SCANDAL - Setting aside CCJs

[ScabHunter]

In recent weeks I have been seeing ever more examples of an injustice which shames our nation and its legal framework.

 

This is the scandal of debt collectors getting judgment in default simply by sending papers to the wrong address.

 

Of course, if our legal system was to have any pretensions to serve justice, then court papers would have to be served properly. Instead, a court system designed for expediency, and to serve the God of money and those who control it, brings an element of treachery to a process already inherently biased against the regular citizen.

 

The level playing field which the system pretends to provide is a million miles from the truth. Consider first that the organization preparing the claim can prepare at their leisure, whilst the panic stricken defendant has to operate within strict time limits.

 

Most significant of all is the total lack of consequence that each individual case has for the institutional claimant. For them, it is a "numbers game". It really doesn't matter which cases result in "wins", and which in "losses", so long as there is an overall profit at the end of it. Everyone will still go home to the same house, sleep in the same bed, and crawl back in to work the next day as if nothing had happened.

 

The reality for the regular citizen defendant could not be more different. The fruits of a lifetime of hard labour can be at stake on one verdict for which he will only have a very limited time to prepare a case. The entire direction of the rest of his life will hinge on the result of this. The result will either be "one", or "zero". No aggregates or averages for the average citizen.

 

Then you have to factor in experience as well. Institutions used to combat in a court room can only become more skilled as a result of practice. The defendant, frozen with fear like a rabbit in the headlights, will usually have no experience of any kind to call on, and will as an inevitable consequence make mistakes.

 

The dream world of the level playing field exists, like so many utopian dreams of our modern world, only in the propaganda of those who advocate this system.

 

Surely this is a bad enough situation as it is, without an ill-designed flaw in the system allowing for cases to be railroaded through to success, which have little if any chance in a fair court hearing, simply by the treacherous and dishonest step of deliberately making sure the defendant is never able to present a case.

 

It is, at least in theory, possible to get such judgments set aside.

 

The first problem again illustrates the inherent unfairness of the current system. The would-have-been defendant now has to raise the sum of £75 to even have a chance of getting the judgment set aside. For an institution, this would have been easy. For the individual, it will probably involve considerable hardship, if it is even possible. Defendants in court claims relaing to consumer debt are usually in a position where they have other creditors to pay, and the amounts of money paid to those creditors is supposed to leave enough for the debtor to live on. Not enough for the debtor to be able to live on, and produce £75 payments at the drop of a hat because of glaring defects in the legal system.

 

Even if that considerable hurdle can be overcome, there is another even greater one to follow. The burden of proof has now reversed, and the would-have-been defendant now has the task of convincing the court that he would have had a valid defence. This without having any time to prepare a case, or any ability to demand crucial information under the Civil Procedure Rules.

 

Money matters, human beings don't. That is the creed of our political "leaders", and, as a consequence, of their legal system.

 

I dedicate this thread to those innocent victims of this immoral and treacherous sharp practice. I welcome any contributions, and especially contributions from people who have managed to fight against this injustice and win, in the hope that their example may help smooth the path for the many following behind.

 

I welcome also contributions from those who fought this injustice and did not win. Their contribution is no less important in developing a balanced overview of an extremely unfair situation.

 

Of course, there are also those who have suffered judgment in default for other reasons. Sometimes reasons of their own making, such as simply failing to respond to the claim in time. Their experience in trying to get judgment set aside is no less important in building up a database of information which can be useful to future litigants.

 

In reading through the many threads in the main Debt Collection Industry forum, I notice information about getting CCJs set aside is so often asked for, and so rarely given. There seems to be a distinct lack of knowledge and experience which people in this situation can draw on, and I am hoping that this thread will help to change that.

 

All contributions will be gratefully received.

 

SH

[creditcardmug]

Hi SH, Ive just been reading olms thread( the OP PMd me), its a diabolical outrage, the sort of thing that Carters do, but know seems to be catching on with others,

 

They need to get it set aside ASAP, Having all the grounds in the world to do so.

 

I agree the Op needs either to start a thread in legal, or a mod needs to move it, and then get the ball rolling:mad:

[FormerMortgageBroker]

Hi, all. What you mention has/is currently taking up a large part of my family life. Several months ago I received a court order basically asking for an attachment of earnings. The courts had granted Drydens/Halifax a £54k CCJ due to a property that was repossessed 12 years ago. This was done nearly a year ago without my knowledge. I submitted an N244 and got a shot at defending the case. I was an easy defense and they didn't show up. It was set aside, an AQ was sent out and I requested docs under CPR 18, due to their counter claim to strike out my defense. Now I'm not sure what to do. The defense was based around the limitations act, the figure owing being wrong> Because the debt had been passed from company to company they didn't stop adding interest after the first 6 years. The docs received from drydens have no mention of any figures re original purchase, sale or interest. They did manage to include waffle about the transfer from leeds permanent to halifax. There is a land reg doc and a terms and conditions doc. Don't know what to do next but thats another issue.

 

Secondly Assett Link have CCJ'd me, again without my knowledge last year. They too have sent me the front part of the CCA, and a list of charges that have been typed out on what looks like excel. no other docs. This case has been very frustrating due to the threat of bailiffs seizing goods. This case went through Cardiff County Court which is not far (1 hour drive?). They made no attempt to contact me, I say this because when the case was transfered to Swansea for enforcement Swansea courts found me in no time at all (I'm not hiding by the way! I have never lived in cardiff). My first N244 was a complete disaster, being sent back on 2 occasions due to fees. The court kept asking for different information, some of which they had already received, such as child benefit proof ect. I ended up paying the whole £75. I was working away so I request a telephone hearing. Letters from the court arrived stating that the case was to be "Ex Parte". No hearing was forthcoming. And I later found out, that my defense was struck out due to my non attendance in court. I found this out from Assett link when I called them about the CPR 18 request (which was late). Since then I have been made redundant so despite the mass of paperwork re jobseekers and the myriad of different benefits, grants for retraining, sorting out training providers etc, I have sorted out another N244 but was then rejected on grounds that I didn't have correct paperwork regarding job seekers entitlement. I have now got to wait for a letter from the government to say that im on benefits, before I can submit it.

 

The original poster has a very good point. The courts are only interested in money, but the individual judges/magistrates IMHO are human enough to see the truth. We are not America, where money can almost guarantee justice. On setting aside judgments, It is achievable if you can get it into court in the first place.