CCJ set-aside. Now Small Claims & Draft Defence.

Khayman

KeithP said:

That Notice of Hearing states...

It is the Claimant - Vehicle Control Services - who are instructed to prepare the bundle.

Yes sorry I think I got distracted trying to upload the file! That is how I read it too, so glad to hear I'm reading it right!

Coupon-mad

Did you and the other poster who hopefully contacted you, sent a joint complaint to CiLex attaching bridgefixer's email trail from last year plus your own evidence x 2 that proves Elms have ignored what CiLex told them?

Have you emailed your court urgently alerting them to this sharp practice to prevent the court from vacating the hearing you paid for?

Khayman

I immediately emailed the court informing them that I had not seen or agreed to the 'consent order' and that I wanted it entered into the file to ensure the court is not misled.

Have not made any complaints yet. Have exchanged messages with bridgefixer but not anyone else? Am planning to send an email to CiLex.

Coupon-mad

Please pm this person, who has gone quiet:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80583577/#Comment_80583577

...and do a joint complaint to CiLex with both your case images AND remind CiLex of @bridgefixer's case and CiLex's action intended to stamp this out in 2023.

CiLex need to stop this abuse.

Khayman

So it's my hearing tomorrow and I've just realised I've not been sent the court bundle by ELMS?! Is this common? Does this indicate they won't bother turning up tomorrow? Surely if this is an order from the court they can't just ignore it and not bother?! They certainly shouldn't have sent it to my old address because I've confirmed my new address with them and they'll have the other document with it. Will be interested to see how this plays out!

fair2everyone

Good luck tomorrow. Hope everything goes well for you. To be honest, my son didn’t receive anything from Elms either, other than the “Consent Order” like the one you got. Fingers crossed for you. 

Coupon-mad

It's a set aside hearing (to hear your application) so they aren't required to send a WS.

Call the judge "Judge".

BE READY to say "no Judge, I do not agree" when the Judge starts by saying cheerfully:

"This will be very quick" (smiles) "we have a Consent Order so it's your lucky day, the Claimant agrees to your application..."

Errmm...  No no no.

Are you ready for explaining what is an abuse by Elms Legal, fooling Judges with mocked up Consent Orders and covering emails trying to quash the hearing and run away with no costs liability?

Are you ready for the possibility that the hearing may even have been wrongly vacated (cancelled) if the court has fallen for it?

If you are faced with that, tell the Usher that you aren't going anywhere because you paid for this hearing and did NOT sign any Consent Order and will not.  Insist on 10 minutes with a Judge.

Finally are you ready to explain why the DVLA address in the logbook is a red herring?  You are NOT at fault.  The Claimant is. Explained in the WS I wrote in the thread by @LizA70

Khayman

I will be relatively brief as I'm tired and don't have the energy to go into depth.

Through a possible admin error, it seems ELMS Legal have successfully misled the court into vacating my hearing and complying with their falsely titled 'consent order'. When I arrived today the staff couldn't find my hearing listed, and when I got to the pre-judgment desk, was told that the hearing had been vacated last Thursday and a letter sent out with the order. How they thought I would receive it before a hearing the following Monday is anyone's guess.

So, a judge has ordered (as per EMLS Legal draft 'consent' order) to:
Set aside the CCJ
Send the claim to small claims
Absolve ELMS of paying my application fee.

The court file was not available at the time (it had somehow been sent to a judge, despite also having been vacated last week) so having discussed it at length with the clerk, it seems there are some possibilities as to what may have happened. First is that my email informing the court that I did NOT consent to the draft order from ELMS, and to request the email be added to the court file, was NOT added to the court file. Thus the DDJ was misled into thinking I had consented (even though my signature was very clearly missing from the order!). Otherwise and, from what I understand, less likely, is that the email was there, but it was essentially disregarded by the judge, and the hearing vacated and the order passed anyway.

So I was advised to email the court explaining what had happened and why I believe it should not have happened, and see what the court come back with, be that an amendment to the order, a new hearing date, or who knows what. Possibly even a flat 'no changes' (i.e. tough sh*t).

The person (clerk?) I spoke to was very understanding, and was definitely of the opinion that it shouldn't have been vacated without the clear consent of both parties, which is why they think the judge didn't see my email.

So at this point I suppose I don't have much to lose, and will be emailing the court tomorrow laying everything out in full.

 As we were leaving the court, I told my wife that 'I expect @coupon_mad will blow their top when they hear this!'

Coupon-mad

Not really.  I'm damn tired of this wholly unreasonable conduct and it's more evidence of why you need to report this to CiLex.

Did you miss the fact that I listed this as a possible outcome above and to insist on 10 minutes with a Judge?

Khayman

I asked if it was possible to see the judge whose desk the file was on (i.e. who would have sat I. The hearing that had been vacated), but was told they wouldn't see anyone outside of a hearing, and as the judgment had already been made it would be pointless anyway.