Old CCJ - Arrow Global Limited - Proposal to Strike Out?

[mrkipling]

I currently have a CCJ against me that was entered into by default judgment in 2014.

The Timeline is as follows:
2010 Default on credit file
2014 CCJ Default Judgement
2016 Default was dropped from credit file but CCJ remains

Claimant:
Arrow Global Limited

Solicitor:
Shoosmiths

Particulars of Claim:
1. The claim is for the sum of 7545 in respect of monies owing by the defendant on a credit agreement held by the defendant with Sainsbury's Bank PLC under account number XXXXXXXX upon which the defendant failed to maintain payments.
2. A default notice was served upon the defendant and has not been complied with.
3. By virtue of a sale agreement between Sainsbury's Bank PLC and the claimant, the claim vested in the claimant who has a genuine commercial interest. The defendant has been notified of the assignment by letter. Contact drydensfairfax solicitorson : 0113 823 3850

In January 2018 I wrote to Arrow Global Limited at the address on the claim but my letters were returned undelivered.

In February 2018 I wrote three letters to Shoomiths, I have proof of these letters being delivered.

The first letter:
A formal request for them to supply me with the credit agreement mentioned under the particulars of claim under sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974

The second letter:
A subject data access request.

The third letter:
Request for documents mentioned in the statement of case under CPR 31.14
1. The Agreement
2. The deed of assignment
3. The notice of assignment
4. The default warning letter
5. The default notice
I gave them two weeks to send me the above.

I received a reply from Shoomiths a month later, they complied with the subject data access request and responded to my letters. In their response they stated the following:
They confirmed that they have requested the following from there client Arrow Global Limited:
1. Statement of Account
2. Agreement
3. Notice Of Assignment
4. Terms and Conditions

They stated that Arrow Global Limited has been assigned the debt pursuant to the Law of Property Act 1925, they stated I am not a party to the agreement and I am not entitled to a copy of the Deed of Assignment,
They said that any other information I have requested to be disproportionate and that they do not agree with my timescales and will contact me again once they have received the documents.


It's now 4 months later and they have not provided me with any documentary evidence to substantiate their claim.

I am hoping to now write to the court stating that I have requested the evidence of the claim, I am yet to receive any and propose to strike out the claim on those grounds.

Any advice on how best to proceed here welcome.

[jaguarsuk]

I am hoping to now write to the court stating that I have requested the evidence of the claim, I am yet to receive any and propose to strike out the claim on those grounds.

You can't write to the court asking them to strike it out and you would need to apply for the judgement to be set aside Set Aside Application, but that will depend on when you found out about the CCJ?

You are supposed to promptly apply to the court on finding out about the judgement and so the fact you found out in January, then have left it until July to apply might mean that the judge denies the application.

You would have to be very careful about what you put in the Witness Statement to the court and hope that the other side doesn't oppose the application.

You can't ask the court to set the judgement aside based on the fact they can't provide the documents, did you receive the claim form and if not is the address on it an old one of yours?

If you did receive the claim form why didn't you do anything about it?

[mrkipling]

What is the difference between strike out and set aside?

2014 is the judgment date.

The initial court paperwork was sent to an old address but was passed onto me, I did submit a defense but it arrived a day late and was struck out and judgement was entered into by default.

I was recovering from a serious illness that affected me both physically and mentally and didn't have the capacity to be able to deal with it at the time.

If they are unable to prove their claim then surely there is no claim?

I need some help and guidance on approaching this in the best possible way.

[jaguarsuk]

What is the difference between strike out and set aside?

2014 is the judgment date.

The initial court paperwork was sent to an old address but was passed onto me, I did submit a defense but it arrived a day late and was struck out and judgement was entered into by default.

I was recovering from a serious illness that affected me both physically and mentally and didn't have the capacity to be able to deal with it at the time.

If they are unable to prove their claim then surely there is no claim?

I need some help and guidance on approaching this in the best possible way.

Strike out is getting a live claim thrown out of court and set aside is getting a judgement overturned to then continue the claim or defend it. This is not a live claim as judgement has been entered.

At the time of the judgement being entered you should have applied to set the judgement aside pursuant to CPR 13.2 in that the claim was served on an old address which is an abuse of process and for relief from sanctions for entering your defence last as a result.

At this stage they do not have to prove the claim they have a judgement against you and if they chose can move to enforce it.

You could appeal the decision to strike out the defence pursuant to CPR 52.5(1) in a combination of the reason that the defence was late in filing and your illness being a compelling reason that you could not apply to set aside the judgement or appeal at the time.

Alternatively as the judgement was sent to the old address I assume then you could apply for a set aside and with consent of the claimant you might be successful. However if you updated your address on the defence form and the judgement was sent to your current address I'd imagine a set aside application would be unsuccessful.

Any application to to the court will cost you money though and carries a risk if you are unsuccessful of a further order being made against you for costs.

[Amethyst]

It seems odd your defence was struck out for being a day late to be honest. Did the order from the court actually state that ?

Default judgment isn't given automatically, the other side have to apply for it and they can't do that until after the defence was due.

Don't suppose you'll still have a copy of the order - you should have had a letter saying it had been struck out and instruction about varying/setting aside the order. I know it's past and done with but need to know how you ended up with the judgment, to know best way to apply now to set it aside.

Otherwise you're stuck with it on the file till 2020.... however if you set it aside and then judgment was awarded to the claimant it'd be on the file for 6 years from the new judgment date ( so adding 4 years ) - just to bear in mind. As it is quite a large amount I'm guessing you couldn't get it set aside and then settle it out of court ( if your defence fell away ).

[jaguarsuk]

What was your defence? Do you still have a copy of it? It would surprise me that Shoosmiths would be that on the ball to apply for default judgement 1 day late.

[mrkipling]

Looking at the subject access request from shoosmiths they requested that the defence be struck out due to the fact I did not return the directions questionnaire within 7 days. That's how the defence was struck out and they got default judgment.

I wasn't getting all the mail at the time as they were sending it to my old address and I was staying with a relative, It may be that I never got it at all. Or I may have sent it in but it arrived late, I'm not 100% sure.

I did send a subject access request to the courts but all I got was this case history summary:

30-AUG-2014 D1 INVALID APPLICATION N244/EX160 RET TO DEFT AS SECTION 4 ON EX 160 NOT COMP AND NO EVIDENCE OF INCOME
30-AUG-2014 D1 LETTER TO
30-AUG-2014 D1 APPLICATION FOR FEE REMISSION/EXEMPT
30-AUG-20i4 D1 LE I I ER FROM PARTY
08-AUG-2014 D1 N24 JUDGMENT AFTER HEARING JUDGMENT ENTERED WITHOUT HEARING AFTER DEFENCE STRUCK OUT
08-AUG-2014 D1 LETTER TO DQ TO BE RETURNED AS DEFENCE STRUCK OUT
06-AUG-2014 D1 LETTER TO RET DQ
06-AUG-2014 OP DEFENCE STRUCK OUT
19-JUL-2014 OP N24 GEN ORDER SANCTIONS DEFT
11-JUL-2014 Cl DIRECTIONS QUESTIONNAIRE FILED MED
20-JUN-2014 D1 N149 DIRECTIONS QUESTIONNAIRE SENT 07-JUL-20I4
20-JUN-2014 D1 INTENTION TO PROCEED STATES PAID DEFENCE
20-JUN-2014 OP N24 ORDER LIFTING STAY
10-JUN-2014 OP CASE STAYED NO ACTION
06-JUN-2014 Cl REPRESENTATION UPDATED
07-MAY-2014 D1 DEFENCE FILED
16-APR-2014 D1 NIO ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICE


Defence

In response to your claim I have no knowledge of ever having any dealings with your company or other parties mentioned. I have had a very difficult period of life for the last few years after contracting a rare virus that seen me hospitalised for several months fighting for my life. The virus caused both hepatitis and encephalitis and although I was lucky enough to survive, this had a devastating impact on my life. I lost my career as an engineer, my home and my even my fiancée could not handle the trauma and so we split up. I was left with literally nothing and was in a state of depression with lingering effects of the encephalitis which to this day I have not been able to fully recover from.

In defence of your claim against me I honestly have no knowledge of the alleged debt and have never had any contact, correspondence or dealings with you.

Please provide verification of your claim, by providing me with true and certified copies (Not photocopies) of the Deed of Assignment (NOT Notice of Assignment) and Deed of Novation.

Please also provide me with the name of the individual who is the duly authorised representative from your company, who has seen the Original Note and is certifying these assignments as certified copies and that your company now has the Original Note (Credit Agreement) under penalty of perjury and with unlimited liability and confirm that the Note has never been sold prior to your company purchasing this account.

Please also confirm the name of the individual who is the duly authorised representative from your company, who has carried out due diligence under The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and what actions s/he has taken in relation to this account.

If you wish to continue your claim please provide this information and documents. Your said failure to provide verification of your claim constitutes your agreement to the following terms: that you are a third party interloper; you have no legal standing; no first-hand knowledge of this matter; your claim is fraudulent; any damages I suffer you will be held culpable; you agree to pay all fee schedules; that any negative remarks made to a credit reference agency will be removed and that you will no longer pursue this matter any further.

Should you provide sufficient evidence that I owe your organisation or your client any outstanding amount and that you can provide proof that they have assigned you agency, I should warn you that I am in no position to pay the debt as I currently have no assets and I am living on benefits with no spare income due to the above mentioned period of both mental and physical illness.

[Amethyst]

So you applied to set aside the default judgment / for relief from sanctions in August 2014 ?but it didn't go further as you hadn't completed the fee remission form fully and never resubmitted ?

30-AUG-2014 D1 INVALID APPLICATION N244/EX160 RET TO DEFT AS SECTION 4 ON EX 160 NOT COMP AND NO EVIDENCE OF INCOME

30-AUG-2014 D1 LETTER TO

30-AUG-2014 D1 APPLICATION FOR FEE REMISSION/EXEMPT

30-AUG-20i4 D1 LE I I ER FROM PARTY

[mrkipling]

I guess so if that's what it says but I can't actually remember. It's all a bit hazy sorry, the encephalitis doesn't help memory much. I only have the summary from the courts and a letter from shoosmiths stating that they want to apply for default judgment due to the fact I didn't return the directions questionnaire within 7 days.

[Amethyst]

I think your chips might be goosed ( or whatever that saying is ) in attempting to get this set aside now.

The information from the court shows you did make an effort to apply back in 2014, life overtook and it never got followed up, that is understandable, but unfortunately I don't think that would assist with any application made now - 4 years later.

The CCJ will fall off in two years whatever else happens - I'm not sure of your reasons for considering setting it aside now ? What's made you start looking back at this now ? ( you don't have to say if personal but just might affect the risk vs possible outcome ratio )

Currently I think the risk of just extending it (if you set aside then lose the defence, or fail at set aside and have costs awarded against you ) Also the risk of bringing it to the attention of the judgment holder and possible enforcement action is quite high.

Possibly with your health issue and financial circumstances you may be better organising instalments or settlement terms,... do you own your home now? ( just checking where you stand should they decide to go for enforcement now ) Have you heard from the Claimants at all since 2014 ? ( apart from their responses to your requests for info this year)

[mrkipling]

They have continued to send letters to the previous address, tried sending bailiffs there and have tried to get an attachment of earnings.
I don't currently own any property.

I really would like to get this sorted so that I can have access to finance again, I'm starting a business and it's very difficult with this mark on my credit file, even simple things like opening a bank account and I have zero access to any credit.