Default CCJ after Acknowlegement of service late by 1 day

Coupon-mad

Under £600? There is no enforcement.  No worries.  You might get a letter but can tell them to get lost as the judgment was improper and will be set aside.

Over £600?  Danger zone.  HCEOs would be getting a writ and need to be told to stop.

claimfighter

The amount is just over £1000
The draft order included and order to stay any writs - is this enough? or is there more to do?

claimfighter

Box 3 of the N244:

An order that the judgement in default is set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2, alternatively 13.3, and the defendant be allowed to file a defence in the case
An order to stay any writ relating to the judgement.

Coupon-mad

claimfighter said:

Box 3 of the N244:

An order that the judgement in default is set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2, alternatively 13.3, and the defendant be allowed to file a defence in the case
An order to stay any writ relating to the judgement.

"An order that the judgement in default is set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2, alternatively 13.3, and the defendant be allowed to file a defence in the case
An order to stay any writ relating to the judgement."

That's good but I would email DCBLegal now and tell them that the judgment in claim number xxxxxxx was improper and you have applied to set it aside and stay any writ. 

Attach a copy of the N244 and proof it was emailed and acknowledged, and when.

DO NOT PHONE THEM.

claimfighter

draft order contains this:

5. All enforcement be put on hold pending the outcome of the application.

claimfighter

Email to DCBLegal sent last night 

Dear Sirs 

I'm writing to inform you that the default judgement for claim XXXX was issued improperly after the Acknowledgement of Service was filed.

I have applied to the court to have the judgement set aside and stay any writ,

See attached N244 form and proof of receipt from CNBC

claimfighter

Update email received from DCB legal with the following draft order regarding the N244 - 

CONSENT ORDER
 Before an Officer of the Court
UPON the Claimant and the Defendant having agreed to the terms of this Order;

 AND UPON the Claimant accepting that, although the claim was correctly served at the Defendant’s last known address pursuant to CPR 6.9, the Defendant did not receive the claim form until 3rd January 2024 and therefore did not have opportunity to defend the claim;

AND UPON the parties agreeing that, in view of the above, there is some other good reason for Judgment to be set aside pursuant to CPR 13.3;

IT IS ORDERED BY CONSENT THAT:-
1. The Judgment entered on 03/01/2024 is set aside;
 2. The registration is cancelled;
3. The Claimant do file and serve an amended Particulars of Claim within 14 days of the sealed Order;
4. The Defendant do file a Defence within 14 days of receipt of the amended Particulars of Claim;
5. The Claim be allocated to the Small Claims Track;
6. No Order as to costs. 

Am I correct in thinking that they are consenting to setting aside and starting again, without them paying our N244 fee? if so should we accept this?

Coupon-mad

Up to you.

That Consent Order throws the £275 in the bin (at least as far as recovering it from the Claimant is concerned) but it's not certain that the Judge would have ordered them to pay that fee anyway.  I don't think most Judges would find the fault lies with the Claimant.

The fault lies with the MCOL system that (unlawfully and unfairly) allows the 'request judgment' button to be pressed even AFTER an AOS was filed.

The new CPR change from 2020 - and the case law - shows that position is unsound and needs addressing by the CNBC.  

I'd consider signing that Consent Order and then putting in a formal complaint to the CNBC:

https://hmcts-complaint-form-eng.form.service.justice.gov.uk/?analytics=accepted

...showing them the MCOL history dates and times and the case law, and the fact that their MCOL system hasn't kept up with the CPR change that took place in 2020.

To comply with the CPR change, MCOL needs updating to 'grey out' the Claimant's 'request judgment' button immediately that an Acknowledgement is filed (not when it is processed or marked 'received' by the CNBC, a position which is too late and now unlawful).

See the thread by @jag_run here who did a successful complaint and was offered compo:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79302838/#Comment_79302838

claimfighter

Update and questions:

We agreed to the Consent order above and have now received this from the Court - I'm confused as I was expecting the judgement to be set aside and to receive a new PoC from DCB to which we would acknowlege

General form of Judgement or Order
in the County Court etc etc

IT IS ORDERED THAT

1. List for Hearing on first available date after 14 days, namely Application Hearing on Tuesday 23rd April 2024 with a time estimate of 30 minutes face to face Hearing
2.  Defendant shall no later than 7 days before Hearing file at Court and serve on the Claimant a copy of her acknowledgement of service and proposed defence

Questions
Has the original judgement been set aside?
which hearing is this referring to? eg is this the set aside hearing or the actual hearing for the claim where we need to get the witness statements etc in order?

Which next steps in the guide should we follow?

We already had our defence prepared (the one you first submit after AoS) do we now need to prepare the witness statements?

Thanks

claimfighter

Any pointers on the above  - ie what stage we're now at - I'm a bit confused as to whether we are still in the set aside process OR if we've reset to the beginning or we are at the actual hearing stage

Many thanks