CCJ Obtained by Default - but now living overseas - help please

[Nicoblue]

Hope somebody can assist me out there.

 

I am no longer living in the UK

 

I wrote to HSBC in November with Offer of Payment against a debt with a Full Financial Statement, however I have not had a response from them at all.

 

I now live overseas, and have my mail re-directed, Just before xmasI got a CountyCourtClaim - dated 4/12/08. with 14 days to respond !! This was submitted by DG Solicitors to the CountyCourt.

 

I no longer live at the address it was sent to - as mentioned I am oversas and advised HSBC about this.

 

It was too late to respond within the 14 day period, and I wrote to the court to explain. Not understanding the system of course.

 

I got a Judgment by default issued on 31st December - only recieved at my correspondance address yesterday

 

It is a business account (Not Limited Company) sole trader overdraft !!

 

A run down of events as below !

 

The bank demanded payment in full, no breakdown of charges, closed my account, and then just reffered to Metropolitan/DG Solicitors (HSBC in house).

 

I wrote to all parties with offer of payment together with Budget sheet, and pro-rata payments against other creditors, nobody responded, I even advised I was overseas, and quoted a correspondance address to writ to as well as e mail address.

 

When I got the claim form, the 14 days had passed by (my UK Mail gets forwarded to a Mail Box in Australia) - I wrote to the court top explain everything, and sent them exact copies of all correspondance, and the offers of payment I made.

 

Judgment was granted by default on 31/12 - requesting that I pay in Full - I again sent a letter to the court after recieving this (Yesterday) outling all previous correspondance, and payment offers.

 

I have been told that now jugment has been granted, that this can now be pursued for payment through the Australian Courts - and am obviously worried about this.

 

Help/Guidance Please as I am no legal eagle !!!

 

Many Thanks.

[bazaar]

Hi Nicoblue and welcome

I think you can apply to have a set aside, and use as your defence all the relevant paper trail youve got for the court to see youve been reasonable in trying to settle before you left the country, but they have been unreasonable in their actions.

Are you planning to return to UK?

If not, you'd need to ensure you cant be followed to oz with this. However, the set aside should resolve that.

Who told you that they can chase you through the Australian court system??

I think that would be a long way off IMHO.

We are seeing a lot of banks and DCA's going to court and getting judgement by default because no one turns up at court to fight. But in your case, you've tried to negotiate, they've just done their normal thing and claimed and won by default.

The clown that issued the claim probably never knew or cared about the situation, (Most likely couldnt read anyway) it's all money to them.

try not to worry too much, youre in the right place

[Nicoblue]

OK Latest Update - I wrote back to the County Court (Northampton), advising them of my situation, ie no longer living in UK, and have not been since September 2007 !!!

 

In the meantime, I recieved a letter (addressed to my Old UK Address) stating that the case had been transferred to Local County Court. !

 

A week or so later - I got a letter from DG Solicitors - accepting may proposed monthly payment..which seemed OK - That was addressed to my PO Box in Aus.

 

Now today - Addressed again to my Old UK Address I get all my correspondance returned to me from Local County Couirt - with a one line letter saying:

 

Your request for defence in the above case is returned bcause Judgement already entered.

What is really annoying is the fact that they had all my correspondance, with my address details in Australia, but send all paperwork back to my Old UK Address, without even looking at my situation.

 

Question for the experts, How do I respond and advise/request the Local County Court that I wish to get this Judgement Lifted on the Basis that I have not lived in the UK for 18 months, and the fact that the creditors knew that.

 

Any help as usual guys would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks Again

[DocH]

Hi nicoblue, bazaar is right you can get this CCJ set aside. The following link is for a site that lists all the reasons that can be used in getting a judgement set aside:

 

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 12 How To Set Aside A Judgment In The County Court

 

You will need to download a form N244 from this site. We can give a hand in completing the form:

 

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/HMCSCourtFinder/GetForms.do;jsessionid=BD919C0A55574065FD94FADC667B9AAF

 

The form should then be sent to the County Court nearest your last UK home address. The following site give the addresses for most of the County Courts in England and Wales:

 

The requested resource (/HMCSCourtFinder/tiles/Her Majesty's Courts Service - Court Information and Addresses) is not available

 

Just how you proceed after that I'm not sure. Are you able to afford legal advice from a solicitor in Oz? In the UK a number of solicitors will provide half hour free advice sessions - maybe they do something similar in Oz.