HELP! Received Judgment for claimant (in default)

DrBkr

Good evening folks

I received a Judgment for claimant in default today for the amount of +£1,500. I am uploading the document incase it is a scam (obviously hiding sensitive info)

Sometime in the summer of 2019 as I was on the way to Hospital for work, there was a very very minor accident. My car and the other persons car side skirted each other on the road. Anyway we both stopped and they argued that it was my fault. They said they will repair it and get in touch with me to repay the costs (outside insurance). I informed my insurance company ahead following this accident. 

Move forward a month or so they contact me and tell me it'll cost upwards of £1300 to fix their car, which is unbelievable as there was very minor marks on their car. You would not even suspect my car was in any accident if you had seen it. There is no way it would cost this much to repair their car. 

After a few months letters through the post started appearing, and soon enough they had some kind of lawyer acting on their behalf sending intimidating and threatening letters that I had to pay their client etc or they would take me to court. I ignored all these letters. This is clearly an insurance issue and if they wanted to get their car fixed they should take contact with my insurance company. 

Fast forward to today, and I get a Judgment for Claimant (in default) dated 30th April, asking me to pay in excess of £1,500, and that if I don't pay my "good" or belongings will be removed and sold and that my credit will be affected.

A few small but important points in my opinion:
1) all correspondence that was sent to my post was sent to an old address off mine which I no longer live at and haven't for a while. The only reason I am receiving them is because I have set up a redirection.
2) There is a small mistake in the name of the letter I got.
3) I understand that you are supposed to get a "package" or a form to fill in before it gets to the county court. I have not received anything.

Honestly work with Covid-19 is already hectic and stressful as it is. I don't need this hanging over my head. I don't know if this is another intimidation tactic to get money out of me. I am just extremely frustrated that they are asking for extortionate amounts for something that shouldn't have costed more than a couple of hundred.

I am at a loss of what to do and would appreciate your advice.

sourcrates

Hi,

You must meet two criteria in order to obtain a successful set aside, which on paper you may just do.

(1) you did not receive the court papers as they were sent to an old address, along with the letter before claim as well i expect.

(2) you have a defence with a resonable chance of success, you dispute the amount claimed, so you tick both boxes.

Now the down side, a setaside application costs £255, although remision is available if your on a low income.

Thats your only option to challange this, on the other hand, or, if you decide to pay the judgement, you can apply to the court  for an instalment order to pay monthly, instead of forthwith.

N-244 set aside application form available here ;

https://www.moneyclaimsuk.co.uk/PDFForms/N244.pdf

EX-160 help with fee`s available here ;

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-help-with-court-and-tribunal-fees

N-245 application for an installment order ;

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n245-application-for-suspension-of-a-warrant-and-or-variation-of-an-order

What is a set aside ? information here ;

https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj/set-aside-ccj.aspx

Galloglass

Why didn't your insurance company deal with this? If they did, what did the lawyer's letters say was "extra"

ryanm8655

Did you pass on your insurance details?

I agree they’re taking the pee but the judgement seems legit. A lot of dodgy lawyers out there supporting fraudulent claims.

I’d follow the advice from sourcrates.

DrBkr

ryanm8655 said:

Did you pass on your insurance details?

I agree they’re taking the pee but the judgement seems legit. A lot of dodgy lawyers out there supporting fraudulent claims.

I’d follow the advice from sourcrates.

I gave them all details. It seems like they are taking the !!!!!! and just trying to make extra money.

According to my insurance company nobody got in touch with them after the accident to make a claim from their side.

ryanm8655

Surely this ought to be a police matter? If you’ve given details and they’ve not gone through insurance and attempted to commit fraud.

Seems crazy you should have to pay £255 to throw out a claim that is bogus because you didn’t receive any correspondence. But presumably they won’t be able to pursue the car insurance claim so could be quids in overall.

Galloglass

There is a bit of a mystery about why there was no contact. 

Anyone can contact the DVLA to get the Keeper's details so the solicitor or the other driver may have got your old address. You can send a Subject Access Request to the DVLA to find out who enquired and when. If they did trace you through the DVLA and the old address came up, then there is the question of timing. Was there a gap between you moving and informing the DVLA of your new address or did you never tell the DVLA. 

There is a concern you could fork out the £255 and the judge may decide that if you had an accident (which you admit) and you didn't inform the DVLA of a change of address, you could be £255 down as well as the amount for the CCJ.

Just check all the details (quickly) before you go for the Set Aside

TonyMMM

They were under no obligation to contact YOUR insurance. Their claim was against you - it was then for you to decide to pass that to your insurer to deal with, but you appear to have chosen to do nothing.

I would take immediate steps to get the judgement set aside as advised above, and then ask your insurance company to handle the claim for you.

DrBkr

TonyMMM said:

They were under no obligation to contact YOUR insurance. Their claim was against you - it was then for you to decide to pass that to your insurer to deal with, but you appear to have chosen to do nothing.

I would take immediate steps to get the judgement set aside as advised above, and then ask your insurance company to handle the claim for you.

As previously stated, I made my insurance company aware of this accident and for them to deal with it then and there. The other party decided not to go through the insurance route and go their own route by contacting a lawyer and sending intimidating and threatening letters in the hope that I pay personally out of my own pocket. This was an insurance thing from the first minute. I don't know why I was served this letter to begin with.

DrBkr

Galloglass said:

There is a bit of a mystery about why there was no contact. 

Anyone can contact the DVLA to get the Keeper's details so the solicitor or the other driver may have got your old address. You can send a Subject Access Request to the DVLA to find out who enquired and when. If they did trace you through the DVLA and the old address came up, then there is the question of timing. Was there a gap between you moving and informing the DVLA of your new address or did you never tell the DVLA. 

There is a concern you could fork out the £255 and the judge may decide that if you had an accident (which you admit) and you didn't inform the DVLA of a change of address, you could be £255 down as well as the amount for the CCJ.

Just check all the details (quickly) before you go for the Set Aside

There was contact in the form of constant threatening and intimidating legal letters for many months after this. As I had already informed my insurance company and for them to deal with this on my behalf I ignored these. Now many months after that I am suddenly being given a CCJ letter.

We exchanged details at the scene. The insurance companies should have sorted this out between themselves. Clearly the other party didn't want to sort this way out that and went and fixed their car privately and wanted me to pay for it.

Galloglass

Why are you here then. If it is as cut and dried as you say, then you'll be able to get the judgment set aside. 
When you do, remember to ask for costs to be reserved so that at the rehearing, you can get the other side to cough up the £255. Costs including the set aside fee are awarded against the losing party.

Let us know how you get on.