Didn’t receive a claim form and now have ccj

glenandemm

Hi I have gotten back from holiday and found I have a ccj if I don’t pay my outstanding within 30 days however I can’t pay the full amount but happy to go into an arrangement.
Now I never recieved from what I’ve read is a claim form in the post, can I appeal to have the ccj set aside as I never recieved any such forms in the post?

sourcrates

Hi,

Yes you can apply to get the judgment set aside, but, do you admit or deny the claim ?

A successful set aside usually requires you to have a defence with a reasonable chance of success.
To get a judgment set aside, fill in the application notice (N244) and send it to the court. You may have to pay a court fee of £255. You'll have to go to a private hearing at the court to explain why you do not owe the money.

Not receiving the claim form, is also a reason to grant a set aside, but normally you will also need a defence.

You can just apply to the court for an instalment order.

glenandemm

Thank you very much for your reply, I accept I owe the money and would have happily gone into an agreement.
I’m thinking of phoning the claimant company tomorrow and explaining I didn’t recieve the claim form along with being away for nearly a month now so only have until the 12th May to pay in full which I can’t but I’m happy to go into a deal and pay a high amount each week to get it paid as soon as poss and wondering if I can ask them to agree to set aside with consent from themselves?
Would that work to get the ccj removed if they agree?

WhenIam64

I didn’t receive the claim form along

Civil courts work on balance of probabilities (51%). Royal Mail have a confirmed 90%+ success rate in getting mail to people. So courts don't accept the "didn't receive the claim" argument on the balance of probabilities.

To convince the court you genuinely didn't receive the claim and so were unable to defend (though you say you can't defend) there has to be a confirmed pattern of lost mail where you have reported it in the past.

Would not waste any money on a set-aside. At the same time, offering to pay in installments is possible through a redetermination (https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/varyingpaymentsonaccj/instalmentsonaccj.aspx_) but the CCJ will be visible on your credit record.

The only way for a CCJ not to appear is to pay within the month.

wondering if I can ask them to agree to set aside with consent from themselves?

A "with consent" set-aside is possible at £100 instead of £255 but some courts are loathed to grant it, if all you are doing is "washing" your credit record having wasted everyone's time up until now. A claim form is only the last bit of paper in a long, long chain of letters.

So you can pay or take your chances with a set-aside.

glenandemm

Thanks for the reply, I’m not sure I could prove mail has gotten lost as we don’t tend to get much or much that matters anyway!
All I know is I never recieved any sort of claim form to fill in, you’d think something as important as that would be sent signed for at least so they have proof you recieved it and I definitely haven’t signed for anything, I’m going to call the claimant company today and see what we can sort.

Exodi

glenandemm wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, I’m not sure I could prove mail has gotten lost as we don’t tend to get much or much that matters anyway!
All I know is I never recieved any sort of claim form to fill in, you’d think something as important as that would be sent signed for at least so they have proof you recieved it and I definitely haven’t signed for anything, I’m going to call the claimant company today and see what we can sort.

I'd wager very little. You mention in your OP that you'd be "happy to go into an arrangement", has this always been your stance? Or just since you received a CCJ?

As WhenIam64 mentioned, the courts work on the balance of probabilities and this is for good reason. The problem with 'signed for' delivery that you suggest, is that people can refuse to sign for it - ergo you can argue you never received the papers indefinitely. Proof of Postage/POD? Nope didn't see the letter. Someone has recorded the postman dropping the letter through my front door? Could have been any letter and the postman could have used a fishing rod after the video ended to pull it back out again.

I'm not sure why the creditor would help you remove the CCJ when it would appear to be the only thing that has made you receptive to paying them back?

WhenIam64

I'm not sure why the creditor would help you remove the CCJ when it would appear to be the only thing that has made you receptive to paying them back?

Even if the creditor did agree. a judge might not. A judge has to follow court rules and there are two tests for a set-aside. You fail them both.

You could pay to sit in front of one, be refused, be £100 down but wiser about court processes/CCJs.

User_101122

I don't get it you didn't receive the claim form yet you've received the judgement!

Sorry this isn't going to wash with a District Judge.

Even if you can convince a Judge you didn't receive the claim form, you still don't have a reasonable prospect of defending the claim. I'd advise you not to waste your money on setting the judgment aside.

Your opportunity to enter into an amicable arrangement with your creditor has long since passed.

If you pay the judgment in full before within 28 days it won't be recorded on your credit file?

I'm also curious as to how you managed to afford a holiday when you knew you had this debt outstanding?

Sorry to say, but you come across as somebody who's burried their head in the sand. If you didn't want a CCJ you should have sorted this out long before it got to this stage.

glenandemm

Hi guys totally forgot about this post!!
Yes I buried my head in the sand ignoring the letters from various companies passing the debt onto, I know I should have gone into an arrangement but I just kept putting them off, the holiday was paid for by my parents although we did save a few pounds for spending money, sometimes you just have to say screw it we hadn’t had a holiday in 9 years.
I totally deserve this for not replying but I know for sure we did not receive that letter before hand which is a shame as I probably would have pulled my finger out and set up an arrangement which I have done since.
I’m stuck for 6 years with a ccj now but I’m not overly fussed as I have a few other credit card debts that are in an arrangement but they won’t clear in a hurry so hoping by the 6 years is up I’ll be debt free and able to start building my credit file back up again.

Willing2Learn

glenandemm wrote: »

… I have a few other credit card debts that are in an arrangement but they won’t clear in a hurry so hoping by the 6 years is up I’ll be debt free and able to start building my credit file back up again.

What do you mean when you say you have a few cards 'in an arrangement'? Do you mean that your credit files are marked with the dreaded 'AP' or 'AR' marker? Or have the accounts been defaulted (this is by far the better option)?

glenandemm

Hi they was showing defaulted as I stopped paying them back in 2012-13.
They have moved recently to closed accounts but still showing in my credit file with the outstanding debt.
I don’t see anything on my credit file that says ar or ap that I can see.
My mortgage, car loan and a small credit card is up to date and never miss a payment but I’ve never paid 3-4 credit cards or went into an arrangement embarrassingly.
Will they always stay in my closed accounts until I’ve cleared the outstanding amounts?