Urgent help with ccj to set aside with consent order need to file today !!!!!

[MRCLAYTON]

Please can anyone assist. I would like to make sure that I am following the right process and not putting my case at risk without a strong argument.

Do I submit an N224 form with the signed consent order ( this is admitting liability and then at the judges discretion ) and only pay £108 filing fee ?

Do I need to enclose 3 copies of the N224 form ?

Is the consent order strong enough from the claimant ? I feel that they are passing the blame on to me ?

1. I make the witness statement in support of the application an order that the judgement in the case KKKKKKK Judgement dated 23/08/23 be set aside
2. I learned of the existence of this claim on the 29/11/23 when I checked my credit file.
3. I did not receive any correspondence to my residential address YYYYYY and was subsequently unable to defend the claim as the following the violation on the 24/02/22 and at the time the Judgment was obtained on 23/08/23, the correspondence in this matter, including the claim form, were sent to my old address ZZZZZZZZZ.
4. I contacted the Civil National Business Centre on the 30/11/23 and was provided the contact details of the judgement obtained in Default of £310.00 including the PCN number 162 983 5506.
5. I paid the outstanding debt in ‘good faith’ via the claimant’s telephone system on the 30/11/23, but did not receive a receipt or reference number.
6. I sent a letter by recorded delivery on the 01/12/23 to the claimant informing them of my intention to submit an N224 requesting confirmation of my payment and if they were happy to agree to informing the court that the correspondence went to the wrong address and for the judgement claim to be set aside and all proceedings to be dismissed and all parties to bear their own costs. I requested a response within 7 days. I also sent an email to office and the same message via their complaints portal.
7. I received a response from the claimant via email on 04/12/23 with a receipt of payment for £310 and a consent order.
8. From the claimant : UPON the Court considering correspondence between the Claimant and the Defendant AND UPON the parties agreeing that the Claim Form was sent to the Defendant’s previous address provided to the Claimant by the registered keeper and the Defendant was unaware of the claim AND UPON the parties having agreed the following terms BY CONSENT, IT IS ORDERED THAT: 1. Judgment for the Claimant in this matter be set aside. 2. The proceedings in this action are dismissed. 3. Each party shall bear its own costs of this application and the claim in general.
9. I exchanged and completed on my residential property at YYYYYY on Jan 25^th 2013
10. I am father of 3 young children who works within financial services. This matter has caused extensive stress and effecting me mentally. I understand that there has been miscommunication regarding the correspondence and as somebody who has worked in the Financial Services industry for over 25 years at this stage of my career I would never put myself and my dependants at financial risk due to not responding to a claim.
11. I have always had very good credit rating and have been previously registered with the FCA as a responsible person with a CF30 approval. This permission is granted by the FCA based upon a strict approval process.
12. I am the main income provider for my family and I am very worried that the CCJ will severely impact my job prospects and prevent me dealing with clients as it is important that I do not have any judgements on my credit score and that I am a fit and proper person.
13. I am also a home owner and I am also looking to move to a new mortgage product when my term expires and the CCJ will mean I will be unable to obtain a mortgage and face losing my family home.
14. I am enclosing a copy of the letter sent to the claimant on 01/12/23
15. I am enclosing response from the claimant via email on 04/12/23 with a receipt of payment for £310 and a signed consent order.
16. I am enclosing email from my agent and solicitor referencing my completion for YYYYYY on 25^th Jan 2013.
17. I am enclosing my Thames Water Bill from 01/04/21 to 31/03/22, my Thames Water Bill from 01/04/23 to 31/03/24
18. I am enclosing copies of my Virgin Media Renewal letter dated July’22, my Virgin Media 18-month Contract dated 15^th July 22, My Virgin Media Bill for August 23
19. I am enclosing my previous registration with the FCA
20. I am enclosing copies of my council tax bill for 2019/20, council tax bill for 2020/21 and council tax bill for 2022/23 proof.
21. I therefore respectfully request the court sets aside the judgement in this claim.

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Here is the copy of the letter that I sent to the claimant sent on 01/12/23

Re : County Court Judgement obtained in Default

I am writing in reference to a county court judgement that your company obtained in Default. I was unaware of the Court Claim you made because this was sent to the incorrect address. I can prove documents to show this.

I am concerned that I have not been afforded the opportunity to defend the claim which would seem to be a matter of fairness and right under UK law.

I intend to file an N224 with the court and in the interest of saving costs to your company and court time , I wonder if you would agree to a consent order to 'set aside'

In a demonstration of 'good faith' I paid the outstanding debt of £310.00 for PCN 162 983 5506 on the 30/11/23.

This was paid via your telephone payment system and I was not provided with a receipt or reference.

I am writing to request confirmation of my payment and if you are happy to agree to informing the court that the correspondence went to the wrong address and for the judgement claim to be set aside and all proceedings to be dismissed and all parties to bear their won costs.

Due to the urgency of this matter, I look forward to your response within 7 days.


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Here is the copy of the letter that the claimant sent with the consent order 04/12/23

We refer to your recent correspondence. We were provided with your name and address by the registered keeper/hirer following the parking violation. Please find enclosed the draft Consent Order in which we agree to your proposed application to set aside the County Court Judgment (“CCJ”) we have obtained. We have agreed to your proposed application to set aside the CCJ we have obtained due to your account that you were not residing at the address provided to us by the registered keeper/hirer following the violation or at the time the Judgment was obtained and that the correspondence in this matter, including the claim form, were sent to your old address. The draft consent order should be signed and dated by you, then filed at the Civil National Business Centre alongside the £108 filing fee (payable to the Civil National Business Centre) and a detailed cover letter setting out your reasons for requesting removal of the CCJ. You should include any evidence of mitigating circumstances that will allow the Court to conclude that there is some other good reason to set aside the CCJ. Please also ensure that the Civil National Business Centre is made aware of your new address when you send the draft Consent Order, as your old address will still be on its records. Please note that we are unable to guarantee the removal of the CCJ as this is at the Court’s discretion.

[R0b]

Hi,

Your post is confusing. The title of the thread suggests you need help with the consent order but you have posted up a witness statement that has absolutely nothing to do with a consent order, some of it anyway I don't think is quite relevant. To add to the confusion, you haven't even provided the contents of the consent order and yet you expect us to comment on it...

Your biggest mistake was paying in the first place. For future reference, the general starting position is that payment of a court judgment will be deemed that you have admitted liability and now you are simply seeking to repair your credit file which is not the role of the court and some judges view that as an abuse of process. For future reference, if you intend to set aside a default judgment then you do not pay anything to protect your position.

The problem both you and the courts have is that if the court agrees to set aside the default judgment, then the position reverts back to the point where you have to file a defence. How then, is the court supposed to deal with a claim that has already been settled and then waste valuable court resources processing the claim knowing that to be the case? It goes back to my point about your application being an abuse of process.

In my view, the only way of resolving this would be to for you and the other side to agree to a Tomlin Order. This is a type of consent order but usually has attached to it a confidential settlement that the court is not privy to and that settlement document is a contractual agreement. The purpose of doing it this way is that the court only has jurisdiction to make orders on certain things e.g. it cannot order a party to discontinue a claim and it cannot order someone to accept a sum of money - those types of terms would be in the settlement.

The consent order should say that the parties agree to set aside the default judgment on the basis of you having no knowledge fo the claim and within the settlement document the claimant agrees to discontinue the claim, each party bears their own costs and an acknowledgement that the sum of £330 has been paid in full and final settlement of the matter.

I'm not sure the other side's lawyers would agree to a Tomlin Order perhaps because if its the same typical law firms we see in relation to PCNs, they are not mentally or technically capable of being able to do someone beyond a basic consent order.

Your fall back position would be to submit your application to set aside the default judgment but I suggest you drastically rework your witness statement if that is what you are proposing.

[MRCLAYTON]

Thanks Rob its all very confusing.

I have a consent order based upon me paying the fine.

How do I re work my witness statement ?

[MRCLAYTON]

Are you saying I should reply back to the claimant asking for them to amend the consent form "The consent order should say that the parties agree to set aside the default judgment on the basis of you having no knowledge of the claim and within the settlement document the claimant agrees to discontinue the claim, each party bears their own costs and an acknowledgement that the sum of £330 has been paid in full and final settlement of the matter "

I do not think they will change their position or provide a Tomlin Order.

If I was to submit my application to set aside how do I reference that I paid and if so what are concerns on my witness statement ?

[atticus]

If I was to submit my application to set aside how do I reference that I paid and if so what are concerns on my witness statement ?

You include in your statement that you have paid - amounts, dates, how paid etc.

[MRCLAYTON]

Hi Rob to clarify the consent order

1. UPON the Court considering correspondence between the Claimant and the Defendant
2. AND UPON the parties agreeing that the Claim Form was sent to the Defendant’s previous address provided to the Claimant by the registered keeper and the Defendant was unaware of the claim
3. AND UPON the parties having agreed the following terms BY CONSENT, IT IS ORDERED THAT:
4. 1. Judgment for the Claimant in this matter be set aside.
5. 2. The proceedings in this action are dismissed.
6. 3. Each party shall bear its own costs of this application and the claim in general.

[atticus]

That does nearly all of what you have described in post 4.

"The consent order should say that:

he parties agree to set aside the default judgment - para 4
on the basis of you having no knowledge of the claim - para 2
and within the settlement document the claimant agrees to discontinue the claim - para 5 (even better, the claim is dismissed)
each party bears their own costs - para 6

and an acknowledgement that the sum of £330 has been paid in full and final settlement of the matter - not specifically dealt with - you could ask for that to be added to para 2. the one that begins "AND UPON..."

[R0b]

I do not believe a witness statement is necessary for a consent order. What is necessary, is when you make your application, you should comply with paragraph 8.4 of Practice Direction 23A of the Civil Procedure Rules (link here). Essentially, you need to provide evidence confirming all parties consent and the rules confirm that a letter signed by all parties agreein to the terms of the consent order would be acceptable. You may want to reach back out to the other side and state this, and can they draw up a letter on headed paper confirming they agree to the terms of the consent order and sign it, nothing more.

Atticus makes a good point about the dismissal rather than discontinuance and since the court has the power to dismiss a claim, I would omit the discontinuance reference in the settlement document and retain the dismissal point in the proposed consent order.

If these points are added I don't think a settlement document is necessary and a simple consent order may do. Tying it all up, it should look something like the below.

UPON the Court reading the letter between the Claimant and the Defendant consenting to set aside the default judgment

AND UPON the parties agreeing that the Claim Form was sent to the Defendant’s previous address provided to the Claimant by the registered keeper and the Defendant was unaware of the claim

AND UPON the Claimant acknowledging that it has already received payment of the judgment debt amount.

BY CONSENT IT IS ORDERED:

1. Judgment for the Claimant in this matter (Claim No. XXXXX) be set aside.
2. The proceedings in this action are dismissed.
3. Each party shall bear its own costs of this application and the claim in general.

[MRCLAYTON]

Thank you so much.