CCJ issued without knowledge

Richknott83

I have recently tried to remortgage and found that I have a CCJ issued against me last year due to a disputed mobile bill almost six years ago. I had moved address two years ago and thought this resolved and hadn't heard from the debt collectors in over a year. They have issued this at my old address so I never received any papers, otherwise I would have defended myself (successfully I believe) and worst case paid the bill if that was the ruling.

I was on the electoral roll at my current address at the time of the CCJ so have never tried to hide this. Do I have any recourse?

Tixy

Hi

Did you ever provide the creditor or debt collector with your new address?

They only have to send court papers to your last known address.

If you believe you don't owe the money and would have been successful in defending the claim then you could make a set aside application to the courts.

enfield_freddy

£165 for a set aside , however the ccj will run out (removed off your file) 6 yrs England/wales , 5 yrs Scotland from the date that the ccj was entered , not the date you fell out with them

Richknott83

It didn't even occur to me to inform them as I had argued it with them and not heard in over a year.

Does this mean I won't be able to remortgage for another 5 years?

enfield_freddy

what date (year) was the ccj applied? , sorry , you said last year


in that case you will have to do a set aside £165 , then it will be reset and if they decide to continue , you can fight them

Richknott83

Yeah May 2014. I'm applying for a set aside just concerned they will refuse and say it's my fault for not informing of address changes. While technically true I feel it's unfair as I hadn't heard from them in such a long time, thought it resolved, and one look at the electoral roll would have confirmed my current address. You would have thought due to the age of the claim they would have at least checked this.

enfield_freddy

no you have applied for it as soon as you heard about it


Debt companies have access to "trace" but have not bothered chasing or contacting you since you moved , just being nasty and bugging your life up for 6 yrs


get a set aside , you should get that back if they don't object or try a new claim , give em some stick!

Richknott83

Thanks for the advice, fingers crossed

PaulW922

Let us know what happens here.. is there any reason why the creditor would have known you had moved?

Richknott83

Will do. Admittedly they've used the last address they corresponded with me at. However, I just think it's unfair they've left it so long and I really did think I needed to notify them as I hadn't heard in so long. Probably naive on my part but surely a debt collection agency can find your address pretty easily, especially if you're on the electoral roll, and after such a gap I would have thought it would have been their first step.

Tixy

They are obliged to send court paperwork to your last confirmed address, not an address they suspect you could live at.

With regards to a set aside claim, if the judge believes that you have a good chance of defending the claim they should allow the set aside.
They won't usually allow a set aside if the only defence is that you didn't receive court papers and you didn't inform the creditor of your address change.

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