Can I contest a County Court Judgement as no email/phone contact was made?

Galloglass

It was only for around £550 (£450 + £100 court costs).

That is an unusually low amount for a utility CCJ as, if defended, it would have cost them more in time. 

Now they have the upper hand, were you to go against the advice here and try for a set-aside, you would risk the £255 set-aside fee if you went to court. 

There is one possible way out which is to contact the water company and ask if they would agree to a set-aside based on your being away for so long and not getting the paperwork. You would have to clear the debt with them.

The fee for a "with consent" set-aside is £100 and it is usually rubber stamped by a judge - but it is by no means guaranteed as judges make up their own minds.

nomadfreedom

Thanks for your help.

I guess I was essentially asking for the Water Company to 'play nice' in my last call, which - I believe - would constitute asking for a 'set-aside'? If that's the case, all I can do is ask again politely.

Ultimately, it sucks. But I don't plan to use credit anymore, except for the remortgaging of my apartment. I've never missed a payment for a mortgage, so that's in my favour. I wonder how they look at someone who has a CCJ but a track record of paying their mortgage every single month without delay for more than six years?

I've got a UK business but spend most of my time abroad now, so I'm not sure how much impact the CCJ will have on my daily life. Definitely worth fighting it if I can, but ultimately it doesn't change my business model - and I'm likely to emigrate in 2-3 years.

nomadfreedom

UPDATE: They've filed an application for the CCJ to be struck off.
Their legal team listened back to my phone-call from January 2019 - when I had just paid my six-month bill.
I asked for a monthly direct debt and they failed to set it up after that call.
They agreed that it was their fault the monthly DD wasn't setup - and that it was reasonable that I didn't notice a £20-30 payment was not leaving my account each month.
However, the legal team warned that it's not guaranteed that this CCJ will be struck off - although they will make it clear that it was their fault the monthly DD was not setup.
How likely do you think it is that the application to have the CCJ struck off will succeed?

Galloglass

That is a good result. It's a "with consent" set-aside (rather than a disputed one) and the claimant is pushing for it. Reckon you've got a high chance of it being set-aside - assuming you have also agreed to clear the water bill too.

Assume the water company also paid the £100 fee too.

nomadfreedom

Galloglass said:

That is a good result. It's a "with consent" set-aside (rather than a disputed one) and the claimant is pushing for it. Reckon you've got a high chance of it being set-aside - assuming you have also agreed to clear the water bill too.

Assume the water company also paid the £100 fee too.

I paid the water bill back when I first made this post, which was a couple of months after getting the CCJ - although I didn't know about it. So right now I don't owe them any money.
The water company maintain that it's not their fault I can't access my written post. However they acknowledge that they have culpability for not setting the direct debit up in the first place.
They've said they'll pay any fees associated, although I'd happily pay them if it helped matters progress!