Possible CCJ claim issued to previous address

starburst123

I'm not sure if this is in the right place so please feel free to point me in a different direction if needed! My partner has reason to believe a county court claim form has been sent to him at a previous address in the last week or two - we have a post redirection in place but I have a feeling they will have tried to deliver it in person... The creditor doesn't have his new address, and no letter before action or default notice has been sent to him prior to this (he has been in contact with the creditor and notified them in writing - by email - that he's not received any correspondence from them). Am I right in thinking he can't find out anything through the courts as he doesn't have any claim reference?

The whole situation is horribly complicated and really I think we need to go the CAB to sort it - just wondering if there would be further letters sent by the court with hearing dates etc as then we would receive them if posted - the creditor can't be trusted as far as they can be thrown when it comes to issuing correspondence.

fatbelly

Generally people use Money Claim Online, where the claim is sent by post.

So if there is redirection in place you should receive it.

starburst123

Thanks but I have a feeling this would have been served by hand as the other persons was - basically OH is guarantor for MIL and she had hers delivered by hand last Sunday so I would expect they tried to do the same for his? Her claim form from the LA makes no mention of him at all though, so in theory if they issued one against him too wouldn't they be claiming for the same debt twice, is that allowed?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, appreciate your reply

fatbelly

Guarantors are normally considered jointly liable with the debtor and so the both parties would be mentioned on the claim.

But the claim form would come from a court - this could be a local court or Northampton (the bulk claim centre). It is usually sent by post and is assumed to have been served 3/5 days after issue.

The form can be personally presented to the defendant by the claimant after it has been stamped by the court but there can then be dispute regarding whether the claim has been served correctly. I don't really see the advantage of this.

It is sounding like the claim is only against MIL in this case. She could ask the court if she is the only defendant.

starburst123

fatbelly wrote: »

Guarantors are normally considered jointly liable with the debtor and so the both parties would be mentioned on the claim.

But the claim form would come from a court - this could be a local court or Northampton (the bulk claim centre). It is usually sent by post and is assumed to have been served 3/5 days after issue.

The form can be personally presented to the defendant by the claimant after it has been stamped by the court but there can then be dispute regarding whether the claim has been served correctly. I don't really see the advantage of this.

It is sounding like the claim is only against MIL in this case. She could ask the court if she is the only defendant.

So the question has been answered, a letter has been delivered to MIL for his attention saying they tried to serve paperwork at his address but were unable to, so will do so again tomorrow and deem it served unless he contacts them otherwise... So assuming his paperwork makes no mention of MIL in the defendants section aren't they chasing the same debt twice? Also whatever the amount is will be different than the claimed amount as she paid them some last week. My concern now is if this has been issued on the same date as MIL's - then he only has until Tuesday to respond within the 14 day period since the paperwork was issued by the court...

Any thoughts welcome

fatbelly

A bit bizarre - they should have just let the court send it out to whatever the last known address was.

As for sending out two claims that is correct practice for debts that have joint and several liability.

In practice, if they get a ccj on this they will pursue the most visible person - that is usually the guarantor as they know they guarantor has something they can go for, such as earned income or assets or a property.

But they can pursue either party or both, until the judgement is satisfied.

If the balance figure is wrong, then that is a part defence. He can acknowledge service within 14 days of service and then defend within 28 days.

Marktheshark

Sounds more like a statutory Demand.
They have to be served or sent via registered post.
It can not be deemed "served" it either is or it is not.
Probably why they are saying come out of hiding or we will deem it served.
So they can serve it.
Because if they can not serve it they are goosed.
A CCJ claim will come directly from the court by post.

starburst123

fatbelly wrote: »

A bit bizarre - they should have just let the court send it out to whatever the last known address was.

As for sending out two claims that is correct practice for debts that have joint and several liability.

In practice, if they get a ccj on this they will pursue the most visible person - that is usually the guarantor as they know they guarantor has something they can go for, such as earned income or assets or a property.

But they can pursue either party or both, until the judgement is satisfied.

If the balance figure is wrong, then that is a part defence. He can acknowledge service within 14 days of service and then defend within 28 days.

When would the date of service be considering this person trying to deliver it may have had this over a week now if MIL got hers last Sunday?

starburst123

Marktheshark wrote: »

Sounds more like a statutory Demand.
They have to be served or sent via registered post.
It can not be deemed "served" it either is or it is not.
Probably why they are saying come out of hiding or we will deem it served.
So they can serve it.
Because if they can not serve it they are goosed.
A CCJ claim will come directly from the court by post.

The paperwork MIL has has "Claim Form" at the top, and is stamped "For service by claimant's agent" and "For solicitor's service - Papers to them on..." but no address for sols...

fatbelly

starburst123 wrote: »

When would the date of service be considering this person trying to deliver it may have had this over a week now if MIL got hers last Sunday?

I think...

that a provincial court assumes service 3 days after issue date. Use that rather than actual service to be safe

It sounds like this particular claimant is trying some sort of trick

starburst123

This makes me think we're not as pushed for time as it seems but I may be wrong...

2) Where the claimant serves the claim form, the claimant –
(a) must file a certificate of service within 21 days of service of the particulars of claim, unless all the defendants to the proceedings have filed acknowledgments of service within that time; and

(b) may not obtain judgment in default under Part 12 unless a certificate of service has been filed.

(3) The certificate of service must state –

(a) where rule 6.7, 6.8, 6.9 or 6.10 applies, the category of address at which the claimant believes the claim form has been served; and

(b) the details set out in the following table.

Method of service
Details to be certified 1. Personal service Date of personal service.


Having taken this from justice.gov's civil claim page this leads me to believe the letter received at MIL's is admission service has still not take place so they can't claim it has and so regardless of her getting hers already, as the claims are listed seperately, then his 14 days will only start from tomorrow when he contacts the agent to receive the paperwork - would you agree?

Really appreciate you taking the time to advise us, thanks so much fatbelly