CCJ issued - could be statute barred. HELP please!

simonmills86

Good Afternoon,

Just before Christmas I received notice that a CCJ was being filed against me due to debts owing to MBNA credit card totalling just over £1500.

I asked for clarification from their legal representatives, the lovely people at Rentons Solicitors, as to whether this debt may or may not have been statute barred as it was around about the 6 year mark since I made my last payment.

I was then informed that the account defaulted on the 10th June 2010 so the account was not statue barred. This was all the information they provided me, there was no evidence of this and I was expected to take their word for it.

After seeking advice from Step Change, they told me to get in touch with the original creditors (now Arrow Global) to confirm when the last payment was made on the account. Today I did this and was told that this was made on the 21st October 2009.

I've read somewhere that the key date here is the date when the last payment was made and not when the account went into default. Could somebody clarify this for me as I've read conflicting information on this, and as you can see this is the difference between whether I owe the money or not.

The Business Court confirmed to me today that legal proceedings began on the 11th December 2015, which is the first instance that I was made aware of the money owing. I've moved a number of times over the past 6 years due to University, leaving home etc and as a result it has been difficult for people to contact me and also for me to keep on top of my affairs.

The way the solicitors firm have acted has given me reasons to believe they're not entirely honourable (surprise surprise) and may be trying to pull the wool over my eyes. Despite having contacted the solicitors by letter on several occasions, I was handed with a court notice of action forthwith because of my alleged inaction and not making contact with them, and was ordered to pay the full amount by the 1st February (this despite not receiving the letter until the 3rd)

Every time I speak to them on the phone they are pushing for more information, trying to get me to agree to payment plans on the phone and discouraging me from communicating by letter.

I may well be on to nothing here but if there's a chance that I don't have to pay the money then of course I'm going to take it.

I've also already been issued with a CCJ on my account as a result however believe this judgement can be set aside if I provide enough information and can prove the account was statute barred. Please correct me if I have any of that wrong.

Thanks in advance for your assistance and any help you may offer me.

TheDebtinator

When did you last acknowledge the debt?

sourcrates

Hi,

Yes it's the 'cause of action' date that's important, not the default date, the account should be statute barred.

I would ask for help on legal beagles :

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?49288-Johnjojo-Statute-Barred-set-aside-CCJ

You can file for a set aside on that basis, but I would get advice on the other forum how best to go about this.

National_Debtline

Hi Simonmills86,


Sourcrates is right. Under the Limitations act the 6 year clock starts from when the first payment was due and missed, or from when the last payment was made, or from when the last written acknowledgement was made - whichever is the later. This is known as the cause of action. In order for a debt to be statute barred there must be a solid 6 year block of time from the cause of action without any court action.


Unfortunately, if you didn't respond to the court papers in time then you will receive a judgement by default. If you wish to challenge this now then you could try and set it aside. You should try and get some legal advice about what information/ evidence you would need to do this in the court. We have a factsheet about Setting Aside a CCJ that may help.


Laura
@natdebtline

simonmills86

Hi everyone and thanks for your advice.

Laura, how would I go about proving this? As I've said before neither the credit card company or solicitors have been forthcoming on providing any information and have tried to pass the buck to each other several times.

All I can tell on my credit file is that the account went in to default in June 2010, which is the date that the company is quoting as being within the statute barred time-frame.

With regards to setting aside the CCJ, if I am successful does that mean that it is taken off my credit file completely?

The other thing that I'm concerned about is that under the pressure and worry of the threat of enforcement, I did reply to the court papers to say that I admit liability of the debt. However I did then receive a follow up letter from the court saying that I didn't reply and the judgement was passed by default. The reason for this being that the solicitors were not satisfied with the N9A form I filled in as it didn't give details of my current employment (as I was unemployed at the time).

Does the admission of the debt mean that I am bang to rights now, even if I can prove there is a discrepancy between the information they've provided and the real cause of action date which would render the debt statute barred?

I did send a letter initially saying that I disputed the claim and asked them to provide evidence but they just simply gave me the date where the account was defaulted.

I really hope I haven't messed this up for myself!

Thanks again.

Marktheshark

You came here far too late.
You now have a CCJ.
Sorry.

simonmills86

Marktheshark wrote: »

You came here far too late.
You now have a CCJ.
Sorry.

And there's no way of having this judgement set aside?

sourcrates

simonmills86 wrote: »

And there's no way of having this judgement set aside?

You need to have a very good reason to get a judgement set aside, in the end, it's at the judges discretion.
As the others have said, the time for advice on how to challenge this has past.
Ask on leagal beagles what your next move should be.

Marktheshark

You could accuse the person signing the court papers of perjury.
They signed the statement of truth on the particulars which a person of legal standing would have been more than aware of the diligence to check the information was correct.
If they were a solicitor start with a complaint to the SRA that the solicitor knowingly made and signed a false declaration to obtain a CCJ.

simonmills86

Marktheshark wrote: »

You could accuse the person signing the court papers of perjury.
They signed the statement of truth on the particulars which a person of legal standing would have been more than aware of the diligence to check the information was correct.
If they were a solicitor start with a complaint to the SRA that the solicitor knowingly made and signed a false declaration to obtain a CCJ.

That's what I mean, surely the courts can't just jump to the solicitors whistle?

I asked the solicitors to prove the debt was statute barred which they didn't so there's been a clear obstruction of me finding the truth.

Although at this point the only 'evidence' I have is a customer service operator telling me that the last payment was made in October '09.

Is the onus therefore on me to prove the debt is statute barred now the judgement has passed?

Marktheshark

Start with a full Subject Access request to the lender, include £10 cheque write on the back "payment for SAR request" and state they must provide all copies of any account information and payments along with the full information they hold on you.