Judgement for Claimant. Hoist Portfolio Holdings

[catmint]

On Thursday my husband and I received two separate letters from the county court business centre titled Judgment for Claimant. We thought it was a scam especially as we were ordered to pay the claimant direct. We don't even know who Hoist Portfolio Holdings are and have never received any communication before. We rang the court on Friday and said we think we have two scam letters. The lady said that Hoist Portfolio were collecting on behalf of Santander. Bit of a shock because we don't owe Santander anything and our account was closed with them in 2011 and in fact we complained to the Financial Ombudsman of the way we had been treated and won our case and received compensation in 2012. That was three years ago. We are really worried because this Judgement for Claimant form says if we ignore these letters we will have the bailiffs remove goods. The lady said we could ask for the Judgement to be set aside but the fee is £155.00, which we don't have. The lady said she would send us some forms and today we received Application Form N244.
I notice that both our Judgement for Claimant forms have the same Claim No.
It is very misleading and worrying. I would be very grateful for some advice on how to proceed please. Unfortunately the Santander paperwork has long gone.

[Amethyst]

Re: Judgement for Claimant. Hoist Portfolio Holdings

Was the account you held at Santander that went through the Ombudsman a joint current account ? Are the judgment letters one in each name ?

Could you tell us a bit more about the dispute.

You will need to complete the N244 form and put down that you didn't receive any documents from the court, nor any paperwork previously to the court claim from the Claimant or any of their representatives.

The Fee is £155 unless you can ask the claimant to consent to the set aside - in which case it would be £50.

You may be eligible for fee remission if you are on certain benefits. This is form EX160 on the court service website.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Judgement for Claimant. Hoist Portfolio Holdings

On Thursday my husband and I received two separate letters from the county court business centre titled Judgment for Claimant. We thought it was a scam especially as we were ordered to pay the claimant direct. We don't even know who Hoist Portfolio Holdings are and have never received any communication before. We rang the court on Friday and said we think we have two scam letters. The lady said that Hoist Portfolio were collecting on behalf of Santander. Bit of a shock because we don't owe Santander anything and our account was closed with them in 2011 and in fact we complained to the Financial Ombudsman of the way we had been treated and won our case and received compensation in 2012.

How much was the judgment for?

That was three years ago. We are really worried because this Judgement for Claimant form says if we ignore these letters we will have the bailiffs remove goods.

Before they can send bailiffs they will have to apply to the court for a warrant of control and they'd also have to give you at least seven days notice before any bailiff visits. Although in thoery judgment creditors are allowed to enforce the judgment in this way, in reality bailiffs are hardly ever sent to recover consumer credit debts of this type. Most bailiff issues you find relate to council tax, traffic penalties and magistrates court fines. Even if they applied for a warrant, you could also apply to have it suspended so don't worry about bailiffs taking anything.

The lady said we could ask for the Judgement to be set aside but the fee is £155.00, which we don't have. The lady said she would send us some forms and today we received Application Form N244.
I notice that both our Judgement for Claimant forms have the same Claim No.
It is very misleading and worrying. I would be very grateful for some advice on how to proceed please. Unfortunately the Santander paperwork has long gone.

As Amethyst said above, you can apply for fee remission, Form ex160a provides full details. :thumb:

[catmint]

Re: Judgement for Claimant. Hoist Portfolio Holdings

Very many thanks for your advice. There are two letters, one in each name but each letter has the same Claim Number. The account was opened in my name and later on I added my husbands name to sign cheques. The bank transferred money from one account to another without asking or telling us and when we went to use the current account it caused us a lot of problems and upset.

[catmint]

Re: Judgement for Claimant. Hoist Portfolio Holdings

We can't thank you enough for all your help and such a quick response.. Feel a lot happier now. I am going to get the ex160 form and at least I have some useful phrases to use when I fill out the Form N244.

[catmint]

Re: Judgement for Claimant. Hoist Portfolio Holdings

On Saturday we received a letter from Howard Cohen Solicitors enclosing a copy of an email sent to the Court and a Notice of discontinuance saying the claimant discontinues all of the claim. We still attended the court hearing to set aside the judgement today because again we thought this letter was trying to trick us.
The court had received this Notice of Discontinuance and the judge set aside the judgement. We also told the judge that the Claimant has not sent us any proof of this debt and that we don't owe Santander any money.
Anway it looks like it is all over but we showed the judge the letter that Howard Cohen Solicitors sent us as we do not understand the last paragraph of their letter which says:-
"This does not mean that you no longer owe the debt and the Claimant's specialised collection agent Robinson Way Ltd will contact you accordingly. "
The judge just said we should get other advice.
Could anyone explain what this means please as I feel that Robinson Way are going to start this case all over again even though they won't send me proof of the debt.
Many thanks