Hello - Advice needed please regarding setting aside a CCJ

**Amethyst** · 29th March 2019, 11:59:AM

Got it, I'll paste here, move you to the court forum and reply shortly xxxx

Good Morning,

I am hoping that I can get some advice on what I believe to be quite a complicated issue based mainly on my own stupidity!

February 2014 - I receive a claim from Northampton CC made by Lowell Portfolio relating to a Credit Card Debt and fees totalling £3700. Around this time I got some advice on forums (not this one I believe, though I think I read through a lot of posts). I am sure that this debt is not mine. I write to the claimant with a CCA request and acknowledge the claim. I do not hear anything else. Here my memory gets hazy and I am not sure of the exact reasons why, but I do not enter a defence.

March 2014 - I move house, set up a 12 month redirect, forgetting that the claim is in my previous name. I hear nothing else and believe that the claimant has realised that they do not have a case, due to there being no evidence of me having a Lloyds Credit Card.

June 2016 - I check my credit file, see that I have a CCJ. Get upset but accept that I will be unable to get a mortgage for a little longer that expected and decide to ignore it for a while until I can afford to pay it. I have to use my Mum as a Guarantor in order to move house.

February 2019 - I am forced to confront the issue. I am a Second Year university student and I have secured an amazing summer internship which could lead to a graduate role, however I was forced to declare this CCJ and now the internship and my entire career is in question. A career that has so far cost me thousands.

25 Feb 2019 - I contact the court and request details and a set aside form. So far I have made no further progress, partly as I have been completely undecided as to how to proceed and have struggled with the anxiety and partly as my family have had a stressful couple of weeks.

I have read through the guide on setting aside a CCJ and sincerely wished I had remembered this site sooner and read it straight away. I believe my options are:

1. Pay the CCJ, have it marked as Satisfied on my file and hope that this is enough to satisfy the professional body that I would be required to join when I graduate.

2. Apply to set aside, though I am worried that this will be a waste of money and a heap more stress for me. Would a judge rule in my favour when I did not enter a defence and have now spent the last 4 weeks (in the eyes of the court) trying to decide what to do? Would the fact that this is affecting my future and the debt is not mine be enough?

3. A new option of which I was unaware until today. Do I write to the claimant and request to a set aside in return for payment of the debt? Am I right in thinking that, if they agree, that will completely remove the CCJ from my file and I would not be required to attend court?

The ideal situation for me would be to have the CCJ removed without having to pay, however my future career, which I have worked so incredibly hard for over the last three years, and my stress levels, are my priority. My Husband and I have a Help to Buy ISA which contains enough to pay the debt if required, though of course that delays our house purchase. As I am a student and we have 2 young children, our finances are stretched and this is a lot of money for us.

To complicate matters further, there are 2 instances in which I believe the claimant may believe the debt is mine. My ex-Husband had a lot of debt and asked me several times to take credit out for him. I was very young and he was much older and it is entirely within his character to have done this behind my back. Also, in 2008 I had a letter from Lloyds bank (my current account was with them) to say that they had tried to take my credit card payment out but there was not enough money in the account. I did not have a Credit Card with them and so called them and they said that they would look into it. They informed me a little later that the matter was dealt with and that no more payments would be attempted from my account. I did not ask any further questions and I do not believe that the issue was reported to anyone else e.g. ActionFraud.

If you have got this far, thank you. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

**Amethyst** · 29th March 2019, 12:14:PM

Oh dear, okay, not great news.... as you did acknowledge and discussed with the claimant at the time, then a set aside isn't going to work. Discussing with the claimant of course might obtain a set aside but it is likely that will be on the grounds that you pay the debt in full - and the court may not accept the consent in any event under these circumstances ( being that you have know since 2014 about the claim, and known about the judgment since 2016 and are only now trying to get it removed from your credit file because of the job situation)

Have you actually spoken with the people dealing with your internship application about this CCJ ? It does sound like there were extenuating circumstances ( possibly coersive control, financial abuse etc) which led to the debt and the CCJ which weren't entirely your fault ( yes you should have defended but what's done is done) And have they given you any options how you can get around it.... it's quite old - 2014 Judgment - so it will fall off the register next March (if it was a default judgment for a claim issued Feb 2014 and you failed to defend they got the judgment in March 2014?) ( they only stay on the register and credit file for 6 years ). Could paying it off and having it marked as satisfied, satisfy the internship people ? or would you have to put things on hold and go for your internship again next year once it has fallen off ?

What you don't want to do is have the judgment set aside and then lose your defence of the claim and have the CCJ for a further 6 years.

1. Pay the CCJ, have it marked as Satisfied on my file and hope that this is enough to satisfy the professional body that I would be required to join when I graduate.

If you do have another year left at Uni then you should be okay this time next year depending on the date of the judgment. And you can always talk to the professional body to discuss the situation to find out what options you do have.

All of that aside, to prevent any enforcement in the future ( they have 6 years to enforce before they have to apply to court for permission to enforce) on the judgment you should try to either settle or set up installments on the judgment debt so that is being managed.

Also

To complicate matters further, there are 2 instances in which I believe the claimant may believe the debt is mine. My ex-Husband had a lot of debt and asked me several times to take credit out for him. I was very young and he was much older and it is entirely within his character to have done this behind my back. Also, in 2008 I had a letter from Lloyds bank (my current account was with them) to say that they had tried to take my credit card payment out but there was not enough money in the account. I did not have a Credit Card with them and so called them and they said that they would look into it. They informed me a little later that the matter was dealt with and that no more payments would be attempted from my account. I did not ask any further questions and I do not believe that the issue was reported to anyone else e.g. ActionFraud.

send a SAR to Lloyds to make sure there is nothing else lurking that might jump out at you.... if this judgment debt is for the same credit card you can make a formal complaint ( which doesn't help you with the immediate situation but sound slike you're in a position where you need to make sure things from the past aren't going to leap out at you in the future)

**Studently** · 29th March 2019, 13:05:PM

Firstly, thank you very much for your reply.

The judgement was eventually entered in April of 2015, so unfortunately it will be 2021 before it disappears. Added to this I am in my mid 30s and I am desperately trying not to prolong this entry into my chosen career.

I have given all of the details to my prospective employer and they are considering the issue, as they have been for the last 5 weeks. I am waiting for a decision from them as to whether they will still accept me. Unfortunately the role is in Accounting and so this kind of transgression is particularly relevant. I asked whether I should try and get a set aside or whether having the CCJ marked Satisfied was enough and they didn't really give me an answer, other than to say that the decision was my own and that they would consider the circumstances surrounding the issue.

Do you think that there is any way of wording the consent order in a particular way in order that it would be accepted? If it was not accepted and I had paid the debt, I could still have it marked satisfied? I think this seems to be my only hope, as you have confirmed what I believed to be my chances if I tried to get this set aside.

Is there a template I could use for the SAR request from Lloyds? Would they then have to send me everything they have on me? Is there a fee?

Thank you again for your help, it is much appreciated.

**Amethyst** · 29th March 2019, 13:37:PM

This is the SAR https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

How are you on the phone? Calling Lowell and discussing the situation might be a good idea.

That was a long delay from when you acknowledged the claim to when they requested judgment

I don't think it helps you at all .... however do you have any of their letters from when you sent requests for information ? Did they mislead at all that the case was on hold until they found documents ? Might be able to use that in the set aside application ( long shot though)

**Studently** · 3rd April 2019, 12:59:PM

Thank you Amethyst. I'm not too bad on the phone, so I think I'm going to give them a call and see what they say. I don't think I really have much else to lose from this point. Thank you for the advice, I'll post after I've called them, if that's ok, as I may need some more guidance.

**Amethyst** · 3rd April 2019, 13:54:PM

Of course, good luck xxx Hope you get one of the nice call handlers

xxx

Hello - Advice needed please regarding setting aside a CCJ