Judgment Order

[Old2072]

Hi please can you help?

 

my wife ran a small shop which I helped out with.

 

Last year with increasing debts and unhelpful bank, she was forced to close, leaving a few of her suppliers unpaid.

 

One of them has taken us both to court for the debt.

 

I first got a court summons from Northampton which I replied to stating that my wife was the sole trader and I sent along letters to prove that.

 

I then got a court hearing date which again I replied to saying that as I was on benefits and have no transport I was unable to get to court

and again as I had sent proof that it was my wife's business and nothing to do with me that the claim against me be dismissed.

 

I have today had a General Form of Judgment Order from the court with me as the 1st defendant and my wife as the 2nd defendant

saying I must pay X amount or further action may be taken to recover this amount.

 

Any help would be greatfull,

[citizenB]

The claim was issued from the Northampton Bulk Processing centre, yes ?

 

Did you think you had to travel to Northampton court ? Is it your local court ?

 

Did you put in a defence at all ?

 

Procedure..

 

Claim issued you are then bound by time..

 

Issue date + 5 days for receipt + 14 days to acknowledge service - you can do that online + 14 days to submit defence if you are intending to defend.

 

If you were going to admit the debt then there would have been a section on the claim form that you would need to complete.. income and Expenditure.

 

If you were going to defend you could also do that online. Then the case would have been sent to your local court who would send out an allocation questionairre. to be returned to your LOCAL court.

 

You would then be given a hearing date.

 

It is fairly obvious that a hearing date had been sent and you were unable to attend. Judgment has now been awarded in default.

 

If you are unable to pay the Judgment order then will need to apply for a variation .. I will try and find someone who can talk you through this procedure.

[Old2072]

Thanks Citizenb,

 

Yes what you have put is correct, I did fill in forms for my defence, i.e. The business was not mine but my wife's I just helped out, but they have still passed judgment on me which I don't understand. If I worked at Tesco and they didn't pay a bill would I be liable?

[citizenB]

I am thinking that perhaps you could get this judgment set aside.. I am trying to find someone who can help.

 

 

 

 

Emmmm Abuse of process??

I had a case last year where I acted

as ''litigation friend'' completed all paperwork

on behalf of the defendant and ended up as

first defendant according to Northampton

CCBCC.

Real hard effort needed to get it changed.

[DonkeyB]

Was it a default judgment? What exactly does the judgment order say? Does it refer to a hearing? And where was the hearing?

[Old2072]

Hi

 

The order say's :

 

It is adjudged that the claimant recover the sum of XXX for debt and interest to date of judgment and XXX cost .

 

It is ordered that the defendants pay to the claimant the total sum of XXX

 

It was in the THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE, CHANCERY DIVISION, ABERYSTWYTH.

 

Thanks,

[Ganymede]

If the OP was merely an employee then he 100% needs to apply for a set aside ASAP.

[Old2072]

Hi,

 

Yes I was just an employee, I sent proof of that to Northampton. How do I apply for a set aside?

 

Thanks,

[citizenB]

You would need to download form N244 from the court website - then complete it, with your reasons for the set aside.

 

I think it costs £40.00 without a hearing or £80.00 with.

[Ganymede]

You would need to download form N244 from the court website - then complete it, with your reasons for the set aside.

 

I think it costs £40.00 without a hearing or £80.00 with.

 

 

Its £45.00 now without a hearing, but I think this one will probably need a hearing.

[Old2072]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for all your advice, it seems wrong that I will have to pay when on benefits to prove something that I have already done, i.e. that I was just an employee.

[DonkeyB]

You will probably qualify for fee remission - should cost you nothing.

[citizenB]

Its £45.00 now without a hearing, but I think this one will probably need a hearing.

 

[citizenB]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for all your advice, it seems wrong that I will have to pay when on benefits to prove something that I have already done, i.e. that I was just an employee.

 

You will probably qualify for fee remission - should cost you nothing.

 

You would need to complete form ex160 - information in the link below.. but if you pop fee remission form e160 into a google search it will fetch up a pdf copy of the form for you to complete.

 

http://www.ned-cab.org.uk/debtselfhelp/bankruptcy_ex160_1.shtml

[andydd]

It appears that a Default judgement was issued against you, it is allowbale to not be in court in person, you must put all the facts down in a letter, explain your non-attendance (how far is the court from yours ?), and the legal facts that make you not liable and proof (not just a series of claims). It would appear that perhaps the jdge didnt have/getthe info you sent.

 

So now follow the set aside info. posted above.

 

Andy

[Old2072]

Hi,

 

Thanks for all your advice, I will get onto it on Monday

 

Roy

[Old2072]

Hi,

 

Thanks for all your advice, I will get onto it on Monday

 

Roy

[citizenB]

If you want to pop your draft application form N244 up for us to have a look at.. we can help fine tune it for you..

[Old2072]

Thanks citizenb, will do that, also I will get in touch with benefits and get a letter off them to show getting benefits to send along,

[citizenB]

Yes, that would be a good idea..

[debbbbsy]

If its the courts mistake, and you notified them that you should not be the Defendant in this claim.

 

I know from experience, if you contact Northampton directly, and make them fully aware of the facts, by writing those letters and informing them of the facts,you have in effect submitted a defence. The claim against you should of then gone before a judge to determine whether you should be the Defendant. Either way, you lodged a defence which has clearly not been noted on the system. This does happen.

 

Northampton have made the error, they can set a side the CCJ within hours, and it shouldn't cost you a penny.

 

The email address is

 

ccbcdefendants@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk

 

Subject: Complaint re:- Claim Number xxxxxx

Importance :- High

 

Complaint

 

Then make your point.

 

Make it strong. This is their mistake.

 

Debbie

[Undercover-Elsa]

Good luck old2072, looks like you're getting excellent help here

 

Elsa x

[wonkeydonkey]

Exact same scenario with me....I retired from the business and OH continued to trade....creditor issued Claim against both of us, OH admitted the Claim and offer to installments, I submitted defence as I had retired before the debt arose, (the Claimant did not pay the fees due to the Court to have the mater adjudicated by the Court), next I knew the claim had gone ahead and Jugment named me as 2nd defendant. I got the jugment to me set aside and the creditors solicitor got a roasting for not taking action over my submitted defence....so go for set aside you have good grounds

 

WD

[Old2072]

Hi all, sorry been a while but has taken ages to get a reply from court.

 

I filled in a form to have this set aside, which I sent off with the proof that I was not responsible for this debt. I have today had a Judgment order from court which say's;

 

" The application to set aside contains no ground's. The defendant had opportunity to attend court to put forward his case but failed to do so.

 

I sent them an email saying I was unable to attend court as I have no transport and I am on benefits and unable to pay the cost of public transport to get there, and again stating that the debt had nothing to do with me.

 

ANY help as to what I can do now would be very helpful please,

 

Roy

[Andyorch]

To have your judgement set aside you will need to put forward a reason why. You must keep your reason as clear and simple as possible.

 

Were you given 28 days notice in order to pay?

Were you living at the address when the summons and judgement took place?

If you took out a loan or any form of credit were you in receipt of the Default Notice before receiving the summons.

Did you receive the summons? They are not sent by recorded mail.

Maybe you were unable to attend court and defend yourself.

The judgement should not appear on the credit files if it was paid up within 28 days.

If you agreed to settle 'out of court' with the plaintiff you should not have received a Judgement.

If you did not receive any notification of the judgement/s made against you, then you can appeal.

Did you agree with the full amount of the judgement at the time, but now only agree with part of the amount?

Was the summons taken out against both yourself and another person jointly. If this is so, did you both receive your summons?

It could have been that you were away from the time between the issue of the summons and entry of the judgement?

Did you receive the summons on time for you to apply to the court. You have 21 days to reply to the court. If the summons was 21 days late then the judgement would have already been taken out against you?

Did somebody use your name or address to obtain credit, which resulted in a County Court judgement without you knowing?