Can I remove this CCJ?

Sussex_Mike

I have a County Court Judgement entered against me.  The judgement was made on 9th December 2024.  The total amount is £700 plus interest of £370.

It relates to a debt claimed by Southern Water regarding unpaid charges from 27/2/15 to 1/7/18.  My wife and I did not move to the property until 23/1/17.  I separated from my wife in mid-2018 and moved out, but she continues to live there.

We paid Southern Water from our joint account.  We closed that account soon after we separated.  I do not currently have access to any bank statements from that time to be able to prove this.

The first notification sent to me regarding the unpaid debt was sent on 17/9/24 to an address I had left on 7/8/2023.  At the same time, a similar letter was sent to my ex-wife at the same address, despite the fact that she has never lived there.  As far as I am aware, no correspondence has been sent to the address where the unpaid debt relates to, despite the fact that my ex-wife continues to live there.

None of the above correspondence was forwarded to me at my current address and so I was not aware of any pending court action and had no opportunity to address the matter in advance.  What can I do to remove the CCJ?

Keep_pedalling

You might get a better response on the dept-free wannnabe board. I hate asked for it to be moved there.

DE_612183

you can apply to have the CCJ set-aside - there is a court process for this - you can then dispute the charge.

sammyjammy

Or you could pay it under protest (there are legal words for this) so that the CCJ disappears then sort it out with Southern Water.  To apply to have it set aside will cost you money and you cannot be sure you will win.

DE_612183

sammyjammy said:

Or you could pay it under protest (there are legal words for this) so that the CCJ disappears then sort it out with Southern Water.  To apply to have it set aside will cost you money and you cannot be sure you will win.

If the charges relate to the period from Feb 2015, and you only owned the property ( different from moving in ) and you can prove it then the debt has to be set aside and recalculated.

fatbelly

You should apply for set aside and claim the costs back from them later.

You need 

A reason why you did not defend the claim
A defence - add that you question the application of interest
To act promptly

Water authorities have a habit of using High Court Enforcement so you do need to act promptly

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/guides/setting-aside-a-ccj-ew/

sourcrates

If you are successful at set-aside within 30 days, the CCJ can be removed.

Sussex_Mike

The most important thing here is to preserve my credit score so that I can get a mortgage early next year.  If I pay the judgement within the 30 days does that mean that the CCJ will not appear on my record?  Could I then apply to set it aisde and / or dispute it afterwards with a view to reclaiming the money?

Sussex_Mike

I have had a CCJ entered against me.  It would cost me about £1200 to pay.  If I do that within 30 days it won't appear on my record - is that correct?  I could try and have it set aside.  I think I have a very good case, but It looks like to do that there would be a further court hearing at a cost of £330 and I would need to be in attendance - with all the associated costs given that I live on the South Coast and the court is in Northampton and would need to take a day off work.  Am I better off just paying the judgement within the 30 days?

DE_612183

why is the court in Northampton?

Is that the business centre, in which case I think you can apply to have it heard locally...

Sussex_Mike

Yes, it is the business centre.  So I could ask for it to be heard at my local court?