CCJ Consent order

Khal247

Hello, 
I am looking for advice regarding a consent order. I am not sure I have done the correct thing here as I have read forums on here. I have a CCJ in my name from shop direct. It was issued last year and I didn't know about it due to the documents going to an old address. Drydens asked for proof of my address at the time the CCJ was issued which I sent. I have waited since April on a response to see if they will agree to a consent order and they have emailed this.

Please send us a draft copy of the consent order you are seeking with the specified terms and this will be reviewed by our client accordingly.

How do I actually draft a consent order, I thought they would do this process and I pay the fee? 

Could anyone help?

Thanks 

sourcrates

Hi,

So your plan is to apply for a set aside on the grounds that you did not recieve the court papers correct ?

You are asking drydens to agree to this, but on what basis, what incentive do they have to agree with you ?

Have you paid the debt, do you intend to pay the debt in full if they agree to the set aside, is that the plan, because you need something here, because for a normal set aside to be succesful, you need a defense to the original claim, and you don`t mention not owing the debt, so what would your defense be ?

In order for them to agree to setaside by consent, you would have to put down on paper how you intend to settle the debt, get them to agree to it, file it with the court, i think the fee for this is £50, although i could be wrong on that.

Khal247

Hello, 
Yes, as I didn't receive the papers.
They asked me for proof of where I was living at the time when it was issued which I have sent and I agreed to pay the debt off. 

sourcrates

Our resident expert on all things court related is Galloglass, hopefully they will pick up your post and offer guidence for you on this.

Galloglass

Nice of Drydens to draft the order for you(?) Could you state what it says on the order as you will be [legally] agreeing the text.

Khal247

Sorry they haven't, they have asked me to draft the order which is what I need help with. Do I need a solicitor to do this? 

Galloglass

Khal247 said:

Sorry they haven't, they have asked me to draft the order which is what I need help with. Do I need a solicitor to do this? 

You don't need a solicitor to draft an order. The order is just a few lines which spell out an agreement between two parties and which the court will usually rubber stamp - subject to fairness (to both parties) checks.

Legal Beagles have more detail on it here including an example of the order and how to fill out the court form (N244)
https://legalbeagles.info/library/how-to-set-aside-a-county-court-judgment-ccj/#letterconsent

Drydens will most likely want you to pay all the are asking for so the order will either include a request to set aside and pay. Or if you do not believe you owe the money, a set aside and a rehearing of the case. 

Are you wanting to pay or to dispute?

Khal247

Thanks for your reply, I am wanting to pay the debt off.

So I just complete the example of the draft order from legal begal and email it to drydens and wait on their response? 

What could I add onto the draft order does it need to include why I want it set a side? 

Galloglass

You need to go over to Legal Beagles with this for a comprehensive comment.

The N244 plus £100 fee (unless you are in receipt of benefits. See Ex160) plus the order goes to the court as soon as you can. The text of the order is as shown with the £255 being changed to £100 as it is [supposedly] with consent. You can ask Drydens to agree it but as they represent the other side you cannot rely on anything they say apart from their agreement.

Even if you apply for the set-aside and it is "with consent" and you agree to pay, the judge may have different ideas. It is the judge's decision at the end of the day and they are not averse to rejecting a set-aside if they think "credit washing" is going on.

You have 1 chance at this so go over to LB.

Khal247

Thank you
They have agreed to the consent order and I drafted the order which they were happy with so just waiting on the next step now. 

Do I need to add anything else apart from the consent order with the application to the court? 

Galloglass

Have a read of the link to the Legal Beagles instructions above.

It's N244 plus the order plus the fee (or application for exemption/reduced fee). Send to the court. 

Court will reply with a date and time for a phone hearing (no face to face at the moment). Judge will ask a few questions and if happy, will confirm the set-aside and who pays costs. So if Drydens have been unreasonable, you'll get the fee back. 

Court will then write and confirm the result and advise on a rehearing date for the retrial. 

What then happens is ,if you pay Drydens, Drydens will send a Notice of Discontinuance to the court and there will not be a rehearing.