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Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

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  • Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

    I am challenging a CCJ by asking the court to set judgement aside.



    Briefly :- I moved house in 2007 to a very rural location, the nearest neighbour was a mile away, then a year or so later had another move to a similar place around ten miles away.


    I was working abroad quite a lot from 2008 onwards, occasionally popping back home to the UK but keeping a home (rented) in the UK.



    I was never on the electoral roll and the only type of credit I ever applied for was for a mobile phone contractand I paid my car insurance by direct debit.



    I moved home again last year, without going into too much detail, I had been avoiding a violent ex boyfriend who died, I then felt safe to return to a more populated area, so started to work more in the UK and placed my name on the electoral roll, updated my bank details, gave DVLA my new address etc.


    A month or so ago, a letter from a company called bwlegal arrived through my door, they had taken court action against me, I knew nothing about the alleged debt, so after reading on this forum many different posts, applied for the judgement to be set aside.


    The debt appears to be one purchased by a company called Lowell Portfolio from a UK bank whom I once had an account with, I stopped using that bank when I moved home in 2006, since then I have had no contact with them.


    This morning, I received the date for the hearing and am now panicking and am really lost as I don't know how to proceed.


    Do I just turn up at court with what little evidence I have or do I have to submit a defence ?


    Do I write to the Claimants solicitors asking for proof of the debt, or do I leave that until the court date ?.


    I received no paperwork from the courts (is it the courts or the the claimants that send the paperwork), the paperwork was sent to my last address (not my current one) which would have undeliverable, it was demolished a week after I moved out, the owner cleared the land and started to build a home for himself.



    There is no default on my credit report from the bank mentioned above, in fact, there is no mention whatsoever of that bank at all.


    From what I’ve read on the forum I think I should be asking in court for the following details, could someone please advise (please note, this is not my own work, but different things copied and pasted from this forum or other posts on the internet).



    Proof of delivery of court paperwork :- Section 6.9 Service of documents clearly states that the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant. The relevant law states “(3) Where a claimant has reason to believe that the address of the defendant referred to in entries 1, 2 or 3 in the table in paragraph (2) is an address at which the defendant no longer resides or carries on business, the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant’s current residence or place of business (‘current address’).

    (4) Where, having taken the reasonable steps required by paragraph (3), the claimant

    (a) ascertains the defendant’s current address, the claim form must be served at that address;


    [ My argument is that a simple check of the electoral roll or a look at my credit file would have provided them with my current address, the first entry on there is for the middle of January this year, with another 3 or 4 entries before the CCJ was granted therefore they did not meet the relevant law above and the papers were illegally served. ]





    Proof of debt :- Under section 136 of the Law Property Act 1925 (“LPA 1925”) notice of assignment must be given to the other party to a contract (i.e. the borrower) expressly in writing.


    It is denied that the Claimant has the right to lay a claim due to contraventions of Section 136 of the Law of Property Act and Section 82A of the consumer credit Act 1974. The Claimant has yet to provide a copy of the Notice of Assignment its claim relies upon.


    As per Civil Procedureicon Rule 16.5(4), it is expected that the Claimant prove the allegation that the money is owed.


    The claimant is also put to strict proof to:


    (a) Provide a copy agreement/facility arrangement along with the Terms and conditions at inception, that this claim is based on.

    (b) Provide a copy of the Notice served under 76(1) and 98(1) of the CCA1974 Demand /Recall Notice and Notice of Assignment.

    (c) Provide a breakdown of their charging/fees levied to the account with justification.

    (d) Show how the Claimant has reached the amount claimed.

    (e) Show how the Claimant has the legal right, either under statute or equity to issue a claim.

    (f) Show how they have complied with sections III & IV of Practice Direction - Pre-action Conduct.


    [ My argument here is that they have not provided any proof that the alleged debt is actually owned by them ]



    Statute barred :- Under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5:

    “An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.”


    Furthermore in their Consumer Credit sourcebook, the Financial Conduct Authority states the following rules:


    "A firm must not attempt to recover a statute barred debt in England, Wales or Northern Ireland if the lender or owner has not been in contact with the customer during the limitation period." 7.15.4


    I have no record of this debt and do not recognise the account number, however if the debt did ever exist my last contact with the legal debt owner would have been made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless the claimant can provide evidence of payment or written acknowledgement from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, any court action would be illegal and the judgement should be set aside.


    [ My argument here is that I have no knowledge of any such debt, but if one did ever exist, it would be statute barred as I have had no contact with the original creditor ]

    Thank you for reading this far, I would really appreciate any advice.



    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

    Hi Sue, Firstly if your username is your real name it's advisable to change it (just pm me and let me know what you want to change it to)

    Secondly, would you be able to post up what you put on your application to set aside the jugdment ?

    Have Lowell/BW Legal given you ANY information about what the debt is ?
    #staysafestayhome

    Any support I provide is offered without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

    Received a Court Claim? Read >>>>> First Steps

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

      Originally posted by Amethyst View Post
      Hi Sue, Firstly if your username is your real name it's advisable to change it (just pm me and let me know what you want to change it to)

      Secondly, would you be able to post up what you put on your application to set aside the jugdment ?

      Have Lowell/BW Legal given you ANY information about what the debt is ?
      Hello Amethyst,

      That is not my real name, but if you think it advisable to change it, please do so.

      They indicated it was from a bank account, that is all I know.

      Here is my witness statement, with identifying parts omitted.

      The last known address [name of bank] had for me would be “[address]”, this is the address I was living at the last time I had any correspondence with [name of bank], I have never ever had any correspondence with either “Lowells” or “bwlegal” or any of their sister or partner companies.


      My credit report shows that on the [date in 2006 & name of bank] confirmed my address as being “[address]”.

      There are no other entries for [name of bank], had a debt been owed I would have expected it to show up here as “defaulted”.

      Debt companies including Lowells, have been sending me letters for what I consider to be fabricated debts to my current address since 2013.


      Two of what I consider to be fabricated debts are claimed to be owed to [name of bank], one is to [name of credit card company].


      I currently have a [credit card ] with them that has a balance of around £250and a spending limit of £5,000 my credit report shows this account as being in credit, not overdrawn and within the terms of the agreement every month since [date in 2007].


      The credit card account number they are trying to claim payment for bears no resemblance whatsoever to my real [name of credit card company] account number.


      I have also been inundated with telephone calls asking me to identify myself, when I ask them to identify themselves first, they always refuse until I have done so. At this point I tell them I think they are trying to scam me, I then terminate the conversation.

      The telephone number they call became active in my name when I moved into my current address and is linked to it in the telephone book.


      The situation has recently become so bad, that we have decided to become ex-directory and change my phone number.


      Under section 6.9 of service of documents the claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the address of the defendant’s current residence or place of business (‘current address’).


      This could easily have been done as both my name, address and telephone number were in the telephone phone book. I myself undertook a search using “http://www.thephonebook.bt.com/” which is BT’s online telephone number search facility, this took a maximum of a minute to find my current address and phone number (which as indicated above is changing).


      I am also on the electoral roll and have been since 2013.


      I have checked my credit report and there is no record of anyone carrying out an identification check from this company. I am happy to provide these as evidence.

      Given that Lowells had my address and were sending letters there, “bwlegal”, being their solicitors, should also have had that information, had the correct address been used on the court paperwork I would have defended the action.

      I have read numerous posts on legal and money advice forums where the poster claims that “bwlegal” deliberately enter the incorrect last known address to ensure that court papers are incorrectly served, therefore preventing the defendant from defending a case where “bwlegal” have little or no evidence the debt exists.

      This worries me greatly and I intend to complain to the financial ombudsman in due course.

      I first became aware of the judgement against me on [date] when a letter from “bwlegal” arrived in the post, since then a detailed search of all my records and paperwork have shown up no documentation relating to an account with the number “[a/c number]”.


      I did open some accounts with [name of bank] many years ago, circa 2002 I believe, but don’t recall the account numbers.


      In late 2005 my late partner became bankrupt, I believe that these bank accounts were closed around this time or shortly after.


      I have not contacted [name of bank] in writing or by telephone since moving from “[address]” in 2007, therefore if any debt did exist, it would now be statute barred.‘


      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

        Hi everyone,

        I think I posted my above reply in the early hours of the morning and it may have ended up being hidden by other posts for the many other people you help.

        Could anyone advise please if I need to do anything else before the court date ?

        Thanks in advance

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

          When was the CCJ obtained?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

            Originally posted by ploddertom View Post
            When was the CCJ obtained?
            It was in June of this year, the first I knew about it was 4 weeks ago, I then did a lot of reading for 3 or 4 days on various websites and help forums, gained a little knowledge and applied for the judgement to be set aside.

            I have never been to court so have absoluteley no idea how the system works, except what I've seen on the TV ( that will probably do more harm than good) and the little I've managed to learn, is I'm sure nowhere near enough.

            I still struggle with the acronyms (CCj, DCA etc) never mind anything else.

            Thanks

            Sue

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

              If that is the case it may be that you may have a defence of the account being Statute Barred - do you know when you last made a payment or acknowledged the debt? Some more knowledgeable than me can help with this.

              If going to Court then it is nothing like what you see on TV. It is quite informal usually held in a private room with yourself, the other side & Judge - who will probably be dressed in a suit. You attend promptly before the time given & present yourself to the Court Usher. You should dress smartly even if only casually & the Judge is usually addressed as Sir or Ma'am and most importantly do not interrupt when they are speaking. Even if things go against you it is policy to thank them for their time. If you win then ask for your costs of the day - Court application fee if you paid this, travel costs, parking costs if applicable, loss of earnings if applicable.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Worried about court regarding set aside hearing.

                Originally posted by ploddertom View Post
                If that is the case it may be that you may have a defence of the account being Statute Barred - do you know when you last made a payment or acknowledged the debt? Some more knowledgeable than me can help with this.

                If going to Court then it is nothing like what you see on TV. It is quite informal usually held in a private room with yourself, the other side & Judge - who will probably be dressed in a suit. You attend promptly before the time given & present yourself to the Court Usher. You should dress smartly even if only casually & the Judge is usually addressed as Sir or Ma'am and most importantly do not interrupt when they are speaking. Even if things go against you it is policy to thank them for their time. If you win then ask for your costs of the day - Court application fee if you paid this, travel costs, parking costs if applicable, loss of earnings if applicable.
                Thank you for the advice, it is very helpful.

                I do not even know if this was my debt, or if it's genuine, one would presume it is, but until I see some of their paperwork, I really do not know.

                What I do know is that the last time I had anything to do with the bank involved was around 2008.

                Do I just turn up at court with what little I have and ask bwlegal for proof the debt is not statute barred ?, all I can take with me at the moment is my credit report which shows no mention of the bank involved whatsoever.

                I also intend to ask them for proof of Assignment as without it the debt cannot be legally enforced, even if it were mine and not statute barred, is this a good idea ?

                Comment

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