CCJ after setting up Payment Plan

Dave_86

Hi guy's, first post looking for some advice as I can't find a similar situation.

I had an old Aqua card debt of £477 that was passed to Cabot around 2018/19. I did the stupid thing and ignored it for a while.

During the end of 2020 I was in a better financial situation so started setting up Payment Plans for any old debts I had. I went through Cabot's website filling in my details and the expenditure forms but at the end it just asks you to call rather than setup a direct debit on the site.

This was during the pandemic and it proved difficult to actually get through to anyone over the phone.
Eventually I managed to setup a payment plan over the phone in Feb 2021. Finally on the path to a debt free life I thought...

The following week I received an email from Cabot stating the payment plan and DD was setup by their agent in error as they are currently going through their solicitors for a CCJ.

The following month I received the CCJ court letter for £544.

After my complaint they offered to pay £50 compensation which I turned down as I see that as them admitting they F'd up and their way of paying me off, but I still have a CCJ for a debt I setup a payment plan and DD on before it went to court plus all costs involved.

I've been through the ombudsman service who today stated that nothing can be done by them.

What can I do?

sourcrates

Well you don`t just receive a CCJ, there would have been an LBA first (letter before action) if that was ignored/not received, next would come a claim form, and with it your opportunity to either admit or defend the claim, are you saying you did not receive any of these documents ?

Once judgement has been granted, however dubiously, your only option to dispute the matter is to apply for a set aside, but in order to do so, you must meet certain criteria, you must have a good reason why you did not respond to the original court papers, and you must also have a defence to the claim.

Can you clarify these points for us.

fatbelly

The Ombudsman does not usually get involved after court involvement, so as sc says you'll need to get set-aside and you may be able to get Cabot to agree to this.

However if they don't then it's unlikely a court would agree as the main stumbling point is that you do owe the money.

Dave_86

Thank you for the replies, at the time we had a lot of our post either undelivered, delivered late or returned to sender. I'm not sure if it was due to the pandemic or other issues with the postal service but the only mail received in relation to the CCJ was the court decision.