CCJ - to challenge or pay

Anglowelsh

Hello!

I wonder if you could help me.

I have a CCJ against me and am wondering what to do- challenge it or pay it.

I discovered when I was moving house this August that a CCJ was made against me for £165 when the estate agent did a credit check.

I figured out in September that I could use Trust Online to ascertain the case number.

I contacted the court, which later told me the judgment was in November 2013. I was unaware of this at the time. The judgment amount was £100, the costs £65 and the claimant was a carpark company.
I have deduced this was most likely for a carpark belonging to DFS in Sheffield. I received no notification of a parking charge at the time, but I had only recently moved.
I also dispute the charge. At the time an arrangement was in place between the charity where I then worked and DFS, that parking would be free for myself and a colleague on the car park; by agreement, my vehicle, via its registration, was listed as eligible to park at no charge. Indeed, my colleague was contacted by the carpark company regarding a charge, but following a clarification from DFS the charge was withdrawn.

Had I known about the parking charge at the time, I would happily have clarified things with the parking company via DFS; had I been aware of the County Court claim, I would have defended myself on the above grounds.

The CCJ having been some time ago, I am wondering whether to appeal (“have it get aside”?) or simply to contact the carpark company solicitor and pay. I gather I would then also need to contact the court to demonstrate payment is satisfied.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thrugelmir

Did you perhaps ignore the communications given prior to the CCJ being issued? Walking away and disappearing doesn't work. The Company concerned would have written to where your vehicle was registered.

National_Debtline

Hi Anglowelsh

It appears from your post that you did not receive any notification of either the charge itself or the subsequent CCJ. Presumably these went to the address you were at while employed by that charity?

Bear in mind that even if you do choose to pay off the CCJ now, it will appear on your credit file for six years from when it was granted in Nov 2013, albeit as "satisfied".

If you choose to apply to have the judgment set aside on the grounds that you did not receive claim forms and would have disputed the debt given the opportunity, the likelihood is that this would be granted. You could argue that you had no reason to provide a forwarding address to the car park company at the time as you were under the impresssion that you were complying with the rules.

I can't comment on the likelihood of you then being able to successfully defend any claim the parking company might then re-issue.

If you believe there are parallels between your case and that of your colleague, then I would advise you to gather as much evidence as possible - if you do choose to defend the claim, get all your ducks in a row first.

You may find our fact sheet on setting aside CCJs useful:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/12%20EW%20County%20court%20-%20how%20to%20set%20aside%20a%20judgment/Default.aspx

Dennis
@natdebtline