Court date to set aside CCJ - please help !

Squirejim

[FONT=&quot]Hi All,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Am hoping someone can advise on what i need to do / prepare for at Court, which has been planned for next Friday 30th August.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I had a Credit Card debt of £4k along with other debts.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I was struggling to pay my debts and have support of a debt charity. I was not making regular payments to Credit Card, but was in process of agreeing an affordable amount with debt charity.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In March of this year, i was sacked from my job and was not able to pay anything towards the debt.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Linked to the whole shambles of my life earlier this year, I admitted myself to residential rehab.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My stay was from mid-May to beginning of July. During this time, i was not allowed phone, iPad, any communications whatsoever. As it was residential, ,l had no access to letters / post.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When i came out of rehab, i opened all my correspondence and saw a CCJ had been issued against me and an order placed on my house.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In the CCJ letter is stated i had a 1 month period from the date of the CCJ to settle the debt and if i did i wouldn’t have the CCJ on my record.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As i was in rehab, i was unaware of this time period.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Therefore, when i came out, i was fortunate to be able to settle the debt, which i did.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I applied to the Court to have the CCJ set aside, as i didn’t know about the 1 month period.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Court have now asked me to attend next week.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Please would someone advise what i need to prepare for at Court? Do i need to check the whole history of the debt , or is it a case of providing the info above i.e. i was in rehab, with no access to correspondence, therefore didn’t know about the 1 month time period to settle the debt? Or should i be taking different info.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Many thanks in advance for anyone that can offer some advice.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Cheers[/FONT]

18cc

I would not worry too much it will not be an intimidating or scary experience you will simply be asked to put your side of the story and from the facts about if you were in rehab when the letter was issued and you have since we paid the Debt I would imagine they would be very much inclined to set aside the CCJ

Squirejim

Thanks 18cc - really appreciate you taking the time to read and respond. Its certainly helping to put my mind at ease....

Boohoo

Squirejim wrote: »

Thanks 18cc - really appreciate you taking the time to read and respond. Its certainly helping to put my mind at ease....

Get your self over to https://legalbeagles.info/ PDQ and the very nice/clever people on that forum will give you lots of very good advice and help.


Good luck.

garth549

You should have no problem getting this set aside if you were unaware of and unable to receive correspondence from the court at this time. Take any proof you have with you.

Once set aside it can be removed from your credit report. You'll then need to enter a defence for the claim which will simply be "The amount claimed by the claimant has already been paid" (assuming it has in full) and the case will be closed.

chattychappy

First of all, don't be intimidated by going to court. Actually people in your situation usually have all the detail at their finger tips which judges like. Often the lender isn't familiar with the facts (they send a rep at the last minute) and that's what annoys judges. I've attended a few setaside hearings and it has always been good natured.

When you arrive, ask if the other side is represented. If they are, have a chat. Remind them that you've paid in full (bring the evidence). Ask them if, as a matter of goodwill, they'd support your application.

It is well worth putting in a witness statement if you haven't already. Send a copy to both the court and the claimant. The judge will ask you some questions - you don't have any need to prepare speeches.

That said, you should understand when setaside is available.

The rules are given in https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part13 though there's lots of material online.

The most common reason for applying (and seems to be the case here) is under 13.3 which is discretionary.It is where somebody got a judgment because they didn't know of the claim and had they known then they could have put a defence in which has a "real prospect of success". I emphasise this because it is important. I attended a hearing where both parties accepted the defendant knew nothing of the litigation. The claimant got the date wrong and didn't even show up at the hearing. But when asked by the judge what defence he had, he couldn't give a clear answer. Set aside was refused.

It's not really an argument for setaside that you got a judgment without knowing it - and because of this you didn't pay within the time allowed to prevent Registry Trust recording it.

A few issues: you say that after you came out of rehab, you saw you had a CCJ. But what about the claim form - was that served on you before you went into rehab? If so, it is certainly tricky.

At the time the claim form was issued, did you have any defence? If not, then you can't really ask for setaside on 13.3(1)(a). As I say, this is because even if you hadn't been in rehab, how would you have defended the action? A judgment would have followed anyway.

Unless I've missed something, then you have to argue 13.3(1)(b) "it appears to the court there some other reason why the judgment should be set aside or varied".

I think the argument I would run here is that because of your condition, you were unable to deal with the matter - as soon as you were, you paid the debt. You lost the chance to settle between claim and judgment. The upshot of the litigation is that you received a judgment which will interfere with your rehabilitation process which is in nobody's interest.

If there was anyway your lender could write to the court in support of your application - if they said something along the lines that they would not have embarked on the claim had they known of your condition - then a judge would find it much easier to setaside. As I say above, if possible make contact with the other party on the day of the hearing. Ask the ushers/reception staff if they have arrived and point them out to you if they have.

If you fail, don't forget to ensure the judgment is marked as "satisfied". You can apply to the court of a certificate of satisfaction (£15 I think). A CCJ "satisfied" is not as serious and an outstanding CCJ and all these things will fade with time.

Squirejim

Hi all, wanted to provide a closing narative to this. Particular thanks to "chatty chappy" as your post was spot on, as i wasnt explicitly clear in my first post.

I made a mistake when applying for the CCJ to be 'set aside' , as although i was coorrect i dint have the opportinity to settle with the 1 month time frame, i did ultimatey owe the money, so there really is no defence.
What i was tryin to achieve was to ensure no CCJ remains on my credit file for 6 years (for many job intervies they ask if you have a CCJ). The judge dismissed my setting aside claim (as i owe the money and have paid it since) but did suggest i write to the court and pay i think £15 for a confirmation of settlement ..? Is this correct, who would i send it to? credit agency, defendant?


Also, i logged onto noddle the credit scoring site (havent logged in for ages, head in sand approach etc), and it lists the debt as now closed, the amount, when it was paid., with status of 'satisfied', no mention of CCJ.



So one final question... if my credit report just says the debt is settled, then i assume there is no need to obtain a certificate from Court, as any credit search on me, does not reveal a CCJ....Unless noddle is unreliable or i am missing a particular part of the report.



As always, thanks for taking time to read through this, I look forward to reveing informed advice in due course, Cheers, SJ

[Deleted User]

The CCJ will still appear if you paid it past the 1 month timeframe.

It will just show as paid rather than unpaid.

It will still be there for 6 years.

Squirejim

also, just one other point, the claimant applied for an orderagainst my property, which i was shocked about, as my understanding with Credit Cards, is they are not secured against a property. However, clearly, if claimants dont get there money, irrespective that i was out of work and couldnt pay a contribution, they appplied and were granted an order against my property. so when i sell up, they would have been enitled to deduct and receive payment from proceeds of house sale!


Fortunately, i settled the debt, so the order against my property has been cancelled and the entry of Land registry removed.... but that was an eye opener for me!

Squirejim

!!! wrote: »

The CCJ will still appear if you paid it past the 1 month timeframe.

It will just show as paid rather than unpaid.

It will still be there for 6 years.

Hi Gary, but that was my point, i didnt receive the CCJ judgemnet for almost 6 weeks as was in rehab with no access to any comms / post. once i came out, i saw the CCJ and made imediate paymnet. i understand if paid within a month then it wont show on record, my argument was that i had no knowldge of it for 6 weeks, so asked for thsi to be taken into consideration. Plus noddle does not seem to state anywhere there is a CCJ, it just lists defaults / mised payments and now is a Closed Acount, marked as satisfied...


appreciate the defaults will stay on file for 6 years but so conscious that i dont want a CCJ on there, as these have to be declared at most job applications, potentially hindering me if i go into finance work...

Squirejim

oh man... i have gone through noddle more closely and there IS a judgement on there, listed as ACTIVE, even though under finacial information, the debt is closed and setled. As i can argue i couldnt pay the debt in the 1 month period, and have evidence to support it, do i need to write to credit ref agencies with the certificate of settlement / satisfaction, and an explanation of why i couldnt pay within the mont, to ask then to remove the CCJ... or is this likley to fall on deaf ears... it doesnt sound like a magistrate decision, so maybe its for me to write to claimant and ask them to assist ? any chance in a million??


sorry for all the questions, but this doesnt seem entirley fair, if they offer me 1 month to pay debt but i was unaware for 6 weeks, then when i was aware i was able to settle within days .... frustrating.



Thanks all for any advise you can share with me