BW Legal - CCJ

wayneyb

Good evening all,


Just after some advice if anyone can assist. My partner has received a CCJ regarding an old debt in her name and we are unsure as to the best way to proceed.


I will recount the tale and try keep it brief:


My partner moved out of her family home about 8 years ago, she had a Next catalogue account registered at that address. The account wasn't used (£0 balance) and at some point unbeknownst to her, her mother decided to order several items to the value of approx. £390 and for whatever reason never paid the bill.


Letters from Next were never passed on to my partner so she has been unaware of this for many years until a letter came from BW Legal, who purchased the debt, a few weeks ago threatening to take the matter to court unless it was settled. This is when the whole thing came out in the open.


I did some research on this site and found a template letter which my partner used arguing that the matter was statute barred (well over 6 years old since any payment or acknowledgement). Now either that letter crossed over with them applying for (and being granted a CCJ) or they ignored the letter.


My partner has now received a CCJ from Northampton County Court ordering the bill to be paid. Her mother has offered to pay the bill at the ordered monthly rate. Now I would be happy for her mum to foot the bill as she accrued the debt, however the CCJ will potentially affect us in the future.


Given the debt is statute barred would my partner be able to get the CCJ set aside? Is this easy to do? Do you have to attend court in person or can it be done in writing? She did respond to BW Legal (we kept a copy of the letter) but received no response until the CCJ arrived.


Any advice is much appreciated.

Marktheshark

Did she receive a claim form from the county Court ?
This would have had a court stamp and if this was ignored or you wrote to the company instead of following the very simply written instructions on the court papers then over turning this will be very hard.

wayneyb

Marktheshark wrote: »

Did she receive a claim form from the county Court ?
This would have had a court stamp and if this was ignored or you wrote to the company instead of following the very simply written instructions on the court papers then over turning this will be very hard.

Hi- thanks for your reply.


The last letter received in mid May was from BW Legal, giving until 1st of June to respond. This was responded to. Would this have been the claim form? It was not from the court but we cannot recall if it was stamped by court - either way it did get a response to the address provided (BW Legal).


The current letter received is dated 2nd June from Northampton County Court and is a Judgment for Claimant.


That does state that the defendant (my partner) did not respond to the claim form.

sourcrates

You should of received a claim form from the court, this is the point you either submit your defence, or admit it's your debt.

If you never received this form, then that may be sufficient grounds to obtain a set aside, however the fee for this is £255.00, and will only put you back to square one, where the creditor can start action over again.

wayneyb

sourcrates wrote: »

You should of received a claim form from the court, this is the point you either submit your defence, or admit it's your debt.

If you never received this form, then that may be sufficient grounds to obtain a set aside, however the fee for this is £255.00, and will only put you back to square one, where the creditor can start action over again.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.


Would the claim form have come directly from court - or would it have come via BW Legal with their covering letter?

sourcrates

wayneyb wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to reply.


Would the claim form have come directly from court - or would it have come via BW Legal with their covering letter?

It could of been either.

It would look something like this :

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=picture+of+county+court+claim+form&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#imgrc=xPPlcoCBERCxEM%3A

sourcrates

I would advise you to post here to determine your next step :

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?105-Received-a-Court-Claim

Marktheshark

It would have come from either your local county court or the Northampton county court.

If you did not get this they may have used the old address, a well know trick.

We need to know if you go a Claim form from the court.

If you throw paper work away, then over turning this might not be for you, it is going to involve a lot of paper work and keeping files of documents.

wayneyb

Marktheshark wrote: »

It would have come from either your local county court or the Northampton county court.

If you did not get this they may have used the old address, a well know trick.

We need to know if you go a Claim form from the court.

If you throw paper work away, then over turning this might not be for you, it is going to involve a lot of paper work and keeping files of documents.

A claim form has definitely not been received from court......unless it has not been passed on by my partner's mother as the original Next account was at her address (family home). Unfortunately up until now her mum has been binning letters to do with the Next account.


The letter received from BW Legal threatened CCJ unless full payment received and wasn't a claim form (just checked).




If we were successful in setting aside the CCJ (and its a big if at this stage!). Given that the debt is statute barred, would BW Legal not be able to pursue this again via court?


My partner has reservations about contesting this at all, but doesn't understand the significance of having a CCJ on her record.


Thanks again for your advice.

sourcrates

wayneyb wrote: »

A claim form has definitely not been received from court......unless it has not been passed on by my partner's mother as the original Next account was at her address (family home). Unfortunately up until now her mum has been binning letters to do with the Next account.


The letter received from BW Legal threatened CCJ unless full payment received and wasn't a claim form (just checked).




If we were successful in setting aside the CCJ (and its a big if at this stage!). Given that the debt is statute barred, would BW Legal not be able to pursue this again via court?


My partner has reservations about contesting this at all, but doesn't understand the significance of having a CCJ on her record.


Thanks again for your advice.

If you got a successful set aside, then any future claim could be defended on the basis the debt is statute barred.

Marktheshark

I would call the court and see what address this CCJ is at first.

As they can send bailiffs to seize goods if it is not paid, I would work quickly.
You will need to download court form N244 .