Dilemma over CCJ and huge solicitors' charges

[Kathy321]

In my postbox I have a Claim Form (dated 13/11/24) and a 'Judgment for Claimant (in default)' from the CNBC dated 09/12/24. Nothing else.

I have dug out my lease and read it. My ground rent is due on 01 January and 01 July each year, which I know. The clause relating to this payment, listed under 'Tenant's Covenants', reads as follows:

'if the rents hereby reserved in this lease (whether demanded or not) or any other monetary payment under this lease are not paid within 14 days of becoming due then to pay interest on it at the Interest Rate, the interest to accrue from day to day commencing on the date when the payment became due until payment is made'

(and 'Interest Rate' is defined elsewhere in the lease as 4% per annum above the base rate of Barclays Bank plc)

So nothing about a £180 late payment fee in the lease.

Is there anything else I need to do now, other than work on my Defence?

[Pezza54]

In post 59 you stated you filed your draft defence with the application. Was this document headed "DEFENCE" and ending with a signed Statement of Truth?

How much money was the judgement for?

Did you receive Response Pack N9 with the claim form?

Nothing from the court yet confirming judgement has been set aside?

[Kathy321]

I filed my Draft Defence with my application. It was headed 'DRAFT DEFENCE' and I signed it with a Statement of Truth. In it I admitted that I owed £2XX (made up of ground rent + late payment charge), but strongly denied that I owed the Claimant £18XX as stated on their Particulars of Claim.

The judgment on 09/12/24 was for £23XX.XX (exactly the same amount of money that the solicitors told me that I owed them when I phoned them on 07/01/25). The amount stated on the Claim Form is £22 less.

Yes, a Response Pack with forms N9A and N9B is attached to the Claim Form (but I have obviously not filled them in).

No news from the court yet. I sent the documents via DHL on 24 Jan. DHL say they have delivered them. I phoned the CNBC to check they had them on 29 Jan, but they say they are unable to check this on their computer. They told me I had to email applications.cnbc@justice.gov.uk to ask if the documents have arrived, which I did. I got an automated response saying it might take them 2 weeks to reply to me.

[Pezza54]

You have filed your Defence. You could work on your Witness Statement, although if the default judgement is set aside and the claim restarted you should get more time to file and serve your witness statement

[Kathy321]

Hi PEZZA54,

Now I am totally confused.

I thought that once you had a Consent Order signed by both parties, you don't need a Witness Statement.

Why have I written a brief Draft Defence if it is not a draft?

If the judgment is set aside, won't the judge give me 14 days to write a full Defence? (NOT a Witness Statement).

[Pezza54]

Q10 on N244 allows the applicant to submit their "statement of case", which in your case is your "Defence"

You submitted this document and unfortunately you can't change it without a court application notice which includes another court fee

I won't be surprised if the claimant discontinues the claim. Employing a solicitor to start a court claim to chase a £100 missed payment plus interest is like using a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

[Kathy321]

That is the best news I have heard in weeks. Thankyou.

I think I will just wait to see what the Court tells me to do. Hopefully the judge will look favourably on me because I paid the original debt 3 months ago, and I have also offered to pay the ridiculous £180 late payment fee in my Draft Defence.

I will post here again when I hear from the Court.

[Kathy321]

Sorry for the radio silence my end, but things have been dragging on forever. I will start with a quick summary of the past 67 posts:
1) July 2024: I missed a ground rent payment of £100.
2) November 2024: I received a Letter Before Claim from the Claimant's solicitors demanding £600. I quickly paid the £100 debt and wrote to them a) disputing the size of the Claim b) asking them to email me with anything further about the matter as I would be away.
3) December 2024: Unbeknown to me, they took out a CCJ against me. They had sent the Claim Form to my home address, but I was not there to receive it. I now owed £2000.
4) January 2025: I found out about the CCJ and the £2000 debt. This is where you guys stepped in (thankyou!). With your help I got the Claimant's solicitor to agree to set aside the judgment and write a Consent Order. All the paperwork reached the CNBC (form N244+Consent Order+Draft Defence).

Now comes a summary of what has happened since my last post:
1) March 2025: I received a letter from the legal advisor at the CNBC stating 'Since your draft order signature is titled solicitors for the party and not by individual name it should be signed in the name of the Firm of Solicitors representing a party.' So the solicitors had signed the Consent Order incorrectly!!!!
2) March to June 2025: I repeatedly emailed, called, messaged the solicitors to ask them to correct their signature on the Consent Order. I had to become a bit of a stalker/phone pest.
3) End of June 2025: I received the correctly signed Consent Order and sent it in to the CNBC.
4) September 2025: I have received a one-line letter from the CNBC stating 'Upon considering the Consent Application dated __ Jan 2025 it is ordered that The Application by consent has been approved in the terms sought. Please see the attached order.'

My Consent Order had the following points:
1) The Judgment dated __ December 2024 is set aside.
2) The Defendant shall respond to the claim within 14 days from the date of service of this Order.
3) No order as to costs.

Hooray! The judgement has been set aside! I phoned the CNBC to ask what I needed to do next. They told me that the CCJ will be cancelled automatically, a 'stay' has been put on my case, and the Claimant will need to pay a fee to lift the stay. They said I just need to wait and see what the Claimant does.

After some googling, I have realised that the advice to 'wait and see' is not correct. So I phoned the CNBC again, and they have told me that the advice I received from them was not correct. I can't just sit and wait. They have sent me form N9B to fill out: 'Defence and Counterclaim'. I need a bit of help from you guys to fill out this form. I already submitted a Draft Defence back in January.

I would appreciate any help offered, in particular from PEZZA54, ATTICUS or PC52STRAW, as you were so helpful before. Please let me know any initial thoughts that you have, and I will need to come back with some specific questions about form N9B.

[Kathy321]

Hello,
Are PEZZA54, ATTICUS, PC52STRAW or JK2054 still advising on this site? I know it has been a while. If not, I will have a crack at filling out the 'Defence and Counterclaim' form myself.
Kind regards, Kathy

[PallasAthena]

Hello,
Are PEZZA54, ATTICUS, PC52STRAW or JK2054 still advising on this site?

You need to use the @ symbol if you want to tag people: Pezza54 atticus pc52straw JK2054

[atticus]

You should file your Defence, which would appear to be that you have paid the debt.

You will find resources for litigants in person in the thread linked in my signature, below.

[Kathy321]

Thankyou PALLASATHENA for fixing my computer ignorance.

And ATTICUS, once again, for your sound advice.

Form N9B seems pretty straightforward to fill out, but I have something I need ironing out before I fill it in:

In my Draft Defence that I sent to the Court in January 2025, I admitted to the £100 ground rent charge (paid 2 months earlier). I also stupidly admitted to the £180 late payment fee. However, on subsequent reading of my lease (not available to me at the time), I realise that I am only liable to pay the ground rent charge plus interest.

Can I now state in my Defence and Counterclaim form that I just owe them 4% or so interest, and quote the terms in my lease? Or should I just swallow the medicine and pay the £180 too? I don't know if I am allowed to 'change my mind' between my Draft Defence and this new form.

[Kathy321]

Hi @ATTICUS,
Do you have time tonight to answer my question in my post above? I need to post it off tomorrow so it gets there in the 14-day time limit.
Kathy

[PallasAthena]

Hi @ATTICUS,
Do you have time tonight to answer my question in my post above? I need to post it off tomorrow so it gets there in the 14-day time limit.
Kathy

atticus [Kathy321 you put a comma at the end of ATTICUS so the name wasn't recognised for tagging]

[atticus]

Yes, you can admit the interest and dispute the other charges.

This is without seeing the details of the claim (I am not trawling through this long thread to see if it's there).