CCJ for less than £650. Can they do it?

bassett111

Hi, Can anyone help with this problem?
My wife has received a claim for less then £650 for services.
She is in dispute as they were were shoddy and not worth half that amount.
actually the bill was for £500 but they had bumped it up with extra "costs".
She has no intention of paying the full amount for the reasons above. We are both really angry that they have the cheek to do this.
What can she do?

poppysarah

She should have rejected the goods.

It might be too late if they've got a CCJ already.

Trading standards if the goods were poor quality perhaps.
Consumer direct?

tigerfeet2006

Also is it a court issued paoer you have? O r just them threatening? If it is court issued make sure you enter a defence so you can go to court and put your side to it. The judge may rule in your favour.

Also give CLS a ring and see if they can help
http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/

maxmycardagain

can they do it?

of course they can

but you have the right to defend the application, but be sure you have proof

the "bumping up" would include statutory court fees

bassett111

I thought that the amount had to be over a certain amount first before they could do this?
Unfortunately the Services were not goods that could be rejected. But what she got was not what she asked for and the end result which was promised to her never happened.
She complained but they disagreed. she would have paid £250 and called it a day but they started with the threatening letters.
As a result of there "services" My wife is now out of work. We are due to move abroad in 2 weeks so we're not that bothered but it would be nice to sort it out before we go. Especially since I don't think they deserve anything at all anyway!!!

fiveyearplan

No, that amount would be just fine for CCJ. They couldn't make you BR for that amount though, the threshold is 700 or 750.

As sais above, if you've received court papers, you must enter your defence. If you ignore it, she will receive CCJ.

bassett111

Thanks, I obviously remembered £650 from somewhere. It must have been about BR then. So nothing to do with CCJ's.
She has filled them in. Not sure how this is going to work though as, like i said, we're moving abroad in 2 weeks. They can either accept an offer soon or give her a CCJ and get nothing. Since she doesn't work or claim anything her income is virtually nothing I said offer a pound a month, that seems to be the thing to do that i have noticed on the forum.

Voyager2002

bassett111 wrote: »

Thanks, I obviously remembered £650 from somewhere. It must have been about BR then. So nothing to do with CCJ's.
She has filled them in. Not sure how this is going to work though as, like i said, we're moving abroad in 2 weeks. They can either accept an offer soon or give her a CCJ and get nothing. Since she doesn't work or claim anything her income is virtually nothing I said offer a pound a month, that seems to be the thing to do that i have noticed on the forum.

Why offer a pound a month, since that would mean acknowledging that she owes the money? Far better to explain that you are refusing payment on the grounds that the services promised were not provided, and so the other party failed to complete their side of the contract.

bassett111

Oh crap, we just filled in the forms and sent them.

SuziQ

Is it really worth fighting?
A few years ago we employed a local builder who didn't follow buiders regs,did a carp job-so much so the council inspector said the extension must be rebuilt. The builder refused to remedy the work,and we refused to give the last £4,000 until the work was done and finished (the work he had done was only 3/4 finished plus it was illeal.)
He took US to court for his money, almost 2 years later we had over £20,000 legal costs and had to settle out of court-ironically for £4,000,the exact amount of our final solicitors bill.
We had by that time had to pay a second builder £11,000 to redo and finish the work.
Lookin back we would have been soooooooooo much better off had we just paid the builder and walked away.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

fiveyearplan

Thanks for sharing that SuziQ. We have had similar problems on a few occasions and I have always talked my husband out of going to court for that very reason, you just don't know how much it could cost. Its not fair but thats the way it is.