CCJ - Despite sending the claim back to Drydens

chrisdem

artyboy said:

fatbelly said:

It's a quirk of the system that if you issue a claim, the other party has 2 weeks to do something, otherwise they get a ccj in default.

So if that person has just started 2 weeks' holiday...

What's not been mentioned here is that rules were introduced a few years ago to say that an organisation starting a claim against an individual must first send a specific pre-action letter and give 30 days for respond.

That letter shouldn't be ignored and there is guidance on it here

https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/

Completely agree - but the OP mentioned that the letter they received in September was from Drydens, which I would have thought was that pre-action letter?

Unless I'm mistaken, the court claim itself (which starts the 14 day response clock ticking) would be issued by the county courts administrative centre in Northampton?

in any event, if there really is a judgement and it puts the OPs job at risk, they just need to get it paid off before it becomes a long standing part of their credit file, that's the critical point here. Especially as I don't think they are disputing that the debt exists...

I since read a bit more about the whole process. I have never received any pre-action letters or any correspondence from Drydens or Arrow Global.

The first letter regarding my situation was the Claim Form dated 18th of Aug, which I got in the mailbox on the 8th of September, on a Thursday. Called them on the 9th, been told to submit the Claim Form asap. I did on the 12th.

I've posted a timeline of the events above, I hope that paints the whole picture.

chrisdem

What reason should I use to actually have a chance of getting the judgement set aside?

1. I work for a bank. I have 4 quarterly background checks a year. Nothing very specific in my offer / employer contract, but this line: "This offer of employment is subject to: The completion of satisfactory reference checks as undertaken by Accurate Background Checks or First Advantage". This will surely lead to me losing my job, since the company I work for is FCA regulated. I got an email from my employer saying "You would not be fit to work for the bank if you have more than 10k in CCJ", whatever that means, but I've got a feeling it's not helping.

2. Have not received pre-action letters - but how do I prove this?!

3. I was abroad when I have been summoned to court. Can prove with ferry receipts, flights, accommodation, photos.

I am thinking to mention all these aspects in my N244 claim. Do you guys think it's a good idea?

I will start the claim in a few hours.

Thank you very much for all advice, I am a bit desperate. A CCJ will make it much harder to find employment, citizenship application will likely to be refused, etc.

chrisdem

One last question, please. 

Would it be wise to mention in my N244 that I would like to increase the monthly payments to £1000 a month to settle the debt in 5 months, hoping this might help the judge's decision to set the judgement aside?

PaulW922

chrisdem said:

One last question, please. 

Would it be wise to mention in my N244 that I would like to increase the monthly payments to £1000 a month to settle the debt in 5 months, hoping this might help the judge's decision to set the judgement aside?

It would not because you are effectively still admitting the debt by doing that. I think you should go down the route of not having received the claim in time and thus had had a chance to respond to the basis of the claim

sourcrates

What is your defence though?

A successful set aside requires you to meet two criteria.

(1) A good reason why you did not respond to the original court papers.

(2) A defence to the claim.

A defence would usually be, you do not owe the debt, or it`s not yours, or the amount they are claiming is incorrect, you could state potential loss of job, but whether the court would consider that a defence or not, I`m not sure.

Anyway, I notice this thread is a few days old, so you may already have submitted your application, let us know what happens.