Can you get a CCJ for a service never received?

AppleJack8

Hi, 

I signed a family gym contract for my kids and I but life circumstances changed soon after and we never went once outside of the day the contract was signed. 

I did inform the company that I couldn't afford payments but was told because it was past the cooling period I needed to pay for a full year, about £200 or so which I didn't and couldn't afford anyway.

I changed jobs a few months later, only to receive a notice of court proceedings which landed me with a CCJ. I did not attend court and I realise the contract was signed. My question is, was I right to acknowledge and pay the CCJ (which I did in full with fees as my pay had increased by that point) for a service I never used? It has caused me no end of issues with mortgages since and annoys me obviously.

Thanks in advance

artyboy

Yes. You signed the contract and the gym
was available to you. That you didn't use it isn't relevant. 

You also didn't help yourself by cancelling within the cooling off period, by not engaging with the court process, and presumably by not paying off the CCJ within a month (which would have avoided it going on your credit file for 6 years)

Probably not what you want to hear but I'm afraid this one is entirely on you. At least you have paid it now which will look marginally better on your file as it will show as 'satisfied'

MorningcoffeeIV

Your OP confuses 'service never received' with 'service never used'. 

They're fundamentally different.

DullGreyGuy

AppleJack8 said:

Hi, 

I signed a family gym contract for my kids and I but life circumstances changed soon after and we never went once outside of the day the contract was signed. 

I did inform the company that I couldn't afford payments but was told because it was past the cooling period I needed to pay for a full year, about £200 or so which I didn't and couldn't afford anyway.

I changed jobs a few months later, only to receive a notice of court proceedings which landed me with a CCJ. I did not attend court and I realise the contract was signed. My question is, was I right to acknowledge and pay the CCJ (which I did in full with fees as my pay had increased by that point) for a service I never used? It has caused me no end of issues with mortgages since and annoys me obviously.

Thanks in advance

If you paid the debt within 1 month of the judgement it wouldnt impact mortgages etc as its only judgements where the defendant is a non-payer that gets registered and via the CRAs

Companies have a very broad scope for deciding what they want to do or not... you may find some do say they will reimburse fees if the service hasn't been used but there is no obligation for them to do so and in your case you say you did use it once and so even generous terms like that wouldnt have triggered. 

Many more companies prefer to have stricter terms but then use their discretion to give goodwill 

So yes, they can bill for a service you didn't use, just as most buy insurance and never claim but its there for you should you want/need to.