Hello! I hope you can help - suddenly CCJ.

[Soliloquy]

Good evening! Just popping by to ... uh ... actually I'm a bit worried and tired and need a little help. But reading your forum, you seem like very awesome peoples, so hello to you all!

I could use a little advice. I've recently had a stern letter through from Drydens Fairfax claiming that I owe some money (a couple of thousand) and that a CCJ was taken out against me over 20 months ago - and that I need to pay up or enforcement action will be taken.

I left the country for a few years some years ago (October 2011) and - well, it was a bit of a haphazard move. Some things got left in my absence. This account was one of those things that we just didn't really think about, and it grew big and scary in our absence.

Anyway, long story short I came back to the country in the beginning of 2017, and set about trying to fix everything and get back on track. To this end I registered with ClearScore and Equifax with a mind to rebuild my history and keep a track of what's going on.

So I'm a little surprised to discover that I've got a 20 month old bouncing baby CCJ! They gave a reference number (In the format X0XX00XX) but didn't say which court. But they are now threatening further action.

I was fully CRB/DBS/credit checked at the start of my latest employment here (Jan 2018) and it was clear. None of my credit reports have record of this, and I've performed three searches against my prior UK addresses (the one before I left, the one when I first returned and my current one) on TrustOnline and they're all totally clear on all registers.

So I'm at a bit of a loss; I'm being threatened with action on what I believe would be a statue barred debt (not if it was CCJ'd at the end of 2017, but this doesn't seem to be) within fourteen days, and they say they can send bailiffs over and garnish wages and so on, but I don't appear to have any record at all of this CCJ - and both are very comprehensive regarding my address history.

How should I proceed with this? I'm just trying to get my head back above water and clear things up to rebuild life over here, but can this keep cropping up for the next five years now? I haven't sent any acknowledgement as of yet (and haven't even been in touch with what I believe the account should be since 2011). Should I send a letter saying I don't acknowledge it and move on?

Any tips would be gratefully received; thank you!

Have a good evening, folks.

[Soliloquy]

Just a quick update - after checking both Equifax (blank) and Experian (also blank) and doing a search on my UK addresses at trustonline (blank) I phoned the court to see if I could get some information under the claim number. It DOES exist, but she wouldn't give me any information without the correct address, which I couldn't supply as I didn't know it (and it isn't any of the addresses I've lived at in the UK in the last ten years).

I've emailed with lots of personal info so as to find out more, but I honestly have no idea of what's going on, other than it was filed in Nov 2017, and - something happened? Is it stayed? Can that happen? ... And that I've never been contacted regarding it, or seen anything on my reports about it.

Given that the solicitor hasn't sent anything from the court other than a series of threats and a claim number, how should I proceed? Would my request for information be ignored given that this has already gone through a track? I could try and find out the credit agreement, but would that help at this point?

Should this be set aside? The amount isn't trivial and given I've enrolled on the electoral roll at both my prior addresses I've made no attempt to hide.

Just a clue as to which direction to take would be helpful, I guess!

Anyway, enjoy your day. Thanks!

[R0b]

I would suggest you go back to the court and try again. Insist that you are a party to proceedings and the fact that you can't remember the address on which it was served is not relevant (since anyone can make a request for copy documents).

You should tell the person that under Rule 5.4B of the Civil Procedure Rules, a person who is party to proceedings is entitled to request a copy of certain documents listed in paragraph 4.2A of Practice Direction 5A.

In that list, you are entitled to seek a copy of:

(c) a claim form or other statement of case together with any documents filed with or attached to or intended by the claimant to be served with such claim form;

(j) a judgment or order given or made in public (whether made at a hearing or without a hearing);

The cost of providing copies of documents are set out in the EX50 document (Civil and Family Court Fees March 2019) which is £10 for up to 10 pages, 50p per page after that and £10 for copies sent by disk or electronic form.

Find out what they hold but as a minimum, you want a copy of the two points I mentioned above which should likely be the Claim Form and the order for Judgment in Default.

If that all fails, offer up a copy of your driving licence to verify who you are and if that still fails, make a formal complaint becuase they are not following the rules and it is causing unnecessary delays, particularly when you have limited time to make an application to set aside the judgment.

Persistance is key, some of those contact centre people don't have a clue.

At the same time, you should write to Drydens (or in the first instance call them then follow up by email) and ask for a copy of the Claim form and order for Judgment in Default to be sent to you, preferably by email. If they refuse, then you can mention that they are deliberately and unreasonably withholding information about a claim for which you believe there are grounds for setting aside. Unless they provide copies, you will refer their conduct to the court upon making an application to set aside and to consider where it is appropriate for the court to make a wasted costs order against them for unreasonable behaviour/conduct.

Once you have the documents, you could post a copy on here with personal info redacted and then we can assist you from there.

In the meantime, you might want to read my guide on setting aside a default judgment (see signature below).

[Soliloquy]

Thank you so much for your reply! I'll get on this and get back to you when I hear something.