Removal of CCJ

mickl68

Hi,
A couple of months ago I got my credit score report from Experian and noticed I have had a CCJ filed against me from a childcare company. I contacted the court and they told me if I settled the invoice this could be removed. I have now paid the bill but the company haven't notified the court that this bill has now been settled. There are a few factors around this which I need some clarification on.

The invoice was from July last year, I moved in April last year and informed the company of my new address via email which I still have. They have told me they sent letters out chasing the debt to the old address.

They have my mobile and work numbers but never tried to contact me on either of these numbers, they said they have left voicemail's but I don't have any and never did. I did however change my phone and number in July 2015 but I did update them with this.

My child is still at the school where they used to pick him up and they could have passed the invoice to him or his teacher.

I have emailed the company asking for a receipt of payment, breakdown of the costs and for them to removed the CCJ or at least mark it as paid in full but as yet none of this has been done, I paid this off about a month ago.
I feel this whole situation is unfair and has now damaged my credit score for at least the next 5 years through their poor communication and poor running of their business. Where do I stand with this and legally what can I do?

Thanks

[Deleted User]

If you can prove you provided new contact details you may be able to have it set aside. However I would not expect them to be handing your invoices to your child or teacher.

sourcrates

Hi,

Did you pay the debt within 30 days of the judgement date ?

If not it cannot now be removed.

You have exactly 30 days from date of judgement to pay it in order for the court to remove it.

If you missed the deadline, it will be there for 6 years.

mickl68

Hi,

Thanks, I appreciate the part about the invoices, I have the email stating new address and it was copied to their finance email and one of the staff members. It more the frustration and stress this has caused, surely they are at fault here and I have some legal claim here on this matter? They won't respond to emails, they won't inform the courts it's been paid and I want this sorted out as its causing me problems trying to rent a house.

mickl68

sourcrates - yes it was paid within the 30 days but the company haven't updated it and it's now probably 60 days ago.

Chappaz

mickl68 wrote: »

sourcrates - yes it was paid within the 30 days but the company haven't updated it and it's now probably 60 days ago.

If I were you, I'd send a warning letter before action to the company stating that you will take them to court if they don't provide proof of payment within a specified time.

If they still don't, then I'd issue court proceedings. Official court documentation will usually scare them into doing it if they haven't by that point.

Then armed with proof of payment, I'd write to the court to submit it along with the £15 fee required. You can tell the court yourself and have it removed that way, but you need proof first.

You shouldn't have any issues after that. The payment has been made and the CCJ should be removed so it was like it was never there.

However, a few points first:

1). Are you sure they haven't informed the court? Have you rang the court to ask? Even when CCJs are removed it can take a month or two before they drop off your credit files.

2). Call the company first. With something of this importance you really need to call them instead of just sending an e-mail and waiting for a response. If it's a local company, you could even visit and ask for the proof of payment.

What's done is done, but the onus is now on you to collect proof of payment and inform the court to get your CCJ removed (or push them into doing it). E-mails aren't going to cut it.

mickl68

Hi Chappaz,

Thanks for the reply, in answer to your points:

1. I spoke to the courts this week and they are telling me the CCJ is still in place and there has been no notification to say this has been paid.
2. The only reason I've been sending emails is so that I have proof of any communication between myself and them. If I'd called them or visited them, whats to stop them from saying the conversation never took place?

I know what you are saying about me chasing this but from where I'm sat I should never have been in this situation in the first place if they had updated my address and possibly phone number.

Chappaz

mickl68 wrote: »

Hi Chappaz,

Thanks for the reply, in answer to your points:

1. I spoke to the courts this week and they are telling me the CCJ is still in place and there has been no notification to say this has been paid.
2. The only reason I've been sending emails is so that I have proof of any communication between myself and them. If I'd called them or visited them, whats to stop them from saying the conversation never took place?

I know what you are saying about me chasing this but from where I'm sat I should never have been in this situation in the first place if they had updated my address and possibly phone number.

What will stop them saying that is the proof of purchase you should be able to obtain.

You can inform the court of payment yourself to get the CCJ set aside (£15 fee). However, they will require proof of payment.

It should be quite straightforward really, even if they are dragging their heels. All they'd need to do is give you a receipt, which you can send to the court along with proof of payment from your end.

I can understand your frustration but being stubborn isn't going to get you anywhere. You have a CCJ on your file, and it will be there for 6 years unless you get it set aside. You need to sort this for your own benefit.

Could you challenge this in court on the basis that they took no notice of your updated address? Possibly. However, the best case result would be that the CCJ is set aside, which is the exact same outcome as if you send the court proof of payment.

Doing anything other than obtaining proof of payment and informing the court to settle the matter would just be the long route towards the exact same outcome (no CCJ).

But if they're ignoring e-mails you need to up the stakes a bit more until they give you what is required. If they still don't, then you can take it down the legal route which should spur them into action.

pvt

I would have thought that the correct process here was to have requested that the original court case be set aside - I would have thought you had solid grounds if you have emails showing you told them of your new address and they had subsequently issued proceedings against you at your old one.

I am also guessing the CCJ includes the court fees etc., and I would now be looking to recover these from the company concerned on the basis that they were incurred as a result of their incompetence in managing your change of address.

Arleen

pvt wrote: »

I would have thought that the correct process here was to have requested that the original court case be set aside - I would have thought you had solid grounds if you have emails showing you told them of your new address and they had subsequently issued proceedings against you at your old one.

I am also guessing the CCJ includes the court fees etc., and I would now be looking to recover these from the company concerned on the basis that they were incurred as a result of their incompetence in managing your change of address.

Only if you have way too much time on your hands and no work to speak of (or other way to spend the many hours it will take). If you owe the money and can pay it so it won't stay on your credit file, paying it is the best way to resolve it.

robber2

Are you sure that your emails are actually getting to them. There are many pitfalls between your outbox and there inbox and to be honest I stopped using unconfirmed emails for critical communications some time ago.

Rob