STRUCK OUT * Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

**R0b** · 3rd October 2017, 13:01:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Setting aside a CCJ is not clear cut and nor is it guaranteed. It sounds like the solicitors might have obtained a default judgment against you, which is what happens if you do not respond to the claim issued.

Did you update your electoral records and other details when you moved?
Why did you not inform the solicitors that you had moved address if you were in dispute, and why did you not contact them after not hearing from them for a while?
Do you have any evidence that you agreed a price other than on a per hour basis?
Did you sign any contract, and what did it say?

The above are possible questions the judge might ask you in determining whether or not the application should be set aside. You need to contact the court and get a copy of the N1 Claim Form and/or any detailed particulars of claim that may have been issued. This will help establish the address in which the claim was sent to and also details of the claim against you.

**thonvh2017** · 3rd October 2017, 13:38:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Dear R0b,

Thank you for your prompt help.

-I do update my electoral record at Stoke-On-Trent after I moved there on 25/05/2017; I did not do it straight away; the electoral letter sent to me was dated 10/01/2017. I have no intention to escape from their claim as i dont owe them any money; instead they owe me.
-I did not phone them because I just wanted to move on with my personal injury case whose deadlines I was required to meet. After I had received no response from them for 2 months, I just moved out of that rented flat.
-No. I refused to signed that hourly rate contract throughout. I managed to print out an email I sent to them after they emailed me demanding me to pay them per hour. At that time, there was no work being done by them yet. And I alread paid £600 to them as a deposit so that they could instruct a plastic surgeon to produce a medical report.
-That solicitors is scamming. After I refused to sign that letter, and I had sent a few emails to them, they did not respond to me. I had no choice, but to find a public access barrister who was willing to help me with less than what that solicitor charge me (I managed to print out a copy of email from his clerk about the cost of drafting particulars of claim).
In summary, that solicitors verbally (in their office) agreed to allow me to pay them with a fixed fee as follows:
-£600 including VAT for a draft of particulars of claim and general legal advice
-£500 including VAT for instructing a plastic surgeon to produce a medical report
Until 12/04/2016 I had paid them £780 before the disputes started. That solicitors did not send me, straight away, a copy of the above contract even after I repeatedly requested it from them. However, on 29/04/2016 they emailed me a copy of an hourly rate contract letter which I refused to sign (I have copies of them). At that time no major work (two main jobs above) has been done yet.
My disputes and concerns have been made aware to them since 29/04/2016. The disputes were going on, and on 26/08/2016, that firm emailed me:
-Particulars of claim
-Medical report from a plastic surgeon
And demanded I paid about £1500 on top of what I had already paid them. I refused to pay and told them that that was not what I agreed with them.
Moreover, I found out that particulars of claim contains no legal arguments compared to a sample I read on the Internet; it was only one-page letter.
Then my new barrister found out that the medical report sent to me by that firm was not signed by a plastic surgeon too.
In summary, I paid £780 to the firm, and obtained:
-One page particulars of claim with no legal arguments
-Unsigned medical report
That was why on 30/09/2016, my barrister advised me to send a letter to the firm requesting a signed copy of medical report. The firm never responded to me; and I had to move on to deal with my court deadlines.
Because of the above, I had to pay for:
-New particulars of claim to that barrister
-New medical report
So that my claim stayed valid.
I have all receipts and above documents to show to the court.
This CCJ seems very unfair as the court has given reward of £1300 to the Claimant without even a hearing.
Can you please help me with a defence witness statement; does it require any legal legislations in that witness statement?
I very appreciate your help.
Regards
Thon

**thonvh2017** · 4th October 2017, 10:48:AM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Hi R0b,

Do you know any good solicitors who can help me with my witness statement for a fixed fee?

I have written it last night, but I just want to make sure it is correct which can be used to support my application for the CCJ to be set aside.

Today I have phoned the court to request the claim form N1 and Judgement with other relevant documents so that I can file a defence.

Many thanks in advance.
Regards

**R0b** · 4th October 2017, 12:10:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

If you want piece of mind, then you could try contacting [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] on this and see if you can agree something. If not, post up what you have done and we can add some feedback. It sounds from the chronology above that you might have a reasonable prospect of success and there should be decent grounds for arguing to have it set aside. This will not mean you get away with it but you go back one step and you will still need to defend the claim. In order to try and keep costs to a minimum you should write to the Claimant solicitors and request that they consent to set aside and that their consent should not be unreasonably withheld. You might want to add whether you are prepared to pay the application fees or share the cost of the fees or whether you want them to pay the whole of the fees.

Not sure if you have seen other threads but the one below is a current one which is still ongoing. Might be worth a read

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...formation-help!!

**thonvh2017** · 4th October 2017, 12:43:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Thank you R0b for your useful advice. Yes, your website is very helpful to many people and vicitims.

Here is my prepared witness statements whose a couple of legal statements were copied from a website.

BIRMINGHAM COUNTY COURT CLAIM No. #######
BETWEEN
CLAIMANT’S NAME CLAIMANT
-V-
DEFENDANT’S NAME DEFENDANT

__________________________________________________ _______________________
WITNESS STATEMENT OF DEFENDANT’S NAME
FOR JUDGMENT ENTERED TO BE SET ASIDE
__________________________________________________ _______________________

I, DEFENDANT’S NAME of defandant's new postal address, make this statement in support of my application for an Order that the Judgment Entered against me be set aside.

1. I confirm that I am the Defendant in this action.

2. Proceedings have been issued against me by the Claimant, Cottams Solicitors.

3. I confirm that the address on the Claim Form is my old address and that matter is at issue. I have left a flat at [defendant's old address], since 25^th November 2016. Because of that I did not receive the Claim Form at that address.

4. On 28/09/2017 I found out a CCJ against me when I logged into a free credit rating website. The CCJ was recorded on 15/02/2017 with a case number which is XXXXXXXX, and my previous address at [defendant's old address].

4. Had the Claim Form been received I would have defended the Claim. However, as it was not received I cannot defend a claim I know nothing about. I believe that the claim originated from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton which is not my home Court and it was only upon it being transferred to the County Court in [INSERT NAME OF COURT] for the Application for a Charging Order/Warrant of Control [CHOOSE ONE OR THE OTHER OPTION] that I had any knowledge at all of the claim being made against me.

5. In support of my position in relation to not receiving the Claim Form and not being able to Defend the Claim I rely upon the case of Estate Acquisition and Development Ltd v Wiltshire
[2006] EWCA Civ 533 wherein it was held that Dyson LJ at para 24:

6. Dyson LJ stated "A person is under no obligation to make himself amenable to potential claims of which he has no notice. It must follow that, if he fails to attend a hearing in proceedings of which he is unaware, he has a good reason for failing to attend."

7. I apply the same principle to my situation. Deemed service is rebutted and whilst deemed service may be applied by the Claimant it was not possible for me to deal with non receipt of the Claim Form until I became aware of the said proceedings.

8. I did not and never have entered into any agreement with the Claimant to pay legal fees based on hourly rates. In fact I refused to sign such an agreement when the Claimant required me to sign it in an email sent to me on 03/05/2016. I confirm that my disputes with the fee agreements had been made aware to the Claimant throughout the period of time I was using the Claimant’s legal services between April 2016 and September 2016.

9. In February 2016 I contacted the Claimant, and on 09/02/2016 I had an initial discussion with the Claimant in XXXXXXXXXXXXX’s office. It sounds too good to be true that the Claimant charges only £90 for unlimited discussions/advice. I believe I spent about 30 minutes discussing my personal injury case with the Claimant. I was required to pay £90 to the Claimant before I left XXXXXXXXXXX’s office.

10. During the above meeting, the Claimant agreed with me on a fixed legal fee contract. The Claimant stated that he would charge a fixed legal fee of £600 including VAT for the following work: drafting particulars of claims and general legal advice, plus another £500 including VAT for instructing a plastic surgeon to produce a medical report for my personal injury case. I agreed with the fixed fee which I could get some financial help from my family to pay.

11. On 22/03/2016 I had another meeting with the Claimant in XXXXXXXXXXXXXX’s office after I received stamped claim forms from the court. I believe the meeting last less than 15 minutes, but I was required to pay another £90 before I left the Claimant’s office.

12. On 11/04/2016 I had the third meeting with the Claimant in his office after I obtained a medical report from Queen Elizabeth Hospital where I had a treatment, and a postal address of the Defendant (in my personal injury case) from a tracing agency. During the meeting the Claimant had taken the original copies of my medical report and police letter, and required me to pay £600 as a deposit so that he could start working on my case. I paid that amount of £600 using the Claimant’s payment machine before I left his office.

13. After I paid £600 to the Claimant above, I had requested the Claimant repeatedly by email/phone to provide a written agreement on a fixed legal fee which he agreed with me during the initial meeting. However, the Claimant did not provide me with that agreement; on 29/04/2016 the Claimant required me to sign an agreement contract letter which required me to pay the Claimant £201 per hour different from what the Claimant agreed with me on 09/02/2016.

14. Because of that, on 03/05/2016 I emailed the Claimant and refused to sign the agreement letter the Claimant sent to me on 29/04/2016.

15. I confirm that since 03/05/2016, I had raised my disputes and concerns over the Claimant’s agreement letter, and made the Claimant aware of my disagreements. I do not recall signing that agreement at that time, and do not hold a copy of the agreement or terms of that agreement. I can confirm that no major legal work described above had been done yet by the Claimant at that time except a letter sent to the Defendant (in my case), and an instruction the Claimant claimed to have sent to a plastic surgeon.

16. The disputes about the fee agreement letter were going on, and I had not received a response from Claimant although I had sent him a couple of emails. Because of that, I had no choice but to find a different solicitor or barrister who could help me with my personal injury case so that I could meet the court deadlines.

17. On 19/05/2016 a Public Access Barrister agreed to take on my case. He clerk stated in an email sent to me that the legal fee was only £420 plus VAT. That fee did not include an instruction to a plastic surgeon to produce a medical report; it was only for particulars of claim and general advice which I believed I had requested.

18. After I found the Barrister above, I believed I had sent a couple of emails to the Claimant to dispute with the Claimant’s fee agreement letter, and on 31/05/2016 I phoned the Claimant and gave a deadline to the Claimant to respond, via his clerk, to my concerns over the fee agreement letter he had asked me to sign. I said to his clerk that if the Claimant (Mr XXXXXXXX) did not answer me by next day, I had no choice, but to move on to a different solicitor/barrister.

19. Therefore, on 01/06/2016, the Claimant phoned me and said “that was what he was saying or agreed” in his responses to my repeatedly questions about whether he kindly agreed with a fixed legal fee contract agreed verbally on 09/02/2016. The Claimant seemed to avoid saying his agreement explicitly on that phone conversation with me.

20. Because of the above conversation, I decided not to transfer my case to the public access barrister I found above, and made an application for extension to the deadline of submitting particulars of claim and medical report from a plastic surgeon.

21. I believed a couple of days later I informed the Claimant, by email, of my application for extension of the court deadline, as well as a record of what he agreed with me on the phone call of 01/06/2016.

22. That was why on 15/06/2016 the Claimant sent me an email to acknowledge my email and confirm what he had already made clear as to the level of fees which was not clear. I started to worry about the Claimant’s behaviour again due to his unclear statement of the legal fee.

23. In case the Claimant claimed I agreed to pay him a legal fee per hour during the phone call on 01/06/2016, I had a good reason to dispute his claim. If the Claimant had not agreed with me during that phone conversation, I would have instructed the Public Access Barrister for only £420 plus VAT which was less than £600 including VAT charged by the Claimant.

24. During the above period of disputes, I also contacted three different plastic surgeon firms regarding a medical report, and found one of them to which the Claimant referred; it was XXXXXXXXXX’s surgeon who stated that they had not received an instruction from the Claimant who claimed to have sent it in his email of 29/04/2016 to me. Three of them advised me that it would take only up to three weeks to arrange an appointment to see a surgeon.

25. Because of the above, I was upset with a long delay in my submitting court paperwork, and believe I had informed the Claimant of his instruction not received by the surgeon. I believe the Claimant then phoned me to confirm he had sent an instruction to the surgeon again.

26. On 27/07/2016 I went to see the plastic surgeon, Mr XXXXXXXXXXX, after I received an appointment letter from his surgeon firm.

27. For many days after my appointment with the plastic surgeon above, I had still not heard anything from the Claimant whether he had obtained a medical report from the surgeon or finished a draft of particulars of claim. I had been very worried and distressed about this delay as my new court deadline was 30/09/2016. I believe I had phoned the Claimant who called me back to confirm that he would send me the draft of particulars of claim plus medical report soon.

28. I believed at around the end of August 2016, the Claimant emailed me the particulars of claim and a medical report from the plastic surgeon with a new legal fee he stated in that email. I could remember that he required me to pay much more than I agreed with him which was only £500 including VAT on top of £600 I had already paid.

29. I confirm that I did dispute that legal fee straight away in an email sent to him. I believed I was initially trying to offer an extra amount of money to avoid unnecessary disputes. But the Claimant did not agree with my offer.

30. I believe the Claimant counted every single email I had sent to him toward a legal fee which was charged per hour whose agreement I never signed.

31. However, one or two days later I found out that the Claimant’s particulars of claim contained no legal arguments compared to what I read on the Internet, and it was similar to a one-page letter. Because of this, I no longer offered extra fee I suggested above.

32. I believe I phoned the Claimant to dispute the particulars of claim he had emailed to me. On 03/09/2016 the Claimant phoned me back as usually. There were loud arguments between me and the Claimant during that phone call, and I said to the Claimant that his particulars of claim did not contain legal arguments which would not be accepted by the court as a legal document. But the Claimant seemed to avoid that discussion, and mentioned about his instruction to the plastic surgeon instead.

33. Because of that, I decided to go back to the above Public Access Barrister’s clerk for legal help. But the Barrister’s clerk was too slow to respond to my email, and because I had to meet my court deadline on 30/09/2016, on 07/09/2016 I decided to instruct a different Public Access Barrister, Mr XXXXXXXXXXXX, who helped draft particulars of claim and provided general legal advice for a fixed legal fee of £600 including VAT. It took him only two days to finish drafting the particulars of claim for my case instead of weeks of delay caused by the Claimant.

34. Mr XXXXXXXX later found out that the medical report sent to me by the Claimant was not signed by the plastic surgeon, Mr XXXXXXX. I confirm that during my legal consultations with the Counsel, Mr XXXXXXXXX, I was advised to file a professional negligence case against the Claimant. That was when I started to write a brief of my case against the Claimant.

35. However, I informed Mr XXXXXXXXX that I was very unwell due to permanent illnesses I had suffered since early 2015 which were Diabetes Type 2 and Hepatitis C with Cirrhosis, I was not able to cope with that case against the Claimant. Therefore, Mr XXXXXXXXX advised me to write a letter, on 30/09/2016, to the Claimant to request a signed copy of medical report for which I had paid a fee of £600.

36. I confirm that I did not get a response to my above letter from the Claimant during the period I was living in the rented flat at ADDRESS. I did not phone nor email the Claimant for his response to my letter above as I decided to move on with my personal injury case. This was because it was hard for me to get on with my above illnesses; I was having a Hepatitis C treatment till July 2016 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and during and after the treatment I usually had blood coming from my nose.

37. And due to the end of the tenancy agreement, on 25/11/2017 I decided to leave that flat for a new accommodation at NEW ADDRESS.

38. However, on 13/12/2016 I received an email from the Claimant in a response to my letter of 30/09/2016 above. At that time I was living in the above new accommodation in Stoke-On-Trent, and I did not see whether the Claimant would like to make a claim against me.

39. I confirm that I have lost all my email communications with the Claimant due to the fact that my computer was crashing in early January 2017, and I had to reinstall an Operation System (MS Windows 7) on it wiping out Thunderbird email application which stored those emails. Those emails were not stored in original Yahoo mail box due to the way I configured Thunderbird. I managed to print out some main documents especially during September 2016 while I was receiving legal advice from Mr XXXXXXXX.

40. Although I could remember that I might have encouraged the Claimant to file a claim against me during the disputes, or the Claimant threatened to sue me, I do not recall the Claimant actually filing a case against me even I was living in XXXXXXXXX.

41. I had no intention to escape from the claim filed by the Claimant against me because I did not believe I owe the Claimant any amount of money. I never signed an agreement to pay the Claimant on a per hour basis. I confirm that as soon as I arrived in my new accommodation in XXXXXXXXXX, I updated my electoral record with XXXXXXXXXXXX Council. On 10/01/2017, they sent me a letter to confirm my registration. If I had been willing to escape from a claim against me, why would I have updated my electoral record?

42. To comply with the court order, I had been legally advised to submit a signed medical report so that my case stayed valid. Therefore, on 15/03/2017 I paid another surgeon, Mr XXXXXXXXXXX, for a signed medical report as the unsigned medical report provided by the Claimant was not accepted by the court. Mr XXXXXXXXXX’s fee was only £250.

43. I have received no Deed of Assigment from the Claimant.

44. I do not believe that the Claimant has any right to make a claim against me. I do not believe that I am indebted to the Claimant whether as alleged or at all.

45. The Claimant relies on the Section 126 of the Law of Property Act 1925. No Deed of Assignment has been received. In this respect I would draw attention to Lord Denning who states in the Pelias Construction Case (Van Lynn Developments v Pelias Construction Co Ltd 1968 [3] All ER 824) where he said the debtor is entitled to "view the sale agreement to ensure that the assignee can give him good discharge under the contract."
"In order that the assignee may obtain the benefit of the Law of Property Act 1925, express notice in writing of the assignment must be given to the debtor, trustee or other person from whom the assignor would have been entitled to claim the debt or the chose or thing in action".

46. In the circumstances I should be grateful if the Court would take into account that I did not receive the Claim Form and have, therefore, been deprived of the opportunity of defending the Claim.

47. Further that I have reasonable prospects of successfully defending the Claim.

STATEMENT OF TRUTH

I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.

Signed: _____________________________

Dated: _______________________________

DEFENDANT’S NAME
DEFENDANT

**R0b** · 4th October 2017, 12:53:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Any chance you could split out those paragraphs onto new lines? Finding it hard to read them! I'll take a proper look at this at some point today and give some comments

**Kati** · 4th October 2017, 12:54:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Originally posted by R0b View Post

Any chance you could split out those paragraphs onto new lines? Finding it hard to read them! I'll take a proper look at this at some point today and give some comments

already done

xx

**nemesis45** · 4th October 2017, 15:08:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Hi It would be a good idea to remove your personal details from the post!

**Kati** · 4th October 2017, 15:14:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Originally posted by nemesis45 View Post

Hi It would be a good idea to remove your personal details from the post!

sorted Nem

[MENTION=107674]thonvh2017[/MENTION] ... I've edited post #6 to get the spacing right and to remove names/addresses etc... no need to post up again hun xx

**thonvh2017** · 4th October 2017, 15:21:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Thanks
nemesis45

Yes, i removed my postal addresses from the statement above.

Cheers
Thon

**R0b** · 4th October 2017, 22:06:PM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Hi Thon,

I've looked at your witness statement but it's not quite clear. I don't know where you copied it from but some of it conflicts and doesn't make sense in its current order - that's the problem with copying previous statements. Each case will turn on its own individual facts and no statement is a one size fits all, you need to tailor it to suit your own needs. A good chunk of your statement reads more like a defence than a witness statement which is meant to be a set of factual information. It is not supposed to be used for a defence or all of your legal arguments as that goes into your defence.

Anyway, I've uploaded a draft template of what you should be using as a witness statement. If you intend on using it then you will need to adapt it to suit your case but you should also be aware of a few things.

1. Any information in square brackets and capital letters requires something to be inserted by you.

2. Under paragraphs 1 you will see the following (""). This is used to define something so in this case I've used it to define the claimant rather than keep saying "the claimant" throughout the witness statement. For example, you could specifically mention the claimant's name e.g. Cottam Solicitors. So in this case you would insert ("Cottam Solicitors") and everywhere it says [CLAIMANT] in brackets you insert Cottam Solicitors. Equally in paragraph 9 yoyu can define your address, for example ("Bebside Road").

3. Paragraph 3 refers to "XX1" you should replace "XX" with your initials. Where you want to include any documents to support your set aside you would refer to it in parenthesise as set out in paragraph 7 for example.

4. Paragraph 7 is optional if you have not sent a letter to Cottam then you don't need to include it.

I think that covers it, any questions let me know.

Click here for link to Word version of WS

----------------------------------------------

I, [FULL NAME] of [ADDRESS & POSTCODE] will state as follows:

1. I am a [INSERT EMPLOYMENT STATUS] and I make this Witness Statement in support of an application to set aside the default judgment (“CCJ”) entered on [DATE] in favour of the Claimant (“DEFINE CLAIMANT NAME”).

2. The facts and matters set out in this statement are within my own knowledge unless otherwise stated, and I believe them to be true. Where I refer to information supplied by others, the source of the information is identified; the facts and matters derived from other sources are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

3. There is now produced and shown to me a paginated bundle of true copy documents marked "XX1". All references to documents in this statement are to Exhibit XX1 unless otherwise stated.

INTRODUCTION
4. I wish to apply for the judgment in default entered on [DATE OF JUDGMENT] against the Defendant to be set aside on the basis that pursuant to CPR 13.3(1)(a) and CPR 13.3(1)(a):

(i) the Defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim brought against it; and

(ii) there is some other good reason why the CCJ should be set aside.

BACKGROUND
5. I first became aware of the CCJ [EXPLAIN IN MORE DETAIL ABOUT WHEN YOU FIRST FOUND OUT ABOUT THE CCJ INCLUDING DATES.IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO RECALL THE EXACT DATE THEN YOU SHOLD SAY “ON OR ABOUT”].

6. I was completely unaware that the [CLAIMANT] had issued proceedings against me in relation to [EXPLAIN WHAT THE CCJ RELATES TO]. I did not receive the application notice or any correspondence from the [CLAIMANT] or their solicitors referring to the PCN nor do I have any details of where the alleged contravention took place.

7. [As soon as I became aware of the judgment, I acted promptly by notifying [CLAIMANT] on [DATE] of my intention to set aside the application, and requested further details of the claim (page XX of XX1). [CLAIMANT] has not responded to my letter and I am therefore compelled to make this application to set aside the default judgment.]

DRAFT DEFENCE
8. I believe that I have a real prospect of success in defending this claim and as can be seen from the draft defence which is attached to the application notice that this statement supports.

THERE IS SOME OTHER GOOD REASON
9. The address [INSERT ADDRESS] (“DEFINE ADDRESS”) is stated on the claim form but this is not my current place of residence. I lived at this property from [DATE] until [DATE]. Following my home move, I updated all records to reflect my change of address which included: notifying my local council and updating the electoral roll, the DVLA and all credit reference agencies.

10. It is assumed that several letters would have been to my address prior to the issue of proceedings, and it is therefore reasonable to suggest that given my lack of response to those letters, [CLAIMANT] ought to have taken reasonable steps in ascertaining my last known address pursuant to rule 6.9 of the CPR. If [CLAIMANT] had done this, then it would have realised that I no longer resided at [OLD ADDRESS]. For these reasons, I believe that [CLAIMANT] failed to take reasonable steps to locate my current whereabouts and accordingly, the claim form was not validly served.

11. Alternative to the above and as already stated in paragraph [number], I received no notice of the claim form and which I was afforded no opportunity to defend the allegations made against me. Dyson LJ acknowledged this in Estate Acquisition and Development Ltd v Wiltshire [2006] EWCA Civ 533 where he observed that:

"A person is under no obligation to make himself amenable to potential claims of which he has no notice. It must follow that, if he fails to attend a hearing in proceedings of which he is unaware, he has a good reason for failing to attend."

12. Furthermore, had I become aware of the claim, it was more likely than not that I would have defended the claim and/or settled the debt, but I was not given this chance. I refer to the Court of Appeal case Godwin v Swindon Borough Council [2001] EWCA Civ 1478 where LJ May said the following:

“Rule 13.3(1)(b) has a disjunctive alternative, so that the court may set aside or vary judgment entered in default if it appears to the court that there is some other good reason why the judgment should be set aside or varied or the defendant should be allowed to defend the claim. In my view, this is plainly capable of extending to circumstances where the defendant has not received the claim form and particulars of claim before judgment was entered against him. It is not an absolute right, but does not have to depend on the defendant having a real prospect of successfully defending the claim. The court therefore has sufficient power to do justice in these cases and will, no doubt, normally exercise this discretion in favour of a defendant who establishes that he had no knowledge of the claim before judgment in default was entered unless it is pointless to do so. The defendant, for instance, may have no defence to the claim, but may justifiably want to have the judgment set aside on the basis that, had he known about the claim, he would have satisfied it immediately without having an embarrassing judgment recorded against him.

13. In summary, I have acted promptly when I found out about the judgment. I have explained why I did not respond to the claim issued and I believe that service of the claim form was invalidly served. Furthermore, I also have a reasonable prospect of successfully defending the claim as set out in the draft defence. The prejudice that I would suffer by not being allowed to defend this claim greatly exceeds the prejudice to [CLAIMANT] if the judgment is set aside. For these reasons, I respectfully ask the Court to set aside the judgment under CPR Part 13.

I believe that the facts in this witness statement are true.

Signed:
[YOUR NAME]

Dated:

**thonvh2017** · 5th October 2017, 10:39:AM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

Dear R0b,

Thank you very much for helping me with my statement.

I ll amend and update it based on your advice.

Cheers
Thon

**R0b** · 5th October 2017, 10:47:AM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

I've just re-read the statement but at para. 12 it should be amended as highlighted in red below which I have now edited my post too

12. Furthermore, had I become aware of the claim, it was more likely than not that I would have defended the claim and/or settled the debt.

**R0b** · 5th October 2017, 10:52:AM

Re: Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside

I would like to add to the previous post that you might be wise to include a draft order as part of the application. Given your circumstances, it might be wise to have the CCJ set aside but also stay the claim to allow both parties to engage in alternative dispute resolution for a reasonable period of time i.e. 3 months maybe? If the court granted this stay, then you could make a formal complaint to Cottams about the debt and if they do not uphold your complaint you could instead take it to the Legal Ombudsman who may be able to side with you and instead of going directly to the hearing of the claim.

So, you sort of get two bites at cherry rather than one. Does that make sense?

STRUCK OUT * Need help to apply for CCJ to be set aside