Fighting a shady CCJ

Jamie061

I received a random CCJ from a holiday company after I had to cancel a short break.
I had paid a deposit, but subsequently had to cancel due to health/ medical problems and lost the deposit (I was happy for this to happen, as it's what a deposit is for).
The company (Vacations UK Ltd- owners of hoseasons) put a CCJ on me 30 days after the cancelation. NO correspondence, NO warning and I did not know a thing until I checked my credit score months later.
Upon investigation, it appears there was another charge to pay for a cancelation (not a cancelation fee, but an add-on because my deposit was a reduced rate offer at the time).
As soon as I saw this I arranged a payment that day and cleared the debt (that I knew nothing about) but the company refused to give a notice to remove the CCJ.
After talking to the court who had issued the CCJ, I have been told I would need to apply for A CJJ removal via an N244 FORM which cost £250.
SO... My question is... Has anyone ever used this form successfully and will the money be well spent?
OR has anyone ever been in this situation with an underhand company discretely slapping a CCJ on them with no warnings?
can I appeal it for free??

Thanks I advance for any advice

sourcrates

Hi,

Quiet obviously hoseasons have not complied with the civil procedure rules here.

Any form of legal action for debt, must be done in the correct manner, as set out in the above act.

They are first required to send you a "LBA" (letter before action) this is a way of making an arrangement to pay, without the need to continue to court.

This is a questionaire type document, that you have 30 days to return.

It appears they may have bypassed this and gone straight for a judgement by default, naughty of them.

Now to challange this, is called a "set aside motion". You need good reason why you did not respond to the court papers, in your case it looks like you did not receive them, but you also need a defence against the claim, such as you don`t owe the money, or what they have charged you is wrong.

The court fee is £255, although remission on the fee is available.

National Debtline a good sourse of help, you need to think if its worth it.

Karonher

Sorry that this is no help but a quick question. Would the court not have noticed the dates and questioned the procedure followed.

ceremony

Since the court advised you to complete the form to request a set aside, I assume you noticed more than 30 days after the CCJ had been awarded?
CCJs stay on your record for 6 years and can cause a lot of problems if you ever want credit or even want to rent a house, so it's well worth applying to get it removed. It's a pretty simple procedure and based on the details you give here I think it's likely the courts would be on your side. Good luck.

Jamie061

@sourcrates- Thank you. Yes I literally had NO warnings or correspondence from Vacations UK and it seems they went straight to the courts after 30 days. The T&C's on the website don't give any information on extra charges and I've recorded a phone call (I act d as a new customer questioning the charges with a phone operator at the company) where they could not tell me how much I'd owe if I entered the contract..
I was refused credit many months later which was strange as I have great credit... I spoke to Experian and BOOM my credit score was low and I had an alien CCJ plonked against my name.
This is all very fishy and I'm sure said company have played dirty here!!!

@Karonher- You'd like to think so but it seems as if they have just gone with it without question!  Very annoying!!!

Jamie061

The court fee is £255, although remission on the fee is available. 

Could I ask, how would I go about requesting a remission? Ive done some searching and cant seem to find out how..
Thanks

fatbelly

The court document EX160 gives the full detail and an application form

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