaxed and on the road, and I was uninsured to drive it.

We arranged to meet over a cuppa, he accepted that it was a good price and asked if he could pay me in small installments as he couldn't come up with the full amount. I accepted, as I thought that he may have just been too embarresed to admit he couldn't afford it, causing all the problems.

November 2005 came I had received no money before then but he presented me with a building society cheque for £800 and promissed to get the rest to me asap. I wasn't entirely happy but willing to accept the olive branch.

January 2006 he was in an accident which wrote the car off, however it was someone elses fault. He no longer worked for the same company as me. I text him and asked if he was alright, but I'll be honest, I didn't give a monkeys, I just wanted to know how he intended to repay the debt and hoped that this way the insurance company would send me money. He volunteered this as the case.

June 2006 I wrote to him, having heard nothing for a while and I had lost patience (it was a year). I told him that i wanted the money back, and I was willing to take him to court. He wrote back telling me that 'HARRASSMENT IS A CRIME'. He also included a letter from his solicitor showing a doctors appoinment for the whiplash for which he was claiming that was coming up and said that his claim was still in progress. He didn't sign this letter.

A month later having heard nothing more I wrote again (I was due to move in September) and asked that he provide me with his definition of harrassment as I did not believe that 1 letter after 1 year could constitute it. I asked when he believed that his case would be completed as I was eager to resolve the matter. He replied telling me that it was his solicitor who thought I was harrassing him, and that the case should be completed by the end of that month (July 2006). He also asked for my contact details as he had lost his mobile phone and couldn't contact me anymore. I still worked at the same place, and I was still living at the same flat and the work number hadn't changed, which was in the phone books, but I responded stating that I would be moving in September. He also stated that his mate is a county judge and because he's unemployed and has acknowledged the debt I cant issue a CCJ against him.

Once I moved I sent him further details of my new address and all my new numbers, my email address and mentioned that if he wanted to leave anything for me at the old workplace near to him I would be happy to go pick it up from there as I regularly go back to see old work collegues. I heard nothing.

I'm getting into debt, even if it is 0%, to pay my way through college and this guy owes me £1700. I sent him a final letter at the end of September asking that his solicitor send me a letter confirming that they will send me the money on completion of his case, as I believe that his case is seperate to the one with me. I gave him a month, it's been over that now and I have heard nothing.

I've read the court leaflets that say you might not get your money if the person you are claiming against is unemployed, however it does suggest taking small increments. As he is getting a lump sum that should in theory cover the amount he owes me, can I get a CCJ to ensure that I get it?

What really annoys me is that he tries to intimidate me every time, I think he's already got the payout and is probably working and I'm left with nothing. If he had been making a genuine effort to repay me and this had happened I would have written it off.

What I want to do now is get my money and move on with my life, can I CCJ him or even sell the debt on to a collection company?

jonesMUFCforever

You can sue him but if he has no money then he can't pay.
You may be losing more money even if you win when you factor in court costs and legal fees etc.
Do you not have legal insurance either on your home or motor policy that you could use to help with the proceedings?
Getting a CCJ will really hurt him if he ever wants to apply for credit even if he did not pay you back.
I would send one last letter pointing this out to him.

Astaroth

You can issue county court proceedings against him and if they rule in your favour then he will have a CCJ against him.

Debt collectors may be an option... many now work on a no win no fee basis for your kind of work though rather than being able to "sell" them the debt

chuckles1066

ejones999 wrote:

You can sue him but if he has no money then he can't pay.
You may be losing more money even if you win when you factor in court costs and legal fees etc.
Do you not have legal insurance either on your home or motor policy that you could use to help with the proceedings?
Getting a CCJ will really hurt him if he ever wants to apply for credit even if he did not pay you back.
I would send one last letter pointing this out to him.

The golden rule (although the legal profession wouldn't want this widely known) is that you *never* sue a private individual for a sum that will be allocated to the Small Claims Track of your County Court.

Reason being; if the person you're suing has any sense, they won't defend the case (i.e they'll totally ignore any correspondence from the Court).

When you try to enforce judgement after their refusal to pay, they'll ask for the judgment to be set aside. So all you will be doing is provoking them to get the judgment set aside - and then you go back to the start of the process.

If the judgment was defended you are in a marginally better position. However, as has been pointed out, if the person you are suing has no money or possessions, sending in the bailiffs is a waste of time.

A very sad reflection on our society.

lemontart

Maybe a solicitors letter may do the trick? shows you mean business re court.

Beth

chuckles1066

lemontart wrote:

Maybe a solicitors letter may do the trick? shows you mean business re court.

Beth

he can send a letter on gold plated paper personally written by the Queen but it wont make a jot of difference if the guy he's suing (a) has any sense and (b) ignores it!

justruth

Thanks, I know he should be getting a significant sum from his settlement, which he told me would include the money he owed. This is what I hope to get. I think I'm fighting a losing battle in which case getting a debt collection company in may be the only way round.

I'm more frustrated than anything, the guy's chosen to try and sh@ft me at every stage and I just want to get what I'm owed and move on. Would I be able to get a court order for the money he owes me from his settlement to be paid directly to me? If he's claimed it on his insurance and hasn't paid it to me would that be fraud? If I get a big stick and prod it with him till he pays up is that then harrassment??

So many lose ends!

Phoenix79_2

Hi
What a sorry situation. People like that guy make me mad! I can't write what i would do to him....
What i need to ask is why you never asked for full payment for the car before you let him have it? I sold my old car to a mate and even though i trusted him (money was coming from his dad) i never gave him the keys until the money had cleared in my account.

justruth

Because I am a fool, and actually when I brought the car from another work collegue, I paid by cheque and it too bounced! I then took the money to him in cash (we have a safe at work) and offered to pay for any fees that may have been incurred due to the funds not being properly cleared at the time. We all judge others by our own standards, and I would never dream of doing this to anyone else.

I don't think you really expect anyone to be like this never mind someone you have worked with for sometime in a money handling enviroment.

Elaine_Wilson

Just to confirm what others have said you can get a judgement against him but it could be difficult to enforce. You will need to be able to prove that he has assets (ie the insurance payout) when the bailiffs are sent in.

I must confess that I once obtained a CCJ against someone who owed me £160. This makes me sound a right (insert your own expletive here) but the work I had done was worth at least twice what I had charged. Not sure I would bother if the situation arose again.

justruth

Thank you for your advice, I will consider my next course of action. This is what I hate about money, I would write it off if he were not constantly trying to intimidate me. I think I'll wait and see what other information I can gain about him before I take the next step.

On the plus side, Barclays settled!