CCJ on credit rating due to unknown fradulent use, probably by later tenant.

HotJon

My wife was checking her credit rating recently and noticed a CCJ. We have applied for a copy of the judgement, and this relates to a claim made against her by Debt Manager (Services) Limited in June 2018 and appears to relate to a Next Directory Debt accrued in 2016.
The problem is that the debt was accrued by someone with her maiden name in our old home, a rented property,  2 years after we moved out and 5 years after we were married. In other words it appears a later tenant has pulled a fast one and the debt is demonstrably not my wife's. Speaking to Next, the order related to teenage boys joggers and similar that were sent to the address that we used to live in.
I have spoken to Debt Managers (Services) Ltd who have no record of the claim based on the postcode (or any postcode we've had for the last 12 years), and as the judgement doesn't include their internal reference number they are unable to provide any information (they can search on postcode or reference number apparently). I'm submitting a Subject Access Request in the hope that they may dig a bit deeper. They have also advised I speak to Restons Solicitor's Limited who they think may have more information.
So a few things:

• We want to get this CCJ removed as we were planning on remortgaging imminently.
• We don't really want to accrue costs of a few hundred pounds in doing so, and really don't see why we should (nor can we afford it). Plus the CCJ is only for £251 which seems to be less than the court fee to have it examined.
• Does it seem a bit iffy that the claimant, a debt collection agency, has no record of the case?

I can find variations of people having CCJs due to family members applying for credit cards etc, but can't find an example where a stranger has done this so not really sure what to expect. Should we expect to be out of pocket, or should Next / Debt Manager (Services) Ltd / Reston's be expected to cover costs on this? 
Thanks for any thoughts!

sambaird

Firstly, you need to be prepared for a long slog. Pragmatically speaking, the CCJ isn’t going to disappear from your wife’s credit record in a short period of time.

You should submit a formal written complain outlining what you’ve written above, including any evidence that supports your claim that the debt isn’t yours - and let them investigate.
It goes without saying, but don’t be rude to anyone that you speak to... it might be frustrating, but you catch more flies with honey.

I would advise that the best thing to do is to get the company that has issued the CCJ ‘on-side’... once you have convinced them that this is not your debt they will work with you to get the CCJ removed. What I think you should be aiming for is for the company to submit to the court a ‘set aside by consent’. It costs less, and may be paid for by the company if they own the mistake - though don’t count on it.

You’ve taken a good first step with the DSar... I would also maybe advise you submit one for all of the companies involved - you never know what might turn up.
Let us know how you get on.

HotJon

Many thanks for the reply. Here's what we know so far. The debt is from next directory and was accrued in June 2016 by an account with an email address neither of us recognise. We do not know the delivery address as the debt collection agency do not have it on file. They do have four addresses on file though, two of our previous addresses and two unknown addresses. The debt collection agency got the addresses from a trace, so my original assumption that it was a shady tenant is probably / possibly  ill-founded. Now I guess someone with my wife's maiden name  ordered from from next directory (it's a very common name - not John Smith but close -  and entirely possible there may be others with the same birthday). The debt has been sold, a trace run and court proceedings started in error against the wrong person with papers served to an aged address. The case has been put on hold for a month whilst the debt collector tries to get more information from Next (Next wouldn't talk to us as they sold the debt and it's no longer their problem). 
It would seem reasonable to me that starting a court case against someone without positively establishing their identity should in itself be grounds for litigation for recovery of costs etc. but I'm not a lawyer. Everyone's being helpful at the moment, but we really don't want to get stuck with the costs for someone else's mistake and I'm wondering if the tone may change when we ask the debt collector to settle the costs. We shall see...