CCJ to old address despite UPDATING their solicitors

Fightback2

Hi all,

I've found out about a CCJ only because it's showed up when I checked my credit report. After calling the CCBC, I have compiled a timeline.

Timeline as follows:
15th Feb (date of letter) - Letter of Claim received - £170 (parking charge #1) [sent to old address]
20th Feb (date of letter) - Letter of Claim received - £170 (parking charge #2) [sent to old address]

1st March - I move house

17th March - I send email to DCB Legal stating exactly:
Dear DCB Legal,
Regarding vehicle registration: [MYREG]
1. I am seeking debt advice but I deny any debt and the case must be put 'on hold' for not less than 30 days under the PAP for debt claims 2017.
2. I have sent your client a SAR.
3. My correct address for service is currently:

    [FIRST LINE],

    [SECOND LINE],

    [POSTCODE].

Kind regards,

[MY NAME]

24th March - DCB Legal issued claim ONLY for parking charge #2 [but not #1?] (info obtained from CCBC)

29th March - date of service of claim (info from CCBC)

17th April - judgement awarded in default (info from CCBC)

21st April - saw credit score change

24th April - called CCBC, they emailed me the Particulars of Claim

When I went to the previous address (on 24th April) and checked for any post for me, there was no claim form, so it seems it was never delivered - not sure if this is relevant info. I visited a few more times afterwards and the only post I got was the judgement in default form (which I collected on 30th April).

I have obtained the particulars of claim, name of claimant (UKPC), name of solicitor firm who filed the claim (DCB Legal), and the dates, and also confirmed with CCBC that all letters they sent were to my previous address.

I have read the forum and understand I need to submit an N244 application to set aside.

QUESTIONS:

1) As I emailed them on 17th March demanding a 30 day hold, are they allowed to issue a claim a week later?

2) Can I pay the CCJ (by 17th May - to avoid mark on credit score) and ask for the judge to order the claimant to pay the judgement back to me if I am successful with the N244, along with the £275 court fee?

3) Did I correctly inform them of my address for service, meaning they definitely should have updated their records? I have never received any mail from UKPC or DCB Legal to this new address yet.

Thanks in advance for your help you amazing people!

B789

Fightback2 said:

QUESTIONS:

1) As I emailed them on 17th March demanding a 30 day hold, are they allowed to issue a claim a week later?

2) Can I pay the CCJ (by 17th May - to avoid mark on credit score) and ask for the judge to order the claimant to pay the judgement back to me if I am successful with the N244, along with the £275 court fee?

3) Did I correctly inform them of my address for service, meaning they definitely should have updated their records? I have never received any mail from UKPC or DCB Legal to this new address yet.

1. Do you have proof of the emailed request for the 30-day hold? They shouldn't have issued the claim for PCN #2 before 22nd of March. You state the date of issue of the claim for PCN #2 is 24th March which makes the service date the 29th of March which fits in with your timeline. However, if you emailed them the 30-day hold request as per PAP for them to recieve it before the 21st of March, they should not have issued the claim when they did. They are probably in breach of CPR Part 7 but I'd have to go look it up.

2. You could pay the CCJ but then you'd probably not see that money again if the Claimant is going to be difficult about it. If you can evidence that the default judgment was issued incorrectly, then you should be able to claim the cost of the N244 set aside back as costs.

3. You should have told them to "erase" your old address as well as update it with your current one. The word "erase" is emphasised for the precise reason you have now found out about. However, it is a technicality which should not affect your set aside.

Whilst you need to get the CCJ set aside, I would strongly advise not to pay it in the meantime. If, after the set-aside they are allowed to re-serve the claim, it would be easily defeated as are 99% of all the claims b the bottom-dwelling duo of UKPC/DCB Legal as long as you use the robust defence template provided. An example of which can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5r7vbqttho3q948/2023 defence.pdf?dl=0

B789

Updated to say that as the claimant has not followed the PAP correctly, as in your case, they have breached the Practice Directions and you should ask the court to strike their claim out and order them to pay your costs at the set aside.

Also, even if the CCJ is already registered, once it is set aside, all evidence of it will be expunged from your credit record. So, it will only be a temporary blip which will disappear after the set aside.

B789

References:

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/pdf/protocols/debt-pap.pdf
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part01
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part07

B789

Go get them spanked in court. The Claimant has breached PAP 4.2:

1. 4.2  If the debtor indicates that they are seeking debt advice, the creditor must allow the debtor a reasonable period for the advice to be obtained. In any event, the creditor should not start court proceedings less than 30 days from receipt of the completed Reply Form or 30 days from the creditor providing any documents requested by the debtor, whichever is the later.

Pre Action Protocols 7.1 & 7.2 applies due to non-compliance:

7.1  If a matter proceeds to litigation, the court will expect the parties to have complied with this Protocol. The court will take into account non-compliance when giving directions for the management of proceedings. The court will consider whether all parties have complied in substance with the terms of the Protocol and is not likely to be concerned with minor or technical infringements, especially when the matter is urgent.

7.2  For further information about the court’s approach to compliance, see Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols (paragraphs 13 to 16).

Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols (paragraphs 13 to 16):

13. If a dispute proceeds to litigation, the court will expect the parties to have complied with a relevant pre-action protocol or this Practice Direction. The court will take into account non-compliance when giving directions for the management of proceedings (see CPR 3.1(4) to (6)) and when making orders for costs (see CPR 44.3(5)(a)). The court will consider whether all parties have complied in substance with the terms of the relevant pre-action protocol or this Practice Direction and is not likely to be concerned with minor or technical infringements, especially when the matter is urgent (for example an application for an injunction).

14. The court may decide that there has been a failure of compliance when a party has—

(a) not provided sufficient information to enable the objectives in paragraph 3 to be met;

(b) not acted within a time limit set out in a relevant protocol, or within a reasonable period; or

(c) unreasonably refused to use a form of ADR, or failed to respond at all to an invitation to do so.

15. Where there has been non-compliance with a pre-action protocol or this Practice Direction, the court may order that

(a) the parties are relieved of the obligation to comply or further comply with the pre-action protocol or this Practice Direction;

(b) the proceedings are stayed while particular steps are taken to comply with the pre-action protocol or this Practice Direction;

(c) sanctions are to be applied.

16. The court will consider the effect of any non-compliance when deciding whether to impose any sanctions which may include—

(a) an order that the party at fault pays the costs of the proceedings, or part of the costs of the other party or parties;

(b) an order that the party at fault pay those costs on an indemnity basis;

(c) if the party at fault is a claimant who has been awarded a sum of money, an order depriving that party of interest on that sum for a specified period, and/or awarding interest at a lower rate than would otherwise have been awarded;

(d) if the party at fault is a defendant, and the claimant has been awarded a sum of money, an order awarding interest on that sum for a specified period at a higher rate, (not exceeding 10% above base rate), than the rate which would otherwise have been awarded.

Coupon-mad

Don't pay it. Get it set aside.

But firstly send DCBLegal proof of your earlier email and tell them you expect THEM to cover the £108 court fee for the application and produce a draft Consent Order to set the wrongful CCJ aside st no cost to you.

Give them seven says to do so after which you will file your own N244 (with a hearing/no consent) and will hold them/their client liable to be ordered to repay your £275 fee in full plus costs (loss of leave) for attending the hearing.

Make sure you make the email clearly time-bound. 

Not_A_Hope

2) Can I pay the CCJ (by 17th May - to avoid mark on credit score) and ask for the judge to order the claimant to pay the judgement back to me if I am successful with the N244, along with the £275 court fee?

If you were to pay the CCJ it would only be marked as satisfied and your credit score would still be affected. Don’t pay. Get it set aside instead which will cost UKPC money rather than you

Fightback2

Thank you all for your help, it is very appreciated!

Yes I do have proof of the emailed request - it is on my outlook email sent items.

Questions:

1) @Coupon-mad from reading other threads on here I'm aware of the need to "act promptly". Given that I first became aware of the judgement on 21st April (from my credit score), but waited for the judgement in default form to come through which I collected on 30th April, is it still fine to potentially delay sending off that N244 form for another week if I were to send DCB Legal a draft Consent Order and give them 7 days to respond?

2) Is there a time limit to submit an N244?

3) When I send DCB Legal proof of my earlier email, do I state the reasons for getting a set aside is because they sent it to the wrong address, or that they failed to follow PAP, or both of those?

Thank you so much.

Fightback2

Sorry forgot to add:

@Not_A_Hope thank you for your reply. I was under the impression that if I paid by 17th May (within 30 days of the date of judgement) that it would be removed from my credit file entirely? And that it would only be marked satisfied if I paid outside of the 30 days?

Thank you.

Boat_to_Bolivia

Fightback2 said:

Sorry forgot to add:

@Not_A_Hope thank you for your reply. I was under the impression that if I paid by 17th May (within 30 days of the date of judgement) that it would be removed from my credit file entirely? And that it would only be marked satisfied if I paid outside of the 30 days?

Thank you.

@Fightback2 You are correct If you pay the full amount within the 30 days, you can get the judgment removed from your credit record completely.

B789

Fightback2 said:

Sorry forgot to add:

@Not_A_Hope thank you for your reply. I was under the impression that if I paid by 17th May (within 30 days of the date of judgement) that it would be removed from my credit file entirely? And that it would only be marked satisfied if I paid outside of the 30 days?

Thank you.

You are correct. However, once you have paid it, it becomes so much more difficult to get that money back. They will just say that they have no reason to deal with you anymore because you have satisfied the debt and they will probably also say that by paying it you have now admitted liability.

Unless you are in the middle of a mortgage application or are in dire need of credit for something urgent, you will be better off just getting it set aside. Once set aside, whether 30 days or 5 years after the CCJ, all record of it will be expunged from your credit file.

Regarding filing the N244, there is no strict definition of what "promptly" is in terms of numbers. You should be able to explain any obvious delay that the judge may ask you about. Contacting the Claimant/solicitor to inform them that you intend to defend the claim and to seek their consent to set aside the judgment is not delaying anything and you are in fact doing this to try and reduce the amount of time the court has to spend on it.