Lowells CCJ sent to previous address even though they have the current address

[helen33]

Hi and thank you for offering a forum such as this for people, like me, to get some support in an area that's a little bit scary.

We received a letter from Lowell Solicitors on Tuesday of this week, dated 12/02/2019.
It states there are arrears on a CCJ that I know nothing about, and threatening further action.

I have been helping to sort out my sons dreadful financial mess since December 2017, hundreds (yes, hundreds) of unopened letters relating to payday loans, high interest loans, overdrafts, credit cards, you name it, it's there.
Over the past year or so I have recovered a fair amount from Payday lenders due to irresponsible lending and used this to clear many of the smaller loans and have payment plans in place for others. It's taken time but we are getting there.

So, after getting this letter out of the blue I started making phone calls. Firstly to Lowells. I had the most unhelpful person, who only wanted to discuss a payment plan, who said they had sent several letters over the past year, the CCJ was granted in July, and I had to pay up.
He clearly didn't believe me when I said I had correspondence from Lowells up until December 2017 but nothing since, until the letter this week, nothing during 2018 at all. And nothing from the court regarding the hearing date or the decision made in my absence.
Turns out that for 2018 they have been using an address from five years ago for no apparent reason. 2017 and 2019 letters have used the current address.

The very reason I got involved in his financial affairs was to stop this kind of thing happening.
My intention is to apply for a set aside to get rid of the CCJ. I have read up on your advice on this site and intend to start by emailing Lowells this afternoon and ask for consent. (Is there an example email for this by any chance?).
I'm going to call the court and ask them to send or email the correspondence I didn't receive due to the incorrect address.
I'll also start drafting my application to court and gather any supporting evidence I have.

Thanks again.

[Amethyst]

Hi there, It sounds like you would have good grounds to have the judgment set aside, particularly considering you had communications from the claimant at the correct address up until Dec 2017, and the inexplicably started using an old address for issue of proceedings ( leading to their obtaining a default judgment ).

So yes, call the court and ask if they can send you the case details and particulars - the claim will be against your son I assume so he is going to need to make the call, and of course any letters/applications will have to come from your son with your assistance.

Once you have that you can write to Lowell and ask for their consent to set-aside the judgment, it's a good idea to include a draft consent order for them to sign which you can then send to the court with your application by consent ( costs £100 - you can try and ask that the claimant pays this as it is their fault ).

What amount is the judgment for and what was the original debt?

[helen33]

Thanks for the reassurance.

The original debt was around £380 and the CCJ amount to pay is around £520.

All letters and emails I compose and send in his name but for telephone purposes, he has to do the original call and give me authority to speak on his behalf.

Is there an example letter on here for me to crib from regarding the letter to Lowells asking for consent? There's a very helpful page for guides and letters that suggests there is, but I can't see it on the page :

https://legalbeagles.info/library/ho...#letterconsent

[charitynjw]

Attached link possibly of interest?
I have no idea of the latest on this, but.......
Contact
Civil Procedure and Enforcement Team, Ministry of Justice
020 3334 3555
ccjreply@justice.gov.uk

Also, your son may need to provide a reasonable defence to the (Particulars of) Claim, per Civil Procedure Rule 13.3

[charitynjw]

Btw, the above consultation came about (I believe) due to.......

[helen33]

A bit of guidance, please.

I have my witness statement done except for numbering of exhibits and tidying up. I am working on the Draft Order now and I'm not sure how much or how little information I should put in there.

What I'd like to achieve from the set aside application is for the CCJ to be removed, to pay the amount owing before court costs were added i.e. £380 ish, and hopefully for Lowell to refund the £255 set aside fee plus the £10 I had to pay the court to resend me the documents, I'm not thinking to ask for time costs (but I have spent hours on the phone and reading, reading, reading).

Lowell haven't responded to my request for consent and I am intending to send my application off tomorrow

(Out of interest, in response to the couple of links provided above, I have written to my MP asking him if there has been any positive action regarding the consultation on CCJ processes)

[helen33]

Hi again,

I am all ready to go now except this Draft Order. Do I say on there I want them to :

1. Set aside the claim
2. Allow me to pay the outstanding amount
3. Claimant to pay costs

I'm really not sure what else I can ask them to do.

[helen33]

Hello again,

We now have a set aside date for the first week of August at our local court.

Please can you help me with regards to anything we should be doing before the date itself?

Is there anything I should be sending off, or expecting to receive within timeframes of the court date?

Grateful for any help

[charitynjw]

Hi

Out of interest, did Lowells give any reason for not consenting, or did they simply not respond?
& do you have proof of sending the request?

[helen33]

They didn't reply. I emailed them giving them a few days until I was sending the application off. I emailed again the day before to remind them. I then called and spoke to someone who asked me to use a different email address which I did, and gave them a few more days to respond, I never received a yes or no so I sent my application to the court

[charitynjw]

They didn't reply. I emailed them giving them a few days until I was sending the application off. I emailed again the day before to remind them. I then called and spoke to someone who asked me to use a different email address which I did, and gave them a few more days to respond, I never received a yes or no so I sent my application to the court

They could be being pedantic.

Service by fax or other electronic means

4.1 Subject to the provisions of rule 6.23(5) and (6), where a document is to be served by fax or other electronic means –

(1) the party who is to be served or the solicitor acting for that party must previously have indicated in writing to the party serving –

(a) that the party to be served or the solicitor is willing to accept service by fax or other electronic means; and

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...t06/pd_part06a

[helen33]

I didn't realise the importance of putting it in writing and am annoyed with myself as have tried to read everything I can and do it all properly.
Hopefully, they will see Lowell's giving me an alternative email address to use as them being willing to accept service by other electronic means?
Would they have an opportunity to agree to give their consent having received the court date themselves?

Is there anything I should be doing now in preparation for the court date at the beginning of August?
Should I be sending anything to the court or Lowell's? Or is everything done on the day in court

[helen33]

Is there anyone who can help me, please, getting a wee bit anxious.

Is there anything I should be doing now in preparation for the court date at the beginning of August?
Should I be sending anything to the court or Lowell's? Or is everything done on the day in court

[pt2537]

If you served the application by email dont get hung up on it, the Court will serve the app with the order listing the mater for a hearing so they will get served a copy.

[Amethyst]

Does the order that gives you the hearing date have any instructions on it for filing any documents/evidence? One assumes you provided everything with your application in any case ( you mentioned you were doing your WS and exhibits and draft order - so that should be all unless you have received more documents from the other side in between times)

The application is your sons isn't it? If you want to act as lay rep for him you should write to the court and tell them you will be doing so - at least 7 days before the hearing. He will need to attend with you, but you should be able to do the talking for him.


[quote]

Just an example from another case

FAO:

Court Manager


Claim Ref: XXXXXX Hearing Date: xxxxxxxxxx 10.30am xxxxxxxxxxxx County Court


I am writing to inform the court that my Husband, Mr xxxxxxxxxxx, will be speaking on my behalf at the forthcoming hearing on xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 2018 at 4pm. I suffer from anxiety and I would appreciate it if he could attend the hearing with me and act as my Lay Representative pursuant to Section 3 of The Lay Representatives (Rights of Audience) Order 1999.


Kind regards

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Defendant

[/quote