Unlawful CCJ?

logibearp

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to the forums so bear with me.

I received a CCJ on 30/1/2015 from a debt company for owing to my bank (LlyodsTSB) around £1000. The thing is I was completely unaware of said debt, had never been served with anything and only found out after applying for credit and being denied. I then went on experian and traced the source of the CCJ to Lowell portfolio debt recovery?

As far as I can tell the only time I have ever been involved in any debt was to the bank back in 2005-2006 after they dumped a load of fees on me for a returned direct debit after my phone bill came out early and the money wasn't there.
After several disputes with the bank for trying to bill me ridiculous charges (built up to around £400 at the time) for money i never even had (I didn't actually go overdrawn, just a returned DD) I left it with the bank to clear the charges at which they would get back to me. I never heard anything else, assumed all had been sorted and moved house a few months later.

Fast forward around 9 years and i now can't upgrade my bank account (I switched banks straight after the incident) I also cannot apply for credit and it is stopping me from getting a mortgage etc and basically moving on with my life.

I'm 30 years old, earn a fairly decent wage, with never having owed any money or had any unpaid/missed debts before. So the CCJ is the only thing weighing me down from an otherwise clean sheet.

I would like to know, how can I be given a CCJ when I didn't know anything about it? Also how is this possible over 8 years after the initial debt? The debt fees would be considered unlawful by today's banking laws I'm sure, yet had I known I would of actually tried to sort it.
Any advice of what to do next?

Thank you kindly for any help in advance, I'm at a complete loss of what to do here.

Logan

sourcrates

Hi,

It's more than likely that your old bank only had your old address on file, and all correspondence regarding this matter has gone there.

Lowell are a specialist debt purchaser, so will of bought your debt, took you to court for non payment, and obtained a CCJ by default, as you did not receive the claim form for reasons already stated.

The good news is the debt was probably statute barred before judgement was obtained, the bad news is it will cost you a fee of £255.00 in order to get this judgement set aside.

You need to fill in court form N244 and return it to the court along with payment of the statutory fee.
They will then concider your application.

Legal advise is available from the legal beagles website.

National_Debtline

Hi Logan,


Sourcrates has given some great tips above and I just wanted to expand on them a bit. So, the creditor is only required to send claim forms to the last known UK address - which is probably why they have been missed. The court does not validate the claim (they only issue it) and it is up to the defendant to file a defence if they believe the claim is wrong. If there is no response, the claimant is successful by default.


This debt may have been statute barred at the time the claim forms were issued. But please be aware that it is harder to determine when the '6 year clock' starts under the limitations act, with bank charges. It could be argued that they are due immediately so the clock starts straight away. However, if you decide to challenge this CCJ with a set aside application, either on the grounds of the limitations act or unlawful bank charges, you should get some legal advice.


If you are successful with a set aside application the CCJ will be removed from your credit file. But if you lose, I am afraid you can incur the costs of the other side, causing the debt to be more than it is today.


Laura
@natdebtline

logibearp

Thank you both for your replies, your advice has been very helpful.

I have considered contacting Lloyds to see if can obtain my old statements to at least try and prove the date from when the charges were created, could this aid in proving statute barred? Also I was wondering if I would even be able to obtain the statements as the bank was Lloyds TSB back when I was with them and have since divided into two separate banks.

After following up on the CCJ being set aside, I had been told there's a possibility of claiming the £255 back if the case is set aside. Can anyone confirm this and if so would it be possible with my situation?

I'm thinking of legal advice too but with that and the charges of the court only "considering" my application I'm worried that I will be throwing loads of money at it by hiring a solicitor ETC. I will try and have a look on the legal beagles website as Sourcrates suggested and hopefully get some plan of action together.

Thank you again for you help, it is very kind of you to give me your time.

Logan