Judgement for claimant (in default)

[Bettie]

Hi
last year I had a ccj set aside and was told to put in a defence within a particular timescale and they would sent me a directions questions the following month after putting in the defence.
I put in the defence, but they claim I did not reply to the to the claim form.
So I received a judgement for claimant letter dated 22 April 2022.
I’m disputing the claim as I don’t owe the amount.
The amount is almost £1000 including interest and costs.
Claimant’s name are Lowell Portfolio I Ltd
Solicitors firm: Lowell Solicitors Ltd
Original creditor: O2
I have not contacted the claimants
sent form N9 and N9B

[des8]

Sorry, but your post seems to have been missed.

Something odd here.
You had a judgement setaside and then submitted a defence to the original claim.
This defence was not received by them so another default judgment has been issued

Where did you send your defence?
Who states you did not reply to the claim form?

[Bettie]

Hello
I emailed the defence to the court that held the hearing.
I’m assuming the court because it’s got the name of the court in the right hand corner of the letter

[Bettie]

Hello
I emailed the defence to the court that held the hearing.
I’m assuming the court because it’s got the name of the court in the top right hand corner of the letter

[des8]

CPR 5B sec4 3 places responsibility to ensure receipt of the email on the sender.

Whether or not you can apply for yet another set aside I don't know, but will tag a couple who might R0b & pt2537

[R0b]

Re Des' point about Practice Direction 5B, paragraph 4.3 I have not seen the court ask the individual to prove the email was received by the court other than confirmation of the email being sent within the timescales in accordance with the CPR i.e. for emails sent on the same day before 4pm it is deemed served on that day.

The problem is that not all court email addresses have an auto-acknowledgment when an email is sent to that court address and they don't always respond confirming receipt unless there is a problem. Your responses Bettie seem to be pretty vague and short so it's difficult to understand what has actually happened - it could be a court error or it could be an error on the claimant's part in filing for default judgment, or it could be your error.

What exactly did the court order you received say about filing the defence? Did it say that it had to be filed at the court that heard the set aside hearing or did it need to be filed at a different court such as the County Court Business Centre which initially deals with all money claims online matters? If you have misread the order and assumed the defence should be sent to the court who heard the set aside application, it would appear that you are in the wrong.

Without knowing what the order says, there is no way of telling what has happened other than you calling the court to find out.

[Bettie]

Hello
at the top right hand corner of the letter it says the name of the court.
And I also sent the defence claim via email to CCMCC, of which they sent me the exact same judgement letter. If they did not receive my defence claim why are both sending me letters? It should be from the court that held the hearing.

[Bettie]

I re sent the defence as proof I did send it and they said wait 15 days to contact them. I’ve been trying to contact the court that held the hearing, but it will take over an to get a response if at all.

[R0b]

You haven't provided the wording of the order yet so I'm afraid I can't help until you do.

[Bettie]

Hello
received a letter from Lowell solicitors issued a ccj against me dated 22/4/2022 of which the first payment is due. They say the ccj was issued against me because either I failed to respond to the county court claim within the time specified, maintain agreed payments or contact them to resolve the matter. So the court has ordered me to repay the debt.

[Bettie]

Hello
correction 22/5/2022 first payment is due

[AndrewC]

Just to say, if you pay within a month, it will be automatically removed from your credit report.
If you don't pay within a month, it will stay on your credit report for six years unless you successfully apply to have it set aside.
Even if you dispute the CCJ, it may still be better to pay it within a month. That’s because the consequences of having the CCJ on your credit record could be much more costly than the amount of the CCJ itself.
You may find this article helpful: https://howtoremoveaccj.co.uk/remove-a-ccj/

[Bettie]

I had a court hearing to defend a ccj being put aside. Successful and was told by the judge to file a defence and a deadline was given, of which I complied and sent in time. The claimant said I did not reply and re-served the ccj. I’m to file another defence within 7 days and pay the claimant’s fees. I can’t pay those fees. I also was not able to produce the emails showing that I had sent them, despite resending them to the court that held the hearing. After constantly contacting them, I finally got through and they acknowledged I sent them, but in court I could not produce hard copies. It’s like they disappeared once I re sent them. How can I prevent this from occurring again?

[R0b]

If you feel that you shouldn't pay the fees and you were right, then you need to appeal but that will come at a cost also unless you qualify for a fee remission: Get help paying court and tribunal fees - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The court order usually requires you to "file" and "serve" the defence. We refer to "file" as filing the defence with the court and "serve" is to serve on the other side i.e. send them a copy. If you only filed with the court then that could be why they are saying it was never received though if you sent by email to then it should be easy to reproduce by checking your sent folder so I'm a little confused by how they could just disappear.

Also to note, you cannot send the defence to the other side by email unless they have specifically said they will accept it by email or if they have given an email address on the claim form, then you can use that email listed. Otherwise you will normally have to send it to them by post, and always make sure you get a proof of postage receipt if not using a signature service.

[Bettie]

Thank you Rob