getting a CCJ removed

sinbinjack

Hi all this is a bit long but I do need help  so bear with me. On 12 March 2019 I was taken to court over a parking ticket, I lost the case because I was not there so was found in my absence , the problem with that was I had never been informed and was in Canada on the 12th coming home on the 13th and getting the judgement through my letterbox on the Monday or Tuesday 15ot 16th march . I immediately called the court and asked what was happening as they had not informed me of the case they claimed they had . I asked what I could do to get my day in court and was told that I could appeal for a price £200+ so being the idiot that I am and wanting still to have my day in court I paid the fee for the appeal all of this was in less than 1 week from the case being heard in my absence. I waited for months and called them only to be told that it was with the Judge and a date would be forthcoming.

I got a Bailiffs letter from the lawyers telling me they were sending bailiffs to seize property . I again called the court and they said that as there was a 5 week backlog in the bailiffs work that it was moot because the appeal was to be heard before the bailiffs could get to me. I asked what she meant by that and she told me I had a court date something I had again not been informed of. I called the lawyers just to let them know what was occurring and turned up at the court on the day at the allotted time only to find that the lawyers(BW Legal) had phoned the day previously and cancelled the case because they too had received no written warning of the case. The case was held over for another 3 or 4 weeks . I eventually got to see a judge and was disappointed in him because I had appealed on the grounds of not having been granted an opportunity to have my say in court and he said that even had I been in the court that on the evidence he would have still found against me. Fair enough but he then allowed the lawyers to further charge me more expenses. I found that to be unfair but there seems little I can do .

I found out that the lawyers put a ccj against me within a month of the first date even though the thing was under appeal and even though I paid the full monies charged against me within 3 days , on reception of the bill by post and paid over the phone I still have a CCJ against my name. I tried contacting the court by email and waited about 3 months without reply. I went to the court in person to find out what was going on , long before the covid 19 problems, and was told to email them for an appointment, I demurred and said I would wit till someone would in person make me an appointment because it was about emails and phone calls that I was needing to see someone about. I should say that in my contacts by phone on a national number I was often in the 40s or 50s in line to be spoken too and on most occasions I would be cut off whilst waiting and have to start again, the emails were as I said unanswered after 3 months and on the occasion that I would not leave until an appointment was made for me , even after being threatened with police action ,something I had no problem with as the news value of policemen dragging me and my mobility scooter would have worked in my favour.

I was told to come the next day. I arrived and was met by the new  head of the department, the last one having retired due to the strain of working there and having to face people like myself on a daily basis that she knew she had failed , she told me this herself on the day of my court case , The new lady said that to get he CCJ removed I needed proof this had been paid so I gave her the letter of payment received from the lawyers and she said it was easy and that I would generally have to pay a £15 fee but as they had messed me around so badly she would get me a photo copy and that would be that. after another 3 months and another email from me i get.

Dear Mr,

 

The Judge is stating that a formal application to have the judgment set aside must be made, which to date has not been completed.  When you attended at the court you asked for the letter you’d received to be referred to a District Judge & asked if the judgment could be set aside, this is not a formal application & the Judge has responded accordingly.

 

Please be aware Court staff are not legally trained to advise you. Please seek independent advice from a solicitor, who may charge a fee, or contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau whose services are available free of charge.

 

Kind regards

after a few days and another email from me I get.

I’m afraid an email does not constitute a formal application & the correct form must be used.  All of the relevant application forms can be found on the Ministry of Justice website www.justice.gov.uk.  As per the below & the previous email, court staff are not legally trained & therefore cannot advise you in the completion or submission of applications.  Any action taken by the court staff has been done at the direction of a Judge.   When you attended at your appointment at Chelmsford no direction had been given by a Judge that a formal application had to be made & you cannot be advised to do so by court staff without the direction of a Judge.  The letter you provided was considered by the Judge following the usual process & an email duly sent to you with the Judge’s response advising you to make a formal application.   Any formal application submitted to the court office must be made using the appropriate form, accompanied by a statement (signed & dated) detailing the grounds for the application & providing any evidence in support of it & with payment for the requisite fee.  To date this has not been received, until this has been submitted & the requisite fee paid the Judge cannot consider the removal of the CCJ from your record.   For anything further it is strongly suggested you seek independent legal advice as per the below statement.   I am sorry if you wish to make a complaint, the information you require to do so can also be found on the Ministry of Justice website.   Court Staff are NOT legally trained   Please be aware that we are unable to reply to your email as we are not legally trained.

So far no great help fro he courts and the page in the last email telling me where to go to get the form does not have ,or at least I cant find any forms covering ccjs

So my question is can anyone suggest where I go from here and what should I do about terrible service from the courts.

macman

You need to submit an N244 form to apply for a CCJ set aside. The fee is £255. Google is your friend...
BTW, the fact that you were abroad when papers were served and not back in time for the hearing is not a valid reason to obtain a set-aside, so don't waste your money on that route.
Or are you referring to a second CCJ for non-payment of your legal fees? Frankly I can't make sense of your story.

LordSomebody

Unless you can show you shouldn’t have received the fine, I agree it’s a waste of time and money to try to set it aside.

D3xt3r5L4b

Way too long to read.
Short summary?

sourcrates

Moved to parking fines forum.

Umkomaas

This appears to have become a somewhat complicated legal matter, well beyond a private parking forum. Legal advice is needed. Suggest the OP tries the LegalBeagles forum where there are a number of legally qualified experts contributing. 

@OP - please try to compress all the detail. You're on fast-moving forums, so accurate brevity will likely produce more response. 

Redx

As above , need a short concise summary to find the bones and ignore the flesh

If you haven't done so , you have 2 payment options , contested at £255 and consented at around £100

See the second post of the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum

Also read all the dozens of other set aside cases on this parking forum too , you are not the first to have this problem

Especially read the posts by Henrik

Coupon-mad

I found out that the lawyers put a ccj against me within a month of the first date even though the thing was under appeal and even though I paid the full monies charged against me within 3 days , on reception of the bill by post and paid over the phone I still have a CCJ against my name.

Of course you do.  Paying it off doesn't wipe a CCJ unless that payment was made within 30 days of judgment.

The NEWBIES thread tell you all about set asides, with example threads to read.

MinuteNoodles

sinbinjack said:

The case was held over for another 3 or 4 weeks . I eventually got to see a judge and was disappointed in him because I had appealed on the grounds of not having been granted an opportunity to have my say in court and he said that even had I been in the court that on the evidence he would have still found against me. Fair enough but he then allowed the lawyers to further charge me more expenses. I found that to be unfair but there seems little I can do .

So my question is can anyone suggest where I go from here and what should I do about terrible service from the courts.

You can do nothing. You lost the case because you didn't have a defence, being abroad isn't a defence. Both the car park company, any debt chasers and the courts are only required to send any correspondence to the last known address on file so if you don't tell them of a change of address they're doing nothing wrong serving notices and a CCJ to the address they have. Under UK law a creditor isn't required to go chasing people around the country, let alone another continent to pursue a debtor in order to serve legal papers - the onus is entirely on the debtor to ensure they provide an address where they can be reached. You've not received terrible service from the courts, you just got a result you didn't want. Paying the fees of the winning side is always the risk you take when you challenge something.

Coupon-mad

Both the car park company, any debt chasers and the courts are only required to send any correspondence to the last known address on file so if you don't tell them of a change of address they're doing nothing wrong serving notices and a CCJ to the address they have.

They are not allowed to assume an old address is current.

Under UK law a creditor isn't required to go chasing people around the country,

Actually they have to take 'reasonable steps' and can't just use an old address.  This has been covered on lots of threads but I am not quite sure what this OP means when he says he 'appealed'.  He doesn't appear to have applied for a set aside.