CCJ against me whilst out of the country.

Polly39

Hi, this is the first time I have posted on a forum, so apologies in advance if I haven't followed correct protocol!

In brief, I received a parking fine for overstaying in a private car park, this was issued 28/4/17. I did get many different letters regarding this over the years from many different companies as the debt was sold on etc. I did some research online and read that it maybe be better to completely disregard the letters as they can't enforce the fine. I then just ignored any further letters.

On the 4/2/22 I left the country to visit my son in Thailand and returned to the UK on the 30/4/22, a long trip but due to Covid restrictions I hadn't visited him for 2 years and decided to go and stay for longer.

On my return I opened a claim form from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton dated 21/2/22 that dcblegal had filed. Another letter from the court stated that on the 23/3/22 the judgement was made against me and I then opened a letter from dcdlegal to say that I had until the 23/4/22 to pay the sum of money. 

I have missed the opportunity to pay in time as I wasn't in the UK to receive the correspondence and I can prove this.

I have done research to see if I can get the CCJ overturned and this is where I have become confused as there is conflicting information. I am going to pay the judgement as I just don't want the stress of it all so I am not disputing that, what I am disputing is that I didn't have the opportunity to pay by the deadline as I wasn't in the UK.

Please can anyone advise me as to whether the CCJ can be set aside so I can pay it and if so how do i go about this?

I have never missed any payments for anything and I really don't want a CCJ registered against me. 

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Coupon-mad

I am going to pay the judgement as I just don't want the stress of it all 

You aren't advised to do that, because that gives you a CCJ for six years (marked 'satisfied' but still there, ruining your credit rating).

Paying it doesn't wipe it.

Setting it aside WITHOUT paying it, does.

There is no conflicting advice here.  The CCJ set aside section of the NEWBIES thread explains what to do but be warned by the first paragraph of this reply I made to someone else yesterday:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79172524#Comment_79172524

Polly39

Thank you for your response, I am applying to get the CCJ set aside and then I will make a decision whether to pay or defend it. I appreciated your help and advice.

Coupon-mad

Show us your draft Order, WS and what sort of evidence of being abroad you are using.  Copy the worked examples in the NEWBIES thread CCJ set aside section.

In your case you WILL also need a defence because you are relying on CPR 13.3 which uses the court's discretion to decide if the case should be set aside so you can defend it.

You cannot get around this and MUST come across in your application as having 'good prospects of successfully defending the claim' (because it was properly served and will not otherwise be reset for you).  The court will likely refuse, as I warned you, if this is seen as credit cleansing and not a genuine wish to defend.

YOU CAN DEFEND, EVEN IN A CASE WHERE YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE CHARGE.

People do that here literally every day.  Adapt the Template Defence, as ever.

Trainerman

OP Newbies thread here.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou

Rodent3768

I suggest you take your names out of the post.

Polly39

Thank you for saying this, it didn't occur to me to do that. I am new to forums and I have tried to edit my post, but I can't do it.

I have tried several times and looked in the help section, but again no luck. Do you know how to do this?

Thank you.

Coupon-mad

Just hit 'report' on your post and tick the box 'contains personal information'.and they'll edit it sometime.

My signature tells you where the NEWBIES thread is from the hyperlink at the top of every page.

My signature was immediately above your post asking where the NEWBIES thread is, and it's under every post I make and you've now been given another link (not that this helps you know where it is next time - better to follow what my signature tells you from any page you are reading - you can literally hop back to page one from any thread).  Knowing how to hop round the forum is important.

Being given links mean you are still in isolation on this thread and haven't seen the 100 or so new threads and posts here every day, some of which may be very similar and worth you reading..

Please read the NEWBIES thread advice first