CCJ Advice

holliede

Sorry for the massive post but I’m really stumped on how this CCJ has managed to appear on my partner’s credit report without him knowing he even owed anything.

Me and my partner are currently trying to get our first mortgage, we checked our credit reports recently and found that he had a CCJ from 2017 that he knew nothing about.

Basically his ex took out a next store card in his name in 2010 and didn’t pay anything. In 2016 he received a letter from next saying you owe us £180, which we will pass on to a debt collection agency if you don’t pay immediately. I was in the room with him when he called them up and paid over the phone and they closed the account there and then. That was the last we ever heard.

Fast forward to November 2018, we checked our credit reports and the £180 owed to next is on there as a defaulted account, outstanding balance £0. It had been passed on to a debt collection agency called lowell, built up a tonne of interest and shows as another defaulted account, outstanding balance £1083, that stopped being updated May 2017. Then from May 2017 another debt collection agency shows on there as a CCJ outstanding £275.

We’ve been to the bank and the original payment to next was never taken out of his bank account.

We’ve also spoke to next and they said all the information they have is that the account is closed and the balance is £0.

Where do we stand with appealing the ccj? He has never had any correspondence from any of these companies other than the original letter from next, nor has he had anything from the county court regarding a CCJ. He has moved house but his mother continued to live at this address until very recently and always passed on any mail. We’ve tried calling and emailing the court multiple times but all they do is take a case number and never get back to us.

Any advice or suggestions are very much appreciated
Thanks in advance

Gaz83

You say he phoned up and paid over the phone and received confirmation the account was closed.

Was this received in writing?

Didn't he notice at the time the payment not coming out of his account?

[Deleted User]

A CCJ wouldn’t drop from £1083 to £275 with no payments made to it - something doesn’t add up there (excuse the pun).

holliede

No he never received anything. He never had any balance statements or anything.

I’m assuming the payment went into his pending transactions and for whatever reason the payment didn’t go through, we checked with the bank there was definitely enough money in his account at the time. He didn’t use online banking at the time so never saw that it hadn’t left his account

[Deleted User]

Then unfortunately as far as everyone is concerned it’s not been paid

holliede

I appreciate that, we have no problems with paying what we actually owe

My problem is how it has been able to turn into a ccj without us knowing we even had a debt. We’ve never even heard of these two debt collection agencies that it got passed onto, let alone had a letter or phone call from them saying we owe anything? Also, I was under the impression that you should recieve some sort of form from the court that you have to send back before the ccj can be passed?

[Deleted User]

So if you don’t sent the form back then the CCJ won’t get passed?

It doesn’t work like that unfortunately otherwise everyone can play ignorant and say they never received the form.

The forms will be sent to the address last known to Next.

GM1880

The key thing perhaps is not so much trying to prove the payment was attempted to be made (I cannot see that helping). But most likely solution is related to your address. Is the address you were at when you last acknowledged the debt the same as your address in 2017?

fatbelly

You will need to get the ccj set aside, then take it from there

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/howtosetasideacountycourtjudgment/settingasideaccj.aspx

Just_Di

fatbelly wrote: »

You will need to get the ccj set aside

I agree

The OP's partner should also send a Subject Access Request to Next to get the history of the account. The Transaction Log may/may not show the telephone payment.

Di

Just_Di

holliede wrote: »

checked our credit reports recently and found that he had a CCJ from 2017 that he knew nothing about.

Basically his ex took out a next store card in his name in 2010 and didn’t pay anything. In 2016 he received a letter from next saying you owe us £180, which we will pass on to a debt collection agency if you don’t pay immediately. I was in the room with him when he called them up and paid over the phone and they closed the account there and then. That was the last we ever heard.

. . . . November 2018, we checked our credit reports . . . . called lowell, built up a tonne of interest and shows as another defaulted account, outstanding balance £1083, that stopped being updated May 2017. Then from May 2017 another debt collection agency shows on there as a CCJ outstanding £275.

If you're successful in getting the Default Judgment (CCJ) set aside you will be given the opportunity to defend the claim. At the set aside Hearing the court will need to be persuaded that you have likely prospects of Defending the claim so your partner needs to consider that too.

From what you say the Defence would be that the debt was paid before being assigned to Lowell. You need that evidence.

Another thing to consider (for a potential Defence) is whether the debt was Statute Barred before they issued the claim if no payments were made from when your partner opened the account in 2010 until he either paid it (if recorded) in 2016 or when the claim was issued in 2017. Check the exact dates by sending a SAR to Next.

If there was a six year period of no payment, no contact or acknowledgment, and no Default (Lowells always argue that the Default is the Cause of Action) then it may have been SB before the claim was issued.

If you/your partner can see his details for the old address then that suggests the addresses are Linked on his CRA file which could mean that Lowell would have known that if they checked before issuing.

If he believed he'd paid the debt in full in 2016 he would argue that he had no need to give the original creditor any Change of Address because he believed the account was closed.

It's difficult to comment without knowing the full facts.

Di