Hi all,

It would be literally life changing if you can help with this one!

Last year I checked my credit file and found I had a CCJ.

The claimant was the managing agents for a flat I owned,

the amount £1314 and it was registered in November 2012.

Being a bit worried about the word CCJ

I paid it immediately (Dec '14)

and then set about investigating it.

It turned out that despite notifying them of a change in correspondence address (I moved out and tenant moved in),

they had been writing to the flat to notify me that my standing order for ground rent wasn't set up properly (I think after changing bank accounts).

The tenant, I'm sure thinking he was being helpful, kept my post safe for me until he moved out!!

The pile was nearly 1m high when I eventually reclaimed it!

After a bit of internet investigation I figured I had grounds to have the Judgement Set Aside by Consent

- I spoke to the claimant and they agreed to have it set aside

they got their solicitors to issue a "Consent Order".

I sent this with the correct forms and my own explanation of events to the courts along with £50.

After 10 days or so I received a letter back from the courts telling me that my application had been rejected as the judge felt my application amounted to "credit repair".

It went on to say that the judgement was paid and would be marked satisfied on my credit file. Fair enough I thought...

That was until I recently applied for a mortgage and the underwriter informed me that I was "out of policy" until the debt had been cleared for at least 3 years.

You can imagine how frustrated I am now with hindsight that the judge had felt it necessary to reject my application.

Why would ANYONE want a judgement set aside if it wasn't to repair or reset their credit?!

Surely he should of considered the facts rather than base his decision on opinion?!

I paid a debt as soon as I found out about it and I've ended up with a 3 year sentence

- you'd get as much for aggravated assault!

I've spoken to the court again and despite it being longer than 7 days,

I can apparently fill in a different form and send another £50 to appeal the judgement.

My question,

albeit a little long-winded, is:

what chance have I got of winning an appeal?

I don't want to throw another £50 at this and end up with the same result

BUT if I knew I could get it set aside,

I'd happily pay a hell of a lot more!

If someone thinks they might be able to help,

I'd happily pass on any documentation I have.

Thanks.

In hindsight and a better chance of having the consent order approved would have been to engage a solicitor to send it for you. The court can deal with consent orders as an admin process without involving a judge but that's only if both parties have legal rep. If one party is a LiP then the consent order has to go to a judge for approval and looks like you were unlucky to catch one having a bad day.

Thanks for the reply - do you think that would help with the appeal? What should I do next?

Consent orders are legal docs which have to be completed properly and in the correct wording & legal format so it's hard to say without knowing what the consent & schedual contained. You say you enclosed with the consent order your own explanation of events but I don't think that's allowed as everything has to be done and worded properly within a consent order and schedual signed & dated by both parties.

Again - thanks for taking the time to reply. I'd be happy to attach the consent order that was put together by the claimant's solicitors but all it really contained was the case number, the claimant details, the defendant details (i.e. me) and said:

"By CONSENT it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. The judgement of 25th November 2012, having been paid in full on 5th December 2014, be set aside

2. No order as to costs.

Signed....."

You say it's not really allowed to add my own explanation of events but the N244 (the form requesting the CCJ to be set aside) asks for it so I thought it would add weight to my case. The consent order doesn't say anything about the reasons for the judgement being set aside.

Anyway, I can't really go back and change anything, I was really just hoping to get some advice around what to do next...

You mentioned that if I had a solicitor complete the N244 on my behalf, the case would have been settled by administration - surely this is some sort of grounds to lodge an appeal?!

Thread moved to the appropriate forum.

Regards

Andy

What information did you give the judge - did you include a witness statement explaining that you did not receive the claim?

On the face of it I can understand the judges decision as it does read as though you're just trying to get the ccj removed to improve credit rating.

If the claimant was willing to help by consenting the set-aside I think a better worded consent would have helped.

As an example something along the lines of the claimant admitting to sending invoices & the claim form to the wrong address even though they did have your correct address therefore obtained default judgment in error as you were unaware of any debt or claim.

Once you were aware of the debt you settled straight away and would have done at the time of invoice if the claimant had used the correct address.

If the claimant is on side and willing to support then I think agreeing the consent order worded to show you do have grounds to set-side judgment would have helped.

I'm not sure of the appeals procedure but if you could get the claimant to support any appeal admitting their wrongdoing in using the wrong address I suppose could help.

You can't set aside a judgment after you have paid it. Unfortunately the Judge is correct.

You can have a judgment set aside after payment and I have dealt with hundreds of applications of this sort that are made once the judgment has been settled even years later and which we deal with by Consent Order as is in your case (no point objecting when there is no balance left as it costs money attending court)

In that time I have only known of one that was rejected by the judge as he too saw it as a credit cleansing exercise but all other times they are approved without question even though most of them are for the same reason.

You have caught a judge on a bad day and as suggested the wording of the order did not aid you as when we do these there is no mention as to why the judgment is to be set aside just that it should be and that we agree.

Not sure about appeals but there may be a time limit after the Order from the court that an appeal should be made within.

sorry for lack of response - I've been away from a computer.

Steampowered - yes indeed I did. It read:

"1. The claimant was informed that the defendant was moving on 5th November 2011 from xxx to xxx and that any correspondence should be sent to the new address.

2. The claimant and those acting on their behalf (namely SLC Solicitors) continued to send correspondence to the previous address.

3. The tenant at xxxxx was collecting (rather than forwarding) post and had not informed the defendant of the collection.

4. The defendant did not receive any communication about any court action until after the CCJ had been issued.

5. All debts are now completely satisfied.

6. Based on the above, all parties consent to the judgment being set aside."

Panther12 - again thanks for the comments, I'm sure they will be helpful to those looking to get a judgement set aside but for me, I really need advice on how to appeal.

Ganymede - thanks for the input but you definitely CAN have a judgement set aside post-payment.

Kjun - thanks for the input. I do think the claimant's solicitors were a little daft in that regard. I provided them with a much more elaborate statement to sign but they opted for the consent order with very few words.

Can anyone recommend a firm of solicitors that might be able to help?

Unfortunately CAG cannot offer names for referrals its against our rules

mikeymack2002 - understood. Is it fair to ask what search terms I might use to find a suitable firm?

Ok, good luck.

Please let us know how you get on.

mikeymack2002 - understood. Is it fair to ask what search terms I might use to find a suitable firm?

The Law Society has a Find a Solicitor function that lets you input what area you live in and the speciality you're looking for. Then you can ring a few firms and see if you think they can help you.

HB

So yesterday I had some amazing news... My CCJ has been set aside!!

I'm just awaiting written confirmation (which should arrive tomorrow) and as soon as I receive it, I'll detail what I found out and what I did so that anyone unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation can take the advice they need.

Thank you to everyone that commented - ALL of the information was helpful towards me taking the action I did.

Well done ...great news...

Andy

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I know this thread is a bit old and sorry to resurrect it,

but I find myself in a similar situation and I've been looking all over the web for some guidance.

This is the closest to my situation.

Could you please share what more you did to get yours set aside?

Thanks very much in advance

start a new thread

no good posting here it long dead.

dx

closed to prevent additional newbie openings

dx