Help with High Court Enforcement

[MrJohnM]

Hi there,

 

My partner had a visit today from a baliff acting on behalf of High Court Enforcement, who was in turn acting on behalf of Norwich University College of the Arts for a debt of £2,117.08, which she does not even owe. It relates to a tutition fee which she was covered for by student loans at the time, and due to NUCA's screw up, they didn't get it from Student loans. This is not my parnters fault.

 

We knew of the CCJ not long after it was made, but were told by Nuca it would be dealt with.

 

It appears it has not been. Please help, what do I do?

[builders bum]

Hi

 

If this has gone to court to get the CCJ you should have had the opportunity to defend the matter. If you did not then you can apply for a stay of execution pending an application to have the judgement set aside. You would need to be prepared to attend a court hearing though. If you can be organised enough to do this and you are sure that your partner should not be liable you would sort the matter out for good.

 

But, I'm currently struggling to get £23,000 from a builder after obtaining a CCJ and a High Court Writ. It seems if you don't let bailiffs into your house and you hide your vehicles there is not much anyone can do.

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

[ploddertom]

Obviously it was never dealt with and events have now progressed on. You will be unable to stop the HCEO enforcing the Writ until you take some action yourself - he is acting on information provided and is not interested in how this came about. You need to apply for Set Aside of the CCJ - I assume you have proof you do not owe. You must also apply for a Stay of Execution against the HCEO on the grounds that you are applying for a Set Aside application - if granted this will halt further enforcement. At this stage the Stay is the most important application.

 

PT

[MrJohnM]

Hi there, I have dealt with the baliffs, who will await further instructions from their client and the result of the application to have the judgement set aside.

 

However, I have no documentary evidence of the claim or anything else.

 

Who do I speak to to get copies of the Judgment and all related evidence presented? Also, I want to get hold of her files from NUCA, which will have the evidence needed to prove she owes no money, how do I do that?

 

Thanks

[builders bum]

You are entitled to see all the evidence and the particulars of claim that was used in the case against you. You should have been sent this prior to the court hearing so you could put together a defence. If you cant put your hands on it and you suspect that you was sent a copy, the courts will be happy to provide you with copies, if you know where the court was. Go along to the court office, you might need a few quid in your pocket for copying costs. Often they will do it for nothing though. This will confirm to you that the evidence was sent to you in the first place (fi you are in any doubt) as a Certificate of Service should be on file.

 

Have you applied for the Judgement to Set Aside or are the bailiffs stepped back just because you have said you will apply. If you have applied you should have the case number. If you have not applied you are going to need to find out the case number. You can get contact numbers here.... http://www.justice.gov.uk/global/contacts/hmcts/courts/index.htm

 

Hope this helps

[MrJohnM]

We dont have any of the paperwork, including details of the actual judgement itself.

 

I have not applied to have it Set Aside yet, the baliffs have just stepped back while I apply as I explained the circumstances to them, and told them I would be denying Entry anyway.

 

I am assuming that the CCJ was not done at my local office. At this point I do not even have a case number to go on.

 

The university will have to abide by a request for copies of her records, but how do I word that? Is there a standard Template letter for something like this?

[ploddertom]

Did the HCEO not leave you a Form 55?

 

PT

[MrJohnM]

No, whats a form 55?

[builders bum]

Do you still live near the University? If so the case will probably have been heard at your nearest County court, unless they used the bulk centre at Northampton. Actually I think all calls are now dealt with through a central call centre, so it would only take one call to find out. They are quite helpful and if have a few detail missing I think their database is still likely to find the case. Or, just give the bailiffs a ring on Monday morning. They will know the case number.

 

I would not panic about getting information from the University. When you find the case/court the particulars of claim will have their records attached as part of the evidence I expect. I would concentrate on getting evidence from the loan provider that the money was sent to the univ. Their only case can be that they never received it, otherwise there would not be a problem. So you need to prove that they did get it and have hard evidence to attach to your application to set aside.

[MrJohnM]

NUCA didn't actually claim her tuition fees from SLC. The funding was there, and we have the letters from SLC to prove it, but NUCA decided not to claim it. So it's their fault, not hers. That's the stance we are taking to deny liability. It was an active descision on their part not to claim it and instead to chase her.

 

She got a "pay in 14 days or go to court" letter about a week after she withdrew from her course, and then they sent it to a DCA who decided to just go to court without contacting her in any way.

[wonkeydonkey]

This is a mess.......... I would start with enquiries to the NUCA and at the same time get on to SLC asking for copies of all communication acknowledging the funding was in place. A DCA cannot go to Court the Claimant ie: NUCA must be the one to make an application to the Court as they are the alleged creditor.

 

If this has gone to court and the creditor was awarded a CCJ you should firstly have had the opportunity to defend the matter, this comes in the form of the Court Claim, If you did not get this then you are entitled to apply for the Judgment (which would have been awarded in Default due to you not responding to the Claim Form) to be set aside, but more importantly and at the same time as the set aside application you must apply for a stay of execution with the grounds being those of the pending set aside, this will halt all/any enforcement until the set aside has been heard.

 

WD

[builders bum]

You say your partner withdrew from the course? Does that affect her eligibility for the loan? THe univ must be pretty certain that they have a good reason for not taking the money, they need every penny they can get these days. Ok it may have been a mistake on their part, but are you sure that the conditions of the loan were met?

 

You can't afford to sit on this. Id get the stay/set aside applications off in the next day or so. Make sure you send them recorded delivery. The bailiffs are taking your word that you will apply. You must do so.You are of course aware that the amount the EO will be seeking to recover from you will increase, sometimes dramatically, every time they visit or contact you.You really do not want them coming back.

 

You also need to be absolutely sure that you did not receive the notification of the previous court hearing. You need to say here if you think the letter arrived and got ignored (like the final demand seems to have been ignored). The folk here will not be able to give you proper advice if you are not clear about the facts.If your application to set aside is on the basis of not receiving the particulars of claim for the initial hearing it may not get very far if the court have a certificate of service filed.