Help needed ref CCJ

Chemical_Grrl

Hello all

Ill explain as best I can the situation I have found myself in, I recently applied for a loan and my application was declined having checked my experian report as suggested by the lender I couldnt understand why, I contacted them today and they explained that the reason for the decline was to do with two things recorded against a previous address, this was an address I moved out of in the year 2000

I am signed up to credit expert so I spoke to them to find out why the information didnt come up on my report, they explained that I had to add the address as a previous address then it would reveal any info recorded against that address, I did so and was shocked to find a CCJ and default recorded against me, I have discovered from contacting the courts that this was a debt from a storecard I had used in approx 2004, the card was taken out at my previous address in 2000 and then I moved, when I went to use the card next which I beleive was in 2004 they had to make a phonecall at the till before they could complete my purchase, I was asked to speak to the person on the phone and provide my new address which I did so, im asuming this is procedure as I hadnt used the card for at least 4 years at the time, I then thought nothing else of it and completely forgot about it.

What has happened is they didnt update my address details on their systems and due to non payment they referered the debt to a debt recovery agency who have subsequently registered a default and CCJ on my credit records, all without my knowledge and without any contact whatsoever from them. I am quite happy to pay the money I owe and I take full responsibility for that however I am extremely unhappy that the CCJ and default have been registered because it means it will be difficult to get future credit.

I spoke to the debt recovery agency today and they basically said there's nothing they can do and in relation to my address not being updated and that I have to pay the money and the default and CCJ will remain on my credit file, they were very unhelpful and basically just want the money off me.

I have thought of a number of things to do to fight this, firstly I am going to ask for the information the lender holds under the data protection act to see if any notes were made about my change of address, secondly I was going to go to the Citizens Advise Bureau to see if they can help and thirdly I will arrange to start paying the money back with the debt agency.

What I must stress is that I am not bothered about paying back the money the CCJ was for £295 and they say I now owe £403 so its not a huge amount. What I am bothered about is the CCJ and default they have registered and fighting to get these removed.

Thank you very much for reading this and your thoughts/help would be very much appreciated!!!!

Cheers

Forgot to say the CCJ was registered on the 26/01/2006 and the default on the 07/09/2005 default balance was £223, CCJ was £295 and current balance now stated as £403

fermi

You may be able to get the CCJ set aside.

This factsheet explains the grounds that allow you to do this, and how to go about it:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=12_how_to_set_aside_a_judgment_in_the_county_court

But in brief valid grounds are:

WHEN WILL THE COURT AGREE TO SET ASIDE A JUDGMENT

The county court rules set out when you can apply to set aside a judgment. For example:

• you may not have received the original claim form;
• you may have moved house and not had post from your previous address;
• an order was made against you in your absence in certain circumstances;
• there may be an error in the judgment;
• you want to put in a defence and did not have the opportunity to do this;
• the proceedings did not follow the court rules.

and the status of default judgements are:

DEFAULT JUDGMENT

You may have a default judgment made against you where there was no hearing and you have not sent back the 'Acknowledgement of Service' form to say you intend to put in a defence. You may also have a default judgment made against you if you have not sent in the reply form asking for time to pay within the time limits.
You should not have a default judgment if you:

• paid off the whole amount owed.

The court must set aside the default judgment if you either:

• sent back the acknowledgement of service form with the time limit; or
• put in a defence within the time limit; or
• sent in the reply form asking for time to pay within the time limit.

The court may agree to set aside the default judgment if you did not send in a reply form within the time limit if it thinks:

• you have a real chance of a successful defence to the claim; or
• the court thinks you have a 'good reason' to set aside the judgment e.g. where you did not get the papers through the post.

Please read through the whole link.

Hope that helps.

fermi

I should have added, getting the CCJ set aside will not remove the default on your credit reference file as this is a separate thing. The default judgement has nothing to do with the CRF default, just a coincidence of names.

However, I've heard that this is possible with a bit of perseverance. This is one of many links to a procedure you can follow yourself that claims to let you do this.

http://www.learnmoney.co.uk/credit-cards/remove_default_notice.html

However, I can't personally vouch that this works, but it may be worth looking at.

Chemical_Grrl

Thank you very much Fermi for taking the time to read my post and reply with some very useful information, I really do appreciate it, if anyone else has a suggestion that may be of use please please respond, I was very upset about this situation earlier today but my mind has been slightly eased now.

Chemical_Grrl

Could someone please advise me, I have had a look at the form I need to fill in to apply to have my CCJ put aside and its a nightmare, who can I go to that can help me fill in the form, I cant afford a solicitor but would like some professional advise in order to maximise my chances, thanks

Sea78

Have you tried the CAB? It might be worth making an appointment as there are debt specialists there, or they could refer you to someone?

Sea xx

Chemical_Grrl

Thanks Sea, looking into this now, my local CAB office seem to have a debt help day on a Wednesday so im going to see if I can get an appointment

Sea78

Hope it's helpful - I think quite a few people have had some success with them.
let us know how it goes.
Sea xx

fatbelly

The form should be an N244.

National debtline have a factsheet here

You'll note there is a fee of £65 unless you qualify for exemption or remission. If your application is successful (ther's no guarantee) then I think the CCJ is removed from your file but not the default.

And the claim will start again unless you come to an agreement to repay.

It's your call but it's an option just to pay the debt and get the judgement marked as satisfied

Chemical_Grrl

fatbelly wrote: »

The form should be an N244.

National debtline have a factsheet here

You'll note there is a fee of £65 unless you qualify for exemption or remission. If your application is successful (ther's no guarantee) then I think the CCJ is removed from your file but not the default.

And the claim will start again unless you come to an agreement to repay.

It's your call but it's an option just to pay the debt and get the judgement marked as satisfied

Thanks for your comments, I'm not prepared to just pay the debt and have it showing as satisfied, its completely unfair that its there in the first place, im fighting this one because if I dont this is going to effect my ability to obtain credit for the next 6 years!

Chemical_Grrl

Sorry didnt mean for my last post to sound so aggressive, Im just very stressed out about this and want to get it sorted, thank you for all your support