CCJ for Car Insurance Claim

Sowffle

Hello all, 

It's a bit of a long one so I have put a summary at the bottom for a quick overview. 

I have tried to search the forum but not managed to find anything on this - apologies if I am repeating a previous question.

I checked my credit report yesterday (31st January) and found out that I had a CCJ on my file for a few hundred short of £6,000, which I had no prior knowledge of. I spoke to the County Court Money Claims Centre (CCMCC) this morning who could give me no information on the claimant, but they did give me the solicitor's contact information who gave me the background and details. 

I found out that it was in relation to a road traffic collision I was involved in in 2016. I have since moved home and insurer, which is why I received no letters and never had any awareness of this CCJ until I spotted it on my file. The insurance claim in 2016 was settled (they agreed it was my fault), my car was repaired and I was told the case was sorted and closed in July 2017. However, it looks like the insurance company never ended up paying the settlement figure for some unknown reason. The solicitors had apparently been chasing them for payment with no response, and so they cleverly decided to raise a CCJ against me, personally. 

I have spoken to my previous insurance company (Quotemehappy.com, part of Aviva) and they confirmed that a cheque for the full amount was issued on 29th January 2021, just a few days ago, which is likely why the solicitors were not aware of it when I spoke to them this morning. So, from that perspective it looks like the payment will be settled which is a relief. 

I then spoke to the CCMCC again and they advised me that once paid it will show as "satisfied" on my file but will stay on record for 6 years, but I will want to buy a house in the next year or two so I need the claim removed. They advised I can either apply to get the judgement set aside (N244 form) for the full court fee of £255 or I can ask the claimant to provide me with a consent order which will reduce the fee to £100. I am currently waiting to hear back from the solicitors so I can ask them to provide me with this, to try and save money getting this resolved. 

Does anyone have any advice on whether this is the correct route to go down, and also how to make sure it goes through as quickly and smoothly as possible? 

My second question is, what would be the most appropriate route to claim the court fee back from the insurance company, given that they caused this CCJ on my file due to their negligence in not paying on time? Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. 

Quick summary: I have a CCJ against me due to my prior insurance company failing to pay out on a claim. I will be out of pocket as a result to get this set aside, what would the correct process be to go about claiming this money back from the insurance company, and does anyone have any advice on anything I can do to make sure this goes through as quickly and smoothly as possible?

Thank you so much for any advice you are able to offer on this matter. 

Helpmeoutofthismess

When was the CCJ registered against you? If a CCJ is paid in full within 30 days, it’s removed from your credit file, not just marked as satisfied.
H x

MovingForwards

I would actually be lodging a complaint with your former insurance company and getting them to deal with it.

Yahoo_Mail

MovingForwards said:

I would actually be lodging a complaint with your former insurance company and getting them to deal with it.

I'd have thought it would be the OP who would have to file any request for a consent order or set aside?  Although the insurance co should absolutely be footing the bill for it.

ratechaser

MovingForwards said:

I would actually be lodging a complaint with your former insurance company and getting them to deal with it.

I agree with the complaint, however I don't believe the insurer can get the judgement set aside - that's something the OP would have to manage themselves. That said, it sounds like that there are good grounds for this happening if the court documents we're served to the wrong address (and of course assuming that the OP had updated their insurer and the DVLA of their new address when they moved).

molerat

I am sure op's solicitor could deal with getting this sorted - another way of saying their former insurer appoints a solicitor for op and foots all costs.

sourcrates

The judgement is in the OP`s name, so they will have to deal with that, set aside by consent would appear to be reasonable in the circumstances.

I think its a bit rich a policyholder should end up with a county court judgement because an insurance company has been dragging its feet, also the actions of the claimants solicitors targeting the policyholder personally, even though they were fully aware he was insured, is again, questionable.

You should most definitely send an official written complaint to Aviva, this kind of thing should not happen.
Insurance is expensive enough, you pay your premium, you expect to get a certain level of service, clearly they have seriously failed to achieve that in this case.

MovingForwards

The insurance company instruct their panel solicitors to deal with it as it's (potentially) their mistake that OP ended up with the judgement. All dealt with on behalf of OP and at no cost to them either.

If there was a reason OPs insurance company needed an unsatisfied judgement to settle the claim, then they won't do it. Eg OP failed to disclose something or liability was actually disputed and OP didn't assist with defending it or some other reason. Then it would be down to him/ her to ask the TP sols to agree to judgement being set aside and s/he pays all the costs associated with it.

Ref44

OP, it is vital to remember that time is not on your side. You are now aware of the CCJ; if you spend time arguing with your insurer and the solicitor about who does what the opportunity for a set aside could be lost. If you can't get a quick answer apply for a contested set aside paying the £255 fee.

Sowffle

Helpmeoutofthismess said:

When was the CCJ registered against you? If a CCJ is paid in full within 30 days, it’s removed from your credit file, not just marked as satisfied.
H x

Hi there, it was in November 2020, so it has been two months between it being raised and paid by the insurer. Thanks for your reply, it's good to know if god forbid something similar happens in future! x

Sowffle

MovingForwards said:

I would actually be lodging a complaint with your former insurance company and getting them to deal with it.

I believe I need to resolve it myself, but I will definitely be putting a complaint in, thank you for responding.

MovingForwards said:

The insurance company instruct their panel solicitors to deal with it as it's (potentially) their mistake that OP ended up with the judgement. All dealt with on behalf of OP and at no cost to them either.

If there was a reason OPs insurance company needed an unsatisfied judgement to settle the claim, then they won't do it. Eg OP failed to disclose something or liability was actually disputed and OP didn't assist with defending it or some other reason. Then it would be down to him/ her to ask the TP sols to agree to judgement being set aside and s/he pays all the costs associated with it.

The insurance claim was fully settled (they agreed it was my fault), my car was repaired and I was told the case was sorted and closed in July 2017. I continued to live at that address for a further 1.5 years and there was no communication from the insurance company to advise anything was amiss, I just think they "forgot" to send the payment somehow.