Subject of a CCJ without any knowledge?

badgerpoo

My sister-in-law has a debt collector turn up at her parents house, wanting to collect an amount of £2500. This was the first any of us heard of any debt, and so begins the story (I wont put specifics yet, but may reveal details if needed):

The claim is from the University she was a student at a few years ago.
After lots of phone calls it turns out the debt relates to unpaid library fines relating to a number of unreturned books. We have tried contacting various parts of the university to find out what it is, but they are being deliberatly obstructive and rude. This is odd because all we're doing is trying to get some information. The librarian even refuses to give a list of the books, saying "You know what they are because you have them".

We've asked what the procedure is for gettting in contact with a debtor, and they say they would have first written to her. They said they don't keep proof of postage.

She was never served anything relating to this claim, the first she hears about it is the bailiff coming to collect on the debt, a date 4 weeks after the apparent court date. We have a case no from Northampton CCBC which I understand to handle automated claims.

She is happy to pay the debt if it turns out to be genuine, but we're not sure what to do in the meantime. The worst thing would be that this CCJ stays on her credit record so the first priority is getting rid of that.

What options are open to her at this point?

Tixy

Did the creditor (the Uni) have her correct current address?

She will need to get a copy of the judgement as a starting point. Contact Northampton to get that.

Whether she will have a case to have the judgement set aside will depend on whether she actually owes the money and other issues - such as whether they sent the court claim to her last known address etc

This may help her decide whether she will have a case to fight http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=12_how_to_set_aside_a_judgment_in_the_county_court

fatbelly

If she accepts she does owe it she can apply to suspend the bailiff's warrant and pay in instalments

Factsheet | Reducing payments or suspending a bailiff's warrant on a county court judgment

badgerpoo

Our problem is that we don't even know if she does owe the money. To the best of her knowledge (given that this was at least 3 years ago) she returned all library books. They are refusing to even give the titles of the books the debt relates to and are being extremely obstructive.

From what I can tell, a ccj can only be overturned within a month of the ruling. Give that we only heard about it a month after the ruling due to a complete lack of communication form either the University or the court, is there anything we can do?

FireWyrm

Oh yes.

You can write to the Uni and DEMAND a list of the books and a break down of the charges. They MUST supply this, or how the hell are you supposed to know if you are the correct person. In the meantime, you can begin proceedings to have this set aside on the basis that you are not the person they are after....for a start. Until the Uni can prove your daughter is the culprit and exactly HOW a debt of £2500 for 'library fines' was incurred, I wouldnt pay them a penny piece.

Alternatively - go to the Uni and demand to speak to the financial person....this is utterly outrageous and I would be using words like 'court action' and OFT if I were you.

dizzyrascal

I work at a university and our students are not allowed to graduate if they have outstanding debt to the university.
This includes books on loan from the library. I thought most universities had a similar system in place these days. They usually chase up books from finalists anyway as they lost a lot of books in the past. I'd be surprised if your uni didn't have a system in place especially as it was only 3 years ago.

spacey2012

She needs to download form n224 from the courts service
File this stating no notice of service was posted to the address she lives at, that this was obviously deliberate as they soon have the correct address when they have a judgement.
This will set a new hearing if they can not prove the service of documents to the correct address.
Then she will receive particulars of the claim which can be defended.
If these are Library fines, they are unlawful penalties and should be defended as such.
At an actual hearing they will need to put down some very hard proof of the debt as opposed to speculative claims.
It is a well know tactic of debt agencies to use incorrect addresses to obtain vexatious CCJ awards.
The Judge may just ban them from re-claiming if they are not satisfied they acted correctly, they will certainly be brought for questioning as to why they used an incorrect address.
In the meantime get the case number and file the Form immediately, this will call off the Bailiffs or certainly give you good cause to repel them.
Until you have conformation, the door needs to remain locked and a designated key person keeps the key to let people in or out and the door is not opened to strangers, all contact is established from a window or vantage point they can not gain access to.

moongarden

£2500 is a massive amount for library fines!! eek!

I would go at this from three angles;
Firstly follow Tixy's excellent advice above and get a copy of the judgement. Debt collectors are not always honest and transparent about fees being added on which sometimes shouldn't be.

Secondly I would see if there is a copy of the library terms and conditions on their website. It surprises me that the amount is so large - is it within the contracted terms of use of the library? [Edit: and Dizzyrascal's point is also worth following up with the uni].

Thirdly you could write to the Uni (rather than ring and be fobbed off) send it recorded delivery and say that you have just heard about this... have been living at the same address for ... years, had no previous request and have no idea what this is for.

Incidentally you can have a CCJ set aside at any time - mine was set aside after almost a year as I didn't know anything about it.

ValHaller

moongarden wrote: »

£2500 is a massive amount for library fines!! eek!

I would go at this from three angles;

A 4th angle is that the damages are probably completely disproportionate to the losses. £2500 worth of books will prop up an awful lot of furniture.