Warrant of Control

[Hayley33]

Hello Everyone.
Can anyone help me with this issue.
Out of the blue I received a Notice of Issue of Warrant of Control, stating a bailiff will be calling to my home.
On the warrant it states 'you have not made payment under the judgement as ordered'
Im like What judgement! I had no idea I was due at court. I was never ever notified.
The County Court I was expected to attend is in Northampton! I live in Manchester.
I understand the creditor (Lowells) has bought an outstanding mobile phone debt (believed to be mine) from 2014.
If I was approached about the debt and the debt is mine (and i haven't been a victim of identity theft again) i would have paid it to avoid any court costs.
Is there anything i can do?.I feel Cheated.
I am a NHS Nurse and i cannot afford legal advice.
Thankx
Hayley

[Amethyst]

Hi Hayley xxxxx

Okay, first thing, don't panic !

Second thing, you do need to act quickly to get this warrant suspended …. but still don't panic The letter says 14 days and to contact the judgment holder?

Firstly ring Northampton CCBC ( it's the England/Wales central court office for bulk claims submitted online ) - you will need your claim number, which should be on the warrant - and, after you've spent half hour on hold, ask the court when the judgment was, what address it was issued to, and ask if they could email you details of the claim ( tell them you've just had a warrant of control and it's the first you heard of the claim ).

Telephone 0300 123 1056

or

Telephone 01604 619 400

They might just email you details, but they might ask for £10 to send you copies by post, or tell you to contact the claimant - argue a bit, but don't stress too much.

Then what you would need to do is consider whether to apply to suspend the warrant and setaside the judgment so you can defend it (or settle it)…. or accept the judgment and apply to suspend the warrant and have the court set monthly instalments ( but that would mean it's stuck on the register and your credit file for six years ).

Have you moved house since you last had contact with the original mobile phone company ?

Was is Vodafone ? Do you recall much about the circumstances how it ended up terminating / defaulting ?

How much is the claim for?


( On the court issue, the claim would have come by post, and you'd have been able to log in to the moneyclaim online service to acknowledge and submit defence, a court hearing doesn't happen till after a few other processes have gone through, usually 5/6 months after issue of the claim.... your judgment is because you didn't respond to the claim within 14 days ( because, most likely, it went to an old address) - and the claimant requested a 'default judgment' from the court. )

[Hayley33]

Thank you very much XXX

Yes i moved 2 yrs ago so in hindsight correspondence may have gone to my old address.

The debt is with EE. Amount £170 (£350 with costs)

I think i may have got a mobile phone contract in my name for my child who defaulted.

If the debt is genuinely mine i will pay it but i don't wish to pay court costs.

Are court costs now unavoidable?

Thankx

[Amethyst]

Ahhh yes, bloody kids and phone contracts - mine dropped hers down the loo, 3 weeks after I'd replaced the one she stamped on in a night club...and goodness only knows how she uses quite so much data.... grrr

You could probably negotiate a lower settlement, but if the judgment was over 28 days ago ( does it say the date of judgment on the warrant letter?) then the CCJ will be stuck on the credit file for 6 years which could affect any future lending/mortgage etc.

You're best gathering the details of the claim and looking to set aside. If the agreement defaulted/terminated in 2013 or so, then sold to Lowell 2014, and you moved in 2016? they have had a fair while to trace you and send the claim to the right place... due diligence.... funny how they managed to find you AFTER they got a default judgment isn't it ! grrrr

Also they will need to show how the £170 amount claimed arose, so personally I'd look at a set aside by consent (ask Lowell to hold off while you get info and look to set aside etc) and then negotiate a settlement once the CCJ is off your credit file.

But contact Northampton CCBC first and post the details up.

There's some information on the set-aside application process here -> Set Aside Application