CCJ High Court Writ

Chancy12

Hi,

I received a judgement letter for an old debt a few weeks ago from Proserve. The CCJ is for a total of £594 which is including all fees, and is dated 3rd Feb 2022.

I’m keen to pay this within a month and regret it getting this far, so I emailed Proserve asking for them to confirm payment details so we can make full payment.

Proserve have just replied via email saying that their client has escalated this judgement to a High Court Writ of Control, and because of this, the total I need to pay has increased and is now £788. I’ve received no written confirmation of this through the post.

I was very surprised by this, can a judgement really increase so significantly within such a short time frame of being issues. On Googling “High Court Writ of Control”, it seems to state that a judgement under £600 cannot be escalated.

Is this just Proserve trying to get additional money, or does this sound feasible?

C

penners324

Pay the outstanding ccj immediately. Forget the extra fees, just extorting money from you.

sourcrates

I think they are messing with you, as you are correct, a debt under £600 cannot be serviced by the high court, only the county court.

fatbelly

That's my understanding too.

Refer them to s.42(5) County Courts Act 1984; The judgment can only be transferred to the High Court if the judgment amount exceeds £600.

Chancy12

Thanks all.

I replied to them questioning the increase in balance, quoting the above county courts act, and re-iterated my willingness to pay the full amount as listed on the CCJ. 

I’m hopeful that they realise this trick isn’t going to work this time. 

My concern is I obviously need them to mark this as satisfied within the month to have this wiped from my file. I don’t want this clearly bogus increase of £200 effecting the judgment and missing that month window.

C

TripleH

Do you have details to make the payment yet?

(Bank details and reference number).

At this point focus on getting them and I'd pay by bank transfer rather than them say they will take a card payment as they will charge the wrong amount and be bums about you getting it corrected.

 

Chancy12

Yes. I’ve been given bank details and intend on making payment of what I believe is owed when I’m paid tomorrow via bank transfer. 

C

TripleH

If you pay exactly what the CCJ says to cover yourself. Keep a copy of the payment details (amount, account paid to and narrative) in case they try something stupid like deduct their fees first then claim you haven't paid something you have.

Chancy12

Thanks for all your advice above. As discussed, I paid the full £594 last week via bank transfer keeping references of the account details, etc.

Proserve has finally replied to my initial reply. They are stating that their legal team has advised that as the value is above £600 with the high court fixed costs, then it has been approved. They’ve sent me legit looking court stamped ccj, and high court writ letters via email, but I’m yet to receive anything via mail.

What I don’t want is for this debt to spiral and have a visit on my door, but neither do I feel I should be charged hundreds of pounds above the original CCJ.

I have been reading mixed opinions on Google about whether the £600 limit for the writ can or cannot include fixed costs, but either way is seems that it has been approved by the high court looking at this documentation unless that is faked.

I’m unsure what to do either way here, they are saying that I still owe £117.75

C

sourcrates

I am not a legal expert, but my understanding of the law is this, its all in the wording, if the judgment amount, is less than £600, it cannot proceed to the high court.

Yours was for £594.00, the judgement amount cannot include the cost of high court transfer (fixed costs) to make the balance compliant.

However if a judge has already signed off on this, it may be costly to follow it through, bailiff costs alone will go up to stage 2 at least, you would have to apply to have the writ suspended, again more cost, they appear to flying by the seat of their pants with this one, but fighting it may not be a cheap option here.

Of course it may all just be a bluff, it has been known, you can make up any kind of document with the right software, I would see what appears in writing first, then check with the court to see if its legit, if it is, paying the £117.75 would be the best option.

Chancy12

Thanks @sourcrates

In their last message, they state that they feel it includes the fees, however they are getting their legal team to look into it and any action will be suspended until they feedback.

My problem is more fundamental, the judgement was dated 3rd Feb, so needs to be cleared within a month to be removed from my credit file. I’m reading a month as “one calendar month”, which means unless they back down within the next day (and it took them over a week to reply to my previous message), this CCJ is on my record for the next 6 year…. Unless I pay the ridiculous £117.

C