Unknown CCJ -DHL £177 'customs fees' **SET ASIDE**

[jaisunny]

i received my first CCJ which was a shock horror!,

i found out by looking at my credit report today.

 

It seems i owe DHL international £177 which had a judgement date of 17/07/2013.

 

The name on the CCJ on my credit report has a misspelt surname

ie... Mines for example 'CANES' and

they have spelt it 'CRANES'.

 

firstly is this a technicality to be able to apply for this CCJ to be removed?

 

i have no accounts with any courier companies

therefore i have not signed any agreements or anything like that.

 

I have used courier companies and

i have had to pay customs fees for some parcels in the past which have always been paid as they do not release the parcel till i pay the fee.

 

However the fee of £177 was never asked for by DHL via letters or phone calls.

 

I have no idea where the £177 figure came from

and no recollection of ever being in debt DHL

or anybody for that matter for this sum or any sum.

 

It seems as im registered at the address of where the 'incident' took place,

i have automatically been given a CCJ !!!!!

 

As mentioned above to sum up my findings..

 

1. The surname on the CCJ is misspelt.

 

2. I have no agreement with DHL nor accounts.

 

3. Couriers do not release packages without a customs duty (if any) being paid upfront.

i did not receive this package then why am i receiving a duty charge and a CCJ.

If i did receive the package why wasnt i made aware of a duty charge

and was was the package released without me paying for the duty charge.

 

4. If i order some goods that will incur duty charges but put the name in 'joe bloggs',

will joe bloggs get the duty charge

or will the registered person who lives at the delivery address get a CCJ?

It is not a question really but an example that somebody could of put a parcel in my name (which is misspelt).

Or i could do the same to someone else to get them a CCJ!!! it seems bizarre.

 

I really need some help and guidance on this matter,

 

The £177 is apparently for unpaid duty and/or vat invoices.

So its safe to point out that it may be a customs duty that was unpaid.

[Bazooka Boo]

http://www.trustonline.org.uk/understand-judgments-fines/set-aside-a-judgment/

 

Get it set aside, and place a notice of correction on your credit file against the ccj.

[jaisunny]

I saw that, but it seems you are charged a fee of £80 for this, almost half the amount of the original fee DHL want.

[Bazooka Boo]

Set it aside, then pursue DHL for the fee via the small claims track.

 

OR, get in touch with the credit ref agency and tell them that the info they are reporting is incorrect, they will

in turn go to DHL ask them what the craic is and whether or not the info is correct, it may well have been placed in

"error", (Again!)

[jaisunny]

Thanks,

 

 

Does anyone know the following:

 

- Do i supply the £80 fee with the N244 form or wait for the hearing to pay?

- Where exactly do i send and address to whom the N244 form? Originally the court order was from northampton county court.

 

Thank you

[ploddertom]

You have to pay when you submit the application. It goes to the Court where the CCJ was awarded. If on certain Benefits or low wage you may be able to have the fee waived - see Form Ex160a & 160c for details. All forms available from HMCTS website.

[jaisunny]

thank you plodder.

One last thing,

i have been frantically sieving through all my bank accounts to find out if i made payments in 01.2011 for when they suggest i did not pay a custom fee.

My current bank account only goes as far back as 07.2011 as thats when i took it out,

the bank before that was closed down around that time so

i dont have access to statements.

I have searched through all my old and current emails to find any emails from DHL that would indicate payments.

I cannot locate any payments made around 01.2011,

however i spoke to my wife who confirmed that we had paid the DHL driver around 10 times in total cash on the door step.

The driver did supply a reference number on pretty much from memory all occasions,

the problem i have is i dont have the reference numbers anymore.

from a legal point of view,

if i get this CCJ set aside

is it worth then carry on challenging the alleged fees?

if it goes to court i cannot prove i paid

and im guessing DHL will not show i paid anything.

Furthermore any shipping numbers to put a shipping number to the payment has now expired.

Im tempted to pay the £80 fee hoping the court let me set it aside

and then just pay DHL the £177 just simply to get the CCJ removed

(ps does it actually get removed instantly?

will lenders ever see it was ever there?).

But at the same time the principle and justice of all this is pulling me back

and saying do not pay it and fight.

from a legal point of view where do i stand in chances?.

My stupidity and trust has let me down by chucking away those reference numbers,

even if i kept them whos to say the driver did not make the reference numbers up and keep my money!!

Argh!!

[dx100uk]

send DHL an SAR

 

have you a copy of the CCJ?

 

If not contact northants and ask for it.

 

if the address on the CCJ is wrong

and you have not moved in that time

 

the service of the CCJ to the wrong address is a perfect set aside reason.

 

your in the info gathering stage

 

best get everything you can first

 

so that those knowledgeable ones can then help

 

dx

[jaisunny]

I have found the court paperwork that was sent last year.

I will apply for the set aside on the reasons that i was staying away for a number of weeks around the time the court forms were sent.

Hopefully that is enough to put it on hold for the time being,

but as i say i think im going to struggle with proving i paid the DHL driver numerous times,

but my partner also did the same so maybe she can be a witness.

[stu007]

Please remember to do as dx has suggested and send a SAR to DHL.

 

Have a look at CAGs library for SAR: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387306-Full-Subject-Access-Request

[dx100uk]

if the address was correct

just because you were away is no excuse.

 

dx

[Ganymede]

It goes to the Court where the CCJ was awarded.

 

 

 

No it doesn't, the application goes to whatever Court currently holds the file which may be the Defendant's local Court by now.

[jaisunny]

I spoke to the national debt helpline and they said saying you were on holiday is a genuine example.

There N244 form also has this example on it.

I wasnt on holiday but actually staying elsewhere due to some health issues.

Right guys, this is the latest.

I have been digging and instead of submitting a SAR as instructed above (thank you)

i decided to call DHL international and ask them verbally what they hold of me on their files.

They have said the only things they have stored on their system is the 2 unpaid duty (as per the court CCJ).

 

Now,i have asked verbally for copies of the original invoices for these amounts,

one is for £11 something on 12.2010 and

the other is for £117 on 01.2011

both import duty fees.

I have dug more and more

the £11 fee im pretty sure would of been paid to the driver or possibly unpaid i am unsure of this.

As for the £117

i have dug out all my old emails and

found that i had emailed back in 2011

HMRC asking for customs relief on this package as it was unusable samples.

HMRC replied and told me to either pay the carrier the fee they request then claim the duty back

or

complete form C285 which is what i did.

Looking at all my documents i have never received a reply back from them.

I called callcredit which is the debt collection agency who work on behalf of DHL

they say on their files they have sent 5 letters since 2011 requesting the amount to be paid.

I cannot recall any of these letters

but in case they did

i may of probably ignored it thinking HMRC will deal with it

and get the original duties waved.

All this may be pointless as i now have no proof i contacted HMRC apart from the old emails,

im guessing this is still not enough evidence to fight DHL in court.

Im tempted to simply get it put SET ASIDE and paying all the fees just to get it off my credit report and out of my life.

I want to purchase a house in the next 2 or 3 years with a mortgage

and this CCJ is too damaging for the sake of £177 + £80 set aside.

Sometimes you have to simply lose out to gain.

[Bazooka Boo]

Well the CCJ will remain on your credit file for six years paid or not unfortunately. 7And even when it's dropped off, you will need another three years good credit history I'm afraid.

[jaisunny]

I was told by national debtline that if i apply for it to be set aside then if accepted the CCJ will be completely removed from my name. I will then need to apply to all the credit report companies to get them to physically remove the CCJ.

I was told then the courts without contacting DHL will automatically resubmit the court forms and the process will start over again.

I am led to believe i can pursue it further via the courts or i can pay the amount due within 14 days or 30 days (forgot which one he said) of receiving the court papers and the whole matter will be over and done with.

No CCJ will be recorded on file.

Unless i heard the guy from national debt line incorrectly this is what im led to believe....?

[Bazooka Boo]

Yes correct.

I wasn't talking about having it set aside, I was explaining, that once you have a CCJ on your file, unless you apply for it to be set aside, OR pay the amount in full within 30 days, then the default/ccj marker will remain on your file for 6 years whether you pay it or not.

[jaisunny]

My misunderstanding sorry. You are also correct.

What exactly happens at a hearing?

do i have to physically attend to get it set aside?

presume you have to, but do you have to explain or hand over information at this hearing?

or is it simply a case of being present and letting the judge read out your reasons for getting it set aside?

[mjt2013]

You will have to attend a hearing unless the other side agree to your application. You will need to argue your case, applying the facts to the relevant law, in order to convince the judge to set the judgment aside. The case will probably be heard in the judge's chamber, which is basically a small office rather than a formal courtroom, and most judges are well versed in helping people without lawyers to explain their case.

[Mike_hawk]

I believe you used the wrong from for drawback/remission....... DHL would have no knowledge of short form issue and would have suffered a loss by way of it's deferment. The long form should have been completed by DHL on your behalf with remission effective upon its account.

 

The problem with contacting HMR&C in the first instance is that it will provide you with a copy of the rule/guidance and leave it to your interpretation. You don't have a deferment account, ergo there was no means for you to drawback the duty element as 'you' hadn't accounted for or paid it.

 

Have you tried contacting DHL to see if it will agree set aside on the basis that it was a genuine mistake and you would settle the quantum of its claim. It's a tiny sum in the big scheme of things and I assume the damage the judgment is doing to your credit rating has far greater importance to you than the £177.00?

[jaisunny]

Correct, £177 is absolute pennies in this day and age and of course for the sake of this i could and would rather not accept a CCJ even if i was innocent without evidence its best to pay it off.

 

I have no idea you could contact DHL and ask them if they would allow me to get it set aside. Do i have to write to anyone in particular? when i called them today they did say i could not pay them the debt owed and i had to pay control account.

Do i still ask DHL for permission of the set aside? or simply ask control account who is now in control of the debt? If i get in writing from either that they would accept me getting it set aside, in form N244 would i still need to given proof or evidence as to why i may have a defence? or simply just attach (if i got one) the letter from DHL/control account stating they would accept me to set it aside?

 

Thanks

[Mike_hawk]

Service details for its legal dept or counsel would be on the original claim form, do you still have a copy as it would contain contact details?

[jaisunny]

Yes i do have the paperwork still and i can see the contact details, fantastic. Appreciate your help. I will submit a nice letter explaining a few points and ask them if they would send an acceptance letter for the order to be set aside.

Do you think i should send payment to them? or they will request it?

When submitted N244 form do i simply include this letter of acceptance from DHL(if i get it) or do i still give evidence in section 10 of the n244 form?

[Mike_hawk]

Don't get your hopes up, it is under no obligation to do anything as it holds the judgment.. I think you may have to be fairly contrite in any correspondence with it and satisfy the point that the claim has only just come to your notice. One of you will have to agree to file and pay the fee (£45.00) for any consent to be sealed and I can't imagine it will want to given the value.

 

You can but test the water........on the face of it I can't see that you have a case so you are really relying on it to act reasonably, probably sensible to head any correspondence 'without prejudice save as to costs'

[jaisunny]

Understand, may i ask what the £45 fee is for that you mention? I will of course all but try at least as a last ditch attempt.

[Mike_hawk]

Consent is treated as a part 23 application but can be decided [rubber stamped] without notice and on the papers alone, page 6 fee 2.7 is the effective one

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/1410/pdfs/uksi_20131410_en.pdf