CCJ Consent Order Help Please

[R0b]

It should be sufficient but there's never a guarantee wit what you are doing.

As for the N244, you will need to fill out the relevant information at the top of the document e.g. claimant, defendant, claim number etc. and then the questions:

Q3. An order that the default judgment dated <insert date> be set aside. The parties have consented to the set aside in the form attached to this application.

Q4. Yes

Q5. Without a hearing

Q6. Leave Blank

Q7. Leave Blank

Q8. District Judge

Q9. Claimant

Q10. Insert something like the parties have consented to the set aside of the default judgment as agreed in the annexed Tomlin Order.

Q11. You do need to sign but you strike out what isn't appropriate within the parentheses. You also need to sign the statement of truth too that says (I believe) and strike out the rest.

See the example below.

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[newbie007]

Many thanks Rob - Really appreciate all the advice you have given.

I have sent the information across to the company to sign but they are being ridiculous. They are saying they will not sign the consent form as they do not belive it will get passed as i have no grounds to make the application to be set aside. Its like arguing with children. Ive already stated that i know the risk involved and i will take the risk of it being rejected. Ive told them it simply does not matter to them whether it gets rejected or not as its my risk. If it gets rejected then the original judgement will stand and it has no bearing on them. Ive already stated that you have offered me a £400 settlement and i am willing to pay £2000 once the consent is approved so it makes no sense at all for them not to sign it.

At the moment they are not budging and i cannot understand for the life of me why they would not sign the form. It is to their benefit. Ive made it clear that if they do not sign it then i will let the judgement run its course for three years until it is off my file. I have no assets, property etc in my name so they cannot enforce legal action. It sounds pretty harsh from my point of view saying that and i am the type of person to clear my debts but i feel they are being akward for no reason

[R0b]

So then your only option is to issue legal proceedings and seek costs if successful or do nothing and accept it.

[newbie007]

By Legal proceedings what do you mean? I believe the judgement entered was correct and i have no grounds to get it removed apart from the consent order route. Is there any other method that may work?

I received a reply from the company which has got me confused. Please read below:

As James made clear in his previous reply to you dated 29 November, mere consent is not a ground recognised by the Court for setting a Judgment aside. Therefore any such consent Order could not stand alone, but only in support of an application setting out legally recognised grounds for doing so. We repeat that we are aware of no such grounds in this case. Nevertheless, if you make an application to the Court, we will consider consenting to it, if the application itself is phrased in such terms that we may do so without misleading the Court, either expressly or by silence, as to the actual facts of the case. We will not sign a draft Order without first seeing the terms of the application it consents to.


Does this make any sense to you? How can i apply for N244 to set aside on consent if they do not sign the form? They have said if i make an application to the court they will consider consenting to it. Does this make any sense to you? Are they being difficult on purpose?

[R0b]

But they are right, you need to have a legal ground for doing so. If you were aware of proceedings and did bugger all about it, then you are unlikely to have any grounds for setting aside judgment.

You could complete the N244 as above and send it over to them as the wording of the above simply states that the parties agree to consent to the setting aside of the default judgment and does not go into any detail around the facts of the case - I think that is what they are alluding to, because solicitors have a duty not to mislead the court.

You are not in the driving seat here so they can be as difficult as they want and you can't force them to do diddly squat. Short answer to all of this is tough luck, should have dealt with it at an earlier stage and wouldn't have got yourself into this position.

Two options, send them the completed N244 form as above along with the consent order and see what they say next. If they still refuse, you either issue an amended N244 form seeking to set aside default judgment along with a witness statement and any relevant fee payable. You then take the risk of attending a hearing and persuading a judge to set it aside, but may not also.

Otherwise do bugger all and wait for it to drop off your credit file.

If you want more about the process, suggest you read my guidance below.

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...tailed-version

[newbie007]

Really appreciate the advice and yes its my own fault. Not dispute there. I buried my head in the sand and left it 3 years ago but i was going through some stuff. I will try sending them the N244 form along with the consent order form to sign and see if they are happy with that. I have emailed them the wording i will be using in the N244 and consent form as i wanted them to agree with that before drafting it officially but no response. I will try that first.

I believe it would be a waste of time and money setting aside the judgement without a consent form. I have no argument to win the case. I had personal issues at the time but i aknolwedged the claim at the time and made some sort of payment aswell towards it. So i believe that would be a waste of money and time. If i cant get them to agree to a consent order then i will have no choice but to leave it. Its a shame.

I agree they are in the driving seat but at the end of the day i see no reason why they would not sign the consent form in order to get the full money. They are only after the money, so to me it makes no sense they are stone walling me. They are losing out on this as much as me.

Final question in regards to the N244 form - In terms of the form when it says claimant or defendant. I believe i am the defendant am i not? You asked me to fill in Claimant for question 9 but i thought i would the defendant for this CCJ and the claimant was the company who made the claim against me. Same applies to question 2 on the N244 form - Am i the claimant or defendant?

Sorry if it sounds like a daft question!

[jaguarsuk]

By Legal proceedings what do you mean? I believe the judgement entered was correct and i have no grounds to get it removed apart from the consent order route. Is there any other method that may work?

I received a reply from the company which has got me confused. Please read below:

As James made clear in his previous reply to you dated 29 November, mere consent is not a ground recognised by the Court for setting a Judgment aside. Therefore any such consent Order could not stand alone, but only in support of an application setting out legally recognised grounds for doing so. We repeat that we are aware of no such grounds in this case. Nevertheless, if you make an application to the Court, we will consider consenting to it, if the application itself is phrased in such terms that we may do so without misleading the Court, either expressly or by silence, as to the actual facts of the case. We will not sign a draft Order without first seeing the terms of the application it consents to.


Does this make any sense to you? How can i apply for N244 to set aside on consent if they do not sign the form? They have said if i make an application to the court they will consider consenting to it. Does this make any sense to you? Are they being difficult on purpose?

They want to see a copy of the application form to consider signing basically, but they want that application to have a reason to set aside in it.

Problem for you is as I said, you don't have one.

[R0b]

The only possible point you could argue in setting aside the default judgment is under CPR 13.3 that there is some other good reason that the default judgment should be set aside. If you were going through a tough time - health issues, family breakdown, depression, etc. and you can somehow evidence or at least persuade a judge to consider the reasons, you might have a chance of having the judgment set aside. It's very risky, not going to lie but that would be your only shot and sometimes you have to take risks.

There might be some support if you referenced the Court of Appeal case, Godwin v Swindon Borough Council (link here) and have a read below what the court said in paragraph 49 of that judgment:

Rule 13.3(1)(b) has a disjunctive alternative, so that the court may set aside or vary judgment entered in default if it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why the judgment should be set aside or varied or the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim. In my view, this is plainly capable of extending to circumstances where the defendant has not received the claim form and particulars of claim before judgment was entered against him. It is not an absolute right, but does not have to depend on the defendant having a real prospect of successfully defending the claim.

The court therefore has sufficient power to do justice in these cases and will, no doubt, normally exercise this discretion in favour of a defendant who establishes that he had no knowledge of the claim before judgment in default was entered unless it is pointless to do so. The defendant, for instance, may have no defence to the claim, but may justifiably want to have the judgment set aside on the basis that, had he known about the claim, he would have satisfied it immediately without having an embarrassing judgment recorded against him.

You could try, by analogy, arguing that the above supports your poisiton and there is some other good reason, that if you were in a much more sound position, it is highly likely that you would have paid the debt off. You could also point out that you have made attempts to get the other side to consent to the setting aside and offered to pay the debt in full immediately but they have refused to consent.

Ultimately, if you don't want to go down that route, then you have to suck it up but at least you won't be £2,000 out of pocket. You could try in the meantime rebuilding your credit back up if its possible someone out there might lend to you - and do so in sensible manner.

I really don't think there's anything else I can add to this conversation. You now have to make a choice.

[newbie007]

Very much appreciated for your replies guys. Thank you, it means alot. @JAGUARUK I realise i have no argument hence why i was arguing the consent side on its on. I realise its a long shot but ive seen plenty of examples where a judge has removed a CCJ just based on consent for both parties being agreed and nothing else.

rob - unfortunately having read rule 13.1 it seems it is only applicable if you did not receive the judgement (from what i can read unless i have misunderstood it) and they company know i did receive it and i have admitted it. I was going through a very hard time and tough time and i contacted the company straight away about the judgement and made a little payment towards it (around £500) and said i would continue making monthly payments of £500 but due to my position i could not afford to do so. I was going through a very hard time with health and financial and depression. This i could probably get some evidence off but again would this matter if i got the judgement and have acknowledged it at the time. If that is irrelevant then perhaps i can go down this route.

Final question in regards to the N244 form - In terms of the form when it says claimant or defendant. I believe i am the defendant am i not? You asked me to fill in Claimant for question 9 but i thought i would the defendant for this CCJ and the claimant was the company who made the claim against me. Same applies to question 2 on the N244 form - Am i the claimant or defendant?


I think my plan would be to fill out the consent form and the N244 and send it to the company (LOWELLS) by the way. IF they refuse then i will try your method of the set aside and reasons why i could not pay at the time. Everything is a risk i guess but i have nothing to lose and everything to gain?

[R0b]

Set aside for some other good reason is a broad interpretation. If you were hospital bound and a claim was made which ended up as a default judgment, that would be grounds for setting aside under this limb.

However, based on what you've just said, confirming that you attempted payment but then stopped I think you've got little to no chance of getting it set aside if you made an application. It's one thing burying your head but acknowledging the claim but not defending, making payment and then stopping is probably a stretch too far.

If you do complete the N244, you are the defendant and Q9 should say the Claimant - that wouldnt make sense.

[newbie007]

Thanks for all your help! Wish you a merry xmas and a happy new year! I will come back in the new year and update the thread*