CCJ Set Aside Order - Help with Defence Needed

Friends_in_the_North

I discovered a default judgement on my credit report in January 2020 for £471 (CCJ dated 04.06.2018 from Motormile Finance/Moriaty Law), this judgement was linked to an unknown and unassociated address. The debt was a Payday loan from 2012 and the Co were advised of my current address at that time (same address at time of default judgement).

I made an N244 application for this judgement to be set aside which included a witness statement, draft defence and supporting documents/exhibits. The set aside hearing was set for the 22.05.20, the case was to be heard on papers alone and no parties were to attend due to Covid-19 restrictions. Since submitting the N244 document and receiving the court hearing date I received no further paperwork, despite the Court stating that the Claimant sent in a supporting statement on the 14.05.20

On the 5.06.20 I received N24 General form of Judgement or Order which stated the following..

Upon considering the defendenat's application dated 28.02.20 with supporting statement and claimant's letter/email dated 14.05.20. The court being satisfied thaty the claim form was not properly served.
IT IS ORDERED THAT
1. The judgement against ************** dated 04 June 2018 be and is hereby set aside
2. The defendant must file and serve a fully pleaded defence by 4pm on the 19 June 2020
3. No order for costs

This is the only information I have received and the Court, when I called, would give me no further information that what is written above and because there was no hearing, not even by telephone, I can get no further clarity on what on earth I need to do now.
I have never denied I owe the money, but I am completely stumped with what more I can add to my defence. Ideally I would like like to make an agreement to repay the debt but I am unsure if the order to set aside is dependent on my submitting a Defence?
I would be extremely grateful for any advice available as time is running out and despite spending hrs on the internet trying to research this, I don't know what to do and cannot afford legal advice.

Many thanks

sourcrates

Hi,

What defence did you submit with your set aside application ?

It appears you have gained this set aside because the court agree the papers were improperly served, however, you now need a defence, normally you would not be granted a set aside if you agree you owe the money, so its catch 22 here now.

A good defence would be -

(a) you don`t owe the money

(b) the amount they claimed is incorrect

(c) some other good reason.

Did they add charges and interest to your debt ?

If so you could claim that was excessive, and base your defence on that, if not then I wouldn`t do anything, you`ve set yourself up here, might be best to just let the dice roll, see where it lands, then quietly accept you have the CCJ and pay the debt back at your discretion.

Friends_in_the_North

Good evening and thank you ever so much for your response, your time is much appreciated.

I did feel I was in a bit of an awkward position with this one. But it is really important that I get rid of the CCJ from my credit file. My partner has a life threatening health condition and we live in rented accommodation, so a CCJ would seriously impact on been able to rent another property.

Is the set aside order I have been granted dependent on me submitting a defence ?

The draft defence I submitted with the set aside application was as follows...

DRAFT DEFENCE
______________________________________
1. It is admitted that the Defendant entered into an agreement with Pounds2Pocket (T/A QuickQuid) dated 19.01.2012. Following financial difficulties, the Defendant fell into arrears and the account fell into default on the 30.04.2012.
2. The original claimant was made aware of the Defendants address on the 04.02.2013 and at the time of the judgement in June 2018, the Defendant's post was been redirected to the current address (*******) until March 2019
3. Default Judgement linked to an unknown, un-associated address, meaning any paperwork was not received by the Defendant, therefore, the Defendant was not served with the necessary paperwork to submit a defence or resolve the matter within the statutory period
4. No correspondence at all has been received by the Defendant from Motormile Finance UK Ltd or the Solicitor, Moriaty Law since the claim was assigned to them in November 2016. Motormile Finance have been found to be liable for historic failures in their due diligence and collection process and the Defendant believe this case reflects such failings
I believe the facts stated in this Defence are true

Charges added to original debt as follows..

Original Loan £337.79

Legal Claim Fee £35

Legal Interest £27.02

Legal Solicitors Costs £50.00

Legal Judgement Cost £22.00

Once again, many thanks

sourcrates

Hi,
Good draft, and well presented, however, what you have there are reasons why you did not receive the court paperwork, it is not a defence to the claim.
From what you have posted, it’s unclear if the set aside is dependent on receiving your defence, but I would assume that it is.
Unfortunately I’m at a loss to advise further on this. 

Friends_in_the_North

Once again, many thanks for taking the time to respond

MinuteNoodles

When you have a set aside the claim is reset to the position it was before the judgement was made. You're now at the position you'd be when they started the proceedings for a CCJ if papers were served to the correct address. They have to prove you owe the money, in order to not get the CCJ you have to prove you don't. If you do owe the money and can't pay then they'll still be able to get a CCJ. The easiest way to avoid a CCJ is to pay the money if you had the Payday Loan.

chanz4

Im going to be honest, although you have set a side for now, from what you have posted it will go against you when it goes again for a case, you have admitted to owing the debt, you would be better to ask for them to provide all details inc credit agreement under a cpr disclosure.
 

ARH_2

You had a payday loan in 2012 which you were unable to repay. The lender sought a CCJ. Could your defence be that the loan was mis-sold, making the amount the lender has claimed the CCJ for incorrect? I assume here that the £337.79 includes loan interest.

Once set aside, you'd then pay the lender rather than having them restart proceedings. Clearly this plan of action is dependent your circumstances at the point of the sale of the loan.