CCJ: too late for statute barred?

[Sunnyvb11]

Good afternoon all,

I am currently in the midst of a wrangle with Robinson Way regarding an old HSBC credit card debt of £2672.25 from six years ago. I had been ignoring communications for many years and, as far as I can remember, have never replied in writing or otherwise to any letters I have received. However, I was contacted in August last year by solicitors representing Hoist Portfolio Holdings (HSBC) and threatened with legal action.
I foolishly ignored this and subsequently recieved CCJ papers pertaining to a claim for the money. With poor judgement I laid claim to the debt and tendered a figure for repayment of it with the court. I was contacted again by the solicitors and told not to pay anything to the court as HPH2 believed I would not be in a position to repay at the offered rate. I was advised to contact Robinson Way to sort out an alternative. Needless to say, I didn't.
The next communication I recieved was from RW informing me that I had defaulted on my arrangement with the court and that I should seek to make an arrangement with them. About two weeks later another letter arrived with a Without Predudice settlement offer and a substantial reduction of the debt, with the new total being £775.00. In the terms of the agreement the default would be registered as partially satisfied and the CCJ entered as satisfied. Whilst this seemed like a dream offer, it lead me to be slightly suspicious as to their motives for granting such a large reduction. Having spoked to both national debt line and my local CAB today I have been given mixed feedback regarding a potential claim for statute barred status on the debt considering the length of time that has past. Having spoken to RW about the debt, it was disclosed to me, accidentally or otherwise, that the original default date was back in 2011. Does this mean my claim would stick, regardless of the fact I have already claimed the debt as mine?


Any help or advice about seeking and possibly defending a setting aside of the CCJ would be greatly welcomed.

[Amethyst]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

I do wonder why you've had mixed feedback from National Debtline and CAB on the statute barred status of this debt. There is a CCJ in place, you've had the CCJ for around, what 6 months?, you replied to the court paperwork making an offer to pay and ended up with an installment order. The debt might have been statute barred before they brought the claim, but the time for arguing that was when you received the court claim. Had you not received the claim in the first place, you might be able to now apply for a set-aside and then defend the claim as statute barred ( although it depends when in 2011 it was defaulted - you had the claim in August 2017?? so it would have needed to be before July 2011 that you defaulted ). But you accepted the debt through the court and arranged payments.

I don't get though why HPH2 told you not to pay - seems odd - unless they wanted to push it through to enforcement ? but then to come in with a low settlement offer, is strange.... What was the actual court installment order for ? £50 a month ? How did you put your offer in - through the moneyclaim online service or on paper ? or did you send it directly to HPH2 ?

How old is this £775 offer ( can you still take them up on it? ) Your alternative really is to apply to the court to vary the installment order.

[Sunnyvb11]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

Thanks for the reply, Amethyst.

The ccj was granted at the end of September and, because of my honesty and ignorence of the law regarding statute barred, I accepted the debt was mine in order to avoid things getting more serious. I filled out the paper work and gave details of my income and expenditure and offered the sum of £40 as repayment.
As for the reduced offer, that is available now, but it has a shelf life. I have no wish to look that gift horse in the mouth, but I also have no desire to see a ccj on my credit report on the next 6 years. I just want to explore the possibility of getting a set-aside but, without and exact date for the default, I have no wish to spook Robinson Way by asking them for the details lest they should remove the offer and demand more, or worse.
If there is no other option but to take the reduced offer, I will do that. But, if all it would cost me is the £255 to file for a set aside, I would rather that than paying the full whack.

[wales01man]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

Filing for set aside does not guarantee it will be

[Sunnyvb11]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

Hence me seeking appropriate advice, Wales 01 man. If the chance of being successful is good enough, it would seem prudent to pursue. If filed, it would be encumbument on Robinson Way and the solicitors to prove otherwise, no?
It all seem a bit fishy to me considering the timing of everything.

[R0b]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

Hi Sunnyvb11,

Applications to set aside a CCJ relate to default judgments whereas you have admitted the claim and so the only way for you to get around this would be to make an application to the court to withdraw that admission. Needless to say I think there would be a very high chance that your application to withdraw the admission would be refused, mainly because you failed to make an application promptly to withdraw that the admission. As Ame has said, the time for arguing that the debt was statute barred is long gone and you should have raised a defence rather than admitting the debt.

I'm afraid it looks like you might be stuck with that CCJ on your credit file for the next 6 years though if you do settle the £775 amount then you can obtain a certificate of satisfaction from the court for £15 which will update your credit file showing the CCJ as satisfied, though it might not mean much in terms of applying for credit where any decision is computer generated as it still looks bad either way that you've obtained a CCJ and there is a still a risk in that.

[Sunnyvb11]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

All the result of a blind panic and lack of forethought. I just had faint hope that there might have been a way out. It pays to keep on top of things, kids.

[Amethyst]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

I agree with R0b I'm afraid Sunny xxx

I still find it very strange though that HPH said to not pay the amount ordered - presumably that was by phone and not in writing ? Did you actually receive a Judgment order from the court for £40 a month ?

Oh also, when was the default date Robinson Way mentioned ? pre or post Sept 2011 ?

[Sunnyvb11]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

Hi again, Amethyst.
The order not to pay was in writing, but damned if I can find the letter.
I don't remember hearing anything else from the court and all other info has come from solicitors and RW. I tried calling the court today for clarification but could not get through.
The default was mentioned in passing when in negotiating the terms of the reduced settlement. I just remember hearing 2011 mentioned but have forgotten the month. Is that worth chasing up just to clarify?

[Amethyst]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

It might be worth asking the court for the copy of the original judgment order if possible just to be certain what the actual situation was.

The CCJ does show on your credit file though?

[Sunnyvb11]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

Yes, the ccj shows up on my credit report and I have just realised the potential implications for my wife as we share a bank account. I will try the court tomorrow to see if I can make any headway. I definitely didn't receive any thing from the court confirming the £40 order...

[Amethyst]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

Hmmmm ... ring court - persevere ( they are terrible sometimes answering the phone ) you want Northampton business centre / mcol so

County Court Business Centre (CCBC): 0300 123 1056
01604 619 400
Money Claim Online (MCOL): 0300 123 1057

You want to know if there was a judgment whether it was a default judgment or by admission, and if there was an instalment order or forthwith order - if they can send you a copy of the Judgment that would be ideal.

Thinking if you sent your admission and offer to hph2 and they didn’t deal with it properly you could have a default judgment ( wrongly ) and possibly ( outside chance ) be able to have it set aside to then defend or settle ( at a reduced amount) .... absolute best case scenario there so don’t get your hopes up through me rambling ... but ring court xxxx

This “ don’t pay” thing might be they didn’t accept your offer and didn’t put it to court ( who might have reviewed and ordered far less a month instalment - so they left it to default judgment to get forthwith order )

But that’s supposition on my part and probably completely wrong lol...

[Sunnyvb11]

Re: CCJ: too late for statute barred?

Looks like I am going to run out of time with this as RW want an answer regarding the reduced settlement this week. No answer from court as yet.