Ex wife opened my mail and hid a CCJ from me

[Joely14]

Hi,

I’m new here but could really do with some advice!

I separated from my wife a year ago and it’s not been pretty as I’m sure many splits aren’t.
I had all my mail redirected although it seems to be quite hit and miss (although I wasn’t aware not everything was getting redirected)

During a reference process for a rental property I was asked why I hadn’t disclosed an address that a CCJ was registered to 1 month ago. I haven’t lived in that address for 6 years.

I had no knowledge of this CCJ so decided to ask my ex wife knew anything about it (maybe a joint CCJ).

Now comes the issue......

The easiest way is to transcribe the conversation we had

Me: Have you had any letters about debts etc? Because I’ve just found out I have a CCJ

Ex: “I know you have a CCJ”

Me: How?!

Ex: I opened a letter because it said bailiffs were coming because of a CCJ, so I sent it back and told them your new address

Me: how did you know the bailiffs were coming before you opened it?

Ex: well ok I didn’t, it was a brown envelope so I thought it was serious.

Me: opened any other brown envelopes?

Ex: no that’s the only one

Obviously it was slightly longer but that’s the general conversation. It’s pretty clear letters went to her house about the CCJ that she opened and that’s how she knew the bailiffs letter was coming.


So my issues are these:

1) Can I get the CCJ removed? I didn’t know about it?
2) How do I go about that? I have no details about what the CCJ was for or which court or date etc?
3)Can I take legal action against my ex? She intentionally opened and hid my mail from me to cause me to get a CCJ.

Any help would be amazing

Thanks

[R0b]

Hello

First of all, you haven't told us when you first became aware of the CCJ. Promptness is key in getting a CCJ set aside and if you are slow, don't expect the courts to help you. To answer your questions:

1. Yes you can, have a look at this link to familiarise yourself with the process.

2. Checking your credit file is your starting point, it should be listed under the public information section. If you can't glean anything from there, then you will need to check the Registry Trust website (https://search.trustonline.org.uk/Search/Person) at a cost of £6. Be sure to put in the address that the CCJ is registered against, and not your current place otherwise its unlikely something will show up. If there is a discrepancy of the old address, you could type it in as shown on your credit file.

3. It is a criminal offence under the The Postal Services Act 2000 to open someone else's mail deliberately and without reasonable excuse. Whether you would want to go down that route against your ex is entirely up to you but it's a criminal action not a civil one and th standard might be higher.