CCJ not known about

joebloggs11

Hi all,
I am just in the process of buying my first home and the mortgage company has noticed a CCJ on my record which I was not aware of. I have accounts with equifax and Experian and nothing has ever flagged on there so it came to such a shock that they came across that. I created a checkmyfile.com account to try figure out what it was and then I noticed it was under transunion. 

It states the case reference and which court has filed it so I have contacted them and they have advised me it it Lowell solicitors who have taken this debt on on behalf of talktalk. I then contacted Lowell solicitors and gave above reference and they said it was an address that I have never resided at nor know anyone that does/ever has. They told me it was an account from 2015 that had not kept up to date with payments and that’s why it has gone on there as it has been sent to court. 

I have lived at my mums house for the past 6 years and it even shows that on my credit file so why it would get sent to an old address is very frustrating! Especially when it was only this year that they’ve taken me to court. 

When I spoke to the courts they told me that they sent court letters out to a address I lived at nearly 10 years ago and that address is now rented out. I have actually been to the house and asked if any mail has arrived in the past few years to which they told me there hasn’t. 

Can anyone please advise me on what I need to do to get this take off my credit report? I am willing to pay the bill just to get it taken off my credit report so it doesn’t affect my mortgage but I find it so frustrating that they’ve given me a CCJ when I didn’t even know anything about it! And for it to come back up so many years afterwards is just mind boggling. 

any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

ThisnotThat

They will have sent the bill to the last known address.  It's not really the creditor's responsibility to track you down, it's yours to update them of your whereabouts.

If this is account was set up in your name fraudulently then you'll need to report it to Action Fraud and take it up with Lowell. Hopefully they would agree to a Consent Order so the CCJ will be removed from your file.

[Deleted User]

If it's from 2015, it seems odd that the CCJ was recent - I guess they did it as it was nearly statute barred. You say you had never lived at the address but you then said it was sent to an address you did live in? The court paperwork would have gone to the same address. If you had an overdue account from then and moved and didn't update them, it does mean the paperwork is sent to the last known address. You can pay for a set aside and contest the CCJ - if you then pay it off then it will disappear and the defaults etc will at some point as well, if not already. 

joebloggs11

I spoke with Lowell solicitors and they said the bill is from address I have never lived at but the paperwork they have sent out has gone to my childhood address (both different addresses). I haven’t lived at my childhood address for maybe 10 years or longer. 

The court says the sent the papers mid January but as I said above, I’ve been and asked the residents and they say they’ve never had any mail in my name. 

I’ve got the N244 form but should I speak to a solicitor to make sure I fill it in correctly?

ThisnotThat

joebloggs11 said:

I spoke with Lowell solicitors and they said the bill is from address I have never lived at but the paperwork they have sent out has gone to my childhood address (both different addresses). I haven’t lived at my childhood address for maybe 10 years or longer. 

The court says the sent the papers mid January but as I said above, I’ve been and asked the residents and they say they’ve never had any mail in my name. 

I’ve got the N244 form but should I speak to a solicitor to make sure I fill it in correctly?

So to be clear, you've never had service from TalkTalk?

joebloggs11

No, never 

ThisnotThat

joebloggs11 said:

No, never 

Then I'd be reporting it to Action Fraud and speaking to Lowell about it.  Getting a set aside by consent is cheaper and easier, assuming Lowell play ball.

joebloggs11

ThisnotThat said:

joebloggs11 said:

No, never 

Then I'd be reporting it to Action Fraud and speaking to Lowell about it.  Getting a set aside by consent is cheaper and easier, assuming Lowell play ball.

What is the quickest option? I’m literally in the middle of getting a mortgage and I’ve been refused because of this! So maddening! Thanks

ThisnotThat

joebloggs11 said:

ThisnotThat said:

joebloggs11 said:

No, never 

Then I'd be reporting it to Action Fraud and speaking to Lowell about it.  Getting a set aside by consent is cheaper and easier, assuming Lowell play ball.

What is the quickest option? I’m literally in the middle of getting a mortgage and I’ve been refused because of this! So maddening! Thanks

To be honest, neither is going to be particularly quick.

If you're literally in the middle of getting a mortgage, I'd be prepared to put it off, probably for a period of months.  Even pre-COVID it would take a bit.

joebloggs11

I’ve spoke to a solicitor and they’ve said the easiest way would be to get a consent order. Is that quite an easy option for me to take? He made out on the phone it’s an hard option but obviously he’s only saying that for me to pay him £600. 

[Deleted User]

A CCJ set aside via consent only works if the firm agrees so it's not really simple, just cheaper than paying for the set aside yourself. Consent will probably be appealing if you don't contest the debt and are willing to pay it and ring the debt people and offer it up.

If you are disputing the debt then there is zero reason for them to agree to it - the CCJ means they can enforce the debt in multiple ways, like seizing property for example so they'd be unlikely to go with that route as giving up the CCJ means they have to spend more money going back to court to argue it again.

Some reading:

https://www.registry-trust.org.uk/rt-learn-ew/remove-ccj/

https://www.masonbullock.co.uk/can-a-default-judgment-be-set-aside-by-consent/

https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj/set-aside-ccj.aspx