Dilemma over CCJ and huge solicitors' charges

[Kathy321]

I have been paying ground rent of a little over £100 every 6 months for my tiny flat in Liverpool for the past 16 years. I missed the payment on 01/07/2024. I only realised my mistake when I received a Letter of Claim from a solicitors in Coventry in November (they sent the letter to me in October but it had the wrong postcode so took some time to get to me). I apparently now owed £600 due to the addition of legal fees. I quickly paid the £100 I owed to the ground rent company, and sent the reply form back to the solicitors the same day by registered post, acknowledging that I owed some of the debt (the original £100), and that I had now paid it. I wrote a cover letter to the solicitors explaining that I thought their charges were unreasonable (given the size of my original debt), and please could they EMAIL me anything further about the matter as I was going to be away for a long time and would not receive 'normal' post.

I have heard nothing back from them, and I am still not back home, so I phoned the solicitors yesterday to get an update, and they tell me that they received my reply form and cover letter on 13/11/2024 but they have taken out a CCJ against me from a court in Northampton dated 09/12/2024! They say they sent a letter about this to my flat. But I am not there to receive it, as I had told them in the cover letter. I apparently now owe the solicitors over £2000. They tell me that if I pay this huge amount in the next 2 days, they will be able to cancel the CCJ.

What should I do? As far as I can see, I have 2 options:
1) Should I pay the £2000 now and get the CCJ cancelled by the solicitors themselves (I can borrow the money) and then try and fight their excess charges? Is there any way for ordinary people to contest solicitors' charges? From reading Google reviews, it looks like this solicitors has done this before.
2) Should I apply to the court myself to cancel the CCJ? (I know I would have to pay a court fee of around £300 and maybe travel to Northampton). Fighting it myself seems risky, as the solicitors are offering to cancel the CCJ for me if I pay up in the next 2 days. And I may not win if I go to court myself. I am scared that the amount I owe might increase even more. Would I still have to pay the £2000 if I 'win' the case? What are my chances?

To be honest, the £2000 is bothering me more than the CCJ at this point, but I would be glad to have the CCJ cancelled.

I would be very grateful for any advice from any experts out there. I only have a couple of days. Please make it simple for me to follow any steps you recommend. Baby steps. Thankyou for reading this.

[pc52straw]

Not an expert but if you do go for a set aside application, you can apply for help with costs if that's applicable.

Was any of your correspondence with the solicitor by email and did the correspondence clearly state you wouldn't be at that address? Did it provide alternative means of contact? And did it explain the original debt had been settled when asking about the added £500?

Have they sent proof of when the application was filed and when default judgement was made?

[Pezza54]

Is it possible the claimant's solicitor has not put your correct address on the claim form and you haven't received court documents because they have been sent to the wrong address? That would be a good reason to have the CCJ set aside and the claimant would be at fault
You stated that the solicitor did not have the correct postcode for your address
You should phone the CCBC at Northampton to find out what court documents have been posted and where they have been sent

[Kathy321]

Thankyou PC52STRAW and PEZZA54.

In answer to your questions:

None of my correspondence with the solicitor was by email. They sent me a paper form to fill in asking me if I agreed that I owed none/some/all of the debt. I did not think of emailing them, as they had written to me on paper, so I responded the same way. I filled in the paper form and sent it back with a covering letter telling them that I had paid the original £100 and that they needed to reply to me by email as I was going to be away. I put my email address on the letter. The solicitors received my letter on 13/11/2024. I have proof of delivery from Royal Mail, it has been signed for, and they told me on the phone yesterday that they have my letter.

I received the first Letter of Claim in my postbox. It is possible that some of the subsequent court documents have gone astray. Or they could be piled up in my postbox. I don't know because I am not there. They only got one number wrong in my postcode. So I don't think I have a good defence there, as they might say 'Well, you received one document so why not all of them'. I think my best defence is that I told them to email me with any further developments in my case and they didn't.

I have phoned the CCBC in Northampton. Great advice! They were super helpful. And guess what?? The solicitors filed for the CCJ application on 13/11/2024 - THE SAME DAY THEY RECEIVED MY LETTER. And when I did not respond to the upcoming CCJ (as they knew I could not possibly know about it because they did not email me), the solicitors themselves logged on to the court computer and issued me the CCJ themselves as a default judgement. There was no judge involved!! (the solicitors told me yesterday that a judge had looked carefully at my case and ruled that I should pay them £2000). By the way, the solicitors also told me yesterday that they had filed the CCJ application on 11/11/2024, two days earlier! Too many lies.

Anyway, the CCBC have emailed me form N244 to set aside the CCJ and a 'help with fees' form. They think I have a good case. My only last question to you both is whether I tell the solicitors that I am applying to set aside the judgement. Or shall I just let it be a surprise to them when they find out from the CCBC?

By the way, I was crying at the start of all this yesterday, but thanks to you guys and your advice I now feel strangely powerful. How many more people are being treated like this by solicitors? You have been very kind to me and I don't even know you.

[atticus]

Tell them. Explain why you are applying. Invite them to consent to your application: if they do consent, the application will be easier and cheaper.

[Kathy321]

Thankyou ATTICUS.

OK. So do I just send the solicitors a two-line email that I am applying to set aside the judgement and would they like to consent?

Or would it be better to tell them the reasons why (I have paid the original debt, their penalty charges are disproportionate to the original debt, they didn't tell me about the upcoming CCJ so no chance to defend myself....)

And should I let them know that I have found out that they lied about the date they filed for the CCJ application? (some people don't like to be told that they have lied). Maybe that information is best just for form N244 for the CCBC.

How would the application be easier and cheaper if I invited them to consent to it? Please could you shed a little more light on this.... I think they are making good money from squashing little people like me, so I don't know why they would consent to anything that might benefit me. What would be in it for them?

[Pezza54]

When you state "Letter of Claim" do you mean the solicitor's letter before claim and not the claim form from the court?
Is there anyone who can check whether you received court documents that could still be in your post box?
Finding out that you did not receive the claim form or CCJ from the court will strengthen your application
You should read the government guide notes for completing N244
When are your returning to your address? Form N244 asks for the applicant's address that the court should send post to and any dates you are not available for a hearing in the next 6 weeks

Please read cpr Part 13 Setting Aside or Varying Court Judgement
You are making an application under 13.3 (1)(b)(i) and you should state this under Q3 of N244

If you are prepared to attend a hearing, you should let the court serve documents to the claimant's solicitor. Send the court sufficient copies

[atticus]

I did say to explain why you are making the application. That is part of attempting to persuade the other party to agree.

[Pezza54]

Sorry I meant to add that just because one letter with an incorrect postcode found its way to your home address doesn't necessarily mean other letters addressed wrongly will also arrive

[echat11]

https://legalbeagles.info/library/ho...-judgment-ccj/

[Pezza54]

The claimant's solicitor doesn't sound trustworthy - post 4 paragraph 5

[Kathy321]

Thankyou PEZZA54. I wrote 'Letter of Claim' because that is what is written at the top of the letter. I didn't know it could be two different things. It is the solicitors' letter before claim ('We have been instructed on behalf of XXXX Ground Rents Limited by their managing agents in relation to non-payment of ground rent due to them. We need immediate payment of the outstanding sum of £6XX.XX to avoid further legal action being taken against you'). This is the letter I replied to and never received a reply back.

I am returning in 2 weeks, so I can check my postbox then. The woman at Northampton CCBC said it would be fine though to write on form N244 that I would like correspondence by email. She said it was unlikely that I would have to attend court, but I don't mind doing so. I got the impression that I may not be the first person to contest something from these solicitors.

Sorry ATTICUS, I didn't properly see the word 'explain' in your first message.

I will post again when I have more news.

[Pezza54]

Thanks for this info
In your postbox you should have a sealed (stamped) claim form and response pack from the court and a sealed CCJ.
Following your letter to the solicitor that you were going away for some time and would not be able to read post at your home address, you provided your email address and asked for all future correspondence to be emailed
The solicitor should have served you with the sealed claim form by email, but failed to do this. The solicitor did not make the court aware that you were not living at your home address

If the CCJ is set aside you will still have to file a defence. In my opinion a £600 claim is excessive for a £100 missed payment (which you have now paid) and probably worth defending

[Kathy321]

Hi PEZZA54,

Thankyou for the helpful information.

I refer to the last paragraph of your message about filing a defence after the CCJ is (hopefully) set aside. I have to include a draft defence on form N244. Is this the same defence that you are talking about, or do I have to do a totally separate procedure? (and if so, what is that procedure?). I read somewhere that if you write a detailed defence, the judge can make a decision on the setting aside of the CCJ and the solicitors extortionate charges all in one fell swoop. Or have I oversimplified things?

[Pezza54]

It makes sense for a small claim to be dispensed with at the set aside hearing. I suggest you will have to pay something on top of the £100. The claimant's solicitor won't want to attend another hearing (the trial) knowing they won't be able to recover their costs.
On the small claims track the court may treat the preliminary hearing as the final hearing if all parties agree
I don't see why the court cannot treat the set aside hearing as the final hearing

You could tick all 3 boxes under Q10 and provide all documents:
Statement of Case - your defence on the form
Your Witness Statement (include details of phone calls) cross referenced to evidence (letters etc) as a separate document

Keep paragraphs short and consecutively numbered
Sign a Statement of Truth at the end of your witness statement