Buying House Found 5 Year Old Parking CCJ - Ignore or Set Aside+Pay

HopefulFTB5

Hi all,

Thanks for all of the information you've already provided through the newbie thread and others.

I have been applying for a mortgage in principle and found a 5 year old CCJ for <£250. I have been given a mortgage in principle but it has significantly impacted the available lenders and therefore deals available.

I have no idea what it is from and it was sent to an old address. I contacted the court to find out what it was and they explained it was from one of our favourite parking firms. I have not contacted the parking firm. I have no evidence to know what it was or to build a case for defence.

I think I have 4 options:
- Ignore the CCJ, it will go away in a year and then my mortgage deals will improve. My mortgage in principle isn't terrible so I might buy a house before then and not benefit from losing the CCJ.

- Pay the CCJ, it will be marked as satisfied and that will improve my options for a mortgage in the couple of months it'd take to update. (I'd hate to validate them though).

- Apply for a set-aside on the basis that it was sent to an old address. Pay the original fine for speed. When that updates I'll get mortgage offers as though I didn't have a CCJ (I think). More expensive in the short term, but might save more with better mortgage deals.

- Apply for a set-aside and contest the fine. I have no evidence so would probably need to do a subject access request or something to get info which would mean contacting the parking firm. Probably the slowest and most expensive option.

I don't really want to have to put off buying a house for a year. I'm probably thinking either option 1 or 3.

Have I got my options right? Is option 3 even worth it?

Thanks for taking the time to read! 

Half_way

what parking company, and do you know who's car park it was and where?

HopefulFTB5

Half_way said:

what parking company, and do you know who's car park it was and where?

Excel. Annoyingly, I have no idea when and where from it being so long ago. I didn't want to contact them to find out, as the advice here seems to be not to contact.

Coupon-mad

Option 1 makes sense.

HopefulFTB5

Coupon-mad said:

Option 1 makes sense.

Thanks Coupon-mad

Not_A_Hope

Sounds like a mandatory set aside if they sent it to the wrong address which would cost about £275. If you can save more than that in mortgage costs it might be worth it. 

I have no evidence to know what it was or to build a case for defence.

Have the court not provided particulars of the claim? 

You suggest the CCJ is about 5 years old. When exactly will it expire? Takes months to buy a property.

Coupon-mad

Also takes months to get to hearing stage to set a CCJ aside!

HopefulFTB5

Not_A_Hope said:

Have the court not provided particulars of the claim? 

You suggest the CCJ is about 5 years old. When exactly will it expire? Takes months to buy a property.

Sadly all I got from the court was the claimant's name and reference (and an explanation of a lengthy process involving certificates of satisfaction etc.). I guess I could ring them up again and see if there is more, but tbh the full set-aside and defence process is something I'd rather avoid.

It'll expire in January 2025. So I could end up there by the time it all works out if there is a particularly lengthy sales process, or something falls through and I have to start again.

Not_A_Hope said:

Sounds like a mandatory set aside if they sent it to the wrong address which would cost about £275. If you can save more than that in mortgage costs it might be worth it. 

Coupon-mad said:

Also takes months to get to hearing stage to set a CCJ aside!

Ah interesting, I hadn't considered the time for a hearing for the set-aside. So that could be months, and then my credit report updating could also take months. I guess I'd be halfway to it expiring by then! 

--

I could always do option 2, would likely save more than the difference and the time frame probably isn't as bad. It just hurts my principles a little :')

Not_A_Hope

I guess I could ring them up again and see if there is more

The court should at least be able to give you the Particulars of Claim that should give you a clue as to where and when they allege you broke their T&Cs. The POCs are often so insufficient that the courts have been throwing out defended cases

Fruitcake

Paying off the CCJ won't expunge it. It will still remain on record, just marked as satisfied. A satisfied CCJ may not be of any advantage and may still prevent you from obtaining credit, or from getting a better deal on a mortgage. 
You run the risk of paying more than you will get back.

If you make contact with the PPC now, they may decide to come after you. Keeping your head below the parapet might still be the best option, but it won't hurt to at least find out the details of the claim/PoC from the courts.

troublemaker22

@kotters I’m sure you mean well and your financial advice is probably spot on. But your legal advice is wrong. OP has a very realistic chance of getting the CCJ cancelled by the court if they choose to go down that path. The length of time since the parking incident isn’t relevant. What matters is the length of time since they learned about the CCJ. 

To work out whether it’s worth the expense and effort of making the application and the prospects of getting an order for costs against the parking company, we need more facts. 

OP, unless you’ve decided to ignore the CCJ knowing it will fall away in a year’s time anyway, you should phone the court again and ask them to email you the particulars of claim. Be firm but polite and stay on the line until the email is sent. Be sure to ask for the particulars of claim which the court has - not the claim form. If you call at 8.30 sharp you should be answered fairly quickly.