CCJ Set Aside hearing against Arrow Global

[Widey1979]

Hello,

I became aware of a CCJ registered against me recently by Arrow Global when my new wife and I attempted to take out a mortgage on 28 July 2019.

After the mortgage application was declined, I checked my credit report via Experian and Clearscore only to discover that there was a CCJ registered on my credit report on September 2016 for just over 2K allegedly for debt incurred via an HSBC credit card.

I am a victim of identity theft and fraud by a family member in 2008 and I suspect this is the source of the original debt. Back then the police were not interested in resolving identity theft cases so I paid off most of the debt and employed Gregson & Brooke debt management to assist me in paying off the remainder of debt. I received an email from GB stating that the HSBC accounts had been settled in 2013 and thought nothing more of it until I came across this CCJ. G&B ceased trading in 2014 and their directors barred for various nefarious reasons.

My application for a hearing to have the CCJ set aside was granted and I received a letter dated 7 August 2019 stating that the case was transferred to Croydon County Court and stating that I will receive further documentation confirming the date of hearing.

Shortly afterwards I received a letter stating that an Attachment of Earnings request had been submitted by Arrow Global and I was to submit the N56 form by reply. I did so and as I am currently unemployed, and normally self employed, the AOE was not successful. I received a letter to this effect, also stating that the claimant could resubmit the AOE application upon submittal of evidence that I am employed. Nothing to this effect since then.

I contacted the court yesterday to establish if a hearing date had been set yet and after a bit of a run-around between C.C.M.C in Salford, C.C.B.C in Northampton and back to County Court Croydon, I was informed that my case had been transferred to listings on 17 August 2019 after the AOE was unsuccessful and that they were dealing with a backlog which means I have to be patient and wait until I receive a letter from the courts stipulating a hearing date.

I require some assistance in formulating a defence, order statement and if possible, some guidance as to what I can expect during the first hearing and what I can ask for to be finalised please?

Ideally I want to have the CCJ set aside so I can apply and obtain a mortgage, my £255 refunded by Arrow Global, the debt be declared statute barred so that it does not affect my credit score in the future again and hopefully only go to court once to achieve this at the hearing to have the judgement set aside.

Is that even possible or do I have to launch another defence if the set aside is successful and go to court again?

I'll post the witness statement I submitted below along with the successful application as reference.

[Widey1979]

Witness statement I submitted with the application to have the judgement set aside:


I am ............. and I am the Defendant in this matter.

This is my supporting Statement in support of my application dated 01 August 2019 to:

- Set aside the Default Judgement dated 24 September 2016 as it was not properly served at my current address;
- and to prevent any further legal action until I have had the opportunity to defend this claim properly.
- 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 24 September 2016. However, this claim form was not served at my current address and therefore, I was not aware of the Default Judgement or the Court Summons. I understand that this Judgement was served at a previous address (Previous Address). However, I moved to a new address (New Address) on 15 May 2015 as evident from the attached Tenancy Exit Inspection. The County Court Judgment only came to light after I failed to secure approval for a mortgage a few days ago. Further investigation via Clearscore revealed a County Court Judgment against me dated 24 September 2016. The County Court business Centre representative advised that the County Court Judgment had been awarded by default against me in favour of Arrow Global on behalf of HSBC as I failed to appear at court or respond to the Summons Pack that had been sent to my previous address at (Previous Address).

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, driving license as well as HMRC. As Arrow Global 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 regardless of the incorrect current address on my credit report.

1.3. I believe the Claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the Defendant’s current and correct contact details. According to publicly available information my circumstances are far from being unique. The industry’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results in 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 which is currently under review. The consultation will look at ways to better protect consumers who are sent mail to inaccurate addresses and verify addresses again before a claim is sent; 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’s current address when bringing the claim to court.

1.5. I am a victim of Identity fraud committed by a family member, my brother, more than ten years ago when identity theft was not a crime willingly investigated or acknowledged by the police. My brother lived abroad and has recently passed away. I believe this to be the source of the original fraudulent debt that has led to a County Court Judgment being awarded against me. Considering the prevelance of identity theft today I believe I have a strong case to defend this claim successfully given the opportunity to do so compared to more than a decade ago.

1.6. After I failed to secure assistance from the police in resolving this matter, Gregson And Brooke, a debt management company, managed the repayment process of this fraudulent debt incurred via identity theft on my behalf. Gregson and Brooke went into administration and has ceased trading. Both directors of Gregson and Brooke were disqualified as directors and banned for 13 and 10 years respectively. Robert Clarke, Head of Insolvent Investigations North for the Insolvency Service, said: “The real victims here are Brooke and Gregson’s clients who sought genuine assistance to help manage their debts but many received little or no benefit at all from instructing the companies to act on their behalf.” Please refer to Addendum A, an email from Gregson and Brooke stating HSBC accounts are both paid in full, awaiting confirmation in writing

1.7. Considering the above I was unaware that there was any remaining debt to be paid to HSBC and 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.

1.8. An administrative error on my credit reporting file indicating my present address as a previous address and my previous address as my current address must be taken into consideration as a valid reason for not receiving the court summons and therefore failing to respond to or attend the hearing to defend this claim against me. Please refer to Addendum B, a screenshot of my Clearscore credit file address details indicating the aforementioned address error. I believe the speed with which I have dealt with this matter highlights the fact that I would have defended the claim in court had I been aware of the court summons or the judgement against me.

1.9. 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:

Dated: 01/08/19

Signed:

[Amethyst]

As Gregson & Brooke were making payments to the debt on your behalf ( presumably something if not the amount you thought they were paying ) and went under around 2014 ? then the debt won't have been statute barred at the date the claim was issued in 2016 as there needs to have been a six year break between last payment and the issuance of the claim.

Your application may succeed on the address and reasonable prospect of success on the id fraud issues however you will then need to settle or formulate a full defence to the claim to avoid having the ccj reapplied ( for a further 6 years) ... To help with this I would use this waiting period to get as much info as you can from HSBC and Arrow.

You can't do a CCA request for the agreement until the set aside is granted, but you can send Subject Access requests to both for everything held about the account- with hsbc this should include account opening details, transaction lists, show payments that were actually made via Gregson & Brooke, show when it defaulted and when it got sold off to Arrow. It should also show your complaints at the time about the ID fraud they allowed to occur. Arrows should get you the assignment and pre action communications and any documents they hold about the account.

[Widey1979]

Thank you for the quick response Amethyst.

I believe the last payment or contact with Gregson & Brooke to the creditor in this instance was in 2013 as i stopped using their services then.

I spoke to Croydon County Court again and requested they send me all of the documentation included in the claim which I received yesterday. It appears as if Arrow or Drydensfairfax has been a bit naughty(her words!) and applied directly for a CCJ in bulk with the minimum amount of information provided.

The info on the sheet reads as follows:

What the case is for:

1. The claimants claim is for the sum of £2456.53
being moneys due from the defendant incurring an overdraft whilst
operating a bank account( account nr xxxxxx) with HSBC Bank plc.

The debt was assigned to the claimant on 22/10/2014 and notice of
assignment provided to the defendant, pursuant to the Law of Property
Act 1925.

2. Payment of the above sum has been requested, but as at the date
hereof refused.

3. The claimant claims the sum of 2456.53

4. C has complied, as far as is necessary, with the pre-action
conduct practice direction.
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Case Details:

Amount claimed - 2456.53
Court Fee - 105
Solicitor's cost - 80
Total - 2641.53

Date of issue - 30 Aug 2016
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Claimant 1:

Arrow Global Limited
Belvedere
12 Booth Street
Manchester
M2 4AW

Solicitor:

Drydens Ltd T/A Drydensfairfax
4th Floor Fairfax House
Merrion Street
Leeds

LS2 8BX
DX 320601 Leeds 16

Reference: xxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Defendant 1:

My name.

My address.

Date of service : 04 Sep 16

Solicitor: blank
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No possession address for case
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NO CASEMAN PAYMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE FOR THIS CASE
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[Widey1979]

Forgive my ignorance please, but am I correct in thinking that since the last contact/payment towards this debt was in 2013 via GB, it will be longer than 6 years to date should I be successful in having the CCJ set aside, hopefully in the next month or two at hearing, and therefore I have a valid argument/defence of statute barred?

I have not admitted that this debt was mine as far as I can recall and if the last payment via Gregson & Brooke to Arrow was in mid 2013, is the 6 years calculated from that point onward, ie 2013 to 2019 if the CCJ is set aside as it all reverts back to square one?

[Amethyst]

Because your last payment was in 2013 and the claim was issued in 2016, then no, unless the claim is dismissed after being set aside, it will not become statute barred, and it is not available to you as a defence because the claim was issued in 2016. You instructed Gregson & Brooke to make payments to this debt on your behalf and there wasn't six years between the initial default and the first payment being made by G&B.

Now the claim is for an overdraft, however you believed it to be a credit card? HSBC have a habit of dumping all debts ( loans/credit cards etc) into a bank account causing an overdraft then selling on the overdraft. You can argue that it was not an overdraft ( did you even have a current account with HSBC ? ) and they should, once set aside, comply with a CCA request you will make.

Paragraph 2 says you 'refused' to make payment. I presume as you didn't receive any letters you did not refuse at all, simply didn't know anything was owed/due as they were writing to the wrong address and they haven't plead termination or default at all. It's not unusual for these claims to be minimal and pretty dire - 89% go to a default judgment so they don't bother their arses until a defence is received.

[Widey1979]

Subject Access request to HSBC for critique please:

HSBC BANK Plc
8 Canada Square,
London
E14 5HQ

Dear Sir or Madam

Subject access request (Data Protection Act 2018 / General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

My Full Name, Current Address, Previous Address as per my credit file.

Please supply the data about me that I am entitled to under data protection law relating to myself.

Provide copies of all notes and letters relating to the following account nr: XXXXXXXXXX, to include requests for information, recordings of telephone conversations, suspensions and termination letters, plus any letters offering underlying entitlement.

Kindly include any documentary evidence and notes, plus any audio interview recordings, relating to the fraud investigation, plus any recalculation of your claim or repayments, account opening details, transaction lists, payments made via Gregson & Brooke, when the account defaulted and when it was sold off to Arrow.

If you need any more data from me to confirm my identity please let me know as soon as possible. It may be helpful for you to know that data protection law requires you to respond to a request for data within one calendar month.

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer, or relevant staff member. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you. Its website is ico.org.uk or it can be contacted on 0303 123 1113.

Yours faithfully

Signature

[Widey1979]

Because your last payment was in 2013 and the claim was issued in 2016, then no, unless the claim is dismissed after being set aside, it will not become statute barred, and it is not available to you as a defence because the claim was issued in 2016. You instructed Gregson & Brooke to make payments to this debt on your behalf and there wasn't six years between the initial default and the first payment being made by G&B.

Now the claim is for an overdraft, however you believed it to be a credit card? HSBC have a habit of dumping all debts ( loans/credit cards etc) into a bank account causing an overdraft then selling on the overdraft. You can argue that it was not an overdraft ( did you even have a current account with HSBC ? ) and they should, once set aside, comply with a CCA request you will make.

Paragraph 2 says you 'refused' to make payment. I presume as you didn't receive any letters you did not refuse at all, simply didn't know anything was owed/due as they were writing to the wrong address and they haven't plead termination or default at all. It's not unusual for these claims to be minimal and pretty dire - 89% go to a default judgment so they don't bother their arses until a defence is received.

Thanks for clearing up the statute barred requirements. I was under the impression that the account had already been in default by the time G&B made their last payment and if the judgement was set aside now we would all go to square one as if the matter had not gone to court at all.

It does appear to be an overdraft instead of a credit card however as I have no idea what this debt actually consists of, I am unclear if they lumped it all together or not.

I have posted the subject access request letter I intend to post to HSBC above and also called their customer services department who promised me they will send all the info at their disposal to me within 30 days. Hopefully this will shed some more light on the nature of this debt and enable me to formulate a decent defence.

You're correct in that I did not refuse payments so it is likely default judgement with minimal involvement on their part!

I'll post the subject access request I intend to send to Arrow shortly for critique.

[Widey1979]

Subject Access Request I intend to send to Arrow via post and email for critique please:

Arrow Global
PO Box 5469
Manchester
M61 0LW

Dear Sir or Madam

Subject access request (Data Protection Act 2018 / General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

My Full Name, Current Address, Previous Address as per my credit file.

Please supply the data about me that I am entitled to under data protection law relating to myself.

Provide copies of assignment and pre action communications and any documents that Arrow may hold about the case including all notes and letters relating to the following claims reference number: XXXXXXX, to include requests for information, recordings of telephone conversations, suspensions and termination letters, plus any letters offering underlying entitlement.

Kindly include any documentary evidence and notes, plus any audio interview recordings, relating to the fraud investigation, plus any recalculation of your claim or repayments, account opening details, transaction lists, payments made via Gregson & Brooke, when the account defaulted and when it was sold off to Arrow.

If you need any more data from me to confirm my identity please let me know as soon as possible. It may be helpful for you to know that data protection law requires you to respond to a request for data within one calendar month.

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer, or relevant staff member. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you. Its website is ico.org.uk or it can be contacted on 0303 123 1113.

Yours faithfully

[Signature]

[Amethyst]

That would be more suitable for HSBC than Arrow, just in the wording, but you have done right asking HSBC for it directly- though I'd be inclined to follow up that call with an email asking them to confirm receipt of the SAR, just in case you need to later chase it up / complain to the ICO.

I'd keep it simple, all data held relating to you, without any specifics. You don't want to give them ideas what not to send you or get their backs up... so see what they have generally and then once you get it set aside we can go back for any specifics that they don't include.

Now you have the particulars of case you can also do a CPR 31.14 request - although not a lot to ask for - only really the 'notice of assignment', so for now I'd stick with just a simple SAR.

[Widey1979]

That would be more suitable for HSBC than Arrow, just in the wording, but you have done right asking HSBC for it directly- though I'd be inclined to follow up that call with an email asking them to confirm receipt of the SAR, just in case you need to later chase it up / complain to the ICO.

I'd keep it simple, all data held relating to you, without any specifics. You don't want to give them ideas what not to send you or get their backs up... so see what they have generally and then once you get it set aside we can go back for any specifics that they don't include.

Now you have the particulars of case you can also do a CPR 31.14 request - although not a lot to ask for - only really the 'notice of assignment', so for now I'd stick with just a simple SAR.

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Right - so HSBC letter stating only a request for all data they have relating to me, not the rest I mentioned specifically?

HSBC customer services does not have an email address I can email my request to which is why I am sending a registered hard copy via post.
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Arrow Global - I've not contacted Arrow yet until I have more guidance.

I never received the claim form and the only details I have is what was sent to me by Croydon County Court as mentioned in my post above. The template off this site for CPR 31.14 request says I should only ask for documents specifically mentioned in the particulars of the claim?

I am mindful that I do not want to forewarn them of my intentions of defending this claim if I am successful in having the judgement set aside. Arrow may not even turn up to this hearing from what I've read elsewhere!

That said, surely I must have some sort of copy of the information Arrow would be bringing to the hearing to set aside the judgement and if so, how do I obtain this before I go to the hearing?

[Amethyst]

They will be required to produce the documents on which they intend to rely on in the claim a couple weeks before the final hearing ( possibly earlier ).

Send Arrow a basic SAR. The only thing you could ask for under the CPR 31.14 would be the notice of assignment, and they have no obligation to complt with a CCA request until after judgment is set aside - and if it was originally an overdraft no obligation to produce the agreement in any case.

Straightforward 'everything you have on me' SARs to both HSBC and Arrow is your best bet for the moment to gather info.

[Widey1979]

They will be required to produce the documents on which they intend to rely on in the claim a couple weeks before the final hearing ( possibly earlier ).

Send Arrow a basic SAR. The only thing you could ask for under the CPR 31.14 would be the notice of assignment, and they have no obligation to complt with a CCA request until after judgment is set aside - and if it was originally an overdraft no obligation to produce the agreement in any case.

Straightforward 'everything you have on me' SARs to both HSBC and Arrow is your best bet for the moment to gather info.

Thanks!

Will the following do, one each to Arrow stating the Claims Number and HSBC stating the account number?

Dear Sir or Madam

Subject access request (Data Protection Act 2018 / General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

My Full Name, Current Address, Previous Address as per my credit file.

Please supply the data about me that I am entitled to under data protection law relating to myself.

If you need any more data from me to confirm my identity please let me know as soon as possible. It may be helpful for you to know that data protection law requires you to respond to a request for data within one calendar month.

If you do not normally deal with these requests, please pass this letter to your Data Protection Officer, or relevant staff member. If you need advice on dealing with this request, the Information Commissioner’s Office can assist you. Its website is ico.org.uk or it can be contacted on 0303 123 1113.

Yours faithfully

[Signature]

[Widey1979]

Received a letter in the post yesterday from HSBC saying they are processing my data request thank you.

[Widey1979]

My court case to address the CCJ is in three weeks. What can I expect during this procedure? I am not sure if this is going to be a box ticking exercise where Arrow doesn't even turn up for the hearing as they appear to regularly fail to do so. Can anyone give me more information on the next steps and due process should I be successful in having the CCJ set aside please?