Defence Struck Out by County Court - Any advice please?

thebfb

Hi all thanks to everyone for the advice.

I attended County Court with my partner yesterday to apply for a set aside on the basis that the Claimant had failed to make reasonable endeavours to ascertain the correct address.

The actual initial charge was spurious too given she paid by phone, payment didn't go through but she missed the text notification initially of same as it didn't come through. She immediately paid in full for parking on receipt of it.

Long story short, she completed the N244 and paid the £303 fee.
She did not include a Statement of Truth or Draft Order or a correctly worded Witness Statement, merely a completed form. She assumed the form itself and her sequence of events therein was her defence. She assumed the hearing at best would see the CCJ removed and the Parking Company would either then pursue correctly at her correct address at which point she could defend herself in court, or they wouldn't bother....

I KNOW - ALL VERY NAIVE AND SHE SHOULD HAVE COME HERE!

It stated the defendant had to submit the above by 2/1/2025 - she read that as the Parking Company having to do it - not her!

NB: The Parking Company also contacted her after the court issued a court date offering to strike off for £100 - but as per many posters here she figured she would then be £303 + £100 out of pocket for something that shouldn't cost a penny and was purely vexatious.

I KNOW - ALL VERY NAIVE AND SHE SHOULD HAVE COME HERE!

We had a very sympathetic judge. She said her hands were tied and she had to strike it out.

She said she couldn't offer legal advice but my partner should "go away and Google what she had to do"

Can anyone explain what are our options now - or are we scuppered?

Thanks In Advance

Gr1pr

So was the CCJ set aside   ?  Or not set aside,  its not clear to me if it was or not 

If its not been set aside,  it seems to me that the money was wasted due to incorrect paperwork and missing deadlines etc. It seems to me that the judge had to strike out the set aside application due to incorrect paperwork 

So no further forward 

But if the CCJ was set aside and needs a new defence submitting,  plus witness statement etc, then maybe you are further forward   ?  Depends on the actual outcome of this set aside hearing,  success or failure 

Its definitely NOT as straightforward a process as the defendant thought,  not a simple paper exercise,  not when you read other CCJ threads on here

The thread below is how a set aside should be done 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6586981/urgently-need-help-ccj-urgent#latest

thebfb

The General Form of Judgment or Order did clearly state that the application would be struck out automatically on 2/1/2025 unless the Defendant sent a witnss statement etc. to Court and Claimant unless already stated within the application notice.

She read this incorrectly 

a) Seeing herself as "Claimant!"
b) Assuming completing the form meant "already stating within the application notice"

The judge said this was a common mistake - couldn't give us legal advice but essentially she had to strike it out.

She implied we needed to go again but gave us no indication of how or where we do this.

Do we/Can we apply again to the court again (Another £303)
Do we appeal?
Do we amend the application?
Or are we completely scuppered and have missed the chance to appeal?

Gr1pr

I assume that the Defendant  ( debtor   ) can apply again for the set aside,  correctly this time,  as the correct entity,  costing a further £303!   but IANAL 

It certainly is not an appeal,  you both need to know and understand the correct terminology for this, no more mistakes 

You didn't really state the judges decision,  but I would surmise that the application was struck out,  null and void , due to procedural irregularities by the CCJ debtor ( the Defendant in the original court claim,  ergo she is definitely not the Claimant,  the Claimant is the parking company and always was  )

The thread title states that the defence was struck out, it wasnt 

The set aside application must have been struck out 

thebfb

Many thanks Gr1pr - this is much appreciated.

We are learning quickly...

Yes - my Partner (The Defendant) has been told verbally by the judge that her application was struck out - so therefore null and void due to procedural irregularities.....

£303 wasted 

If we go again we can go with another £303 plus a claim for costs if/when we win.

I get it now - and when we go again we refer to the NEWBIE section and do a proper job.

(I had to Google IANAL)

Coupon-mad

thebfb said:

Many thanks Gr1pr - this is much appreciated.

We are learning quickly...

Yes - my Partner (The Defendant) has been told verbally by the judge that her application was struck out - so therefore null and void due to procedural irregularities.....

£303 wasted 

If we go again we can go with another £303 plus a claim for costs if/when we win.

I get it now - and when we go again we refer to the NEWBIE section and do a proper job.

(I had to Google IANAL)

I would get a lawyer to do it this time - Contestor Legal.  Google them.

They will apply properly and will seek ALL the costs (except maybe the first wasted £303 which was a mistake on the Defendant's part) and they will seek to STRIKE OUT the entire claim, too.

If they achieve all this then she will merely be out of pocket in the end, as she is now, by the wasted £303.

Alternatively, read the thread by @icy_fox for how to do this properly and the case law to use.