CCJ Suprise now Charging Order

sydneybean

I am hoping someone can help me with the below. I have a default for around £3k which was initially for Capital One and which is now showing on my credit file as Caboot.

In 2016 I received a letter from Mortimer Clarke Solicitors to say they were going to take me to court for this so I followed the link in the letter and went online to the court and acknowledged this as being my debt. I didn't hear anything back from Mortimer Clarke so rang them to say I was willing to make payments to sort this out. The person that I spoke to said that the were acting on behalf of Capital One and that from their records it looked like the request had been withdrawn from the court as there was an error at their end. I confirmed to him that I would be willing to pay £50 per month and he said that he would make a note on my file and that I was to just "sit tight" and wait for them to get back in touch with me.

last week I was checking noddle and noticed that a CCJ has been awarded against me. I have not had any further correspondence from either capital one or Mortimer Clarke and planned to ring them this morning to find out what has been going on, however, I got home yesterday to a letter from them saying that they are now applying for a charging order against my property!

After kicking myself a lot as I should have been chasing this earlier as I hadn't had any contact I was wondering if someone could clarify for me the below;

If a second CCJ request had been put in should I not have received some form of communication?

Once the CCJ had been granted should I have heard from both the court and Mortimer Clarke to arrange payment

I have not moved and they have my email address.

I will ring them this morning but don't want to be fobbed off. It is my debt I want to deal with it (after ignoring it for too many years)

many thanks in advance

fatbelly

Yes you should have received a copy of the original judgement, which would have been an order to pay 'forthwith' i.e. all at once, because you did not defend the claim nor make an offer of payment through the court process.

You could have applied to change this to an instalment order but this would not (since 2012) be a barrier to the claimant applying for a charging order as this is just viewed as securing the debt.

An order for sale is so unlikely as to be almost impossible.

If you are in a position to pay the judgement in full it would stop the process. There are arguments you could make but as the factsheet says, these are not usually successful.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/countycourtchargingorders/chargingorderadvice.aspx

sydneybean

Thanks for this, I did receive the initial one which I responded to and then contacted Mortimer Clarke but nothing further once he told me to sit tight. It seems a bit unfair that he told me it had been withdrawn and then they haven't informed me they were reputting it in, anyway I will give them a ring, its my own fault anyway so will just have to sort as best I can, sadly I cant afford to pay off all at once but will offer them the £50 per month as per my original offer.

fatbelly

The key thing with a court claim is to follow the process and keep to the timescales. You can't trust Cabot to behave themselves, even though they may call themselves solicitors.

They'll probably accept £50 on this (along with the charging order). If they try anything else, like bailiffs, you can use a N245 to 'suspend the warrant' and 'vary the order'

sourcrates

This is an all too familiar tale of late, creditors essentially taking the place of the courts, or manipulating the process to their advantage, returned claim forms "disappearing", its really not good enough is it.

Its supposed to be the law of the land, and yet the court process is so open to abuses, it makes the legal system a laughing stock.

The worst part is 90% of the time, the claimant has no route to get the situation rectified, its a terrible system in my view.

sydneybean

Thanks for the above replies. I did speak to someone yesterday at Mortimer Clarke and she couldn't even work it out. She has said she will need to get her manager to ring me on Monday as she can see in the notes the previous conversation. I don't know what this means or if they can withdraw a CCJ or charging order but will update once I know more.

PixelPound

If you had agreed to pay £50pm it wouldn't stop the CCJ, it would just be one done by admission rather than default. (https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/replyingtoacountycourtclaim/replyingtoaccj.aspx). They shouldn't have done a charging order unless payments weren't forthcoming. Have you sought legal advice (e.g. CAB)? You might want to ask for a Subject Access Request, or at least get them to read the notes out to you, so you have a better understanding.

sourcrates

No you simply cant withdraw a county court judgement.

The only mechanism for doing so is either, you attempt to get the judgement set aside through the courts, or you go bankrupt.

Also i suggest you deal with this matter in writing only from now on, as you are wasting your time dealing with call handlers at Mortimer Clarke, you need the organ grinder, not the monkey.

Plus having everything down in writing is preferable when dealing with all matters of a legal nature.

sourcrates

nic_c wrote: »

They shouldn't have done a charging order unless payments weren't forthcoming.

Since 2013 creditors have been able to apply for a charging order once judgement has been granted in there favor, regardless of whether the debtor has made payments, or is up to date with there payments, or not.

fatbelly

sourcrates wrote: »

Since 2013 creditors have been able to apply for a charging order once judgement has been granted in there favor, regardless of whether the debtor has made payments, or is up to date with there payments, or not.

October 2012 - in practice, courts were allowing it before then, as they were just seeing it as securing the debt, not enforcing it.

sydneybean

thanks for the above, when the manager phones me tomorrow I will ask for our conversation to be confirmed in writing.