Spurious county court judgement- possibly

[legalnooby]

Please could I get some advice on a legal issue a friend has got?

Upshot is she booked an advert in a publication for £250. She didn't pay (usual personal issues ect)
They then chucked a county court claim form in for £410 + £35 FEES.
I think they have gained a judgement by default as the claim went to my friends old trading address (I will know for sure tomorrow) and she has only discovered this today.
They then added £150 debt collection charges and also £75 bailiff charges.

She then entered into a payment plan and paid over the debt amount and they have offered the amount paid over less interest.

However she isn't sure she signed any contract and they stated they do not have a copy.

Would it be feasible to take them to court for the full amount on the basis that they have no evidence of a contract? And therefore the debt never even existed.

[R0b]

There is a general presumption that making payment of a judgment or debt is an admission. If she wasn't sure she should have made an application to set aside the judgment and defended the claim or negotiated a payment without having a CCJ to her name.

You've not said when she became of the default judgment and how long she has been paying.

[legalnooby]

Cheers for responding.

She has been paying £15 a week for about 18 months. However she didn't realise they had gained a CCJ until they informed me yesterday..

The upshot or concern I had was when I asked the company for a copy of the signed contract they stated they haven't got a copy of it as under GDPR
law they have to delete contracts after I think two years ( they didn't specify an exact time frame and were very vague) which sounds like nonsense to me as they have everything else (her name, address, original court form ect).
I'm wondering if she even signed any contract in the first place. However I agree with what you said that paying is an admission the money was owed to begin with.

[Amethyst]

What date was the judgment originally ? It will stay on the credit file and judgment register for 6 years from that date. If she has paid it all off now though she can ask it to be marked as satisfied on the register.

Other than asking for a refund of money she has overpaid there's nothing else she can do. It's long since past the time for apply to set aside the judgment ( really that should have been done pretty quickly after the bailiff attended and she became aware of the judgment ).