Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

[stressedout]

Hi

I would appreciate a few pointers on this. The dreaded BC has obtained a CCJ by default againt me.

The problem is that I never received the original claim form, so had no opportunity to defend the claim. I'm not even sure what the claim is for, but it's possible it's for an old bank account overdraft which has been in dispute since 2008. I'll phone the Court tomorrow and find out.

I want to apply to set it aside, but I've been reading that it's very difficult to do this. Also I'm a bit confused about the fee - is it really £155?? That seems an awful lot of money. Is the fee cheaper if I opt for no hearing or a telephone hearing.

The whole debt, including fees, is just over £500.

I beleive the claim form was sent to my old address, although I have a redirection in place, the claim form was not redirected. Have not received any correspondence from BC or anyone else demading money either, so I'm a bit puzzled really. Had I received any correspondence I would have just sent him the usual account in dispute. It may even be statute barred anyway.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

[Amethyst]

Re: Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

Sadly yes it is £155 unless you can contact the claimants and get them to agree to the set aside before submitting your application, thus keeping the costs down to £50 (as a hearing isn't needed then). Or if you are on certain benefits or a low income you may be eligible for fee remission.

Yes, ring court, they may not be able to tell you a lot though but you can ask if they can send you a copy of the claim.

How did you find out about the CCJ ?

What was the bank account OD in dispute over?

[stressedout]

Re: Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

The CCJ Judgment was sent to me by the Court which had been redirected. Funny how that managed to get through!!

The bank is Co-op. It has been a long running saga since 2008 when the bank closed the account and kept applying charges to it even though I wasn't using it!
I haven't heard anything more about it for at least 3 years!

Not sure how likely BC is to agree to a set aside - from what I can gather reading about him, he is particularly underhand and often goes for default CCJ's. However, I will contact them.

My concern was how likely is it that the Court will grant a set aside on the basis that the original claim form was not received. I don't really want to pay out £155 if the Court are likely to refuse!!

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

The CCJ Judgment was sent to me by the Court which had been redirected. Funny how that managed to get through!!

When was the judgment obtained? If it's very recent, a CCJ can be wiped off the register if paid in full within 28 days. :grin:

The bank is Co-op. It has been a long running saga since 2008 when the bank closed the account and kept applying charges to it even though I wasn't using it!
I haven't heard anything more about it for at least 3 years!

Not sure how likely BC is to agree to a set aside - from what I can gather reading about him, he is particularly underhand and often goes for default CCJ's. However, I will contact them.

BC never send any paperwork and always refuse to agree to extensions, so I wouldn't get my hopes too high.

My concern was how likely is it that the Court will grant a set aside on the basis that the original claim form was not received. I don't really want to pay out £155 if the Court are likely to refuse!!

In addition to not having received the claim, you'd also need a valid argument to be used in your defence. Bear in mind a set aside doesn't preclude a new claim being issued for the same debt, so if you didn't have a strong defence, they could re-issue and get a fresh CCJ in their favour. This would just be a waste of the court's time, which is why they only agree to applications with good prospects of defending the claim.

[stressedout]

Re: Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

The Judgment is dated 21 November so very recent, although I never received it until the 29 November.

I have tried telephong the Court several times this morning with no luck!!!

£155 seems an awful lot of money to pay out on a claim of just over £500 in the hope that the Court will get it set aside. If I knew for sure that it was a claim for the Co-op Bank, I would just pay it because I accept I probably do owe them something but not the amount they were asking for. So the Court would probably think I didn't have much of a defence.

Does anyone know how likley BC is to agree a set aside and then negotiate a payment plan without returning to Court?

[stressedout]

Re: Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

Does anyone have any more advice on this please?

I have now found out that the claim was issued in October, so has probably just slipped in within the SB time limit.

The claim is for an overdraft. I think my options are limited especailly with BC being involved!

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

The Judgment is dated 21 November so very recent, although I never received it until the 29 November.

I have tried telephong the Court several times this morning with no luck!!!

£155 seems an awful lot of money to pay out on a claim of just over £500 in the hope that the Court will get it set aside. If I knew for sure that it was a claim for the Co-op Bank, I would just pay it because I accept I probably do owe them something but not the amount they were asking for. So the Court would probably think I didn't have much of a defence.

You still have until the 19th of December to pay it and wipe it off the record. You could use this time to do a bit of homework and think about it before rushing into a decision, bearing in mind £155 is almost a third of the judgment amount and there's no guarantee the court will agree to the set aside unless you have a solid defence.

Does anyone know how likley BC is to agree a set aside and then negotiate a payment plan without returning to Court?

Going by their general behaviour, I wouldn't bet a penny on it. Having said that, you can always ask, unlike making the application, there is no fee for asking, the worst thing that can happen is that they may refuse, in which case you'd still have PlanB, i.e. pay before the 19th if you want to avoid a CCJ on your record for such a silly amount. Of course this depends on whether you have other CCJs/defaults and how recent they are, whether a CCJ can affect your current and future work, etc. :decision:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

Does anyone have any more advice on this please?

I have now found out that the claim was issued in October, so has probably just slipped in within the SB time limit.

The claim is for an overdraft. I think my options are limited especailly with BC being involved!

An O/D would be trickier to defend, not least because the cause of action for SBd is not as clear cut as with accounts with a set payment date such as cards, loans, HP, etc. where the cause of action would be right after you first miss a payment. With an O/D, the bank would have no way of knowing whether you will be making further payments into the current account or not, and it would be a few months before they decide to recall the O/D which would be when the CoA starts to run.

With small O/D like this, they may not recall for a long time, for example I have a business account with Barclays I did not use for a couple of years, it didn't have an arranged O/D but they were applying fees and charges and it went into the red until I started using it again, around a year later. Barclays never recalled the O/D which went up to around £350 and I'm still using the account. Yours may have been a similar case and, unless you've not paid into this account since 2007 or earlier, I think you'd probably struggle with the SBd argument.

[stressedout]

Re: Bryan Carter - Default CCJ

Many thanks for the replies.

I thought as much really. It seems a bit daft to pay £155 court fee in the hope that it will be set aside considering the amount being claimed.

I have thought long and hard about just paying it off before the deadline. I don't have any other CCJ's.

The bank closed the account themselves and just kept on adding charges to it and of course I questioned this. A couple of months later I got a formal demand letter asking for the overdraft to be paid.

I'll have a think.

Thanks again.