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Dear all,
I just ran a soft credit report and found - to my astonishment - there is a CCJ against my name at my old address. I moved a couple of years ago and the CCJ is dated nearly a year later!
I contacted the Court concerned, mentioning I have had no knowledge of this claim and have not received any papers regarding it, and they have emailed me a copy of the judgement.
Bizarrely, I have never had any dealings with the claimant - a car rental company. Indeed, I have only ever rented one car - several months before I moved out of the address and it was not only with a different company but with an entirely different rental car group. It was also returned with no damage and confirmed so from their representative. So even if this was somehow referring to my rental with another group, I cannot in any event think such a claim would be reasonable. I therefore suspect fraud / identity theft.
UPDATE: I have received the particulars of claim which only state:
"under rental agreement entered in to between the Claimant and the Defendant, the Claimant hired a vehicle to the Defendant. Following the rental period the Claimant has demanded payment of the repair costs of the vehicle and associated costs in the sum of [nearly £2000]..." with a little explanation that some is interest under the appropriate act."
I've heard about these scams before but I did not ever rent a car with this claimant and the only car I have EVER rented (with a different company) was returned and confirmed to have no damage by their representative.
I am obviously drafting an N244 to have the Judgement set aside including that:
- I am applying for the judgement to be set aside on the basis I not only had no knowledge of the claim and received no papers or correspondence regarding it and wish to enter a defence but did not have the opportunity to do this.
- I could not have expected to have informed the claimant of my change of address as I have had no dealings with them whatsoever. (QUESTION: Will this stand up as an argument for this? Seems to me it must do but this whole system seems crazy!)
- There is an error in the judgement in that I do not owe the money claimed (QUESTION: Does this count as an 'error in the judgement'?)
- I plan to counterclaim to reclaim from the claimant the cost of the court fee and the cost of the time taken for me to prepare the documents concerned and attend the hearing. I could then agree to drop the part of the counterclaim for the additional costs (but not the court fee) in reaching a settlement with the claimant if possible. (QUESTION: Any guidance on wording this and arguing this?)
QUESTION: Should I contact the claimant to ask them to consent to have the judgement set aside (and if so, how?) I am worried that if i reveal any contact details at this stage they will try and enforce enforcement action before I have a chance to defend this spurious claim.
QUESTION: I earn a decent wage and have savings above both thresholds, do I have anything to lose in applying for help with court fees or am I guaranteed to to get any assistance?
QUESTION: How should I find the particulars of the claim (which are not referred to on the judgement - just an amount and a claimants name and postal address.)
QUESTION: How do I go about setting up a fraud/identity theft investigation to prepare for the eventuality I get to the hearing and the claimant says "it was you, look, someone called [your name] and with some ID as [your name] hired a car - it must be you! Seems kafka-esque for me to disprove something that didn't happen!
I would appreciate any advice on this odd situation, specifically to my questions above.
Very many thanks for your support.
I just ran a soft credit report and found - to my astonishment - there is a CCJ against my name at my old address. I moved a couple of years ago and the CCJ is dated nearly a year later!
I contacted the Court concerned, mentioning I have had no knowledge of this claim and have not received any papers regarding it, and they have emailed me a copy of the judgement.
Bizarrely, I have never had any dealings with the claimant - a car rental company. Indeed, I have only ever rented one car - several months before I moved out of the address and it was not only with a different company but with an entirely different rental car group. It was also returned with no damage and confirmed so from their representative. So even if this was somehow referring to my rental with another group, I cannot in any event think such a claim would be reasonable. I therefore suspect fraud / identity theft.
UPDATE: I have received the particulars of claim which only state:
"under rental agreement entered in to between the Claimant and the Defendant, the Claimant hired a vehicle to the Defendant. Following the rental period the Claimant has demanded payment of the repair costs of the vehicle and associated costs in the sum of [nearly £2000]..." with a little explanation that some is interest under the appropriate act."
I've heard about these scams before but I did not ever rent a car with this claimant and the only car I have EVER rented (with a different company) was returned and confirmed to have no damage by their representative.
I am obviously drafting an N244 to have the Judgement set aside including that:
- I am applying for the judgement to be set aside on the basis I not only had no knowledge of the claim and received no papers or correspondence regarding it and wish to enter a defence but did not have the opportunity to do this.
- I could not have expected to have informed the claimant of my change of address as I have had no dealings with them whatsoever. (QUESTION: Will this stand up as an argument for this? Seems to me it must do but this whole system seems crazy!)
- There is an error in the judgement in that I do not owe the money claimed (QUESTION: Does this count as an 'error in the judgement'?)
- I plan to counterclaim to reclaim from the claimant the cost of the court fee and the cost of the time taken for me to prepare the documents concerned and attend the hearing. I could then agree to drop the part of the counterclaim for the additional costs (but not the court fee) in reaching a settlement with the claimant if possible. (QUESTION: Any guidance on wording this and arguing this?)
QUESTION: Should I contact the claimant to ask them to consent to have the judgement set aside (and if so, how?) I am worried that if i reveal any contact details at this stage they will try and enforce enforcement action before I have a chance to defend this spurious claim.
QUESTION: I earn a decent wage and have savings above both thresholds, do I have anything to lose in applying for help with court fees or am I guaranteed to to get any assistance?
QUESTION: How should I find the particulars of the claim (which are not referred to on the judgement - just an amount and a claimants name and postal address.)
QUESTION: How do I go about setting up a fraud/identity theft investigation to prepare for the eventuality I get to the hearing and the claimant says "it was you, look, someone called [your name] and with some ID as [your name] hired a car - it must be you! Seems kafka-esque for me to disprove something that didn't happen!
I would appreciate any advice on this odd situation, specifically to my questions above.
Very many thanks for your support.
