HCE Visit Today - unknown autoglass CCJ **Resolved**

[CTArrears]

hi Folks,

looking for some advice on what to to...possibly quite an urgent one

 

I've had a visit today from "High Court Enforcement" (HCEO?), I wasn't in and they have left a letter,

saying that I owe £2300 from an uppaid CCJ.

 

 

Here's the problem.....I didn't know I had a CCJ!

 

 

I know what the money is for, although it's more than doubled from the original ~£950 bill from Autoglass.

 

 

Ultimately my insurance should be paying this, but I suspect this may be a side issue.

 

I moved house about 6 months ago which may well be the reason why I was never informed about the CCJ, but I'm not really wanting to pay such an extortionate amount - yes, Autoglass should be paid, but the right amount.

 

What's my best course of action here? The letter is threatening to remove goods (not letting anyone in the house would seem to prevent this), but I can't lock the house forever.

 

Any help or advice?

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

Did you inform the creditor you had moved?

Did you have your mail forwarded?

Did you not respond to/receive the notice if enforcement?

You only option would be back to court for a stay and set aside(unlikely) or a variation order if the court agreed you were low income.

[ploddertom]

Can you explain a bit more how this arose?

[CTArrears]

GrumpyToSayTheLeast, ploddertom

 

The discussions I had been having with the creditor were all over email

- this has been rumbling on for about 2 years,

though I had had letters from debt collection agencies they were ignored in preference of dealing directly with Autoglass.

 

No, I did not have my mail forwarded.

I said I'd moved, but actually in the last 2 years I've moved 3 times as I've been splitting up with the ex.....which brings me onto how this arose......

 

The car she was driving was insured on a policy under my name.

The windscreen needed replacing hence she called the insurance who sent her onto Autoglass.

 

 

A good while later Autoglass are contacting me asking for payment as they don't have insurance details.

By this point, the insurance won;t pay since it's been too long since the windscreen was changed.

Autoglass say that I owe the money since the contract is with them, not my insurance.

 

 

It does beg a question as to whether or not I owe the money since I never had anything to do with the windscreen change though......

[ploddertom]

Did Autoglass not make a record of who the Ins Co were at the time of the incident? Any time it has happened with me this has been the case even to the extent of them checking themselves if I couldn't provide the proof at the time.

[CTArrears]

plodderton,

Honestly, I don't know. I never had any of the original dealings with Autoglass, and the question is not something which has come up in any of the email comms I've had with them.

[ploddertom]

Usual thing with this type of thing is that the Ins Co pick up the tab but for some reason this has not happened in your case.

 

 

The Ins Co are correct if they say it was too late in them becoming aware -

unless you can find out why then I have to be honest & say it looks as if you may have to pay this.

 

 

It may be suggested that as you knew nothing of the original case then you could apply for Set Aside,

whilst there is some truth in this you also have to have a reasonable defence as well,

 

 

I would say you would only be swapping one CCJ for another

+ you could be saddles with the costs of the day adding to what you owe.

[ploddertom]

The most important thing at present is to try & deal with the attending Enforcement Agent. There are a variety of ways to be able to do this.

 

1 - if you are able to pay in full then this brings everything to an end - possibly expensive to do.

 

2 - ask if an instalment plan can be arranged. This would probably only be allowed over a short period of time. The Agent would want to attend to take Control of your goods in case you default meaning the goods can be removed and sold at auction.

 

3 - you could try to apply for a Stay of execution which if granted halts all further enforcement action & charges. You need grounds on which to do this and unusally for me I think this would not be granted.

 

4 - you could apply for a Variation Order if your finances show you only have a little bit of disposable income left each month.

 

5 - do nothing. There is nothing that says you must allow the attending Agent into your home, however anything of value outside must be put away and the easiest target is a motor vehicle. Most Agents will call some 3 or 4 times before handing it back to your Claimant who can then take other forms of enforcement.

[Surfer01]

Wouldn't the original contract for windscreen to be replaced be between the ex and Autoglass as it is the ex that requested the work to be done and not yourself and the ex probably signed off the work?

[CTArrears]

Thought I'd give an update on this.,...

 

I applied for a stay the writ yesterday, which has been passed onto the courts.

 

Surfer01: That's my thinking, too. However for this I need Autoglass to provide the evidence, which they may not be too willing to do. I suspect that I may end up making an offer that if they provide the evidence (e.g. phone call transcript) to allow me to have the judgement set aside, then I'll make a payment to them to cover the windscreen cost, without any admission of liability.

[ploddertom]

If you have only just applied for a Stay pending a Hearing then this does not prevent the HCEO attending.

[CTArrears]

Sadly, yes.

I informed them about the application yesterday but am pretty much powerless until the case goes through court. Any ideas how long it normally takes for the case to be heard? I'm guessing it will be next week at this point......

[ploddertom]

Depend on the case load of the Court concerned, but can be 6 weeks or more or could be as short as just a few days. Did you inform them of the urgency? I assume you submitted to a County Court that also acts as District Registry of the High Court?

[CTArrears]

The application was submitted by email to a Northampton Court email address. They then confirmed, a couple of hours later, that they'd passed it to Boston County Court. That was their choice of court.....I can only assume that it should be heard there! The application did say that HCEO had already visited. While that doesn't state urgency, hopefully it will be implied. Probably should have been more clear on that on the application.

[ploddertom]

Boston does hear High Court matters but suspect they don't see that many. May have been better taking it in person but maybe to a larger Court = Peterboro perhaps. You will have to wait & see but it certainly wouldn't harm to ring them 01205 366080 or 313566, possibly give them till Monday.

[CTArrears]

THANK YOU for supplying contact details - that's above and beyond. Very much appreciated.

Edited May 15, 2015 by CTArrears

[CTArrears]

Thought I'd close this thread - matter is now resolved.

 

I applied for the stay, which was issued and received through the post about 4 days later.

 

This was followed by an application for a Set Aside (had to be made within a week, as laid out on the Stay issue)

 

The hearing for the Set Aside was set for about 3 weeks ago. During this time the Autoglass legal team / solicitors served their (flawed!!) case. On the day of the hearing, and after some quick discussion with their solicitor, agreed a deal with no admission of liability, that I pay the initial invoice amount plus some costs on the condition that they didn't object to the Set Aside being issued.

So, the money is paid and the Set Aside is issued (CCJ is completely removed, not just marked as satisfied). Autoglass have confirmed in writing that the matter is closed.

 

 

So, although I could have saved on the costs, the end solution was a 'safe' option. If the judge had decided that I had a reasonable chance at defending my case then it could just as easily gone back to a CCJ hearing that I could have lost, incurring most of the same costs again.

 

If I had successfully defended a CCJ hearing then my ex had ended up with the bill to pay then it would have used money that would have otherwise been used on the kids....money which I would end up supplying.

 

Its been an expensive few weeks, but at least my credit record is clean and clear which is worth far more over the next few years than its cost to put things straight.

 

 

Thanks to everyone who has helped.

[ploddertom]

Thank you for letting us know the outcome & am pleased you got most of what you wanted. I will alter the title of your thread.