CLAIM DISMISSED - CLERKENWELL COURT 10.02.25

skintbutwantstosave

I used the Defence template on the newbie thread, within the Defence I stated I would be moving address. I then enclosed a copy of a change of solicitor/address form with my new address with the Defence and posted it to court and the claimant solicitor. For some strange reason I didn't attach a copy of that form when I emailed it to the court. The Defence was served in October 2023. 
I received an email on 28 March from Claimant solicitor to say they have obtained a CCJ and that I have x days to pay their costs. They did not attach a copy of the order. 
I called the court and asked if they could re-send the order as I had not received any, they said it would be £11 for each document regardless if it was sent by post or email. They said the request for DQ was due in December and then a reminder was issued in January all of which were sent to the old address. 

I received an acknowledgement letter from claimant solicitors stating they note the new address and it will be processed in line with GDPR. I asked the Claimant Solicitors to resend me the orders and a copy of their acknowledgement letter but they have ignored me. 

Given that the error was on part of the court, how do I go about setting aside judgment and reclaiming the costs in doing so. Side note, I was not the driver at the time of the alleged parking breach of contract and this has been noted in the Defence. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 


FYI the court has now updated my address on their system whilst I was on the phone to them. I was not aware I could ring up and change the address, I presumed a form had to be completed. It appears the court only saved the email to their file and not the hard copy Defence and change of address form. After holding for two 2 hours consecutive calls, each time the call was dropped and therefore the agent didn't confirm whether they had received the hard copy Defence. I did take a picture of the stamped envelope with the Defence behind it. 

Please let me know how I should proceed. 

skintbutwantstosave

I have drafted the following witness statement, if someone could have a look and give me any pointers. Thanks

WITNESS STATEMENT

1.    I am the Defendant in the above matter. The facts are true to the best of my belief and my account has been prepared based upon my own knowledge.

 

2.    This in my supporting statement to my application dated 4 April 2024 requesting to:

 

a.    The default judgment dated 20 March 2024 be set aside.

 

b.    Order for the original claim to be dismissed.

 

c.     Order for the the Claimant to pay the Defendant’s costs on an indemnity basis. 

3.    The Claimant issued court proceedings against the Defendant at a former address of the Defendant (Huddersfield). No prior communication was received from the Claimant or its Solicitors prior to the issuing of the claim. At the time of the claim being issued, the Defendant had been living in London for almost 2 years. (Exhibit SA1)

 

4.    on 29 September 2024 the Defendant promptly filed an Acknowledgement of Service with the updated address (Hermon Hill). The Defendant was in the process of moving addresses however had not yet received a tenancy agreement and therefore did not include the new address (South Woodford) within the Acknowledgement of Service.

 

5.    The Defendant filed the Defence with the Court and served it on the Claimant on 12 October by 1st class post to the Court and the Claimant. (Exhibit SA2) The Defendant also sent a copy by email to the Court and the Claimant. (Exhibit SA3)

 

6.     In paragraph 3 of the Defence the Defendant stated she has recently moved address and will update the Court and the Claimant accordingly. The Defendant completed form N434 with the new address and enclosed this within the same envelope as the Defence. This form N434 was sent to both the Court and the Claimant. The Defendant provides a council tax statement dated 12 October 2024 with proof of new address. (Exhibit SA4)

 

7.    The Defendant received an acknowledgement from the Claimant’s Solicitor that they had updated their file with the Defendant’s new address (South Woodford) and they would process the Defendant’s personal information in accordance with GDPR and Data Protection.

 

8.    At 09:39 on 28 March 2024 the Defendant received an email from the Claimant’s solicitor stating that they have obtained judgment in default from the Court dated 20 March 2024. (Exhibit SA5).

 

9.    At 10:26 On 28 March 2024 the Defendant called the Claimant’s Solicitors advising them that she had not received any correspondence from the Court to file a Directions Questionnaire or any subsequent orders. The Defendant stated that the order had not been attached to their email and if they could send a copy as this was very concerning and was not going to make payment until proof of an order was provided. The Claimant’s Solicitors stated they were unable to discuss the matter with the Defendant on the telephone and that communication could only be made by email. The Defendant was made aware that the telephone number was to be used to make payments only despite the telephone number to make payment was different to the telephone number at the claim handler’s email signature. (Exhibit SA6)

 

10.  At 10:36 the Defendant emailed the Claimant’s Solicitors requesting a copy of the order confirming default judgment had been entered against the Defendant. (Exhibit SA7)

 

11.  At 10:37 on 28 March 2024, the Defendant called the Court to obtain details of the judgment and fairly present my case. After waiting 45 minutes to get through, the handler confirmed that the Defendant had failed to file the Directions Questionnaire and this was the reason judgment had been entered for default. The call was subsequently dropped. The Defendant called the court again at 11:31 and waited over 1 hour to get though. The handler confirmed that the address on the court file was Hermon Hill and correspondence from the court had gone to that address. The Defendant asked that the court update their record with the current address (South Woodford).(Exhibit SA8)

 

12.  The Defendant asked for copies of the correspondence to which the handler stated there would be a £11 fee per document to be re-sent whether it was sent by email or in the post. The Defendant informed the handler that the Defence was filed at court by post and form N434 was attached in the same envelope and if he could locate this on the system. The handler stated that he was unable to open certain documents on the court file and he would place the call on hold so he could obtain assistance from a colleague. Unfortunately, after waiting for a further 10 minutes on hold the call was dropped.

 

13.  At 13:41 the Defendant wrote to the Claimant’s solicitor notifying them that the court had not updated their record and all previous correspondence had gone to the Hermon Hill address and not the South Woodford address and asked that they provide a copy of the court order and their acknowledgement letter confirming change of address (Exhibit SA9). The Defendant has not received a response from the Claimant’s Solicitor.

 

14.  The reason judgment was entered by default due to the Defendant not completing the Directions Questionnaire. Accordingly the Defendant attaches a completed Directions Questionnaire. (Exhibit SA10)

 

15.  The Defendant believes the Claimant has not adhered to CPR 6.9(3) where they had failed to show due diligence in using an address the Defendant no longer reside. The Claimant did not take steps to ascertain the address of the Defendant’s current residence.  

 

16.  Further the Claimant was aware that the Defendant would be moving address as stated within the Defence and they could have emailed a copy of the order for the Defendant to complete and file the Directions Questionnaire. The industry’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results in an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country as well as unnecessary expenditure and court time. The conduct of the Claimant shows that they have no regard of the Defendant other than to ruined lives by county court judgments. The former Prime Minister Theresa May publicly pledged to investigate ‘abuse’ of the CCJ System and so called ‘Credit Clamping’ as reported in the Daily Mail article dated 12 September 2016. The Right Honourable Sir Oliver Heald on 23 December 2016 "announced a crackdown on unresolved debts which can damage people’s credit ratings without them knowing. The action comes after concerns were raised that companies were issuing claims to consumers using incorrect addresses."

 

17.  The Minister added "It cannot be right that people who are unaware of debts can see their lives and finances ruined by county court judgments. That in the digital age, we must ensure companies pursuing unpaid debts make every reasonable effort to contact individuals, rather than simply relying on a letter to an old address.”

 

18.  The Defendant has acted promptly and reasonably at every stage of the claim procedure by promptly filing an acknowledgement of service despite the claim being incorrectly served, filed the Defence on time, notified the Court and the Claimant of the change of address and promptly made an application to set aside judgement. The Claimant has not assisted in any way to attempt to resolve this matter other than for the reasons set out in paragraph 16.

 

19.  The Defendant has a real prospect in Defending this claim. The error has been on part of the court failing to update the court file with the Defendant’s correct address and believe the default judgment entered against the Defendant has been entered into incorrectly and ask the court to kindly consider the reimbursement of the fee of £275 should this request be successful.

STATEMENT OF TRUTH

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.

 

Signed:

Dated:

 

DRAFT ORDER

UPON reading the Defendant’s application dated 4 April 2024

IT IS ORDERED that:

1.    The default judgment dated 20 March 2024 be set aside.

 

2.    Order for the original claim to be dismissed.

 

3.    Order for the the Claimant to pay the Defendant’s costs of this application in the sum of £275 on an indemnity basis.

nopcns

It may be worthwhile contacting the solicitors and see if they would agree to a set aside with consent which would only cost £108. By doing so, they would avoid risking your costs of £275 if the court agrees that they did not do enough or acknowledge a notification of change of address.

However, you are dealing with a intellectually malnourished bunch of scammers who would likely try and force you to cover the £108 fee.

I don't understand why you thought that notifying the court and the claimant/solicitor of a change of address in the defence would cut the mustard. As far as the claimant/solicitor is concerned you should send a data rectification notice to the DPO. Also, posting something when you could much more easily email is an error of judgment. Unless the post was sent with a free certificate of posting, there is a high risk of it not being delivered or delivered too late. An email with a PDF attachment is instantaneous and can be proven to have been sent and delivered.

Coupon-mad

You don't have to do that and don't have to pay for an application.  Complain to the court manager at the CNBC and ask for the Order to be set aside without an application as this was court error.  DQ sent to the wrong address is their fault.

Don't phone.

Complain by email - attaching evidence of the fact you told the CNBC the new address before the DQ stage - although I don't know which the current complaints email is as the CNBC changed them a month ago.

skintbutwantstosave

thanks Coupon - I will let you know how I get on. Thank you so much for all your posts / threads, they have been extremely helpful. 

Le_Kirk

This is the new list of e-mail addresses but sadly, the complaints e-mail address is missing: -

Coupon-mad

skintbutwantstosave said:

thanks Coupon - I will let you know how I get on. Thank you so much for all your posts / threads, they have been extremely helpful. 

Easy to sort, wasn't it? Please update.  How quickly did the CNBC wipe the CCJ?

skintbutwantstosave

Hi Coupon-Mad, I made the complaint using the online HMCTs complaints form, it took about a month for the Compliants Manager to get back to me. The complaints manager took the liberty to refer the matter to the District Judge who set aside the Judgement and I was allowed to file the DQ. Due to the Court's error, they offered me £250 compensation, which I did not ask for however gracefully accepted. Thank you for telling me I could complain, rather than paying the application fee to set aside judgment which was the Court's error. 

Coupon-mad

skintbutwantstosave said:

Hi Coupon-Mad, I made the complaint using the online HMCTs complaints form, it took about a month for the Compliants Manager to get back to me. The complaints manager took the liberty to refer the matter to the District Judge who set aside the Judgement and I was allowed to file the DQ. Due to the Court's error, they offered me £250 compensation, which I did not ask for however gracefully accepted. Thank you for telling me I could complain, rather than paying the application fee to set aside judgment which was the Court's error. 

Great!  Nicely sorted with the CNBC. Especially "Due to the Court's error, they offered me £250 compensation, which I did not ask for however gracefully accepted." 

So are you now at Witness Statement stage?

skintbutwantstosave

So are you now at Witness Statement stage?

I am still waiting to hear after the DQs. Will refer to the newbie thread for witness statement. Any other tips you can suggest?

skintbutwantstosave

After a very lengthy wait of several courts losing the court file and various court transfer. I've now got a hearing date of 10th February.