VCS PCN CCJ - Set aside by consent - have i done it wrong?

[Gingae1ectric]

Hello,

 

In September 2018, a County Court Judgement was set against me for an unpaid PCN from Vehicle Control Services.

 

Although I was aware of the claim request from the court in September and I had attempted to settle the claim with VCS within the 30 day window, VCS had failed to call me back after emailing them my mobile number to call me to take payment.

 

The back story to this is that I called VCS to dispute the claim.

The agreement was that I would pay £70 instead of the original £100 as requested by the Court letter.

 

Although VCS had an online payment portal, this was still displaying as £100.

VCS told me on the phone to email them my mobile number and they would call me back to make payment.

Although I sent the email (which I have evidence of), no phone call was made.

 

Granted I could have called back myself, but I was under the impression that since I had tried to deal with the claim, no CCJ would be put against me as I had tried to deal with it within the 30 days. The ball was in VCS's court to call me back to settle the claim

 

. I've since now discovered that it does not work like that.

Unfortunately, It wasn't until August 2019 when I did a random check on my credit report that I discovered that i'd got the CCJ against my name.

 

Not only was I not aware that this had been placed against me because I had received no communication of it, but I believe it is completely wrong for the claimant to ignore my request to make payment and instead file for the CCJ.

 

I've taken it upon myself to research that I can get this removed with a Consent Order / Tomlin Order from the claimant.

 

I've called and spoken to VCS who have acknowledged that they did not call me back, but as long as I made the payment they would provide me with a Consent Order.

 

Upon this, I've paid the £70 PCN and was provided with a consent order that ordered;

1. The judgement entered against the Defendant in the above number numbered claim on the 25th September 2018 is to be set aside.

2. The Claim be dismissed.

3. There shall be no order as to cost.

 

This was sent to the County Court as part of an application, alongside the email thread between myself and VCS (which showed I provided them with my mobile number) and the following explanation:

 

Hello, 

Since your last email I have taken your advice and contacted the claimant directly. 

I've shown them my email evidence that I tried to make payment within the 30 days of receiving the court order, and that they had failed to contact me to make the payment. 

 

In response to this, I have now made payment and they have given me a consent order to give to the courts to have my CCJ removed. 

 

Please find the consent order form, along with the email correspondence between the claimant and myself attached.

 

Payment of £100 has been made to the court from myself.

Authorisation code: XXXXXX

 

Please could you confirm you have received this email and inform me of how soon this can be looked into?

Is there anyway to expedite it?

q

The reason being is that my employment is currently under threat because of this CCJ.

 

The Deputy District Judge has since responded with the following comments:

 

"The judgement was regular.

This looks like credit washing.

If the debt has been paid the Defendant should obtain a certificate of satisfaction of the debt from the claimant."

 

I feel the judge has completely ignored the fact that I made contact with the claimant within the 30 days to discuss part admission to the claim, and that this judgement has only occurred due to my misunderstanding of the legal process and through the negligence of communication from the claimant.

 

I've been given the opportunity to write back to the court to appeal, but I really don't know how to word my response correctly so that the judge completely understands?

and what further evidence do they require?

Does VCS need to acknowledge what happened on the Consent Order?

 

I'll be lucky if they do this for me, what's the incentive for them to do so, I've already paid them.

 

Any help or guidance anyone can provide would be very much appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[BankFodder]

I think the judge was right that the judgement was regular. I think you will have to get the claimant to contact the credit reference agency to inform them that there was an error and that in fact the debt was satisfied before the expiry of the 30 days and that the judgement should not have been registered with them. This may be a tough call

[Gingae1ectric]

Is that not a very harsh judgement on someone who thought they were following the correct process but obviously misunderstood?

 

It's clear that I wasn't trying to get away with the fine or I would not have made contact and given the claimant my mobile number.

 

and now, as a consequence, I face losing my job as I work in financial services. Do judges show no compassion or sympathy towards certain circumstances?

 

On what grounds exactly is this judgement fair?

Edited October 4, 2019 by Gingae1ectric

[BankFodder]

I'm afraid that it seems to me to be an error by VCS. I agree that the thing is harsh if you are looking simply at the judge's decision – but the judge has no power to set aside a judgement unless you have specifically asked for that and given grounds for it.

Did you make a set-aside application? The grounds for a set-aside are that you didn't have knowledge of the claim and that if you are permitted to defend that you would have a good chance at trial.

That's as far as the judge can go. After the judgement has been given – assuming that the judgement is regular, it then comes down to the defendant to satisfy the judgement within 30 days. This is where VCS have caused the problem.

Of course I think that in the circumstances you describe, it is very harsh for the judge to describe this as "credit washing". I'm afraid that with so much at stake you were a bit over-trusting to expect that once you had made your attempt to contact VCS that the ball is in their court. On the basis of the agreement you had, it certainly was in their court but I'm afraid that at the end of the day these companies just don't care.

Have you tried to have the judgement set aside? Maybe if you contact VCS and asked them to consent to a set-aside then they will do so because it will simply require a simple letter from them. You will have to pay the fee for an application notice that this might be worth while in order to save yourself six years grief with the credit file. You will have to be extremely polite to VCS.

Also, I suppose it you've got no evidence at all of the promise by VCS to contact you – only the email that you sent to them. If you start dealing with any company then you should first of all read our customer services guide and implement the advice there. If you don't then sooner or later you will regret it – as you are probably understanding now.

[Gingae1ectric]

Thanks for your feedback on this BankFodder!

 

I was under the impression that I was asking VSC to have my judgement set aside by requesting the consent order? And upon receiving it, I paid the £100 court fee to process it and remove the CCJ?

 

What wording would I require from VCS on the consent order to have this removed? The guy i'm speaking to at VCS is quite sympathetic, so if I know the correct wording, I can request it to be put on the consent order.

 

I've attached the consent order from VCS for your reference.

 

Is it that VCS have only put...

 

UPON the parties agreeing a settlement for the amount claimed.

 

...that it's not good enough for the judge?

 

What would I need to request VCS to put to get it put aside?

 

 

Attached is the final correspondence I received from the courts, stating that I had made an offer to the claimant of £100 to which they had accepted.

 

This was incorrect from the court as the agreed amount was actually £70. I did call the court regarding this, to which their response was to contact VCS as they had the agreed amount set as £100. That's what led to the phone call with VCS. It's also why I thought that no action could be placed against me as the court was aware I was dealing with it.

 

 

docs1.pdf

[AndyOrch]

It would have been more successful coming from the claimant not yourself...thats why the impression of credit washing is being taken.A defendant cant submit a Consent/Tomlin Order only the claimant.

 

The defendant could have submitted an application N244 and requested it be set aside (Fee £255)..hardly worth it..but even then the grounds you refer to are not reason enough to set a side.You tried to negotiate a lesser figure (£70/for £100)...you can't do that when a claim has been issued for the £100.

 

You paid the fee for the Consent Order and paid  £70...so this exercise in trying to negotiate a lesser figure and save £30 has cost you £170.00 so far and a potential further £255 if you try to set a side.

 

All you had to do after acknowledging service of the claim was complete form  N9a attach your cheque for the full amount ( £100.00)and send it to the claimant within the 28 days.

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/688727/n9a-eng.pdf

 

For future reference and others reading once a claim has been issued...regard it as a ticking time bomb...forms to complete and return in time sensitive time....you cant negotiate with the claimant and try to bypass the claim forms.

 

Andy

[Gingae1ectric]

No, I read the letter from the court which stated 'If the payments are not what you offered, you should write at once pointing this out'.

 

As you say, this case is a ticking time bomb, so rather than writing a letter, I called the court instead.

I negotiated with the claimant an agreed amount of £70.

Perhaps I would have paid the extra £30 to settle the dispute had I not read that part in the letter from the court.

But upon reading it, I followed what I thought to be the correct procedure.

 

And why does it make a difference who  consent order?

The order was signed and acknowledged by both parties.

 

Also, I have never came across this N9a form, nor has anyone ever highlighted to me.

 

How is anyone not in the legal profession supposed to be aware of such forms and technical procedures to follow?

Edited October 4, 2019 by Gingae1ectric

[AndyOrch]

A defendant cannot submit a Consent Order...only the claimant ...end of.

 

Only 1 way to deal with a claim form...

 

Acknowledge service....admit or defend...pay within 28 days using the appropriate form contained within the response pack.

Its irrelevant whats discussed with a claimant and promised or agreed.

 

The N9a is contained within the claim form pack...along with the acknowledgement of service page and the intend to defend page.

 

 

[Gingae1ectric]

All well and good now, but as I say, I was not made aware of any of this.

The courts should have told me that as the defendant I could not submit the consent form.

VCS should have been aware of this also.

 

And, as mentioned previously, at no point was I amde aware of an N9a form!

 

Can I ask VCS to submit the consent form now instead?

With better wording to explain to the judge the mistake of themselves?

 

I find it hard to believe how the legal system can disregard a claimant owning up to a mistake which has led to an unjustified judgement on the defendant. 

[AndyOrch]

Did you open the envelope from Northampton MCOL which contained all the forms and instructions on how to deal and respond to a court claim ?

 

You could ask them to resubmit it...but I assume it would be the same court and same judge......and most probably the same outcome..

[Gingae1ectric]

I honestly received no such letter and I've never accessed the MCOL website. I've never even heard of it until now.

[dx100uk]

where was this speculative invoice from

what car park.

 

if you'd read the N1 form carefully instead of blindly panicking none of this would have happened.

 

dx

 

[AndyOrch]

1 hour ago, Gingae1ectric said:

I honestly received no such letter and I've never accessed the MCOL website. I've never even heard of it until now.

 

Quote

In September 2018, a County Court Judgement was set against me for an unpaid PCN from Vehicle Control Services.

 

Although I was aware of the claim request from the court in September 

 

 

So are you saying you never received a claim form and response pack in September ?

[Will Goodfellow]

A consent order is no gurantee that the CCJ will be quashed, that is at the discretion of the judge.

 

The consent order was accepted by the court, the judgment was set-aside, and the judge reconsidered the CCJ but did not quash it.

 

He probably deemed that your reason to overturn the CCJ focussed too much on it affecting your employment rather than it being unjust, hence the credit washing comment.

[Gingae1ectric]

Thanks Will Goodfellow.

 

Looking back through my correspondence with the court I probably could have been a lot more detailed on how I misunderstood the procedure.

 

The case has been deferred, so I have an opportunity to respond.

 

I'm hoping that if there was more detail on the actual consent order, other than just 'The claim has been settled', as well as a detailed statement from myself step by step on how it led to a misunderstanding, the judge may take that into consideration.

 

[dx100uk]

deferred? till when?

and what have you or the claimant got to do in this deferment period?

 

is this in a letter to you?

from whom?