Set Aside against Civil Enforcement Ltd - Advice Required

[turbobadman]

Hi,

I left the UK in March 17 for warmer climes and my parents sold a car on my behalf in May 17. All of the paperwork was submitted to the DVLA and I have proof of sale in the form of email and SMS communication between myself and the seller. The sale was settled in Cash.


Having completed a credit check on myself on the off chance last week I noticed i had a CCJ lodged against my name and address I left in December 16. Further investigation tells me that the CCJ was lodged by Civil Law Enforcement Ltd for a parking offence in August 17.

I have read the forums advice on steps to take to Set Aside the judgement and understand I need to speak with CEL to request their consent to set aside this judgement. Prior to calling I wanted to seek advice on what I should (and shouldn't) be saying to them? Is it a fairly straight forward phone call? Are they likely to oppose? Is there any information I should provide to them or be wary of sharing with them?

Thanks in advance.

Turbo

[ostell]

You don't need to speak to CEL and get their consent but it's cheaper if you do. £100 as against £256 (?), though you should be able to claim it back from CEL. The only information that you may need to give CEL is that you weren't the keeper at the time and you couldn't have been the driver.

Have you contacted the DVLA to see if they processed the notification of the sale in a prompt manner? Ask them directly about the dates the transfer was recorded and if not at the time you did it ask why it was not recorded correctly.

If you have the sale docs and proof that you were not in the country then the set aside should be no problem. You may have to show the judge that you have reasonable cause to seek the set aside.

Don't delay the application while you wait for answers..

[ostell]

Why did you start another thread with a different user name of FRENCHMAN? Are you trying to annoy people.?

[turbobadman]

Hi Ostell,

Where does the £100 come from? Thanks I will follow your advice.

No not yet, DVLA were next on my list. I'm a bit worried about my sale docs as they are mainly email communications (cash payment) but I can easily prove I was not in the country.

Thanks for your help.

PS - This is my only thread

[ostell]

I believe that set aside with the consent of the claimant is £100

[jaguarsuk]

I believe that set aside with the consent of the claimant is £100

Ostell is correct that you have to pay a fee to the court to apply for the set aside. If with consent of the claimant it is £100 and if they do not consent or ignore the request it is £255.

Applications for set aside need to be "Prompt" and therefore you need to get on with emailing or writing to the claimant giving them a 7 day deadline to respond. Calling is no use because you need to demonstrate to the court that consent has been given if it has.

If they don't then you need to get an N244 application filed with Witness Statement plus Draft Defence.

[turbobadman]

Thanks for all your advice. I rang the court today and they told me that the Claim has been set-aside and CEL have been told to pay me the set aside fee. I did also state that I wanted to claim compensation from them for the time and distress involved however not sure the judge approved that (I'm still waiting for the written communication).

Could anyone advise how I claim the money back from CEL? Are there any instructions/guides anywhere on this forum?

Thanks again

[Amethyst]

Once you get the judgment order you can send a copy to them requesting your £255 and any other costs awarded.

Did he dismiss the claim as well or do you now need to be sorting out a defence to the claim?

[R0b]

Set aside applications are akin to interim hearings in that they are not the full hearing but to consider whether any default judgment should be set aside and proceed to a full hearing. On that basis I doubt you will be able recover damages for loss of time and inconvenience.

As a future tip, set aside applications are not subject to the small claims rules where legal costs are not recoverable so next time this happens, specifically make a claim for costs and submit a costs schedule of the time spent on preparing the application. As a litigant in person, you can recover costs at a rate of £19 per hour.

Other than that follow what Amethyst has already stated.

[turbobadman]

Thanks for all your advice. I rang the court today and they told me that the Claim has been set-aside and CEL have been told to pay me the set aside fee. I did also state that I wanted to claim compensation from them for the time and distress involved however not sure the judge approved that (I'm still waiting for the written communication).

Could anyone advise how I claim the money back from CEL? Are there any instructions/guides anywhere on this forum?

Thanks again

Hi,

Just got the paperwork through -

"Upon reviewing the court file and noting that the Defendant resides out of the jurisdiction and the Claimant did not have permission to serve the claim form out of the jurisdiction under CPR6.36.

It is ordered that:
1. Judgement is set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2
2. The claim is stayed
3. I no application for permission to serve out of jurisdiction and or extend time for service is received by 28 Dec the claim will stand struck out without further order.
4. The claimant must pay the defendants fee of £255"

So it sounds like the door is still open for them to come after me (item 3) ? I don't really understand why though, I've already provided them with evidence a) from DVLA showing I didn't own the car at the time of incident and b) that I didn't even live in the country..

Is it best to wait until 28 Dec before claiming the £255 from them? I'm a bit disappointed if I can't apply for costs for my time as the whole thing is a bit of a joke! Completely unfounded claim they've been allowed to make already.

Cheers

EDIT: I literally just received an email saying that they can only send me a cheque and need an address. My address is in Australia so I can't cash it.. Surely I can tell them that it needs to be deposited into my bank account, it's not for them to dictate terms?

[ostell]

A cheque c/o your parents address?

[R0b]

Actually, I think you are well within your rights to require them to transfer the money to your account in Australia. Whilst sending a cheque to your parents address is one way of doing it, you shouldn't have to nor are you required to. The Court Order states that they must pay you and if that means by wire transfer or whatever option is available and it costs them money, then so be it.

In my view, I would be writing to them and explaining that you no longer live in the UK and currently reside in AUS, therefore sending a cheque is not the appropriate method of payment. The onus is on them to pay you the fee of £255 by whatever means is necessary, if that costs them money then that's an issue for them and not you - They should have thought about that before issuing the claim and obtaining a default judgment. Usually payment is required within 14 days from the date of the order so you expect them to comply, or if that date has passed, you may wish to allow them a further 7 days to confirm payment has been made (and provide them with your bank details) otherwise you will consider taking further action for contempt of court.

[turbobadman]

I told them to pay by bank transfer to my UK account although they wanted a copy of a bank statement 'to prove it's my account'. I told them that I don't need to do that and to pay within 7 days - I don't want to share any more personal details with the scum bags than i need to. They take payment by card but unwilling to make payments by card..

Does anyone know if there is actually any kind of legalities that would be stopping them from making a payment to me without proving that i own the bank account I have told them to send the money to? Otherwise I'll just let the 7 days notice expire and take them to court over it I suppose..

[R0b]

No obligation to provide them with a bank statement. If you give them bank details then it is reasonable for them to rely on the information you've provided - if the information is incorrect or wrong then the fault lay with you, not them.

[turbobadman]

No obligation to provide them with a bank statement. If you give them bank details then it is reasonable for them to rely on the information you've provided - if the information is incorrect or wrong then the fault lay with you, not them.

Thanks. I'll respond to them one more time and then just send a generic 'demand' type email each day until the 6 days are up. Do you know of any decent debt recovery companies or legals that would take this kind of thing on if they refuse to pay after 7 days?