CCJ/Consent Order - is this the best approach?

[Zoe21]

I'm a first time poster. I have read a lot on this forum and other sites and is not sure if this approach is the correct or best one. Any advice is appreciated.

Background: In January 2021 I was turned down for a credit card despite already having one and have always paid all bills in time. Got hold of credit report, showed all fine except for a CCJ from Northampton court. Contacted court which emailed particulars (which had too little info for me to determine if I had done anything wrong, alleged parking infringement was in October 2019, court case in March 2020, total claim £185 up from original £60 demand), contacted claimant (Vehicle Control Services)(VCS) who said to email their litigation team and allow 28 days to respond. Didn't get a response (barring an automated acknowledgement) so chased them by phone, was told can take longer due to covid19 but don't know how long. Gave it a few weeks more and then filed a Subject Access Request to understand what the parking issue was about. They responded on the 29th day after receiving my request. Finally I got sufficient info to understand the claim for the alleged wrongdoing. I am not 100% sure I did anything wrong, I might have, might not (it was night, might have missed a sign with small text which is shown on the photographic proof but it is too unclear to decipher from picture and Google Streetmap doesn't show the sign on image from 2018). Until I got the info from the subject access request I had never received anything from anyone re this issue/claim/court case short of the court sending me the brief particulars after I talked to them in January 2021. I had moved house in June 2019 and I had called DVLA same time and changed address but obviously something went wrong because all info from VCS and court was sent to my old address and I never received anything about this. In hindsight I did get a new driving licence but not a new vehicle log book in 2019 and I wasn't aware (or paying attention) that I should have received that (I made sure I got new log book shortly after discovering this issue). Having talked to lettings agency for old address and they talked to tenant living there after me, the tenant have said they would have returned all letters addressed to me to the sender but both court and VCS said they never received any letters back.

I am a NHS Nurse, single mum, and would like to get a mortgage to stop renting and this CCJ is the only thing in the way so I'd just like to get it removed from credit history. If I had received the original letters, I would have paid the £60 cost back then without delay, now I'm happy to pay more just to get this to go away and not pollute my credit history.

So, having read a lot it seems as the most preferred option is to get a Consent Order and hope the court will agree to set it aside. Various sources have said I should write up the consent order and not pay until I have the consent order (the latter to reduce chances of judge refusing to set aside because the matter is resolved by me paying up but advice varies/conflicts).

However, talking with the VCS, they told me they had passed it to a debt management company (Elms Legal) in April 2020 (I have never received anything from them either) and that I would need to speak with Elms about a consent order.

Called Elms, they seems friendly, Elms would support a consent order but only on their terms. And this is where I am a bit worried. Elms says I need to follow this process and they were (on the initial call) unwilling to depart from this process in any way:

1) Pay Elms the outstanding £185.

2) Download a N244, fill it in and send to Elms.

3) Elms will then do their part and return the N244 and the consent order to me.

4) I should then pay the £100 court fee and send N244 and consent order to the court.

I just want to make sure that I don't do something that puts me in a wrong position. My concerns are:

a) How do I know that Elms will do anything else after I've paid them (there seems no incentive for them to waste any more time)?

b) Is Elms the right party to deal with this since they court papers etc. refer to VCS, ie. might the court reject a consent order that doesn't include the claimant? If not Elms, what do I do then - how do I get VCS to step up or do I go directly for £255 set aside process? Do I put VCS or Elms in the claimant field on N244?

c) If I have paid up front rather than this being part of the consent order/agreement, do I put myself in a weaker position re having the judge to set aside the claim (and hence cause it to be removed from my credit history)?

d) Elms has refused (quoting company policy) to give me a draft of the consent order they intend to create so I won't have a chance to see it before paying (this seems suspicious to me).

e) If this is not the most optimal process from my pov, is it still the best approach or should I go another way instead (say, the £255 set aside based on I have never received any info re the claim so have not had a chance to defend myself or something else)?

f) Should I ensure (if I can) that the consent order includes a clear statement that I have never received anything about this case and it was always posted to the wrong address despite me contacting DVLA to change address? Any other wording that I should make sure (as much as I can) is included in the consent order?

g) If I go via the consent order from Elms and it is not approved by the judge, can I then got the £255 set aside route after or is it pointless then cause it would just be rejected again since the consent order was rejected?

h) One piece of advice I got was that I might be able to get DVLA to acknowledge that I did call them in June 2019 and changed address but either they did a mistake or I was blissfully unaware that I should call them twice, once to change for driving licence and once to change vehicle keeper details. It was said this may help my case to get it set aside. Any view on this?

I would really dislike if I paid £185 to Elms, £100 to the court and it was not set aside. And even more if I then paid another £255 to get court to set aside without consent order and then it was still not set aside. My feeling is that I am somewhat innocent in all this (barring MAYBE committing a small harmless parking transgression), at least that I did my part (changing address with DVLA) and yet end up with harm to my future livelihood/quality of life and all these costs...whilst everyone else seems to be gaining something (well, not the unpaid helpers here but VCS, Elms, postal service, court system, etc). However, I so would like to get a mortgage this year so I can get a home of my own for me and my two kids.

Any other advice?

Much appreciate any guidance since I might have just one shot at owning my own house (in 2025 when the CCJ would disappear, with the increasing house prices and not very increasing NHS pay, I probably will no longer be able to buy a home...it is already difficult today due to prices vs my income).

[ostell]

So have you got a copy of the original PCN and the signs?

You can't delay too much or the court will reject. If they sent it to the incorrect address without checking you have good chance of a set aside

[Zoe21]

I have a number of copies of letters and more from the Subject Access Request, this includes a copy of the original letter (I assume). These are with colour pictures showing a sign but it is too small and bad resolution to read any of the text or recognize any of the graphics. There is also information about a request to DVLA, so I figure they obtained the address there (which was the correct address until June 2019 but not after).

[Zoe21]

I have a number of copies of letters and more from the Subject Access Request, this includes a copy of the original letter (I assume). These are with colour pictures showing a sign but it is too small and bad resolution to read any of the text or recognize any of the graphics. There is also information about a request to DVLA, so I figure they obtained the address there (which was the correct address until June 2019 but not after).

[Zoe21]

Anyone able to help, please?

[des8]

You contacted DVLA June 2019 to change address on driving licence and V5 (car "log book") but DVLA failed to change the latter.
Alleged parking incident October 2019
You therefor did not receive either the original pcn or court claim documents
Claimant obtains judgment by default
Your credit score trashed.

Your main concern is your credit report as you want to apply for a mortgage.

IMO the best way to resolve the matter is to have it set aside with a consent order on the basis that if you had been aware of the parking incident and known about the court case you would have paid at the time.
Taking the Elm's option is probably better than trying to overturn the judgment in that it is the easier option viewing your circumstances

Tagging Celestine & @Ostell

[des8]

ostell

[Celestine]

The litigation departments of these companies are bulk processors at best, they just want the quickest way to get their money and avoid complexity.
Many people in this situation are declined or ignored when requesting a set aside, so at least you have their co-operation.
I would download and fill in the N244 asap, send it over to Elms, but hold back on paying. When you know they have it, call up to get a claims handler to deal with signing the consent order while you are on the phone and do payment at same time. I agree it could be foolish to send the N244 after you've paid because they may not prioritise filling it in. However, if they fail to process it, you would then just go for the without consent N244 and use their conduct as part of your witness statement.