debt demand

bumpety_bump

hello peeps,
bit of an odd one here,
i received a letter today by a company called high court enforcement group ltd.
they are based in swansea and seem to be a legit debt recovery company.
in this letter it states that i owe just under 10 grand.
the letter claims it was a judgment made in a county court on 20th jan 2016 stating the liverpool district registry. it then gives an 8 digit claim number.
it says i need to pay this money by the 24th of oct 2017 else they will send round an enforcement agent to "take control".

the person they claim i owe money to is an ex partner whom i left in 2010.

however i did not owe her anything, in fact i left her with my share of the house which amounts to about 200 grand. so in the scheme of things she hasn't done too badly out of our split. we had no joint debts and i had no debts of my own.
it's not a case of leaving because of any moralistic issue either, i have remained single ever since as she just put me off getting involved with anyone ever again.
so the person is a real person.
however, not to be spooked by such letters i decided to run a ccj search against myself and found absolutely nothing. it cost me £8 for the privileged information from trust online that told me nothing.
so i am a little perplexed as to where one should go with this.
i have never received any notification that i was due to appear in any court and neither have i ever received notification from a court that i owe any money.
i feel irritated somewhat, a bit concerned and unsure of what direction to take.
7 years of being away from her has been bliss, i really didn't expect her name to be coming into my life ever again.
i thought ex was called that for a reason, they are previous and in the past. seems not on this occasion...
anyhoo, anyone with any experience of such shenanigans that can suggest what one should do next would be really appreciated.
i have no debts and no mortgage.
i own the house i live in and drive a raggedy old car. i have no dependents, nor did i have children with her.

sourcrates

Hi,

Does anything appear on any of your credit files at all in regard to the CCJ ?

If this is legit, it sounds like the ex has taken you to court for some reason, and won by default, then escalated it to the High court for enforcement action.

Unfortunately they are not "run of the mill" debt collectors, they are High Court Enforcement agents, of whom you should be much more wary.

bumpety_bump

absolutely nothing comes up at all. no debts registered to me.
how do i find out what it is all about and get this nonsense sorted out?
when you say i should be much more wary, what do you mean?
what action does one need to undertake to deal with whatever it is.
the letter they sent was dated yesterday, i'm guessing that's done to stop one doing anything about it for a couple of days over the weekend.
thanks for responding.

sourcrates

bumpety_bump wrote: »

absolutely nothing comes up at all. no debts registered to me.
how do i find out what it is all about and get this nonsense sorted out?
when you say i should be much more wary, what do you mean?
what action does one need to undertake to deal with whatever it is.
the letter they sent was dated yesterday, i'm guessing that's done to stop one doing anything about it for a couple of days over the weekend.
thanks for responding.

This appears to be a bayliff firm, high court bayliffs, so they have more wide ranging powers than a debt collector, who has none.

They cannot force entry to your home, but can enter through an unlocked door, so you need to be careful if they decide to call on you, they must give you 7 days notice of attendance first though.

If it gives the name of the court, in the letter, that would be my next step first thing Monday morning, to find out what they can tell you about it.

bumpety_bump

thank you.
i will be on the phone first thing.
from doing a bit of research over the past few hours it seems i may have to apply to the county court to get this stopped for the intrim and then see about getting a new hearing.
i cannot fathom what on earth she has even claimed for, i left her with everything anyway, except my clothes which i don't think would have suited her any way.

sourcrates

bumpety_bump wrote: »

thank you.
i will be on the phone first thing.
from doing a bit of research over the past few hours it seems i may have to apply to the county court to get this stopped for the intrim and then see about getting a new hearing.
i cannot fathom what on earth she has even claimed for, i left her with everything anyway, except my clothes which i don't think would have suited her any way.

Sounds like you may have grounds for a set aside, but just bear in mind any recovery action will not be stayed until the court approves it, don’t let anyone in your house, keep doors locked.

If you have a car, keep it parked in a different street.

Basically if you don’t let them in, there hands are then tied.

bumpety_bump

ok, thank you for your advice on the matter.
sounds like some scary time ahead.
i shall be on to the court in liverpool on monday followed by a call to my local county court (i don't live anywhere near liverpool and nor did she, i don't think she does now either).
doors will be kept firmly shut.
do i contact the high court collection people too?
i know they're not working for me but i believe they have to act in accordance with the law.... whatever that means.

sourcrates

They won’t be bothered with the ins and outs of the case, all they will want is the money, I wouldn’t contact them for now.

bumpety_bump

ok, action plan in place, i shall endeavor to update this space as i find out more.
i still can't fathom out what i owe her the money for or why the judge would have given it in her favour.
thank you for your assistance, there is some kind of soothing in the process of sharing such humbug.

bumpety_bump

hello everyone,
as an update;
i went into my local county court and had a chat with the receptionist.
she checked on the computer and it is a real case. unfortunately the case was not dealt with there so i had to make a trip into swansea in order to find out what was going on.
whilst there i requested all documents relating to the case to which i was told there would be a charge of £10 for the first 10 pages then 50p for every page from therein.
so i said "fair enough please do print all you have".
apparently the case dates back to 2011. they couldn't give me any details as the file has been archived in another town and there is only a visit there once per week.
so meantime they advised that i do a form 244 to have it set aside.
apparently they would be putting it to the judge this afternoon to make a decision and to decide if they would be kind enough to move the case closer to where i live.
with regard to what the money is for, i still have no clue. the court couldn't tell me anything due to the file being so old.
what amazes me is that it can go on for so long and at no point has anyone shown any due diligence in getting me a copy of the paperwork, yet high court bailiff gets a call to extract some dollar from my pocket and they do so with considerable ease.
i did call the bailiff on suggestion of the court clerk as a courtesy to let them know i had applied for the 244 set aside.
they were a little abrupt and asked me if i want them to put a note on their file, i suggested that it would be acceptable to do so if that's their policy, however it was with respect that i was calling as a courtesy to keep them in the picture.
so, until i get some more information i still have no clue as to where, what or why.
people are strange... some never cease to amaze me in their expectation of getting a free meal ticket.
anyhoo, once i know more i shall update further.
thank you all for listening to my tale of woe, especially sourcrates, for your kindness and suggestions, love to you. xx

fatbelly

Don't think that calling the bailiffs will stop them from visiting. It may have the opposite effect. You should keep doors locked, car parked elsewhere and only talk to them through a window. If you can keep communication to two words so much the better.

It's a well known scam to take out a claim at an address where it is known you don't live. The law only requires action to be taken at the last known address.

Then, once a default judgement is obtained, escalate it to High Court and send the bailiffs to where they know you live.

To set aside you need

a defence with a real prospect of success
a reason why you did not defend the claim
to act promptly.

I think you'll be OK but there is a fee of £255 unfortunately on a N244 unless you are on benefits or a low income - in which case use an EX160. You can use this to reclaim fees as well as to avoid them.