CCJ awarded last week for a fraudulent debt

[MajoritySix]

Received a claim? Yes/No: No

Issue Date: 10th February 2022

Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: NO

Total Amount Claimed : ( approximately please do NOT use EXACT figure given on the claim form, round up to next £100 or £1000) £1700

Claimant’s Name: Link Financial

Solicitors Firm: Overton Solicitors

Original Creditor: Co-Operative Bank

Original Debt (eg. Credit card/Loan/Overdraft) : Student account with overdraft

Particulars of Claim: ( Please type out in full excluding names/account numbers/exact amounts ): I don’t have these

Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?): I don’t believe so; but my credit file says it defaulted in April 2016

List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ): I sent a letter asking for them to prove my liability for the debt by recorded delivery in 2019; they ignored this.

Any Other Information or Background Details:

I believe the account was a student account opened fraudulently by my boyfriend at the time in 2011. It was one of many accounts that he opened while pretending to be me, and was part of a chain of quite lengthy abuse. This was reported to the police; and I had both crime reference and action fraud reference numbers which were provided to all creditors. The Co-Op refused to accept them, and said that they believed I remained liable as their investigation hadn’t uncovered any proof of fraud. Almost all of the other creditors - Barclays, HSBC, British Gas, Littlewoods etc - accepted the results of the police investigation and closed the accounts.

I believe they sold the debt to Link Financial in 2018, and at that time, I sent a letter asking them to cease contacting me unless they could prove my liability for the debt in light of the above. They haven’t, to my knowledge, contacted me since. My credit file shows that the default date was the end of April 2016, so it would have become statute barred this year.

I checked my credit file yesterday and saw that they got a CCJ against me last week. I moved house at the end of last year. I have a redirect, and today have received the judgement against me which tells me to start paying £100 a month from March, but I didn’t ever receive a claim form to defend.

I spent most of December and January in hospital with my newborn baby; and I’m on maternity allowance at the moment - I can’t afford to pay to have this set aside; and I can’t afford £100 a month to pay it off. I spoke to the National Debt helpline yesterday, but they advised me to contact Link Financial and ask them to set this aside, and then to get legal advice.

I also have bipolar disorder and PTSD from the abuse; and I’m spiralling massively being reminded of the abuse I suffered, and stressing about how I’ll attend a court hearing with a newborn. I’m breastfeeding every two hours, and have nobody to leave my baby with. I’ll also struggle massively to rent or get any form of credit with a CCJ, which is a nightmare on my own with a baby.

I’d really appreciate some advice on what to do now. I feel so lost. Thank you.

[DE DOGS]

Not positive but as you are on low income would you be allowed reduction of the Court fees to appeal the CCJ.

[MajoritySix]

DE DOGS Thank you, I’ll look into that.

[MajoritySix]

echat11 I’m sorry to tag you, I hope you don’t think it’s rude. You seem really knowledgable about CCJs and I wondered if you had any advice for me?

[echat11]

a) Send the Co op a Subject Access Request, they have 30 days to send you all the information on the account over the last 6 years. Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

b) Write a Formal Letter of Complaint (mark it as such) to the CEO of the Co-op. Explain what's happened, that it was fraudulently carried out by an ex, that other banks accepted that was the case after the mater had been reported to the police / Action Fraud, include the Reference numbers in the letter and what you want the to do, write off the debt. When you get a final response, if you are still unhappy, then lodge a complaint with the FOS.

You can personalize the letter if you want to, i.e. new born baby, income etc. But don't mention court, nobody to look after baby etc.

Email the Formal Letter of Complaint to:

Steve Murrells
Chief Executive Officer
steve.murrells@co-operative.coop

c) Write to Link Financial Services, ask for their Consent to Set-a-side the CCJ, explain

a) that fraud was conducted against you by your Ex, include the Crime Reference and Action Fraud numbers,
b) that the court documents had been sent to the wrong address depriving you of the opportunity to defend the claim.

d) As De Dogs says, apply for Court Fees remission.

Try to stay claim, worrying is a waste of energy.

Update the thread.

[MajoritySix]

Thank you so much, echat11.

A bit of an update... I heard from the court today. There was a mistake in the initial information sent to me - the CCJ doesn't relate to the student overdraft, it relates to a credit card taken out in 2019, and defaulted in 2020. It's from Lowells, not Link Financial.

I've managed to get letters A & B back, but the post office couldn't find C; so they believe that's probably been delivered.

Two quick questions - Do I follow the same process with Lowell? And does me contacting Link with C (and my new address) mean that debt will no longer be statute barred in April?

Thank you again, genuinely.

[echat11]

It can't be statute barred, taken out in 2019, so won't be statute barred until 2025. So doing 'C' isn't an issue.

[MajoritySix]

Hi echat11, thank you so much again for your advice.

I asked Overdales to set aside the CCJ. They’ve requested proof that I moved house, and I haven’t heard anything else since.

In the meantime, Vanquis re-opened the investigation, which is ongoing. They’ve today confirmed that they have asked Lowell’s to return the debt to them, and remove anything that they’ve recorded on my credit file. I don’t know if that’ll impact on the CCJ?

I got a letter on Friday saying the case was now allocated to my nearest court, and I needed to give the court contact details for a telephone hearing; any evidence I’d rely on and the reason for the delay in raising the matter to the court by dates in the next week or so. Do I still do that?

Thank you so much. I’m so hoping this is the end of this ordeal!

[echat11]

Hi echat11, thank you so much again for your advice.

I asked Overdales to set aside the CCJ. They’ve requested proof that I moved house, and I haven’t heard anything else since.

In the meantime, Vanquis re-opened the investigation, which is ongoing. They’ve today confirmed that they have asked Lowell’s to return the debt to them, and remove anything that they’ve recorded on my credit file. I don’t know if that’ll impact on the CCJ?

I got a letter on Friday saying the case was now allocated to my nearest court, and I needed to give the court contact details for a telephone hearing; any evidence I’d rely on and the reason for the delay in raising the matter to the court by dates in the next week or so. Do I still do that?

Thank you so much. I’m so hoping this is the end of this ordeal!

a) I asked Overdales to set aside the CCJ. They’ve requested proof that I moved house, and I haven’t heard anything else since.

Did you send Proof? So you've not heard anything else since you sent the proof, is that correct?

b) In the meantime, Vanquis re-opened the investigation, which is ongoing. They’ve today confirmed that they have asked Lowell’s to return the debt to them, and remove anything that they’ve recorded on my credit file. I don’t know if that’ll impact on the CCJ?

I don't think it can be removed without it going through the Courts. They had to go through the Courts to get it.

c) I got a letter on Friday saying the case was now allocated to my nearest court, and I needed to give the court contact details for a telephone hearing; any evidence I’d rely on and the reason for the delay in raising the matter to the court by dates in the next week or so. Do I still do that?

Yes, you still do that.

Is the following debt also fraudulent?

There was a mistake in the initial information sent to me - the CCJ doesn't relate to the student overdraft, it relates to a credit card taken out in 2019, and defaulted in 2020'.

[MajoritySix]

a) I asked Overdales to set aside the CCJ. They’ve requested proof that I moved house, and I haven’t heard anything else since.

Did you send Proof? So you've not heard anything else since you sent the proof, is that correct?

Yes, that's correct. I sent it via post; and an email address they gave me for a "faster resolution"

b) In the meantime, Vanquis re-opened the investigation, which is ongoing. They’ve today confirmed that they have asked Lowell’s to return the debt to them, and remove anything that they’ve recorded on my credit file. I don’t know if that’ll impact on the CCJ?

I don't think it can be removed without it going through the Courts. They had to go through the Courts to get it.

Okay; so do I still need to go through with the set aside process? I wondered if they could just drop the case, so to speak.

c) I got a letter on Friday saying the case was now allocated to my nearest court, and I needed to give the court contact details for a telephone hearing; any evidence I’d rely on and the reason for the delay in raising the matter to the court by dates in the next week or so. Do I still do that?

Yes, you still do that.

On the case, thank you. There's no info on how to do anything they've asked for - just to present valid contact details to the court by next Friday; and then a valid witness statement along with any evidence, and an explanation of why it took so long for me to contact the court once I knew about the CCJ. It took just under three weeks, as I had to wait for info from Vanquis, and gave them time to respond. I've also got a newborn and we got readmitted to hospital, if that's relevant to include.

I did send what I thought was a witness statement in my defence - An explanation of the relationship; what happened and why I wasn't liable, and evidence from the police/other creditors who have written off the debts/proof of entering of a refuge, etc.

Is the following debt also fraudulent?

There was a mistake in the initial information sent to me - the CCJ doesn't relate to the student overdraft, it relates to a credit card taken out in 2019, and defaulted in 2020'.

Yes, so the student overdraft is actually statute-barred from today; and this and one other credit card are the only remaining accounts showing on my file. There were 27 to start with, so it's an achievement... This one is with Lowells/Overdales, although Vanquis say they've recalled it and asked them to remove any reported information. The other one was a NewDay debt, I think it was for finance of some type. I raised it with NewDay but they maintained that the fraud team needed to talk to me by phone, and the call never came. It's now with Link Financial. I guess I should contact them to try and stop that from getting to this stage?

I've said it before, but thank you so much, echat11 - can I buy you a coffee or anything? You've been an absolute legend.

[jaguarsuk]

I don't think it can be removed without it going through the Courts. They had to go through the Courts to get it.

It can't, however if Vanquis are saying remove everything from the credit file this puts the onus on Lowell to apply to set aside the judgement and discontinue the claim.

If I were the OP I would be writing to Lowell's solicitor with written confirmation from Vanquis of what has been requested of their client and ask when they intend to apply to the court?

If they then state the debt and judgement now belong to Vanquis, I would ask Vanquis whether they are going to apply to the court to remove the CCJ?

Inform them each of them as necessary that you obviously consent to their application to allow them to make their application at the lowest cost possible.

[MajoritySix]

Thanks jaguarsuk; I'll get on that today!

[echat11]

Well done so far. In addition to Jaguarsuk advice, I would send Newday a SAR, make sure you get Proof of Postage , so you have all the facts at hand.

Somewhere along the line when things have been resolved for each account, you should seek some redress where there has been failures to investigate your reports of fraud which has caused you considerable stress. Write to them all, explain that you made reports, they failed to investigate which has caused you considerable stress and that you seek compensation etc. 'Coffee or anything', that's really sweet of you, but it's been a pleasure to help you.

'The other one was a NewDay debt, I think it was for finance of some type. I raised it with NewDay but they maintained that the fraud team needed to talk to me by phone, and the call never came. It's now with Link Financial.'

[MajoritySix]

Hi both,

Just a quick update/question. Overdales responded to my email to say they were awaiting further instructions from their client. They then CC’d me on an email to the court confirming that they would neither “consent or oppose” my application, and won’t submit any further evidence or witness statements to the court.

In the meantime, Vanquis have written to me confirming that they’ve asked Lowell’s to remove the CCJ and return the debt to them, and that they will then write the debt off.

I’m supposed to be filing a witness statement by tomorrow afternoon explaining when I moved house, when I became aware of the CCJ and why it took me so long to contact them. Do I still do this? Do I call the courts first?

I’m still waiting for a response from New Day but it’s such a relief that this debt will be gone, as long as I get this bit right.

[R0b]

You need to still follow the court process regardless of what Vanquis are doing as you have a live application. Overdales have already stated they won't oppose or consent so you need to continue with the process and submit your witness statement and evidence, unless and until you have both agreed a consent order and filed it with the court.

In my view neither consenting or opposing the application is unreasonable conduct and would argue a breach of the overriding objective under the CPR which obliges the parties to assist the court including saving time and expenses as well as court time and resources. Confirming they will write off the debt and remove any adverse entries on your credit file but refusing to consent to the set aside is perhaps unreasonable.

You may want to argue a costs order against them for unreasonable conduct and wasting everyone's time when this could have been settled without the need for a hearing.