Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

[M Clifton]

I won a judgement by default, she paid up. I used the High Court Enforcement officers and have received a cheque for full amount.
Today I have received a letter from Veritas Legal Services:

"We are putting you on notice that an application is being made to set aside your judgment, or in the alternative a cross claim will be brought against you to extinguish your original claim and the extra costs that have subsequently been passed onto our client"

May I ask for some advice please?
Thank you.

[ploddertom]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

Did the defendant acknowledge service of the original documents, enter a defence etc? Are you sure they received notification of the Judgment? Do you know what grounds they are applying for Set Aside on? Please be aware that if Set Aside is granted then all monies paid including any fees will be refunded and the HCEO may look to you for his costs.

[M Clifton]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

Did the defendant acknowledge service of the original documents, enter a defence etc? Are you sure they received notification of the Judgment? Do you know what grounds they are applying for Set Aside on? Please be aware that if Set Aside is granted then all monies paid including any fees will be refunded and the HCEO may look to you for his costs.

Thank you for reply.

It says
"She was in hospital when proceedings were issued and she gave her accountant authority to deal with the filing of her defence and counterclaim."

" For reasons that we are still trying to establish, the court did not deal with the defence and counterclaim that was filed both electronically and in hard format on behalf of our client"

"The first our client became aware that a judgement had been entered was when a High Court Enforcement officer attended at her commercial premises"

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

There are two sides to a set aside application, one is the procedural aspect which is noted above, and in this case it sounds like there may be grounds for success given that the defendant was in hospital and a defence was filed. The other side is the prospect of a solid defence to the claim. If the defence has little prospect of success, the court would not agree to set aside the judgment because the claimant could re-issue the claim and obtain judgment anyway.

What was the defendant's defence and counter-claim?

[M Clifton]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

What was the defendant's defence and counter-claim?[/QUOTE]

Thank you for reply.

It does not say what they are, only that they exist.
Would you please tell me, if she does apply for a setaside, will I have a chance to put my side of events?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

What was the defendant's defence and counter-claim?

Thank you for reply.

It does not say what they are, only that they exist.
Would you please tell me, if she does apply for a setaside, will I have a chance to put my side of events?

Yes, you can oppose the application. You need to write to the applicant to inform them that you intend to oppose their application and give your reasons for opposing it. You need to address the arguments that form the basis of their application and confirm that you followed the correct procedure when you issued the claim and requested default judgment.

Most applications are dealt with at a hearing, where you should give your reasons and provide evidence to show the judgment should not be set aside. These include evidence that the debt existed at the time the claim was issued and that you followed procedure when dealing with the claim.

If they were unable to deal with the claim due to ill health as stated above, this will work in the defendant's favour, however, the key issue here is their defence. If there is no valid dispute of the debt itself, they court could decide that there is no point in setting aside the judgment.

[M Clifton]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

[QUOTE=FlamingParrot;498365]Yes, you can oppose the application. You need to write to the applicant to inform them that you intend to oppose their application and give your reasons for opposing it. You need to address the arguments that form the basis of their application and confirm that you followed the correct procedure when you issued the claim and requested default judgment."



Thank you for the reply, it is good of you to take the time to help.

I am afraid one answer leads to another question.

The letter I received had at the heading. "VERY URGENT" Which, to me, means nothing. I am not a fully paid up member of the Grammar Police but any letter that has that as it's heading, I do not take seriously. Sorry, I digress.

The only part of the letter that seemed pertinent was. "We are putting you on notice that an application is being made to set aside your judgement"

However, it does not ask for a response or show a time span in which one should be made.
I was under the impression, that when warning someone of any action, there should be. " If you do not respond, within a stated time limit, action will be taken" Nothing even close is stated, because of that I did not take a lot of heed about it but thought it better to ask you good people for advice. It is looking as if that was one of my better ideas.
Would you please tell me if I should reply to this letter or wait for one that officially. ( As in dates to reply etc) informs me they are applying for a set aside?
Regards. M Clifton.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

Thank you for the reply, it is good of you to take the time to help.

I am afraid one answer leads to another question.

The letter I received had at the heading. "VERY URGENT" Which, to me, means nothing. I am not a fully paid up member of the Grammar Police but any letter that has that as it's heading, I do not take seriously. Sorry, I digress.

Indeed, that heading is similar to FINAL DEMAND which is one of the DCA's favourites, in bright red lettering.

The only part of the letter that seemed pertinent was. "We are putting you on notice that an application is being made to set aside your judgement"

However, it does not ask for a response or show a time span in which one should be made.
I was under the impression, that when warning someone of any action, there should be. " If you do not respond, within a stated time limit, action will be taken" Nothing even close is stated, because of that I did not take a lot of heed about it but thought it better to ask you good people for advice. It is looking as if that was one of my better ideas.

Your idea is correct in principle, when you send someone a letter before action (for example, before issuing court proceedings), you always have to set a deadline, you can't leave it open ended because you'd never know how long you should wait for a response before taking action. However, in this case, they are not taking action against you as such. An application to set aside a judgment isn't action against the claimant. In this case you've already been to court, obtained judgment and enforced it using HCEOs. The defendant is not asking you to do anything before going forward, there's nothing for you to do. They are just informing you of their intention to apply for set aside.

Would you please tell me if I should reply to this letter or wait for one that officially. ( As in dates to reply etc) informs me they are applying for a set aside?

There is no need for anything more official to be sent to you, the official bit would be to fill in an N244, pay the fee and submit it to the court, at which point you'd hear about it. As with every dispute, it's always best to try and do as much as you can before things go to court, so it wouldn't hurt if you replied to their letter saying if such an application was made, you would be opposing it and listing your reasons. Remember a set aside application costs £155. :wof: If they see no prospect of success after reading your response, they may well change their mind and decide not to proceed with the application. If they do decide to proceed, you would have satisfied the first step of the process of opposing it. :thumb:

[M Clifton]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

Thank you for the reply, may I just clarify one point. The court will inform me when/if she applies for a set aside?
Hopefully, this will be my last call on your time and patience, excepting that is to inform you both of the outcome.
Again, thank you for your assistance and time.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

Thank you for the reply, may I just clarify one point. The court will inform me when/if she applies for a set aside?
Hopefully, this will be my last call on your time and patience, excepting that is to inform you both of the outcome.
Again, thank you for your assistance and time.

Yes, you will be notified of the application. Most set aside applications will require a hearing. :juge:

[M Clifton]

Re: Won CCJ by default but the story goes on, and on.

Once again, thank you very much.