I've got judgement by default - For the second time !!!**WON**

[Blossomandebony]

The title says it all, really.

 

I put in a County court claim recently, for a few thousand pounds, against a Credit card company who i won't name for now.

 

They did not defend so i put in a request for judgement by default last week. Because of a court backlog, the CCJ was only awarded a week later.

 

Now I have a bad feeling that the Cc company will defend my claim once they get the judgement, going for a set aside.

 

My quandary is:

 

Should I go for enforcement now, while the iron's hot, or leave it for 28 days, as is often advised???

 

Leaving it for a while would give them a chance to settle the claim. On the other hand, they've had this request since September and i would like it dealt with asap.

 

Any thoughts???

Edited July 27, 2008 by Blossomandebony

[saintly_1]

My opinion ....... and it is just that is to wait the 28days .......... dont inform the CC comp that you have judgment.

[Blossomandebony]

Thanks, Saintly.

 

Could you just explain why you would not tell the cc company? Is it because they will have less chance of a set aside or because they can't apply for a set aside after a certain time?

 

Cheers

[saintly_1]

Have a read of this

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bailiffs/99563-got-judgment-how-get.html

[Blossomandebony]

Decided to play the waiting game and leave it a month before enforcing judgement. They, (the cc company who cannot be named), have ignored the initial court claim form, and are now ignoring the actual judgement against them, which would have arrived in their offices just before Christmas.

 

Now, one more thought.

 

In most cases enforcement will be done by court bailiffs and a warrant of execution, but I'm having strange thoughts about going down the statutory demand route, i.e. why not demand payment and start proceedings to wind up their whole rotten business. Now, I know I couldn't feasibly bankrupt a multi - billionaire company, but think of the publicity!!!

 

Now I just need a brave solicitor and the massive SD fee . . .

[noomill060]

If you leave off for 28 days they cant apply for a set aside.

 

(ie: they have 28 days to either cough up OR apply for a set aside.)

 

Keep schtoom.

 

No point in alerting them to their predicament now, is there?

[car2403]

If you leave off for 28 days they cant apply for a set aside.

 

Where is this stated? Is it in CPR, or is there some caselaw or statute on it?

[Blossomandebony]

Noomill, Car,

 

Yeah, I've read that leaving it 28 days before enforcing makes it difficult for them to successfully apply for a set aside, and this is my plan.

 

A few threads in the HSBC forum seem to have gone for enforcement too early after the default judgement and the bank has applied for and been granted the set aside. However these cases involved Bank Charges, unlike mine, and were more or less guaranteed to be set aside because of the test case.

 

I will wait till the 28 days are up, then enforce through a WOE, (the SD was wishful thinking!). Now, if they apply for a set aside, I think their application will stand less chance, but I'm not certain that it will be actually barred through CPR. Anyhow, by that stage I will be happy to let them obtain a set aside as long as they give me the money, (they may just want to get rid of the judgement),and I will be in a very strong position by this time. Alternatively, they may just pay up when I enforce.

 

We'll soon see . . .

 

BAE

[Blossomandebony]

If you leave off for 28 days they cant apply for a set aside.

 

Hi, Noomill, or anyone who can answer this!

 

Could you just clarify where you get the above information from, as Car asked.

 

The 28 days is fast approaching and I want to make sure I understand how the system works. Cheers . . .

 

BAE

[Blossomandebony]

Update;

 

The 28 days are up!

 

I issued the Warrant of Execution yesterday. Will phone up the court bailiffs on Friday to see how they are doing . . .

 

BAE

[itsamomentintime]

ho ho the games afoot!!

[Blossomandebony]

Phoned up today and asked if any enforcing had been done yet.

 

The warrant has been sent to a county court that is nearer to the defendant's address so they can enforce it there.

 

Apparently it can take up to a month before any enforcement action is taken! The court staff also told me that the defendant could still apply for a set aside even though I waited for 28 days after getting the default judgement, before I issued the WOE. Hope they are wrong!

 

I will scour the rules on enforcing judgement to check this. I would love to know the likelihood of them successfully getting a set aside after all this time, and after ignoring both the initial claim and the default judgement. Okay, if it was a litigant in person, maybe there could be mitigating circumstances like changing address, going on holiday etc - but this is a mutinational, multi - billionaire company with thousands of staff!

 

Surely they can't be this incompetent?

 

BAE

[car2403]

Surely they can't be this incompetent?

 

Is that the Court, or the Defendant?

 

My understanding of this situation is that, as the address for service, (head office, or the likes) is usually a secure building - this means that the County Court Bailiff can't get access and they don't have a right to force access. (Well, not yet!)

 

They write to the Defendant asking for payment. If they don't pay, they write again and tell them when they intend to visit. If they don't pay, they visit at the time stated. (and don't get access) At this point it's a toss up as to whether they send the Warrant back as unexecuted, in which case they **may** charge you a fee to execute it again. This circle continues until you give up, run out of money because of Court fees, or the Defendant has the decency to acknowledge the Judgment and pay up.

[Blossomandebony]

Thanks, Chris,

 

Part of me is getting impatient and I'm thinking of phoning the litigation team at the CC company to ask them when they are going to pay up.

 

I will politely inform them of the judgement against them, recording all details of what they say, and give them the phone number of the bailiffs so they have have a chat about their 'situation.'

 

This is a company who have fobbed me off in the past, with months of "We ain't gonna pay ya," then - lo and behold - as soon as the court claim gets started, "Oh, okay, how much do you want?" (A previous claim.)

 

For this new claim, they didn't even have the decency to reply to my request for charges, instead they left it for 5 weeks, then, on about the 5th time I phoned them, said, "No, we're not gonna pay you, you've had your lot." Apparently, they don't even see fit to tell you by letter - their words, not mine.

 

Maybe they're just inundated with 1000s of claims and can't cope, poor dears. Anyway, if this does ever get sorted I will reveal the name of these scallywags, though some of you have probably guessed already.

 

BAE

[Blossomandebony]

Contacted the court bailiffs today. They told me a few interesting things - namely that they have contacted the cc company to ask for my money, and will be phoning them again in a few days if they have not responded.

 

In her experience, (yes, the bailiff was a woman!), the Warrant can be passed around from department to department several times before the right people get hold of it!

 

The bailiff, by the way, she was very helpful. She even told me of a financial company, ( bank / cc company ?) which she had gone to recently to request payment. She ended up standing in the reception of this company, telling them that the 'van was on its way' - funnily enough, this made them produce a cheque in minutes!

 

Oh, yeah, and she said that there was 'plenty of stuff she could take' from the Head Office of the defendant in my case! I should have asked her if she had done a levy but forgot.

 

So, basically, the bailiff sounded hopeful in retrieving the money and even said that sometimes the money can be transferred direct to your bank account.

 

However I won't be counting any chickens yet. I wouldn't put it past them to apply for a set aside even at this late stage . . .

 

BAE

[saintly_1]

Looking promising Blossom

[car2403]

I have O2 applying for a set aside of a Judgment by Default - claiming they didn't receive the Court Claim and were CLOSED over the Christmas/New Year period!

 

Jeez!

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/data-protection-default-issues/111666-car2403-o2-wescot-dca.html

[Blossomandebony]

Cheers, Car & Saintly,

 

Whatever happens, it's been fun!

 

As I said, I'm not building my hopes up, yet. On the one hand, the defendant has shown to be totally incompetent and ignored all communication regarding the claim - good for me; on the other, I know this claim is not as watertight as my previous claim which they paid out - the present claim contains CCI and charges past the 6 years etc . . . so if a set aside is granted, I will have to prepare my case very carefully.

 

Also, I'm itching to say who the c/c company is but because of a past creditor monitoring the site, I can't yet . . .

 

BAE

[tifo]

The title says it all, really.

 

I put in a County court claim recently, for a few thousand pounds, against a Credit card company who i won't name for now.

 

They did not defend so i put in a request for judgement by default last week. Because of a court backlog, the CCJ was only awarded a week later.

 

Now I have a bad feeling that the Cc company will defend my claim once they get the judgement, going for a set aside.

 

My quandry is:

 

Should I go for enforcement now, while the iron's hot, or leave it for 28 days, as is often advised???

 

Leaving it for a while would give them a chance to settle the claim. On the other hand, they've had this request since September and i would like it dealt with asap.

 

Any thoughts???

 

To be 100% sure, you could pass it to the High Court bailiffs and they would not take no for an answer.

 

It costs £50 to transfer the case for High Court collection and the bailiffs charges £60 to go out. If they collect a cheque they add this to the costs. If not, that's all you pay.

 

Have a look at John Marston & Co for the bailiffs and Breeze and Wyles, conveyancing, commercial employment and family Solicitors, Hertfordshire to transfer up to High Court enforcement.

[Blossomandebony]

Thanks, Tifo

 

Yes, I may consider sending this to the High Court bailiffs if the county court bailiffs have no success. I doubt it will come to that, though.

 

By now the cc company, (who I'm sueing), know about the default judgement and I think they will have to act, (surely they couldn't be that stupid!).

 

I figure they will do one of two things - 1) pay up or 2) apply for a set aside. Now, if they agree to paying up in return for me not objecting to the set aside, no problem! But if they go for a set aside and won't pay, that's when the fun will begin!

 

BAE

[rory32]

Thread moved to Legalities.

[JOSH_IOU]

good luck

[Blossomandebony]

Update -

 

Rang the bailiffs 2 days ago to see what was happening. She phoned the CC company and was told that they had applied for a set aside!!!

 

Now my plan is to contact the defendant to see if they are willing to pay out my claim in return for me not objecting to the set aside. Phoned yesterday and got passed to about 4 different departments, none of which knew what was going on.

 

I'll try again tomorrow, but I have one question: are they likely to achieve a set aside after 28 days of the default judgement being awarded? Is there any rule that governs the late application for a set aside? (Okay, more than one question!)

 

If I can find this information it may give me more leverage when it comes to the negotiations . . .

 

BAE

[noomill060]

"are they likely to achieve a set aside after 28 days of the default judgement being awarded?"

 

No.

 

"Is there any rule that governs the late application for a set aside?"

 

Yes, the defendant has 28 days to apply.

[car2403]

"are they likely to achieve a set aside after 28 days of the default judgement being awarded?"

 

No.

 

"Is there any rule that governs the late application for a set aside?"

 

Yes, the defendant has 28 days to apply.

 

Whats this based on, noomill, as I'm in this exact same position with O2 - an application hearing has been set to hear the Judgment set aside request, so I REALLY need to understand the precedant for saying they can't request this after 28 days. (6 weeks in my case)