CCJ - Default judgment

phil_rich1983

Hi All.


Hoping for some help or advise.


Today in the post we received a ccj - Judgement by default. Now this has come out of the blue and has astounded us. We have not received any previous court papers stating any action was being taken. we know of the disputed debt and have had previous correspondence with the claimants solicitors but the last we heard form them was in July and we wrote back to them again explaining why the debt was disputed


(background - We had our house re-wired, just before they finished they sent us an invoice for the quoted amount plus 55% extra in additional extras. At no point had the ever said there were any extras being added because every aspect was discussed pre-contract on the site visit before hand or was shown on a drawing we had produced for prospective quoter)


What do we do now?
We planned to re-mortgage in December because we have paid for the house renovations with credit cards and we need to re-mortgage to get this all in 1 lump.


We are absolutely distraught by this.


Any help appreciated.


Thanks
PR

pappa_golf

if you pay within 28 days of the court action it will go away , if you are to late you can apply for a setaside which will remove the CCJ , and reset it so that they take you to court again , the cost is £255 for this , you must show that you had a good chance of winning the claim , I would alsi be ringing the court to find what address the court papers were sent to .

phil_rich1983

Thanks. We could pay it but do not agree with the costs and certainly think we would stand a very good chance in court.


One, example of the extras, ' Lights and sockets in Garage were not included in quote because the requirement was unknown' However the architects plan they had to quote from had the garage drawn on it, labelled, and lights and sockets specified on it. The fuse box is also on the garage, so how they can say they didn't know about it astounds me.

sourcrates

phil_rich1983 wrote: »

Thanks. We could pay it but do not agree with the costs and certainly think we would stand a very good chance in court.


One, example of the extras, ' Lights and sockets in Garage were not included in quote because the requirement was unknown' However the architects plan they had to quote from had the garage drawn on it, labelled, and lights and sockets specified on it. The fuse box is also on the garage, so how they can say they didn't know about it astounds me.

Your only option now then is to apply for set aside.

You need to fill in court form N244, there is a fee of £255.00 for this though, but it's the only way now to fight this.

https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/n244-eng.pdf

phil_rich1983

ok thanks sourcrates.


How can they do this? why did we not receive any pre-warning? I read online that the court send out an action notice and give 14 days notice but this has not happened.

sourcrates

phil_rich1983 wrote: »

ok thanks sourcrates.


How can they do this? why did we not receive any pre-warning? I read online that the court send out an action notice and give 14 days notice but this has not happened.

That's anyone's guess, they are supposed to follow pre-action protocols, and send you a claim form beforehand, to allow you to challenge or admit the claim, but, on the other hand, it does give you good grounds to get a set aside.

phil_rich1983

Thanks.
Spoke with the court today and they said the papers were sent out and then return as 'undelivered - return to sender' so we never knew there was a case.

Looking to get a local solicitor today to put our set-aside papers in with our defense.

National_Debtline

phil_rich1983 wrote: »

Thanks.
Spoke with the court today and they said the papers were sent out and then return as 'undelivered - return to sender' so we never knew there was a case.

Looking to get a local solicitor today to put our set-aside papers in with our defense.

Hi Phil

It’s definitely a good idea to take some legal advice first to maximise your chance of success. This factsheet gives you an overview of the set aside process:

www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/howtosetasideacountycourtjudgment/settingasideaccj.aspx

James
@natdebtline

phil_rich1983

Thanks thats a helpful link.

I think that we have a strong case to have a set aside as the court still have the papers in their admin office. So we cannot possible have had a chance to defend

phil_rich1983

Hi. Our set aside forms are in with the court so now we wait. However the court just told me it is taking them 6 working days to process recieved post. It then takes u to 3 weeks for the Judge to review and decide.

What do we do?

If this judgement goes past the 1 month period and then the judge reviews and refuses our set aside then it will be on our credit file for 6 years, even if we pay in full on the day of the review, because we are past the 1 month time? If he sets aside then all is good and it is taken away.

Do we have to wait until a day before the 1 month is up, ring the court, and ask if they have an answer? If they say no we have to pay?

Or does the 30 days start again once the set aside application has been made?

thanks for any answers or advice as to where to look

sammyjammy

The best people to ask are the court.