Lowell CCJ Enforcement?

sky_man

In 2006 I took out finance on a car, however, in 2009 things took a bit of a nosedive and I fell behind on payments and Black Horse ended up taking me to court to recover the vehicle.

I argued my case as things were on the up at the point we went to court and the judge agreed I could keep the car and continue making payments. A CCJ was applied.

I continued making payments for another 6-7 months, the last payment being May 2010. My business then went belly up then and I ended up in trouble again, defaulting on June 2010's payment and never making another payment again.

In 2011 bailiffs eventually showed up at my door with an enforcement from the court to take possession of the vehicle which I happily let them take away.

I never heard anything again until May 2017 when I've started receiving letters from Lowell.

The first one claimed I owed over £4000. Two weeks later I received another letter saying I owe £3600. All subsequent letters also say I owe £3600.

I checked my credit file and this debt is showing under Lowell as the debtor and that I defaulted in September 2012. I have never made any payment to anyone in 2012 and have the statements to prove this and prove that the last payment was May 2010. The CCJ also no longer shows on my credit file. I have also had zero contact with anyone since the car was taken, I've not spoken to anyone or acknowledged any other debt.

I believe this default date of 2012 is an attempt by Lowell to subvert the process and keep the file within the 6 years for enforcement.

I have now received a letter saying they will pass this case to their solicitors to consider whether they will enforce the CCJ.

Questions:

1: Has the CCJ not already been enforced when the car was repossessed?
2: Can Lowell enforce a CCJ when it was Black Horse who was the creditor that it related to at the time?
3: Are they trying it on considering I defaulted in 2010, the car was repossessed in 2011 and nobody has attempted to enforce the remainder of the debt in all those years?
4: If they do attempt to enforce anything will I get another day in court or do they apply to the court and get enforcement in my absence?

Ideally, if there is any likelihood of them being able to enforce this I would like to have my day in court and argue my case as to why I believe this should be struck out. They can't argue they couldn't locate the debtor as they had no problem taking the vehicle so could have pursued me for any outstanding debt at any point in the past 6-7 years.

Thanks.

Westminster

How enforceable this debt is beyond me as I've never gone as far as a CCJ.

They repossessed the car, but it would have gone to a high volume car auction and probably sold for a fraction of what you owed, so you are still liable for the balance (sounds like that's around £3600)

As long as Black Horse & Lowells have your current postal address, then you will receive any new court papers and would get the opportunity to defend a new CCJ &/or clear the debt within 28 days to prevent the CCJ going onto your credit files.

Assuming your address is correct, you may be able to successfully defend your case based on the debt being statute barred.

If you do end up receiving any court papers, then head over to the Legal Beagles for advice.

sky_man

I understand I'd get court papers if it was for a new CCJ but they're talking about enforcing one that was issued in 2009.

I would have thought that CCJ had already been enforced when I defaulted on the payments and they took possession of the vehicle as they had a court order to do so? You are correct that they will be trying to collect on the remainder of the debt after it was sold at auction but would this not require them filing a new claim against me?

As well as the default date being incorrect on my credit file, so is the credit start date. It says Jan 2007 yet the agreement was taken out in Dec 2006.

Sparx

When was your last payment made towards this debt?

sourcrates

You cannot be taken to court for the same debt twice.

Black horse obtained and enforced the original CCJ, you are now liable for the shortfall of that debt.

The limitations act does not apply once a CCJ has already been awarded, and as far as i am aware, Lowell can continue taking enforcement action.

However, this may be subject to legal argument, in which case you should pose your question on legal beagles, who, hopefully, will be able to give you a more defenate answer,

sky_man

May 2010. I have the bank statements showing the last payment. They took the car in 2011.

Keezing

The last payment is irrelevant as the 6 year statute of limitations does not apply in your case. The CCJ overrides this.

sky_man

True, but the argument now is "has it already been enforced when they took possession of the car in 2011" or "why haven't they enforced it within the last 6 years".

The CCJ was in relation to taking possession of the car btw, not the outstanding finance. Possession of the car is what Black Horse took me to court for in 2009, not for £3600.

sourcrates

sky_man wrote: »

True, but the argument now is "has it already been enforced when they took possession of the car in 2011" or "why haven't they enforced it within the last 6 years".

The CCJ was in relation to taking possession of the car btw, not the outstanding finance. Possession of the car is what Black Horse took me to court for in 2009, not for £3600.

This is why you should post your question on Legal Beagles :

http://legalbeagles.info

As it's legal advice you need.

sky_man

Thanks, I'll give that a try tomorrow when I get sat at a proper computer.

It's a bit of a complex issue because as I recall Black Horse didn't take me to court over a debt of £x amount, they took me to court to seek possession of the vehicle (because I'd paid over a third of the finance meaning they needed permission from the court). After arguing my case the judge allowed me to keep the car and continue making payments which I did for another 6-7 months.

When bailiffs eventually turned up in 2011 to repossess the car they produced court documents which would suggest to me they went back to curt to enforce the CCJ in order to retrieve the vehicle.

The question is whether the CCJ also applies to any outstanding finance and whether they've waited too long to enforce the debt / CCJ. As it is so long ago the CCJ no longer appears on my file and I don't have any documents pertaining to it. I would be interested to know what information Lowell have as they have not made any reference to the case number in their correspondence.

sourcrates

Lowell buy debts in bulk, it's entirely possible they don't have a clue about the CCJ or events prior to them purchasing your account.

This is why you need legal advice on this, as it is a complicated matter, there are a number of things going on here :

(1) does the CCJ now apply to the shortfall,

(2) normally a creditor would need to seek the courts permission to enforce a judgement over 6 years old,

(3) does the fact enforcement has already been taken over 6 years ago alter things.

They are the questions you need answers too.