Received High Court Claim - need help in responding

**Amethyst** · 15th June 2016, 21:22:PM

Re: Received High Court Claim - need help in responding

Yes they can apply to court to have the judgment moved over to England from Australia for enforcement, then basically the same will apply as if it were a UK Judgment. So if you were unaware then you can apply to set aside the judgment if you have a defence. Need to know a bit more though..

Do you disagree with the judgment ? Do you have a defence?
Was it made in your absence, did you have any knowledge of it at all?
How much approx was it? What for?

**R0b** · 15th June 2016, 21:25:PM

Re: Received High Court Claim - need help in responding

Few questions to get started below

1. What details do you have about this claim? Some background would be useful

2. Did you receive any court documentation regarding a claim being made in Australia?

3. What was the date of the judgment?

**Legalenquirer** · 16th June 2016, 09:21:AM

Re: Received High Court Claim - need help in responding

Thank you for the responses Amethyst and ROb, much appreciated.

I will respond to questions you both have asked and provide some more background.

The judgement is from 22/07/2015 from the Magistrates Court of South Australia for approximately $14, 000 including costs. The judgement creditor is a DCA located in Australia. The judgement was found in default and I first received notice of it from a UK DCA (CLI) who wrote to me in November with a cursory note saying they had been appointed to recover the debt and I should pay the full amount in 7 days. I received two more letters from CLI on 24/11/15 and 3/12/15, the later letter saying CLI were turning the matter to their doorstop collection agency. I ignored all letters and made no contact with CLI as I had no idea who they were and all the advice I read was not to speak with them. No doorstop visits were made.

I then received a SD under the Insolvency Act 1986 on 22/12/15 with the Australian DCA named as the creditor. The SD was originated from the UK DCA who stated on the SD that they were the debt collection agency for the creditor and authorised to make this demand on the creditors behalf. The SD indicated that the original creditor was ME Bank and the assignment was 25/01/2013 to the Australian DCA.

I applied to have the SD set aside. The Court made an order on 27/01/15 which did not agree to set aside but did say that the Australian DCA be authorised to present a bankruptcy petition.

I then received a letter on 4 June from a UK based solicitor enclosing a Order by the High Court for enforcement of the judgement dated 22/07/15 of the Magistrates Court of South Australia.

In answer to the question about my knowledge of the South Australian court action, I was not aware of this. I relocated to the UK from Australia in December 2008 and since then only returned to Australia for a brief visit in January 2016. So the Court action was taken in my absence and I was at the same address until October 2013 in the UK.

ME was my bank in Australia and I notified them of my UK address and regularly received mail from them ie statements etc. During 2012 ME did remove my credit card account from internet banking. I rang them to discuss this and they could offer no solution as to how I could continue to make payments on the account. I did not receive any notices from them of action or assignment to the Australian DCA even though I was still at the same UK address that they had been sending my mail to. As mentioned above I was at the same UK address from December 2008 until October 2013.

I hope that fills in the details.

From reading this site I think I need to acknowledge the claim? I also think I need to attempt to get the South Australian court order set aside?

Your thoughts will be very helpful.

Thanks

**Amethyst** · 17th June 2016, 08:14:AM

Re: Received High Court Claim - need help in responding

Good Morning xxx

I applied to have the SD set aside. The Court made an order on 27/01/15 which did not agree to set aside but did say that the Australian DCA be authorised to present a bankruptcy petition.

It sounds like this has gone a bit further than you wanted. The set-aside application should have been made before or at least when you received the stat demand. The court is a bit tied with a SD off the back of a judgment, as once there is a judgment you owe the money, and now they have the right to apply for bankruptcy against you. However they haven't done so, probably due to the cost of it, and have applied to the court to enable them to enforce the judgment here - so via a forthwith order, installments, bailiffs, attachment of earnings etc - normal stuff. Potentially a charging order if you own your own property. and of course the CCJ on your credit file for 6 years.

So yes it needs sorting out.

I don't know how you set aside the judgment when the judgment was passed in Australia though. It would seem it would have to be the Australian court - which is a magistrates court ? odd for a credit card debt as it's civil not criminal ( here anyway) , but I know nothing about how Australia deal with money claims just their laws are normally quite aligned with ours.

You did owe the money, as far as you know, it was simply that ME bank wouldn't give you a way to pay it. So defence is difficult. You could try a deal with the solicitors here that the judgment be set aside and you pay £XX a month. They had your new address and communicated with you here, yet still didn't notify you of the court action, and had you received the county court claim, or been given a way to pay, you would likely have sorted out a payment arrangement with them?

See what [MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION] thinks anyway, as I really don't have a grasp on how to deal with overseas judgments. How much is aus$14,000 here - under or over £10k ?

**Legalenquirer** · 17th June 2016, 09:39:AM

Re: Received High Court Claim - need help in responding

Yes agree it does need sorting out! I think I have a strong defence to have the judgement set aside in Australia and I am seeking advice on that. To be frank I feel very aggrieved with how this has been handled and if the bank and DCA have not followed procedure, which I don't think they have, then I think that needs to be exposed. It is not right that someone can write to you and say pay £7k without demonstrating who they are. It makes me more suspicious that they are trying on and have not gone about things in the appropriate way. If they had this situation would not be were it is.

To answer your query about the magistrates court (not that I know much!) it seems to be were small claims are heard and almost all claims are uncontested. I think the rules and procedures for settting aside judgements are similar to the UK.

Also, I don't think the DCA will not proceed with the bankruptcy because they have flouted every procedure under the CPR. Therefore I expect that they are not prepared for the risk.

I spoke to the High Court who were very helpful and I now need to complete a form N244. Also I would like to access all the particulars of the claim and would appreciate any advice on what form to complete and who this should be sent to? I have not seen any relevant documents such as letters from the bank, assignment agreement etc. As I mentioned the bank had my address and none of these documents were ever provided.

**Amethyst** · 17th June 2016, 09:51:AM

Re: Received High Court Claim - need help in responding

I agree, if the claim were in this country I'd say fill in the N244 application to set aside and as the creditor knew full well your address before passing the account to the DCA and before issuing a claim, you'd have a very good chance of setting it aside. It is simply I don't know the procedure for setting aside a judgment in Australia. My thinking was if they are applying to enforce the judgment in the UK you should be able to apply in the UK to have that judgment set aside, as the effect is the entire case moving to the UK. But I would be guessing - although if the High Court say N244 submitted to them it sounds about right.

To access the particulars of claim and judgment etc would be a letter to the solicitors currently dealing with the case, you can do that at the same time as informing them of your application to set aside the Judgment. You need to send a copy of the application to them anyway. Here the set aside basic guidance Set Aside

Received High Court Claim - need help in responding