Set aside ccj sent to me old address

**MC36835** · 14th August 2018, 16:45:PM

Witness statement

I am xxxxxx and I am the Defendant in this matter.
This my supporting Statement in support of my application dated 13th August 2018 to:
· Set aside the Default Judgement dated 10th July 2018 as it was not properly served at my current address;
· Order for the Claimant to pay the Defendant £255 as reimbursement for the set aside fee.

1. Default Judgement
1.1. I understand that the Claimant obtained a Default Judgement against me as the Defendant on 10th July 2018. However, this claim form was not been served at my current address and therefore, I was not aware of the Default Judgement. I understand that this Judgement was served at an old address (Flat xxxxxxxxxxxx). However, I moved to a new address (Flat xxxxxxxx) back in October 2017. The default judgement only came to light after a letter was left in the lobby area of my apartment building by the tenant of flat xxxxx. That letter from Lowell solicitors, dated 27th July 2018 informed me that a County Court Judgement had been issued against me and my account was in arrears.
1.2. At the time of the County Court Judgement, I was on the electoral roll at my new address, and was registered at the new address for council tax, all bills, banking and my driving license. As Lowell Solicitors had received no correspondence from me at any point and I had not responded to the court summons, I believe they had reasonable cause to question whether they were using an accurate address and that simple searches could have provided them with the correct address.
1.3. I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant!!!8217;s current and correct contact details. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. The industry!!!8217;s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results is an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country. This is a topical issue: I note that the Justice Minister The Rt Hon Sir Oliver Heald QC MP announced on the 23rd December 2016 a consultation and information campaign to help protect consumers from debt claims. The consultation will look at ways to; !!!8220;better protect consumers who are sent mail to inaccurate addresses and verify addresses again before a claim is sent.!!!8221; He added:
"It cannot be right that people who are unaware of debts can see their lives and finances ruined by county court judgments. 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."
1.4. On the basis provided above I would suggest that the Claimant did not fulfil their duty to use the Defendant!!!8217;s current address when bringing the claim.
1.5. I have also never received any previous documentation from the Claimant in this matter and I thus was never able to properly challenge the Claimant!!!8217;s claim.
1.6. Upon receiving the letter from Lowell Solicitors on Sunday 12th August 2018, I immediately paid off the outstanding debt in full on the same day. As the default judgement was issued on the 10th July 2018, I missed the opportunity to pay the debt within 30 days of the judgement by just 2 days. I believe the speed with which I have dealt with this matter highlights the fact that I would have paid the debt in full had I been aware of the judgement against me.
1.7. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim properly. I thus believe that the Default Judgement against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside.

Statement of Truth:
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.
Full name: xxxxxxxxx
Dated: 14/08/18
Signed:

**jaguarsuk** · 15th August 2018, 10:51:AM

Originally posted by MC36835 View Post

, 1. Do I have grounds for a set aside motion?
2. Any advise on my witness statement or draft order?
3. How do I pay the £255 court fee? Does it have to be a cheque as I cannot find any info on this?
4. Do I have to send anything with the n244 form, witness statement and draft order? For instance should I enclose evidence of my address or do I just take that to a hearing?

1. You would have if you hadn't paid it, but the court will not set it aside simply to repair your credit file now satisfied.
2. Don't bother
3. Throwing good money away
4. Don't do it... you'll be unsuccessful and end up with a wasted costs order against you.

**MC36835** · 15th August 2018, 11:59:AM

Thanks for getting back to me Jaguars. So there is nothing I can do about this CCJ? I panicked as soon as I found out about the CCJ and so paid it immediately. I can’t believe that I will have to have this on my record for 6 years without being made aware of it!

**R0b** · 15th August 2018, 12:43:PM

I would respectfully disagree with Jaguar on this point. I wouldn't say that there is a 100% chance that your application will be unsuccessful but does make things more difficult that you have now paid the debt.

Your first option could be to contact the Claimant in this case and see whether they are prepared to consent to setting aside the CCJ (at your expense) without having to attend a court hearing. This is not always that successful but might enhance your chances if you do all of the legwork such as preparing the consent order. Legally speaking, they are not under any obligation to do so and if they refuse, then you could then say that if they are not prepared to agree to a consent order then you will have no choice but to submit an application to the court and seek recovery of costs against them. This may cause the Claimant to reconsider or continue to object in which case your choice is an application to the court.

In terms of having any chance of setting aside your CCJ, I don't think your witness statement in its current form is going to cut it. You need to have it properly laid out, provide some background to the CCJ and then under a separate section, set out the reasons why the application should be set aside, referring to CPR 13.3 which is the 'some other good reason' rule.

Helpfully, there is some case law that might assist you should you have to attend a hearing and that case is Godwin v Swindon Borough Council. in the Judgment, Lord Justice May made the following statement:

Rule 13.3(1)(b) has a disjunctive alternative, so that the court may set aside or vary judgment entered in default if it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why the judgment should be set aside or varied or the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim. In my view, this is plainly capable of extending to circumstances where the defendant has not received the claim form and particulars of claim before judgment was entered against him. It is not an absolute right, but does not have to depend on the defendant having a real prospect of successfully defending the claim. The court therefore has sufficient power to do justice in these cases and will, no doubt, normally exercise this discretion in favour of a defendant who establishes that he had no knowledge of the claim before judgment in default was entered unless it is pointless to do so. The defendant, for instance, may have no defence to the claim, but may justifiably want to have the judgment set aside on the basis that, had he known about the claim, he would have satisfied it immediately without having an embarrassing judgment recorded against him.

So in theory, the Court of Appeal has acknowledged that if you can show you would have satisfied the judgment upon becoming aware of it, then that would be some other good reason to set aside the CCJ. In your case, you have already paid the CCJ so you would have to spin that around and say point out to the judge that as soon as you became aware, you paid it off in full. Not only that but you were also outside of the one month period by a mere 2 days, and on that basis (taking into account the reasoning by May LJ above), it would be unjust to not to set aside the CCJ and more particularly as the letters were referring to your old address so you had no knowledge of the claim itself.

Of course there is a risk that the court could refuse to set aside the CCJ and it is ultimate the discretion of the judge on the day of the hearing, and that is the risk you have to weigh up and decide if it is worth it. Some of these companies, especially where the debt has been sold on multiple times are unlikely to turn up and object since they have already been paid but you never know.

**MC36835** · 15th August 2018, 12:55:PM

Thank you Rob. I seem to be getting so many mixed messages regarding this! Your post is very helpful. The way I see it is that I have (or had) a good credit rating before this. I'm willing to risk the court fee if I even have an outside chance of having the CCJ set aside. It is extremely frustrating to think I was made aware just 2 days short of the payment period and that I was not made aware of something that can have such a significant impact on my life.

Thank you for your feedback. As my witness statement doesn't seem up to scratch would you advise I contact a solicitor before embarking on the process? Would any members here be able to advise on a suitable solicitor?

**R0b** · 15th August 2018, 13:15:PM

Unfortunately, this is a public forum so you will get mixed messages and we are all entitled to our own opinion. Equally, if you ask 100 solicitors the same question you are unlikely to get exactly the same answer - this is why we have claims that go to court, because there will always be arguments either side. It is always be a risk if you go to court as you are leaving it in the hands of someone else.

If you have had good credit prior to the CCJ being applied, and you can evidence that you are good at managing your credit then you could also add that in as an example that you do look after your credit file and meet the repayments on time which may persuade a judge to exercise discretion.

If you click on the link in my signature below there is an template of how to set out a witness statement for setting aside a default judgment - it is under 7b.

Alternatively, you may want to look at the link below which was a successful application to set aside.

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...ormation-help=

Set aside ccj sent to me old address

Set aside ccj sent to me old address

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