General Form Of Judgement Order N24 Received

[Guest]

Short back story:

I bought a car from a sole trader dealer which didn't work. I rejected the goods under the customer rights act. When the dealer failed to pay I opened a case with the small claims court...after a few months of wrong addresses it would moved to the defendants local court. The defendant did not defend his case and I applied for a default judgement.

I received a letter in the post today titled "General Form of Judgement or Order":

IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1. Judgement for the Claimant in the sum of xxx
2. The Defendant shall pay the Claimants costs on the claim form of xxx


I am very confused as to what this form is saying. Does this mean the defendant has to pay the sum displayed in 1? I have looked around google to see other forms and they usually contain information such as Defendant has to pay x amount by some defined date.

Any help is appreciated.

[2222]

You have won the case, and both lots of money are payable immediately. I assume the defendant did not reply to the court explaining his financial position, so the court has not set a payment timetable.

That's the good news. The bad news is that he won't cough up the money, and you will have to take enforcement action. Something like half of these judgments go unpaid.

I suppose you didn't pay with a credit card? Even part of the cost?

[seek42]

Sadly not, I paid the bulk with debit card as I didn't have a credit card with the limits required (I know now I only had to pay £100 of the amount via credit card for the credit card company to be jointly responsible). Before I took legal action with the courts the dealer had agreed to refund and pickup the car but refused to start the debit card refund process before being in possession of the car (I just wanted to talk to his bank to check it had been initiated before I handed the car over). This was strange at the time as he delivered to my address and I was happy for him to start the refund process once he was at my address ready for the hand over.

My debit card company do have a chargeback scheme but to meet their requirements I would have had to return the car first and then start their process - and they can only get the money back if it hasn't disappeared. Given that the dealer was a sole trader mostly selling other dealership part ex cars via ebay and at the time I didn't know if the address on the invoice was real I didn't think returning the car before refund was an option, as it was my main proof of the fault.

The car was faulty to the point it was unsafe to drive (which I only new because the car didn't start the first time I tried it after the dealer left and I got an independent garage to look over it), so I thought I should make sure trading standards etc new - another reason I didn't want to hand over the car with proof the refund process was initiated.


This case has taken a long time as the first serving was to the wrong person and wrong address (same name, age range and area), and it was alot of effort for me to get the CCJ lifted against the wrong person. The first serving was handled by moneyclaims online. The default judgement I got from them was pretty clear and it seemed I could apply for the court bailiffs to try to reclaim the money immediately. The claim was moved to the defendants local court with the second serving.

I agree with your assessment that there is no chance he is going to hand over the money. As there is no time period set on the judgement does this mean I can start enforcement action immediately? Does this mean bailiffs or having to apply to the courts for something again requesting something?

Thanks

[ostell]

Wait for 14 days and then write to him asking for the money. No response then send your case to the high court for enforcement. It costs a bit more but it is added to the claim. This is the lot in "Can't Pay we'll take it away" and "The sheriffs are coming". They have more power than the county court bailiffs, sorry enforcement officers.

[jaguarsuk]

Wait for 14 days and then write to him asking for the money. No response then send your case to the high court for enforcement. It costs a bit more but it is added to the claim. This is the lot in "Can't Pay we'll take it away" and "The sheriffs are coming". They have more power than the county court bailiffs, sorry enforcement officers.

It costs less than getting warrant to get a writ from the high court, a Writ of Control costs £60 and is definitely preferable to a Warrant of Control.