County Court Judgement - Challenge or Not

[catscratch]

Hi All,

 

Looking for a some advice regarding the following situation, i've bullet pointed to make it easier to read:

 

 

• I recieved a claim form from County Court Business Centre, Northampton with an issue date 6th April 2018 and claimant was Shoosmiths LLP, amount being £657.02
  
• Claims form stated day of service is taken as 5 days after issue date which would be 11th April and giving 14 days from then to respond (25th April).
  
• I agreed to debt and completed form N9A (admission form) and returned to Shoosmiths (as the County Court Form advised) with my offer of payment.
  
• I sent this form to them on 21st April first class and obtained proof of posting.
  
• On Saturday i recieved a Judgement for Claimant form dated 26th April.
  
• I contacted Shoosmiths who said they did not recieve my N9A form until 26th April and as such judgement was correct (it appears they are willing to accept offer of payment though).
  
• Spoke with Court and nice lady there did agree that she was surprised they are saying they did not recieve form until 26th April as it was sent first class but there was little to be done other that dispute judgement.
  
• This will cost £250 with no G'tee of success.
  

So questions:

 

1. Is it worth disputing for £250 and if i win can i claim that £250 back?
   
2. Should i just role with judgement, contact Shoosmiths with offers of payment and then once paid get a certificate of satisfaction from court after that date?
   

Look forward to thoughts on this.

[AndyOrch]

Thread moved to Financial Legal Issues..please continue to post here.

 

If you submitted the N9a Admission...its irrelevant when they got it..the claimant can request judgment.

 

Andy

[catscratch]

Hi Andy,

 

My issue is that the court form clearly states send to the claimant if you asking for time to pay within fourteen days and not to court as entering an admission may result in judgement against you. The way i read it is that by doing this, if they agreed to repayments then a judgement would not be entered.

[AndyOrch]

No the only way to avoid a judgment is to either defend in full or pay it all in one payment before the date specified on the Notice of Judgment.

 

You dont get time to pay on a claim form.

 

Andy

[catscratch]

time to pay.pdfHi Andy,

 

Attached is the back of claim form with time to pay text highlighted.

[AndyOrch]

Yes a payment plan agreed with the claimant...but you still get a CCJ.

 

What would be the point of issuing claim forms if we can all opt for a payment plan and avoid a judgment ?

[catscratch]

Hi Andy,

 

I can see your point, i suppose its just the comment " Do not send to court. Entering an admission may result in a judgement against you" - It seems to imply that sending to claimant would defer that, otherwise why not send admission and offer of payment back to the court?

 

Appreciate you have better knowledge over this than me but does strike me as a little bit misleading.

[AndyOrch]

Quite......can be confusing......but take solace your not the first and wont be the last

 

Thats why its essential to engage with forums such as CAG that can advise and give you our experience.