** SUCCESS ** CCJ Set Aside Help Please!

[R0b]

A consent order is a form of settlement which a court then validates into a court order provided the court has the power to make an order based on the contents. Therefore it would not make sense for a court to order your circumstances, would it?

N244 application is always required for set asides you simply pay the £100 instead of the £255 as it is with consent, check the EX50 form on fees and you'll understand.

Like I said, one step at a time and the first thing is to get the consent order agreed.

P.s. You should look to do this promptly.

[newbie007]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for clarifying. One company has agreed to sign and the other one has been in touch with me after finally contacting their CEO. They are looking into this and will get back to me tomorrow. Ive basically put an argument for them that they have nothing to lose by signing a consent form as i will be paying the full balance if granted. So its a win win for them and makes no sense for them not to do it. Hopefully they will come back to me with some positive news, fingers crossed.

There is just one thing i am still confused about and that is the contents of the consent form. I know you have explained it but i still do not understand it. Perhaps if you can explain like i am a child.

Surely my personal circumstances and the fact that i never received a CCJ form to defend myself should be put in the consent form. Does it not make for a better case? This is the only thing i am confused about and why it should not be in to make my case better.

[R0b]

I don't know what more I can say, I've explained it in about as simple terms as possible. You are not making a case to the court, it is an agreed settlement between the parties and you are asking the court to validate it by turning it into a final order. The court does not care about the circumstances you were under, it wants to know what the parties have agreed and if it is something the court has the power to grant.

However, it is your issue so you do what you think is best. I've explained the formalities but if you want to go ahead and bullet point your circumstances then that is of course your choice - see how it works out for you.

[newbie007]

You are clearly more knowledgeable about this then me so i just wanted to know all the facts before i knew what i was getting myself into. The reason i stated this was because i have read that not all judges agree to the consent order so that is why i was asking if i should put in my personal circumstances or not to help sway the judge. If a consent order was enough on its own for the Judge to agree then fair enough but ive read cases where its not so hence why i was asking.

[R0b]

Can you point to the cases you've read that a consent order was not considered to be enough?

Consent orders are straight forward, a judge will generally have concerns if he or she suspects something or if perhaps the non-represented person might appear to be taken advantage of and orders a hearing to make sure the person understands what they are agreeing to.

Run of the mill set aside applications rarely get rejected, unless they are not compliant or the consent order states something a court has no power to make.

[newbie007]

When ive spoken to solicitors, they have told me. Been speaking to a few solicitors on email this week and i have it on email. Do you think they are lying in order for me to pay more for their services? Ive read on forums that it may not be enough either and its up to the judge.

[R0b]

You can never guarantee that a judge won't reject a consent order, but the risk is likely to be low for reasons I have already said. They're much more likely to be rejected in divorce proceedings if the terms of financial settlement are one-sided between the parties. I have also seen a judge refuse a consent order where the defendant has used it as an attempt to repair their credit file and in other circumstances you just get a nit-picky judge who finds the need to make further inquiries unecessarily.

Like I said, this is a run of the mill matter and yes, there is a small risk but that's part and parcel of legal proceedings.

You can kick my views down the road if you wish and do it the way you want to do it because it is after all your problem that you need to resolve, but I don't really have anything else to add at this stage because there's nothing more to explain.

[newbie007]

Ok fair enough. Thanks for the advice.

Out of curiosity - if a consent order is just a basic form with the main points of settlement etc then why would a judge reject it on based on other factors such as credit repair etc as he wont know the exact details and circumstances because as you said the consent form is not going to be in detail and doesnt involve personal circumstances. Are the judges going to make a decision based on their 'gut' feeling per sae

[R0b]

Well it depends, if the sum of money is not a small amount a judge, may off their own back make further inquiries by ordering a hearing and then finding out it is an attempt to repair the debtors credit file - which is of course nit generally a good reason to set aside the judgment.

Like I said, for the most part it is run of the mill stuff.

[newbie007]

Update: I got a response from both parties agreeing for the consent form to be signed. One has sent me a copy. I will note down its contents on here - can you tell me if this is correct (as they wrote it) or if they are trying to pull a fast one on me. Ive not signed anything yet


On reading the application dated ....... and noting that it is agreed between parties that the debt claimed is due and payable: but on further noting that the Claim form, though correctly served as a matter of law, did not come to the Defendants Attention:

By Consent it is ordered that:

1 - The judgement entered against the defendant on ...... is hereby set aside and registration therof shall be removed

2 - The Defendant shall within one calendar month of the date of approval of this order pay the claimant the sum of ...... wheron the Claimant shall notify the court that the claim is settled

3 - IF the defendant does not make payment in full as set in paragraph 2 above, the claimant is free to apply to re-enter judgement without further order, for the sum mentioned in paragraph 2, less payment made, but plus the fixed cost of an application to do so

4 - there be no order as to costs

Date signed etc


Does the above seem correct to you? Should i add or remove anything? Is this a normal constent form?

Any advice is much appreciated

[R0b]

Looks fair and reasonable to me, the question is whether you can comply with payment within one month of the order being approved. If you can't then you might want to consider offering payment by instalments.

[newbie007]

Yes i will do so as soon as the judgement is removed.

Thanks for the advice i will sign this and send it back unless there is anything i should add/remove?

[R0b]

Not that I can see - are you making the application or are they? I assume you are since they aren't suggesting any payment of costs.

[newbie007]

They said they will do everything and pay for everything but add it to the final bill that i owe them? Is this wise? Should i be sending it or ask for proof of what they send incase they amend it or something. Can they do that?

Also a final note in which i noticed on email they said the following:

'As it is a matter for the Court whether to agree to set Judgment aside, and the Court must be satisfied that there are proper grounds for doing so. The mere fact that the parties are agreed, is not a proper ground, but I believe there is every chance the Court will be satisfied based on the circumstances you have described. However, you should be aware that the Application fee is payable whether the application succeeds or not.'


The bit that is confusing me is when he said there is every chance the court will be satisifed based on my circumstances i have described. (same circumstances i described on this thread at the top). I dont understand why he has put that in, because as we have discussed on this thread (when i was asking you about putting this in the consent form) before the court will not be aware of my circumstances as i am not putting anything of that nature in the consent form. Is he expecting me to put in a written statement or something explaining the circumstances? Should i be doing that?

Please clarify

Thanks

[newbie007]

Also another point i would like to make is the N244 form. IF they insist on sending the consent form out, do i fill in the N244 form out separately and send it or do they? I had a quick look at the N244 form and there are boxes in which it ask you too explain the circumstances as for support of your application. A witness statement, evidence and the statement of the case. Is it wise for me to tick these boxes and explain my circumstances on the N244 form or leave it blank?

Please advise