J109 help with Set aside /Judgement by default.

[j109]

I hope somebody could please help me, I am trying to get a judgement in default set aside, I stood as a guarantor for my son for his rent whilst at university, without my knowledge he got himself into arrears which resulted in me getting a judgement in default back in May, trouble is that i did not recieve any court papers of any kind or any letter even informing me of a judgement, I only found out whilst I was in the process of getting my property re-mortaged that I had a ccj, I have never had one before or ever had any sort of bad credit.

 

I have a n244 form to fill out but would like help in wording my applocation for my jugement to be set aside, im not very good with wording letters especially as this might be my only chance in removing this judgement.

 

any help and advice would be greatly apreciated.

 

many thanks

Jai

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Bump

[legalpickle]

PM me and I'll give you my e-mail address to try and help you tomorrow. Going to bed now.

[j109]

sorry I don't know how to pm cant see how to...sorry :?

 

but here is my first draft pls feel free to tell me my mistakes or how i can improve this letter... thanks

 

Jai

 

Dear Judge

 

I wish to apply for my judgement in default to be set aside.

 

The reasons being that I did not receive the summons or any court forms of any kind, however my son who also is a defendant as I stood guarantor for him for his rent whilst at university, received his claim forms which I only found out about after I inquired about this judgement, as he does not live with me, he lived at the address where the arrears were occurred. When my son received the documents he did not inform me as he thought it would not have affected me.

 

Also when the judgement was made against me I was not informed, I only found out about the judgement whilst I was on the process of getting my house remortgaged and everything was fine until they discovered I had a CCJ which I did not even now about, they told us to get in touch with our credit reference agencies, and hence I found out it was from Northampton county court. I called MCOL on 31st July and spoke to a customer service advisor who informed me of my judgement in default, I asked why I had not received any letter informing me of a CCJ against me and I asked what sum it was for he said he would send out a copy which I received a couple of days later, I also wish to add that if I had known about this judgement being issued to me, I would have certainly have paid. I also understand I would have received one full month in which to have paid the full balance and I would have been able to cancel this judgement. The amount that was still outstanding was £66.16 out of £681.16 which has all been paid and the claimant has acknowledged the payment and I have attached a balance sheet of my son’s rent and also a copy of the receipt of the monies paid on the 31st July same day I found out about the Judgement.

 

The only claim form I have received from the courts was one issued on the 25th July 2008, which was claim number ******** which was sent to me and my son which I received on the 30th July which I went and paid directly on the 31st July 2008. This claim included the remainder from the previous claim that I had received a judgement for which has now all been paid.

 

Dear Judge please take into consideration that I have never received any defaults or arrears or any kind of bad credit in my time. I would have certainly have paid if I had been made aware of these court proceedings as I was only the guarantor. I feel like this has been an unfair case as I was not given a chance to defend my case or a chance to pay after the judgement was issued.

 

 

Yours sincerely

[legalpickle]

sorry I don't know how to pm cant see how to...sorry :?

 

but here is my first draft pls feel free to tell me my mistakes or how i can improve this letter... thanks

 

Jai

 

Dear Judge

 

I wish to apply for my judgement in default to be set aside.

 

The reasons being that I did not receive the summons or any court forms of any kind, however my son who also is a defendant as I stood guarantor for him for his rent whilst at university, received his claim forms which I only found out about after I inquired about this judgement, as he does not live with me, he lived at the address where the arrears were occurred. When my son received the documents he did not inform me as he thought it would not have affected me.

 

Also when the judgement was made against me I was not informed, I only found out about the judgement whilst I was on the process of getting my house remortgaged and everything was fine until they discovered I had a CCJ which I did not even now about, they told us to get in touch with our credit reference agencies, and hence I found out it was from Northampton county court. I called MCOL on 31st July and spoke to a customer service advisor who informed me of my judgement in default, I asked why I had not received any letter informing me of a CCJ against me and I asked what sum it was for he said he would send out a copy which I received a couple of days later, I also wish to add that if I had known about this judgement being issued to me, I would have certainly have paid. I also understand I would have received one full month in which to have paid the full balance and I would have been able to cancel this judgement. The amount that was still outstanding was £66.16 out of £681.16 which has all been paid and the claimant has acknowledged the payment and I have attached a balance sheet of my son’s rent and also a copy of the receipt of the monies paid on the 31st July same day I found out about the Judgement.

 

The only claim form I have received from the courts was one issued on the 25th July 2008, which was claim number ******** which was sent to me and my son which I received on the 30th July which I went and paid directly on the 31st July 2008. This claim included the remainder from the previous claim that I had received a judgement for which has now all been paid.

 

Dear Judge please take into consideration that I have never received any defaults or arrears or any kind of bad credit in my time. I would have certainly have paid if I had been made aware of these court proceedings as I was only the guarantor. I feel like this has been an unfair case as I was not given a chance to defend my case or a chance to pay after the judgement was issued.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

No, no, no. This would almost certainly - in my opinion - fail. Over the forum is too annoying to deal with something like this. I can't read it properly.

 

Here's how to PM me: In the top right hand corner [below the headers], click 'Private Messages'. In what opens up, click 'Compose Message' on the left hand side. Then fill it in - recipient username is 'legalpickle'. Give me your e-mail address and I'll e-mail you.

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Hi Legalpickle

Whilst I applaud your offer to give advice by e-mail, am I correct in saying it is not recommended, as mistakes can be made, however on the forum these can be corrected.

For myself I have to say I am no expert, however it has been by reading threads, and their accompanying posts that I have gained some knowledge.

If everyone corresponded by e-mail, then we would never learn by our mistakes.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[legalpickle]

Point made, Andy: So Jai, if you want I'll refine it with you by e-mail and then you can post it back here to see if anybody has anything to add. Happy, Andy?

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Thanks we all get to learn from reading final document.

andy

[pt2537]

Hi there

 

Firstly, Advice via PM is frowned upon by the site team, there is no need for this kind of thing to be done in private

 

Regards

 

Paul

[pt2537]

Point made, Andy: So Jai, if you want I'll refine it with you by e-mail and then you can post it back here to see if anybody has anything to add. Happy, Andy?

 

why not post on the forum in the first place?

[legalpickle]

No problem. If you don't want me to give advice by e-mail, then give it publicly yourself. I am only trying to help. It is confusing going between posts and therefore easier for me to do it by e-mail.

I have no problem with it being proofed by others as I'm only trying to help, not cause problems.

The point is not to not let other people see the work, or hide anything, but make life easier for everybody, because following 20 posts back and forth gets very confusing. For all those that have problems with it, help Jai yourselves rather than criticizing.

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Come on legal there's no problem with constructive criticisms, I not even sure that the site team have criticised you, just pointed out a couple of things.

Why get worked up?

[j109]

Hello everyone,

 

I would just like to say thanks to everone who has replied and read my post...

 

Just wondered if anyone else had any pointers or tips that could help me change my letter and hopefully suceed in getting this ccj removed, I only have three weeks left with Halifax to remortage my house, they have said they will go ahead if I can get it set aside, any help will be greatly apreciated, many thanks

 

Jai

[legalpickle]

Your letter is problematic because you need to do it in the usual application process using the new n244 from the court service website The requested resource (/HMCSCourtFinder/tiles/Her Majesty's Courts Service -Forms and Guidance) is not available

 

It wil take a lot longer than 3 weeks to deal with it. You'd need to send it to the court with a cheque for £75 and they will take a few weeks to process it. It will then get transferred to your local court who will allocate a hearing. Though the hearing will be allocated quicker than normal hearings it will still take at least another month or two till then. And the CCJ won't be removed till after the first hearing.

 

All applications to set aside judgment must be done with a hearing, so there's no way around it.

 

You're looking at between 6 & 12 weeks till it's removed - more if the court is extremely busy.

 

Others may be able to help with the wording. I've been told off for offering to give advice by e-mail so if people have troubles with that they can give advice themselves. I'm not going back and forth between posts, sorry.

 

Also, don't word letters 'Dear Judge', it's 'Dear Sir'. Unless you're going to the High Court - which this won't be - you will need to address the District or Deputy District Judge as 'Sir' or 'Madam', but when writing letters - unless you know the claim is being allocated to a female District or Deputy District Judge - you write 'Dear Sir'.

[j109]

Thanks LegalPickle,

 

I have got the N244 form but I thought sending a letter also would have helped, but I wont do it if its not appropiate, please can you help me with two questions...

1. I should just state what I am requesting in part 3. i.e having judgement set aside and then the reason why.

 

2.Not recieving notification of judgement or any courts documents telling me about proceedings?....

 

Sorry if i sound silly but what do i tick in part 10. and what should i explain.

 

If its going to take more then three weeks It does not matter, ill just have to go through it again as I can't do anything until I sort this CCJ out.

 

I have the cheque ready also, do I need to send in the reciepts also with the balance sheet of the account to prove its all been paid?

 

Many thanks for your help....

 

Jai

[legalpickle]

Thanks LegalPickle,

 

I have got the N244 form but I thought sending a letter also would have helped, but I wont do it if its not appropiate, please can you help me with two questions...

1. I should just state what I am requesting in part 3. i.e having judgement set aside and then the reason why.

 

2.Not recieving notification of judgement or any courts documents telling me about proceedings?....

 

Sorry if i sound silly but what do i tick in part 10. and what should i explain.

 

If its going to take more then three weeks It does not matter, ill just have to go through it again as I can't do anything until I sort this CCJ out.

 

I have the cheque ready also, do I need to send in the reciepts also with the balance sheet of the account to prove its all been paid?

 

Many thanks for your help....

 

Jai

 

 

I wouldn't send a letter. If you need to say more, you can continue on a separate sheet. A letter is not going to help.

 

I would send a cover letter with the whole application and cheque saying that you would appreciate if it was handled quickly, as as they can see from the application you only just found about the judgment and it is causing you problems that must be rectified as soon as physically possible and can only be done so with this application.

 

That letter should be addressed to the court and be addressed 'Dear Sir'. That is only a cover letter and bears little relevance to the application besides for trying to get the court staff to feel for you and process it quickly - because a lot of the time it takes is beauracratic, not to do with the judge and law.

 

Part 3: 'To Set Aside the Judgment as the Defendant [Applicant] did not receive the claim form or Notice of Judgment.'

 

Part 10: Tick 'the evidence set out in the box below' and fill it in.

 

You can fill the whole form in on the computer and print it, only needing to sign it. It is a lot clearer when doing this and the court appreciates clarity.

 

Be as short and succint as possible. Rambling on does you no good, neither in the hearing or the documents. The judge doesn't want to read a whole bunch of stuff that ends up being irrelevant.

 

I would write that you didn't receive any letters informing that your son had defaulted on the rent, and were not made aware of it. Had you known you would have paid prior to the claim even being issued, you therefore contend that it is only right that you should not be liable for the claimant's [respondent's] costs [including court fees] or interest, only the amount that your son defaulted on, minus your costs in making this application, as you contend that the claimant was obligated to give you the chance to pay the debt without issuing any proceedings first. It's worth a try.

 

As I wrote above, try to word it as succintly as possible. Put it through a spellchecker first - if your acrobat reader doesn't have one [mine does].

 

Note: Some applications change 'judgment' to 'judgement'. 'judgment' is the correct form, but 'judgement' has been a change that many accept. All court documents should have 'judgment' written correctly.

[j109]

Thanks once again, that is perfect I feel alot more clearer on what to do now, but I have one more question, at the heraing will the claimant be present?

 

On part 5. I should tick 'at a hearing'

and when filling in part 6. 'Is this time estimate agreed by all parties' do I tick yes or no? im sorry about this.

 

Thanks for all your pointers, I will definately take it all in to account.

 

Jai

[legalpickle]

Yes, tick 'at a hearing'.

Tick 'No' for time estimate agreed by all parties.

 

The Claimant [to be referred to as 'Respondent' during the application] should be present, though in my experience the judge does not get too annoyed if the Respondent does not show up, if they are based in a different city.

 

It depends on who the Respondent is, how much the value of the claim is and how far away they are from your court. If they had filed in London and your local court is, say, Manchester, then they are unlikely to attend though may - if the value is worth it - get a Solicitor sent.

 

I've assisted people - through a local charity, as I speak fluent Hebrew as a legal translator - in such applications and have had some where the other side did show up and others where not. Overall the only difference if they did show up was that the hearing was more contentious, with the Applicant being visibly annoyed at seeing the **** opposite or on the same table, so the hearing took a bit longer - as I got more post it notes from the Applicant than I would have usually.

 

I would recommend a time estimate of an hour. Most applications to set aside judgment - in my experience and I was at another one this morning - take about half an hour but an hour is scheduled.

 

If it's a complicated case, then it would take longer, but from what you say I would say it isn't.

 

Normally there are the following satisfactions the judge has to fulfill before he/she would set aside the judgment;

1. That there is due reason why the judgment should not have been awarded and thus should be set aside.

2. That the Applicant has reasonable prospects of success in defending the claim.

 

The former is obviously satisfied, but you need to make clear that the reason you are asking the judgment to be set aside, is not because you wish to defend the whole claim, but because you were given no notice of the claim and did not receive the claim, therefore wish to pay the amount that you would have had the chance to pay prior to the claim being issued, without any interest, court fees, costs or added judgment enforcement costs.

 

This matter needs to be made crystal clear otherwise you are likely to fail, as you will not have put any defence in.

 

You should also state - in the hearing - that if you are ordered to pay an amount to the defendant/respondent, you will pay within the month and thus not incur a judgment on your record.

[j109]

Thank you Legalpickle, you have been a great help, don't know what I would have done without your help, many thanks, im sure ill speak to you again,

 

Thanks

 

Jai

[legalpickle]

No probs. Good Luck and keep us posted.

[j109]

Hi all, I have finally filled out the N244 form can you please check it for me and see if it is correct.....hopefully I can sleep tonight...

 

 

Thanks

Jai

1.pdf

[legalpickle]

Ok, I'm going to be semantic so that it's perfect, including correcting the grammar and capitalization.

 

Part 3: To set aside the Judgment as the Applicant [Claimant] did not receive a copy of the Claim Form or Notice of Judgment. The Applicant did not receive any warning of the issuing of the proceedings that resulted in this Judgment either. The first the Applicant heard of this Judgment was in a recent credit check when he was refused credit.

 

Part 4: Yes - Make a draft order, I'll deal with that below.

 

Part 9: Defendant

 

Part 10: Misunderstanding here, this shouldn't be addressed as 'Dear Sir', only letters, I was commenting on 'Dear Judge' when I wrote that. The below fits perfectly into the section;

 

The Judgment is apparently because the Applicant's son had allegedly defaulted on his rent and the Applicant was a guarantor for that rent. No letters were received by the Applicant notifying him that his son had defaulted on his rent, and as stated above, no Claim Form or Notice of Judgment had been received by the Applicant. Had the Applicant received correspondence from the Respondent prior to their issuing the Claim that resulted in this Judgment that the Applicant is contesting, the Applicant would have certainly paid it as he does responsibly with all his other lawful bills.

I therefore contend that the only amount that the Applicant should have to pay the Respondent is the amount that would have been due prior to interest and any costs, before the Claim was issued, minus the Applicant's costs in this Application which has been necessitated due to the Respondent's negligence. The Applicant requests that this Judgment be Set Aside as it is unfair on him through the effect it has on his credit record and he was not given due notice to be able to pay the debt prior to the Claim being issued. Other than that the Applicant does not have a defence to the Claim - or as much of the Claim as the Applicant is aware of at this stage. In conclusion the Applicant requests from the court and order to pay the amount detailed above - following the calculations to be supplied by the Respondent - and that the Judgment be Set Aside and duly erased from the Applicant's credit record, so as not to cause the Applicant any further damages in the future.

Statement of Truth: Fill in your name, sign & date - you can write everything but your signature in the form.

 

Good luck & keep us posted.

[legalpickle]

Sorry forgot to deal with the Draft Order bit, which is also very important. I've attached it as a Word '97 .DOC.

draftorder.doc

[j109]

Hi legalpickle,

 

that is great, but I dont know if I forgot to mention that all the debt was paid on the 31st July, so in the draft do I take out ....

 

 

'The Applicant will pay the Respondent within 28 days thereafter the amount the Respondent claimed minus all interest, minus all costs and further deducting the sum of £75 for the Applicant's cost in making his Application. To save any mistakes from happening in future it is preferred if this can be by bank transfer or in the worst case scenario by cheque sent by special delivery or other guaranteed service.'

Do you think I will need to attach any other documents with the N244 except the draft? i.e any reciepts of payment or rent account documents?

thanks....

Jai

[legalpickle]

Hi legalpickle,

 

that is great, but I dont know if I forgot to mention that all the debt was paid on the 31st July, so in the draft do I take out ....

 

 

'The Applicant will pay the Respondent within 28 days thereafter the amount the Respondent claimed minus all interest, minus all costs and further deducting the sum of £75 for the Applicant's cost in making his Application. To save any mistakes from happening in future it is preferred if this can be by bank transfer or in the worst case scenario by cheque sent by special delivery or other guaranteed service.'

 

Do you think I will need to attach any other documents with the N244 except the draft? i.e any reciepts of payment or rent account documents?

 

thanks....

Jai

 

You did forgot to mention it and it does change everything!

 

You can't issue a claim via an Application Notice. If you've already paid it, it will be problematic to remove it.

 

You should have agreed with them that it will be removed and they could have written to the court and it would have happened with the need for an application.

 

This confuses matters quite a bit. I've got some stuff to do now, but I'll try and help you later on.

 

You're going to need to explain why you paid the judgment debt without disputing that it was there - that's generally the way to go about it.

 

Also, whilst you may recoup the cost of the Application you are unlikely to get the costs of their claim recouped, because as I've written above, you can't issue a claim arising out of the Application - to the best of my knowledge.

 

If they have refused to remove the judgment, then you are applying for the judgment to be set aside, but have to mention that they refused to have it removed or pay the cost of the Application, and therefore you have been left with no choice so as not to damage your credit record further.

 

Yes, if you've paid it, a copy of the receipt should be attached.