Tomlin Order fiasco

[Roisin]

In March 2024, I agreed to/signed a Tomlin Order that gave me a year to pay a debt, final payment date March 1st 2025.

In September, I received a letter from the Court telling me that the claim had been struck out as the claimant had not filed a Directions Questionnaire and therefore there was no jurisdiction to process the Tomlin Order, so it was not approved.

I heard nothing more from the Court or the claimant's solicitor for seven months, so I assumed the claim and Tomlin Order were dead, especially when the final payment date of March 1st passed.

On April 4th, the solicitor emailed me reminding me about the Tomlin Order and giving me seven days to pay or else they would file a Judgement. I replied that I had not forgotten but was not aware the claim or Tomlin Order were in play as the last I had heard from the Court was that they had been struck out/not approved. She said she had been trying to get the claim restored and the Tomlin Order approved and had finally been successful; the Tomlin Order was approved on April 3rd..... a month after the final payment date.

It seems that in order to get the claim reinstated and the Tomlin Order approved, the Order that obliged the claimant to submit a Directions Questionnaire was set aside. This made the decision based on it to strike out the claim invalid. This does seem like a rewriting of history by the Court that very much favours the claimant, and is not impartial. Given who the claimant is (think Goliath) this is concerning.

I felt rather ambushed by this news and the sudden demand for payment and told the solicitor that I was unable to pay in full. She suggested a monthly instalment agreement instead and said that if I made an offer and her client agreed to it, she would not apply for Judgement.

I was then passed on to a paralegal apprentice, who told me my offer had been accepted but that they were also applying for a CCJ on the grounds that I had not adhered to the terms of the Tomlin Order and paid in full by March 1st. This, of course, is not what I was told would happen by the original solicitor. They reneged on their agreement with me (as Goliaths tend to, because they can).

I am writing to the Court via an N244 form asking for the Judgement to be set aside. The crux of my argument is that the Tomlin Order was not approved until a month after the final payment date on the Tomlin Order and I was not told it had been approved for a week after that. Until that time, I had understood that the claim was struck out and the Tomlin Order not approved. I did not forget or neglect to pay the claim on March 1st. As far as I knew, it had been struck out.

I had been unaware that I would need to pay the claimant re the Tomlin Order for seven of the twelve months of the Order, so effectively I lost seven months of the twelve I had been given to raise the money. If the claimant's solicitor had communicated with me to let me know what she was doing, I would have had the opportunity to prepare for the possibility the Order would be approved.

Any thought or tips? Thanks in advance!

[echat11]

Hi Roisin

Welcome to LB

It's 'outrageous'.

a) Write a formal letter of complaint, address it to the Court Manager, make sure you get Proof of Postage.

b) Lodge a complaint against the solicitors, follow the complaint procedure on their website - this is because the
treatment has been 'unfair', they know that no Tomlin Order exists, yet are threatening you with a CCJ.

'On April 4th, the solicitor emailed me reminding me about the Tomlin Order and giving me seven days to pay
or else they would file a Judgement.'

'I was then passed on to a paralegal apprentice, who told me my offer had been accepted but that they were also applying
for a CCJ on the grounds that I had not adhered to the terms of the Tomlin Order and paid in full by March 1st.'

c) Send a Subject Access Request to get details on your case, i.e. you should get evidence that your treatment has been 'unfair' etc.

You can request this online - https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...mation-charter

Update when you get responses.

[Roisin]

Hi Roisin

Welcome to LB

It's 'outrageous'.

a) Write a formal letter of complaint, address it to the Court Manager, make sure you get Proof of Postage.

b) Lodge a complaint against the solicitors, follow the complaint procedure on their website - this is because the
treatment has been 'unfair', they know that no Tomlin Order exists, yet are threatening you with a CCJ.

'On April 4th, the solicitor emailed me reminding me about the Tomlin Order and giving me seven days to pay
or else they would file a Judgement.'

'I was then passed on to a paralegal apprentice, who told me my offer had been accepted but that they were also applying
for a CCJ on the grounds that I had not adhered to the terms of the Tomlin Order and paid in full by March 1st.'

c) Send a Subject Access Request to get details on your case, i.e. you should get evidence that your treatment has been 'unfair' etc.

You can request this online - https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...mation-charter

Update when you get responses.

Thank you! The first thing I'm doing is applying for the judgement to be set aside. Then I'll make make a subject access request, and depending on the response to my application, I'll make a complaint to the manager.

I got a reply from the paralegal apprentice this afternoon, and he is lying about what happened.

On 9th June, his colleague said:

"If you do not respond by the 16^th April or our client rejects your offer, Judgment may be applied for which will have an adverse effect on your credit score & entitle our client to take enforcement action. However, it is hoped this will not become necessary and look forward to hearing from you with your reasonable offer."

On 13th June, he said:

"My client has come back to me and confirmed that they would be happy to accept your repayment proposal of £10.00 for a temporary period of 3 months with a view to increase. However, as the Tomlin Order was not upheld, they would like to enter judgment alongside accepting this for security."

Today, squirming somewhat, he said:

"In light of the outstanding balance, our client did not deem £10.00 per month reasonable and wished to enter judgment forthwith. As per paragraph 1 and 2 in the Tomlin Order Schedule, our client was at liberty to enter judgment for the full balance as the settlement sum had yet to have been received. In light of your circumstances, our client did still agree to accept your offer of £10.00 per month for a temporary period of 3 months with a review of your circumstances to take place after these 3 months have lapsed."

When the final day for payment on the Tomlin Order came, it had not been approved. After seven months of the claim being struck out, I felt ambushed and distressed when I was told on the 4th of April that I had to pay in full within seven days or they'd apply for a CCJ. Yes, it is unfair. I hope the court will see that!

At least he's stop saying "Hi Roisin...." in his emails because I told him we weren't on whatsapp and he's not my buddy! So unprofessional on so many counts.

[echat11]

Update when you get responses.

Solicitors / firms has 'Code of Conduct', you believe they have breached it i.e. lying etc.

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/st...ct-solicitors/

[Roisin]

Update when you get responses.

Solicitors / firms has 'Code of Conduct', you believe they have breached it i.e. lying etc.

https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/st...ct-solicitors/

I don't have a reply/update yet. But I am trying to get my head around this... Sent the application in. Hoping it's okay.

My argument is this, from the application:

That schedule on the Tomlin Order states that, “The defendant shall pay to the claimant the sum of £XXX in full and final settlement of this claim. The defendant shall pay this sum by 1st March 2025.” However,

1. The Tomlin Order was approved a month after the time frame in the schedule ended, that is 1^st March 2025, meaning the schedule was by then redundant.
2. The claim was struck out in September 2024 by Judge XXX, so there was no claim to settle during the latter six months of the schedule. Therefore, there was no Tomlin Order. It was not possible to not adhere to a Tomlin Order that quite literally did not exist.
3. Even if the claim had not been struck out, during the entire time period of the schedule, from March 2024 to 1^st March 2025, the Tomlin Order was not approved by an Order of the Court and therefore was not legally binding or enforceable, so I was not legally obliged to make any payment.

The schedule on the Tomlin Order further states that, “If the defendant defaults on any payment due, then the full amount then outstanding shall become payable and the claimant shall be at liberty to enter judgement against the defendant for this sum.”

I did not default on any payments due because

1. The claim was struck out in September 2024, so there was no Tomlin Order until the claim was restored in April 2025 and thus no payments to make or default on during that time period.
2. The Tomlin Order was not an approved Order of the Court on or before 1^st March 2025 and therefore it and its schedule were not legally binding or enforceable during the time frame specified in the schedule and no payments were therefore due.

With reference to the wording on the Tomlin Order schedule, as I did not default, the full amount was not then outstanding and the claimant was thus not at liberty to enter judgement against me. The judgement, which was entered in error, should then be set aside forthwith."

Why would a judge approve a Tomlin Order with a redundant schedule?!!! What was he/she thinking? This is a complete nonsense, and it should be set aside. Angry face emoji!

[Roisin]

Hello Echatt, I got a reply from their solicitor this morning. They've passed me back to the original one from the paralegal apprentice. This is what she says:

"I will answer your 3 queries as follows:-

1. Yes, we received your copy email to the Court filing your application and will take instructions upon the same when we are formally served with a copy and Notice of Hearing;
2. I believe the correspondence you are referring to relates to the Court’s letter of the 6^th September 2024 which reported that the claim had been struck out by Order of the 7^th March 2024. I actually referred you to this in my attached email of the 9^th April 2025 after which you raised no issues. As requested, I attach this firm’s email to the Court of the 12^th September 2024 which resulted in the Court’s Order of the 3^rd April 2025 setting aside the Order of the 7^th March 2024 and approving the Tomlin Order;
3. I confirm enforcement action will not be taken pending receipt of a hearing date for your application when I will take instructions and come back to you. You are of course at liberty to make payments in the meantime.

May I assure you that I intend to deal with this matter practically and cost effectively and will guide my client accordingly. I am hopeful that a compromise can be reached and request you bear with me while we receive a formal copy of your application and a Hearing Notice."

I asked for:

"1. Acknowledgement of receipt of my N244 application. You will be served with this by the Court in due course.
2. Jean Williams'/Wilkin Chapman LLP's correspondence with the Court on behalf of Linnaeus Veterinary Ltd. in 2024 and 2025 that should have already been supplied to me under CPR, especially any applications, or letters representing applications, that were filed.
3. Further clarification regarding the arrangement we have. In your last email, you said "we are not looking to enforce on the judgment after the temporary instalment plan has ended and would rather work with you to come to a new repayment arrangement". Can you assure me that, until the judgement is set aside, which I expect it will be, you will not take enforcement action while ever I am not able to afford to pay more than £10 a month."

So, the correspondence I asked for as clearly not the letter from the Court dated 6th September. Why would I ask for a letter I already have?!!! She and the paralegal told me that there had been back and forth correspondence with the Court, so that is what I wanted to see. She has sent me just one email sent on 12th September. There must be more. I didn't raise any issues after she told me they'd managed to get the TO approved because I was, frankly, confused, stunned, worried..... She ambushed me on 4th April after 7 months of silence with a demand for full payment within 7 days or else judgement.

Does she sound combative in numbers 2 and 3 yet maybe more conciliatory in the final sentence? Any thoughts/advice?

[echat11]

I think she's just stating facts as she sees them in 1 and 2, she sounds as though she wants to get the matter resolved in 3 for all parties.