CCJ against my name I know nothing about

[Wilko74]

Hi All,
Desperately need some expert advice please.
I'm currently going through a divorce and have only recently discovered there is a CCJ against my name when I went to set up a new bank account. The CCJ was issued in 2011 by Natwest for a current account deficit of over £6000! It turns out it was a bank account set up by my ex that I knew nothing about and she has somehow racked up this huge amount of debt behind my back. Ive been into Natwest to try and find out more details and I got shown the application form with my signature but all contact details are my ex's, so she has very deviously got me to sign this application without me fully realising what it was (you kind of trust your wife!). The debt will get paid off with the equity of the house sale but I just want to know have I got a case against my ex and can I clear my name if I can somehow prove I had nothing to do with racking up this debt.
Sorry for the long rant but any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Wilko74

[Snoopy1948]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

I guess the burden of proof here lies with whether you consider yourself totally innocent of signing for a new account despite the fact that you signed 'in a trusting mode'. It was your signature and you must hold some culpability for that. You certainly aren't denying that you signed it.

Since all the points of contact were in your wife's name, and you were not party to the debt being racked up, how exactly did the debt accrue? Was this a new current account? How did it become £6000 in debit as that's a lot of money to be indebted on a current account. Did your wife have all the withdrawn money and what use was it put to? I assume this was a joint account?

If you could clarify how the debt accrued, others may be able to give better opinions here.

[Wilko74]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Thanks for the reply Snoopy1948.
That's just it, I never knew anything about this account and there is nothing to show for £6000! To my knowledge I never did one transaction, it was all done by my wife.
It was set up as a joint account.
I went into natwest and the branch manager showed me a screenshot of some of the transactions which we were just general things like tesco and Argos etc. But to get the statements I've got to go through the solicitors who are dealing with the CCJ, so I'm now waiting for these as I have requested them.
I just want to know if there is anyway of clearing my name, despite my signature on the application, if I can somehow prove I never carried out a single transaction?

[Snoopy1948]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Hi again Wilko74!

Frustrating for sure! But you will need to find out exactly how the debt accrued. Am I assuming that there was a massive overdraft facility to allow this to happen? Seems to me that unless you can prove that your wife had every intention on accruing a debt that you were jointly and severally liable for, I cannot see what you can do. As you say, you really need those bank statements to see exactly how she achieved this. Am I assuming that the divorce agreement will embrace this particular debt as a joint liability?

[charitynjw]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Thanks for the reply Snoopy1948.
That's just it, I never knew anything about this account and there is nothing to show for £6000! To my knowledge I never did one transaction, it was all done by my wife.
It was set up as a joint account.
I went into natwest and the branch manager showed me a screenshot of some of the transactions which we were just general things like tesco and Argos etc. But to get the statements I've got to go through the solicitors who are dealing with the CCJ, so I'm now waiting for these as I have requested them.
I just want to know if there is anyway of clearing my name, despite my signature on the application, if I can somehow prove I never carried out a single transaction?

IMHO

How can Natwest on the one hand hold you liable for the alleged debt, & on the other hand not give you access to the data?

Why do you have to go via a solicitor to obtain it?

[paulajayne]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Tesco and Argos - indicates normal household shopping.

[Wilko74]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Hi All,
Yes, I have an agreement with the ex that equity will be split 50/50 and all debts will be paid off with this equity. I have not got a clue how she has racked up this massive debt without me knowing (plus there are more debts which she has told me about), whether it was an overdraft or not I really don't know. Maybe I should just go back into Natwest and hope I get served by someone else who will give me the statements??
Very frustrating indeed!

[Snoopy1948]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Hi again Wilko74.

One thing I cannot understand here is if you were a joint account holder, I cannot see why NatWest fail to provide you with historical statements on request, even if they make a charge. After all, it was your account in question. Surely, part of serving a CCJ on someone is to support their claim against you with details of the alleged debt, and a set of statements should do exactly that.

[Wilko74]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

I'm going to go back up to my local branch and ask for the statements again as for whatever reason, it's taking far too long for the solicitors to obtain them. Do you think there is anyway of clearing my name?

[Snoopy1948]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

By clearing your name, I assume that you mean having your wife take all of the responsibility of this NatWest debt? Are you in any form of communication with her? Has she given any explanation on this? I'm not being defeatist but unless you can prove your wife was party to some sort of fraud here, I cannot see what you can do except appeal the apportionment of the divorce settlement via your solicitor. However I am reading between the lines that this was a deliberate act by your wife to maximise her income from this. It's hard to decide on any strategy until you see all accounts, where monies went and most important where and how the debt accrued and what irresponsibilities led to that. If there a substantial amount of charges I.e. Unpaid items, overdraft charges and interest applied, there may be room for an appeal. So getting hold of a full set of accounts is vital.

[charitynjw]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Hi All,
Desperately need some expert advice please.
I'm currently going through a divorce and have only recently discovered there is a CCJ against my name when I went to set up a new bank account. The CCJ was issued in 2011 by Natwest for a current account deficit of over £6000! It turns out it was a bank account set up by my ex that I knew nothing about and she has somehow racked up this huge amount of debt behind my back. Ive been into Natwest to try and find out more details and I got shown the application form with my signature but all contact details are my ex's, so she has very deviously got me to sign this application without me fully realising what it was (you kind of trust your wife!). The debt will get paid off with the equity of the house sale but I just want to know have I got a case against my ex and can I clear my name if I can somehow prove I had nothing to do with racking up this debt.
Sorry for the long rant but any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Wilko74

IMHO

It would appear that you are claiming 'non est factum'

A very hard one to substantiate.

[Wilko74]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Thanks for the replies.
Only communication we have is for arrangements on my son as she flatly refuses to talk about the debts. She has racked up this debt on her own behind my back, and still to this day won't talk about it. She has committed a fraudulent act without doubt but proving it is the tricky part. Even when I get the statements that show the details and even if I can prove every transaction was her own doing, do I stand a chance of clearing my name and hopefully get my credit rating back up? Ideally I want her to payback all the debt but she has agreed to a 50/50 split which works in my favour even with the debts (I was originally told its 60/40 due to her being the mother of my child).

[charitynjw]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Thanks for the replies.
Only communication we have is for arrangements on my son as she flatly refuses to talk about the debts. She has racked up this debt on her own behind my back, and still to this day won't talk about it. She has committed a fraudulent act without doubt but proving it is the tricky part. Even when I get the statements that show the details and even if I can prove every transaction was her own doing, do I stand a chance of clearing my name and hopefully get my credit rating back up? Ideally I want her to payback all the debt but she has agreed to a 50/50 split which works in my favour even with the debts (I was originally told its 60/40 due to her being the mother of my child).

IMHO

You wouldn't have to prove it, the police would.
This is a criminal offence, (possibly s1 Theft Act 1968; if so, triable either way, poss 7 years imprisonment if on indictment, 6 months &/or a fine summarily).

[wales01man]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Police or fight this another way seems few choices here if its proven that its your signature hard to believe its fraud by another person

[charitynjw]

Re: CCJ against my name I know nothing about

Hi All,
Desperately need some expert advice please.
I'm currently going through a divorce and have only recently discovered there is a CCJ against my name when I went to set up a new bank account. The CCJ was issued in 2011 by Natwest for a current account deficit of over £6000! It turns out it was a bank account set up by my ex that I knew nothing about and she has somehow racked up this huge amount of debt behind my back. Ive been into Natwest to try and find out more details and I got shown the application form with my signature but all contact details are my ex's, so she has very deviously got me to sign this application without me fully realising what it was (you kind of trust your wife!). The debt will get paid off with the equity of the house sale but I just want to know have I got a case against my ex and can I clear my name if I can somehow prove I had nothing to do with racking up this debt.
Sorry for the long rant but any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Wilko74

IMHO

Your starting point from a civil action POV would be L'Estrange v F. Graucob Ltd (1942)