had judgement but no record on my credit file or on MoneyClaim online

[vul3ck6]

Hi, everyone

My name is Daniel, I am having difficulty with a mystery CCJ granted on the 27th January 2017. The original CCJ notice from Claimant was issued on the 8th January 2016 and I filed the defence and acknowledgement to the Money Claim online, then the CCJ was stayed after no reply from the Claimant. Then I have moved from the flat to the new place I bought in March 2016 (my flat was on the market way before receiving the CCJ notice), but I have forwarded the post for 6 months till 26th September 2016 (got a copy of the receipt). To cut the story short, a CCJ was granted on the 27th January 2017 and of course I have no idea because I have moved, also have not heard anything back from the Claimant for this long, I thought they gave up. Then this is the weird bit, because I have been very careful with my credit score, I have signed up three different credit score agencies (Noddle, moneysavingexpert by Experian, Clearscore), all of them showed no CCJ on my credit file at all (latest one, March 2018). Also I checked the Money Claim Online every month to check if there is any movement, NOTHING AT ALL, no record of granted CCJ, so I can not even file the Set Aside online.

I only realised that I got a CCJ granted when the Claimant sent me a interim charging order on my current property on 17th October 2017. I filed a defence to discharge the interim charging order straight away and just had a hearing today with a DIDN'T GIVE A MONKEY judge who basically said nothing to do with me, it's your problem with the granted CCJ in January 2017, so he didn't even ask for my opinion, just like he is doing an office job, stamped...stamped, granted the final charging order like it's a game. I was pretty upset after that, and what was the point of a hearing if the judge didn't even look through the evidences I sent.

Well, that's why I am here to seek advice. I know the N244 has to be filled and sent to the county court but I didn't even know where to send the form to. I have no information/paperwork of this CCJ by which judge and from which county court.

Please help, I am grateful for any advice.

[jaguarsuk]

Okay, so the Judge wouldn't want to hear about how the judgement was granted as the hearing was only for the charging order hence why it was granted as the claimant had a CCJ. Prevention of them gaining a charging order should have been by filing an application to set the judgement aside.

The CCJ hadn't appeared on your credit file due to the Claimant not moving to enforce it, now that they have enforced it you will find it will appear on your credit file soon.

Really you should have told the court you had changed address, but what is done can't be changed. You need to get a copy of the application to lift the stay and enter summary judgement to know what they countered your defence with, as there's no point filing an application to set aside with a £255 fee if they have you banged to rights.

[Diana M]

Your Defence may have been struck out if you were sent a Directions Questionnaire to complete and you failed to file it by the deadline imposed by the court.

Since you had filed your Defence the options open to the Claimant after the claim was stayed were to make an Application to lift the stay in order for the proceedings to continue (usually done when documentation has been sourced) and you’d be sent the DQ so the claim could be transferred to you local county court to be allocated to track and a Notice of Hearing with Directions would be sent.

Their other option could be to apply to lift the stay and simultaneously make an Application for a Summary Judgment to strike out your Defence as having no merit which can be dealt with without a Hearing. This may also happen when documentation is sourced.

Who is the Judgment Creditor (i.e. the Claimant), who are the solicitors, how much is the CCJ, and is the property in your sole name or joint names?

At the Final Charging Order Hearing did you ask for any conditions to be included in the Order such as no Order for Sale until any children in the household reach 18 (if relevant), or no OfS on condition you paid £X per month. In fact you could have asked the DJ to make a Suspended Order if you made agreed payments.

Once it’s clear how the CCJ was obtained you need to establish whether there’s a remote chance of getting it set aside or varied.

Im curious to know why it’s not showing on your CRA files. I assume you’ve checked Trust Online to see if it was registered, and I also assume the Judgment Creditor produced a copy of the CCJ with their Final Charging Order Application which is how you know the date.

Di

[Diana M]

The CCJ hadn't appeared on your credit file due to the Claimant not moving to enforce it

A CCJ which is the result of a Default Judgment would automatically be registered regardless of any steps taken to enforce it.

Joanna Connolly explains it here >

Re: PRA GROUP V's BRIGO

1. After a trial/hearing there is no requirement for the Claimant to notify the court when the Judgment debt is paid. It is only if they make an application to the court to enforce the Judgment (thereby notifying the court that the Judgment monies have not been paid) that the court would even notify Registry Online of the Judgment.


2. The only Judgments that are automatically sent by the court to the Registry Trust to be registered on your credit history are Default Judgments and admissions. If these judgments are not paid within 30 days (or a month) then the Judgment will stay on the defendant’s credit history for 6 years. If paid within the month then the judgment will be cancelled on the Register and removed from the credit history.


3. If Judgment is handed down by the court at the end of a trial or at a hearing for say £4,000 then if the order is silent on when it is to be paid it would be due within 14 days, or the court may order 21 or 29 days. The order is not automatically sent to Registry online at this point. There has to be some further action taken by either the claimant or the defendant in relation to the Judgment debt.


4. If the Defendant after the trial/hearing approaches the claimant and say for example informally agrees (without a consent order being signed) that they can pay the Judgment order of £4,000 over say 12 months by standing order then neither party has taken steps to either vary/enforce the order and as long as the payments are made the Judgment will not be sent by the court to Registry Online. The claimant still has the security of the Judgment that can be enforced if the defendant misses an instalment but the Defendant has the benefit that the Judgment will stay off their credit history.


5. If the Defendant pays the Judgment monies within the time period stipulated by the court , then again nothing is sent to Registry online


6. If the Defendant doesn't pay the Judgment monies and the creditor does not take any steps to enforce the Judgment (i.e bailiffs, attachment of earnings etc) then again until the creditor does take the step the Judgment won't be sent to Registry online.


7. If the OP makes an application to the court to vary the Judgment AFTER a trial/contested hearing then at that point the Judgment will be sent to Registry Online.

Di

[jaguarsuk]

A CCJ which is the result of a Default Judgment would automatically be registered regardless of any steps taken to enforce it.

Joanna Connolly explains it here >





Di

Genuine question, if the claim is stayed and then an application made to lift it, then enter summary judgement - would that be classed as a default judgement when the defendant has filed a defence?

[vul3ck6]

Genuine question, if the claim is stayed and then an application made to lift it, then enter summary judgement - would that be classed as a default judgement when the defendant has filed a defence?

I am not too sure, but I did file the defence and acknowledgement in February 2016, but heard nothing back from the claimant for over six months. I know it was stayed because the solicitor from the claimant told the judge yesterday. Of course, I have non of the information about it, and I have requested the Claimant to provide me with relevant documentation but I only email them, shall I post a hard copy too?

[vul3ck6]

Your Defence may have been struck out if you were sent a Directions Questionnaire to complete and you failed to file it by the deadline imposed by the court.

Since you had filed your Defence the options open to the Claimant after the claim was stayed were to make an Application to lift the stay in order for the proceedings to continue (usually done when documentation has been sourced) and you’d be sent the DQ so the claim could be transferred to you local county court to be allocated to track and a Notice of Hearing with Directions would be sent.

Their other option could be to apply to lift the stay and simultaneously make an Application for a Summary Judgment to strike out your Defence as having no merit which can be dealt with without a Hearing. This may also happen when documentation is sourced.

Who is the Judgment Creditor (i.e. the Claimant), who are the solicitors, how much is the CCJ, and is the property in your sole name or joint names?

At the Final Charging Order Hearing did you ask for any conditions to be included in the Order such as no Order for Sale until any children in the household reach 18 (if relevant), or no OfS on condition you paid £X per month. In fact you could have asked the DJ to make a Suspended Order if you made agreed payments.

Once it’s clear how the CCJ was obtained you need to establish whether there’s a remote chance of getting it set aside or varied.

Im curious to know why it’s not showing on your CRA files. I assume you’ve checked Trust Online to see if it was registered, and I also assume the Judgment Creditor produced a copy of the CCJ with their Final Charging Order Application which is how you know the date.

Di

Hi, Di

Thanks for your reply, since I received the CCJ notice in January 2016, I have been super careful with my credit sore, and checking Money Claim Online every month, that's why it was a shock that I have received the interim charging order on my property in October 2017 with a notice said I got a CCJ granted on the 27th January 2017. Because even the latest credit report in March, still showed no CCJ on the file and the Claimant certainly know my current address (it's on the electoral roll since March 2016 and they did send to my current address in October 2017) even after the mail redirection finished on the 24th September 2016. I should have sent a mail to the court to notified the changed of the address but I had no reply from the claimant since my last letter dated 24th April 2016, so I didn't even think about it, and think the case was closed. Also I didn't move purposely, my flat was on the market in October 2015 and just wanted a small freehold house instead of paying flat service charge every month.

Maybe I should explain the CCJ detail, the claimant is chasing me solely depending on joint Guarantee document (my late partner and myself) which I did not signed nor have any knowledge of this credit agreement, also after asking the claimant many times to provide the credit agreement, the claimant has admitted the credit agreement document is no longer in existence due the the age of the documentation (October 2008), so I have asked them to certify the guarantee document is a true copy and provide me with lender's guarantee policy and witnessing of security forms aide memoire on my last letter which they did not reply to me. The guarantee document was allegedly signed by my late partner and myself (not my signature) at the unknown location (c/o bank name) and the witness signed all the dates, also without any copy of photo id to proof the identification of the person signed the document, basically anyone could have signed it.

I have to admit that I did make a silly mistake and celebrate the victory too early by thinking the judgement has stayed and no further contact from the claimant for over 6 months. I have always been a law abiding citizen, and I have no chance affording £250 an hour lawyer which I enquired today, now I am very stressed out and terrified of losing my place.

P.S I have lived by myself with no family member.

[jaguarsuk]

Hi, Di

Thanks for your reply, since I received the CCJ notice in January 2016, I have been super careful with my credit sore, and checking Money Claim Online every month, that's why it was a shock that I have received the interim charging order on my property in October 2017 with a notice said I got a CCJ granted on the 27th January 2017. Because even the latest credit report in March, still showed no CCJ on the file and the Claimant certainly know my current address (it's on the electoral roll since March 2016 and they did send to my current address in October 2017) even after the mail redirection finished on the 24th September 2016. I should have sent a mail to the court to notified the changed of the address but I had no reply from the claimant since my last letter dated 24th April 2016, so I didn't even think about it, and think the case was closed. Also I didn't move purposely, my flat was on the market in October 2015 and just wanted a small freehold house instead of paying flat service charge every month.

Maybe I should explain the CCJ detail, the claimant is chasing me solely depending on joint Guarantee document (my late partner and myself) which I did not signed nor have any knowledge of this credit agreement, also after asking the claimant many times to provide the credit agreement, the claimant has admitted the credit agreement document is no longer in existence due the the age of the documentation (October 2008), so I have asked them to certify the guarantee document is a true copy and provide me with lender's guarantee policy and witnessing of security forms aide memoire on my last letter which they did not reply to me. The guarantee document was allegedly signed by my late partner and myself (not my signature) at the unknown location (c/o bank name) and the witness signed all the dates, also without any copy of photo id to proof the identification of the person signed the document, basically anyone could have signed it.

I have to admit that I did make a silly mistake and celebrate the victory too early by thinking the judgement has stayed and no further contact from the claimant for over 6 months. I have always been a law abiding citizen, and I have no chance affording £250 an hour lawyer which I enquired today, now I am very stressed out and terrified of losing my place.

P.S I have lived by myself with no family member.

As I said in post #2

You need to get a copy of the application to lift the stay and enter summary judgement to know what they countered your defence with

Ring the court for a copy. It could be any number of things and until you know then you can't really figure out how you fight back against it.

[Joanna C]

Genuine question, if the claim is stayed and then an application made to lift it, then enter summary judgement - would that be classed as a default judgement when the defendant has filed a defence?

That's an interesting query. Once a defence has been filed default judgment is no longer applicable.

A Summary Judgment should require a hearing (though I am sadly aware of cases where the courts had entered Judgment without one) . This would not be a default Judgment, only a Judgment, so should not automatically be entered on the CRAs until the claimant tries to enforce it (i.e attachment of earnings/charging orders).

[jaguarsuk]

That's an interesting query. Once a defence has been filed default judgment is no longer applicable.

A Summary Judgment should require a hearing (though I am sadly aware of cases where the courts had entered Judgment without one) . This would not be a default Judgment, only a Judgment, so should not automatically be entered on the CRAs until the claimant tries to enforce it (i.e attachment of earnings/charging orders).

Thank you for clarifying that and it confirms what I was thinking when in post #2 I said

The CCJ hadn't appeared on your credit file due to the Claimant not moving to enforce it, now that they have enforced it you will find it will appear on your credit file soon.

vul3ck6 this is the reason you haven't seen it on your credit file yet.