Remove a CCJ?

cryptowhale123

Hi all. Me and my partner are going to be buying a house in 2025. She's recently looked at her credit report and I'm afraid it's not good. She had a balance of £400 from a catalogue which was taken out in 2017. For whatever reason, she stopped paying this and it was handed to a debt company around 2019. She has told me that she was making payments to the debt company until 2020 when Covid hit, at this point she, or the company, had stopped taking payments due to Covid. During Covid she moved addresses. Fast forward to 2021 and a CCJ was taken out against her or this debt (£512). Problem is she had moved addresses so never received any paper work regarding this. She has been unaware of the CCJ until recently looking at her credit file. What is the best plan of action? She will get this CCJ paid off immediately. I understand the CCJ will be on her file for 6 years.

Is there any way to remove the CCJ? Can it be set aside considering the paperwork was sent to the wrong address? Is there any leeway in getting it removed due to the fact she had started making payments towards the debt?

Thanks in advance

DullGreyGuy

To have it set aside you have to not only show good reason for the court process to be restarted but also show you have a reasonable prospect of winning the retrial... on what grounds is she arguing she doesn't owe the money?

Hoenir

Settling the CCJ would be a great start. Removing it. Little chance unfortunately. As walking away from known debts has no grounds for appeal.

BoGoF

Pay the amount due now and ask the company who got the CCJ if they will remove it as the paperwork wasn't received. You are relying on good will here as your partner should have notified the change of address and I doubt very much that it  was the debt company that stopped taking the payments.

There will be mortgage options available (via a broker) for those with satisfied CCJ

cryptowhale123

DullGreyGuy said:

To have it set aside you have to not only show good reason for the court process to be restarted but also show you have a reasonable prospect of winning the retrial... on what grounds is she arguing she doesn't owe the money?

She's not arguing she doesn't owe the money - She does and it will be paid, but she had no idea about the CCJ due to moving house. 

cryptowhale123

BoGoF said:

Pay the amount due now and ask the company who got the CCJ if they will remove it as the paperwork wasn't received. You are relying on good will here as your partner should have notified the change of address and I doubt very much that it  was the debt company that stopped taking the payments.

There will be mortgage options available (via a broker) for those with satisfied CCJ

Would it be wise to contact the debt company before paying the CCJ off, asking them to remove the CCJ if the debt is paid and to get them to provide us with that in writing?

sourcrates

After the first 30 days have elapsed, you can only remove a default judgement by a successful set aside application. 

Its a matter of public record that once registered, can only be removed by the court, or by time (6 years).

A set aside application costs £275, and should be done promptly, that`s within weeks, months at the latest, chances of success lessen the longer it is left.

MEM62

cryptowhale123 said:

Is there any way to remove the CCJ? Can it be set aside considering the paperwork was sent to the wrong address? 

I appreciate that this may seem to be hair-splitting but the paperwork was not sent to the wrong address.  It was sent to the address that they had for her.  If she failed to update her address when she moved the she will have to live with the outcome of that oversight. 

cryptowhale123 said:

BoGoF said:

Pay the amount due now and ask the company who got the CCJ if they will remove it as the paperwork wasn't received. You are relying on good will here as your partner should have notified the change of address and I doubt very much that it  was the debt company that stopped taking the payments.

There will be mortgage options available (via a broker) for those with satisfied CCJ

Would it be wise to contact the debt company before paying the CCJ off, asking them to remove the CCJ if the debt is paid and to get them to provide us with that in writing?

That is not likely to be something that they would agree to.  After all, there is no advantage to them in doing so.  

The positive thing is that a settled CCJ will look much better on her history than an unsettled one.  Get it paid and time will lessen its impact as you move forward.  When the time comes a mortgage broker should be able to help you secure a mortgage.      
  

sourcrates

Was the Claim Form correctly served? 

From the civil procedure rules, part 12 -

In most claims, a claimant is required to ensure that the claim form is served on the defendant. The claim form is the document that sets out what is being claimed and why.

To serve the claim form means to take certain steps, required by the court rules, to bring the claim form to the defendant’s attention.

The court rules require that the claim form be served by posting it to the usual or last known residence of the defendant.

If you can show that the claimant knew or ought to have known that you had changed address, then the claim form will be deemed not to have been served. This means that the CCJ is irregular and the court must set it aside.

However, if the claimant had no reason to believe you had moved, then the claim form was probably correctly served, even if it was sent to an old address. It may not be your current address but, from the claimant’s point of view, it is the ‘usual or last known’ residence.

In these circumstances, the claim form was correctly served and the CCJ is valid.

PART 12 - DEFAULT JUDGMENT - Civil Procedure Rules (justice.gov.uk)