County Court Claim Form/CCJ Credit Rating

abz2005

Good afternoon all,
I'm not sure if I've posted this in the correct section, so apologies in advance if not.
I have received a County Claim Form today, claimant Civil Enforcement Ltd, dated 16.02.2021, in a panic I have paid in full this morning directly to the claimant through there automated line, I have no proof from them that I've paid other than what will show on my bank statement.  I didn't read this forum before paying, as I have found there is plenty of information here with regards to disputing this type of claim and against this claimant.
By paying in full have I just accepted the CCJ against me that will show on my credit rating? I only ask as when I was 18/19 (I'm 38 now), I got myself into trouble financially and had a low credit rating so know how bad this can be, for the past 15 years I've had a very good credit rating and worked hard to keep it that way and didn't plan on ruining it. I'm worried now by making this payment I've have undone all that hard work.  There is no way of contacting Civil Enforcement Services Ltd either by phone or email, and the information I've seen online seems very conflicting.  Some say I need to fill in and return the admission form, then when I've checked on the MCOL website and this is what I see:

Making a Full Admission:

If you are admitting all of the claim and wish to pay it now you should take or send the money, including any interest and costs, to the claimant.

If you are admitting all of the claim but are unable to pay immediately, you should complete the Admission form (N9A) in your response pack and send this to the claimant's address for receiving documents and payments on the front of the claim form (N1).

You should act quickly to ensure that the claimant receives the money within 14 days of the date you received the claim (the date of service). If payment does not reach the claimant within this time they may ask for judgment to be entered against you and this may affect your future ability to get credit.

According to the above I do not need to respond to the court letters as I've paid the claimant in full, am I correct in this thinking? When I've checked the Civil Enforcement website it says the balance is zero. But my biggest question have I just got a CCJ?

I know I messed up by making the payment, but if anyone has any advice or can comment on whether I now have a CCJ I would really appreciate it.

Apologies for the long post.

Dellgrad12

The way this reads is that by making the payment you have avoided a CCJ.

Even if a CCJ has been issued, then paying in full within 28 days will mean it is set aside and won’t appear on your credit file.

So either way, from a credit reference perspective, all is ok.

sourcrates

As above, if you settle the county court judgement within 30 days, then the judgement is removed from your credit file, this is supposed to happen automatically, but it would be best practice to make sure this is done.

Its the job of the claimant to inform the court you have paid, so make sure they do.

abz2005

Hi, thank you Dellgrad12 and Sourcrates, I rang the court, the lady told me that it becomes a CCJ if I don't pay within the specified time. She did also say as you mentioned above that the claimant has to notify the court that they've been paid.  She lastly said that to cover myself I should fill in the defence section of the form stating I have paid in full and send it to an email address she gave me, which I have done. Problem with the claimant is I have no way of contacting them, no email address, an automated payment line and another number that always answers with an automated message saying they're busy. If anyone has any contact details for Civil Enforcement Services Ltd it would really be appreciated.

PixelPound

If you have the claim form and now paid, then return it to the Court saying you have paid and the date you paid.

The claim doesn't become a CCJ automatically, the claimant has to request Judgment, saying you have not filed an admission/defence. Lets say they did and the fee for requesting Judgment was added, if you carried on believing it was paid, you could still have a small outstanding balance which could mean the CCJ isn't satisfied and removed.

GrumpyDil

If the claim is from civil enforcement Ltd that sounds like a claim for an unpaid parking invoice.
It's a shame you paid it straight away as if this is the first you heard about the claim I'm wondering what happened to the letter before action and the original court correspondence advising you that a claim had been lodged against you and asking you to acknowledge it etc.
If this really was the first you'd heard about this then it would have been worth exploring options to ask for the claim to be set aside and give you time to respond to the initial claim.