Advice on just discovered CCJ from old address? Did not change V5.

YellowBananas

Apologies for another post on this but I can’t find a thread about what to do as soon as you notice a CCJ and I’m in a massive panic.

Story so far: I’m a homeowner and my fiance and I are planning for much needed home improvements but when I started to do soft searches for loans, I noticed nothing was available. So I signed up for credit score last night and it’s become clear there is a CCJ in my name related to my previous address from July 2018 for about £350.

At this stage, I have no idea what it’s for but after panicking / reading lots on here and finally at 4.30 am, realising I didn’t change my V5 log book address when I moved in October 2017, I’m guessing it’s some kind of parking fine.

I’m so furious with myself - I changed all the address for me and my partner straight away, even the DVLA, but now I’ve put our entire future in jeopardy because I forgot to do this one thing. I haven’t slept since finding out. I’ve had an excellent credit rating my whole life, and am so upset by this.

Anyway, clearly I need to ring the court on Monday to find out exactly what it’s related to. My question for you all, if you have time to respond, is whether I should then ring the organisation who the charges come from to ask for further information?

And also, is there any point in attempting to get it set aside given I didn’t change my address on my V5? I didn’t know anything about any penalty charges, and have never received any information on the charge or the court hearing at any address. I’m on the electoral roll for my new address, the DVLA have it for tax / driving licence information and I have utility bills/ banks etc all moved to my new address within a day or two of my move last year so I guess I might be able to argue that I didn’t have chance to defend myself on these grounds. But the charge might well be mine, so then I’d have no grounds to defend it anyway?

Thanks for any advice.

Umkomaas

Given that the CCJ is from July, whatever you do, you do not panic and rush to pay it off. That action, at this stage, will not improve your credit rating!

Contact the CCBC and find out what it relates to, who the claimant is and on what address the claim served, then you'll have the information in front of you to move forward on this.

You can apply for a contested set aside on the basis that the claim was not served on you, being sent to a wrong address (if the CCBC confirm this) - that will cost £255. A set aside is normally granted in these circumstances after a session with the Judge. He/she will likely ask that the claim is reissued and you then will need to defend it. If you then win, the claim is cancelled. Whether you get your £255 set aside fee back from the claimant will be down to the subsequent Judge. If the error in serving was down to the fact that the V5C was not updated, the Judge may decide that the claimant did nothing wrong and they are not liable for the return of your £255.

If you subsequently lose the claim against you, it will cost you £350 + £255 ... and the Judge may also award the claimant some extra costs too.

It may be 4-5 months before you get to the end of all this.

The other set aside is a set aside 'with consent', where you come to an agreement with the claimant that if you pay them the full amount of the claim they will inform the court that you have settled the claim. This will require you to pay a court fee of £100. This is more risky as many Judges see it simply as a credit repair exercise and refuse the set aside i.e., you've simply paid what you owe, but very late because of your error in not updating your V5C. You're then still 'credit trashed'!

If this is a private parking charge, the super-inflated amount of £350 looks like it's a Civil Enforcement Ltd case. If so, don't go for the £100 'with consent' option, as in most cases if you get a £255 contested set aside, they don't follow up with a further claim against you.

Whatever, getting the full picture from the CCBC is key, then you must act on it quickly. Judges won't deal with a set aside application if there is any delay in applying once you are aware of the CCJ.

The NEWBIES FAQ sticky, post #2 deals with the entire court process, including set aside advice.

But to note, we are a private parking forum, dealing with fighting parking charges. We are not a forum for general legal issues.

HTH

YellowBananas

Thank you, that’s really clear. Could I just confirm whether - if I go for a contested set aside - I need to let the claimant know?

Quentin

The claimant gets informed by the court

The_Deep

When contesting, if this is a single claim, mention to the court that the claim is far too much. Enen in those cases where the claimant wins, the award rarely exceeds £200.

Was a solicitor involve? If so they know this and are trying toderaud you, complain here:

http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

Also read this

http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page


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YellowBananas

Okay thanks everyone - no doubt I’ll be back after I’ve spoken to the court on Monday

YellowBananas

Good morning,

So I spoke to CCBC this morning and they have informed me it is a parking fine from CEL, for the day before I moved house. It’s from a place where lots of people get fined, outside a bank but I can’t recall going there the day before I moved.

I’ve paid the set aside fee and got the paperwork through so I’ll read everyone else’s wording for the witness statement. Would it be okay to post it on here before I send it off?

Castle

YellowBananas wrote: »

I’ve paid the set aside fee and got the paperwork through so I’ll read everyone else’s wording for the witness statement. Would it be okay to post it on here before I send it off?

Yes and you'll also need to prepare a draft order in order to get your £255 back, as CEL will normally discontinue if your set aside is granted.

You should also send CEL a SAR today to get copies of all the correspondence/photos/notes on you and your vehicle.

YellowBananas

Okay thank you! Can I just email them to request the information?

Umkomaas

YellowBananas wrote: »

Okay thank you! Can I just email them to request the information?

This thread might help you formulate your thinking. My understanding is a SAR can be by letter, email or even telephone call - but a written version leaves fewer things to chance.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5849784/june-2018-start-of-the-new-ppc-and-dvla-fightback-gdpr-related

twhitehousescat

YellowBananas wrote: »

Good morning,

So I spoke to CCBC this morning and they have informed me it is a parking fine from CEL, for the day before I moved house. It’s from a place where lots of people get fined, outside a bank but I can’t recall going there the day before I moved.

I’ve paid the set aside fee and got the paperwork through so I’ll read everyone else’s wording for the witness statement. Would it be okay to post it on here before I send it off?

ironically as this was a day before you moved , CEL would have been given your address at the date of the incident , even if you had updated your V5 (takes about 3 weeks) they would have wrote to your old house


your failure here was that you did not organise mail forwarding or ask new occupier to forward mail on