unknown CCJ has appeared

Serenity74

Sure I'm not the first to have this issue and the answer lies somewhere on this forum but I think CCJ is too short a term for the forum search to work effectively so I've been unable to find relevant posts.

I had an email this morning saying "We wanted to let you know your score has slipped down to Needs Work". Came as a bit of a surprise as it was previously excellent and I've done nothing to change that.

Logged into my account and there's a CCJ on there dated 2nd November 2021 from County Court Business Centre for £287. I have no idea what this is for. I've had no letters or any communication about anything and I'm not aware of owning anything to anyone. The address on the entry is my old address but I haven't lived there for over a year and had all my post forwarded after moving out so if there has been any correspondence to that address it should have come to me.

No idea what to do next. I found a form to appeal it but you have to fill in information I don't have.

Surely you can't get a CCJ without ever being informed there was a debt in the first place?!

molerat

You need to contact the CCBC, giving them the reference number, and find out who applied for the CCJ and go from there.  If post is marked as "do not redirect" there is a possibility it would have been returned rather than redirected.  Any possibility this could be a parking charge  - did you change address on the V5 ?

Puddles1983

Serenity74 said:

Surely you can't get a CCJ without ever being informed there was a debt in the first place?!

Unless you updated your creditor with your new address, the CCJ information will have probably been sent to your old address - and thus you will have been ‘informed’ according to the letter of of the law.
Post redirect services are generally only active for 3/6 months - they aren’t permanent, and creditors aren’t required to ‘chase you down’.

There will be a reference for the CCJ on your credit file, you can use this reference to contact the particular court and they will be able to provide the details of the case. 

That is your first step. When you actually know what debt is for you can take your next steps.

Serenity74

molerat said:

You need to contact the CCBC, giving them the reference number, and find out who applied for the CCJ and go from there.  If post is marked as "do not redirect" there is a possibility it would have been returned rather than redirected.  Any possibility this could be a parking charge  - did you change address on the V5 ?

Address was updated on the V5.

If something was marked do not redirect I'd expect it have either been returned or that be ignored and it end up with me anyway - I've moved to another house in the same round and my former landlords daughter is my current next door neighbour so not like nobody knew where to find me!

Serenity74

Puddles1983 said:

Serenity74 said:

Surely you can't get a CCJ without ever being informed there was a debt in the first place?!

Unless you updated your creditor with your new address, the CCJ information will have probably been sent to your old address - and thus you will have been ‘informed’ according to the letter of of the law.
Post redirect services are generally only active for 3/6 months - they aren’t permanent, and creditors aren’t required to ‘chase you down’.

There will be a reference for the CCJ on your credit file, you can use this reference to contact the particular court and they will be able to provide the details of the case. 

That is your first step. When you actually know what debt is for you can take your next steps.

Bit hard to update a creditor with your new address when you don't know they exist! 

I'll give the court a call on Monday but once I know what it is what then? If by the letter of the law they can send correspondence to an address I don't live at and proceed this far without any communication from myself what can I do?

Doesn't seem particularly fair that they can destroy my credit over something I knew absolutely nothing about.

sourcrates

Court claims are supposed to be sent to the last known address, but it is folly to accept that in this day and age, a claimant  can quite easily trace a debtor if they want to do so, they are supposed to do due diligence in these matters, yet parking companies especially tend to ignore that part of the civil procedure rules, hence the reason why so many judgments are awarded in default, as the debtor, such as in your case, has moved, so is unable to lodge a defence to the claim.

Its not unheard of for claimant's to do this deliberately, in order to obtain judgement without a defence being filed, given the cost of a set aside, most people tend to settle the debt rather than apply to set it aside. 
An unfortunate "loophole" in the system.

It sounds like some kind of motoring/parking fine to me, the court will be able to tell you the claimants name.

Just keep in mind the cost of a set aside is currently £255,00.

Serenity74

sourcrates said:

Court claims are supposed to be sent to the last known address, but it is folly to accept that in this day and age, a claimant  can quite easily trace a debtor if they want to do so, they are supposed to do due diligence in these matters, yet parking companies especially tend to ignore that part of the civil procedure rules, hence the reason why so many judgments are awarded in default, as the debtor, such as in your case, has moved, so is unable to lodge a defence to the claim.

Its not unheard of for claimant's to do this deliberately, in order to obtain judgement without a defence being filed, given the cost of a set aside, most people tend to settle the debt rather than apply to set it aside. 
An unfortunate "loophole" in the system.

It sounds like some kind of motoring/parking fine to me, the court will be able to tell you the claimants name.

Just keep in mind the cost of a set aside is currently £255,00.

I can't imagine its anything else, although I'm normally pretty careful with that kind of thing.

I did see a site listing the costs involved with sorting this, did seem almost as if it was designed to make you pay rather than purse getting the mistake rectified. 

MalMonroe

Hi,

First thing I'd say is don't panic. And isn't it true that this kind of thing so very often happens on a Saturday when you have all the weekend left to whittle and worry? That's usually the case with me, anyway.

As molerat says, you need to contact the CCBC, find out who applied for the CCJ and go from there.

Once you find out who applied for the CCJ you can contact them and find out what's going on and set about putting things right.

In the meantime, try not to worry, which isn't easy I know but once you have all the facts you can proceed but unfortunately, you can't do anything until Monday. 

sourcrates

Serenity74 said:

sourcrates said:

Court claims are supposed to be sent to the last known address, but it is folly to accept that in this day and age, a claimant  can quite easily trace a debtor if they want to do so, they are supposed to do due diligence in these matters, yet parking companies especially tend to ignore that part of the civil procedure rules, hence the reason why so many judgments are awarded in default, as the debtor, such as in your case, has moved, so is unable to lodge a defence to the claim.

Its not unheard of for claimant's to do this deliberately, in order to obtain judgement without a defence being filed, given the cost of a set aside, most people tend to settle the debt rather than apply to set it aside. 
An unfortunate "loophole" in the system.

It sounds like some kind of motoring/parking fine to me, the court will be able to tell you the claimants name.

Just keep in mind the cost of a set aside is currently £255,00.

I can't imagine its anything else, although I'm normally pretty careful with that kind of thing.

I did see a site listing the costs involved with sorting this, did seem almost as if it was designed to make you pay rather than purse getting the mistake rectified. 

Once you have a CCJ, and its gone past the 30 day stage, you can only get it removed by applying to the court for a set aside motion, on occasion you may be able to get the claimant to agree to a set aside by consent, the former cost`s £255, the latter`s cost is, I believe, £100, but you would need to check that.

Paying the debt does not remove the judgement, it just gets marked as settled.

A set aside by consent is just that, it requires the consent of the claimant.

You cannot get a judgement removed any other way, no matter what it may say on various internet sites of dubious reputation.

nyermen

Always find it interesting how as soon as the CCJ is awarded, the claimants are suddenly magically able to find someones new address almost immediately...

Serenity74

nyermen said:

Always find it interesting how as soon as the CCJ is awarded, the claimants are suddenly magically able to find someones new address almost immediately...

Odd that. Wouldn't be surprised to have a letter drop through the door at some point this week.