Guindalf

So are you offering to pay if they do? OP has already stated they have UK property and the letter says 'The total amount owed after the addition of the initial enforcement costs will be £642.25 and further substantial costs will continue to be added at the subsequent enforcement stages.'. Now this may well be scare tactics, but for the sake of 280 quid, are YOU going to step up and offer to pay of it goes tits up?

No? Didn't think so. It's easy to be big when you're relatively anonymous and posting sitting in your superman jim-jams!

zzrmark

Snarky aren't we?
If you care to read my post without jumping to premature conclusions you will note that I didn't tell the OP not to pay up. My post was in reply to some information provided by another poster, people who use CCJ's are unlikely to pursue illegal practices as those practices will come right back and bite them in the butt.

Guindalf

Not at all snarky.

If I read it that way, then I'm sure others did too.

PootleK

A UK Court can not enforce a CCJ on an individual not residing in the UK at the time as the UK court has no jurisdiction over that person when they are not living in the UK. You can get the court to set aside the judgement using form N244. https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ication-notice There is a small fee of less than £100.

catlover3

Thanks to everyone that responded. This is still ongoing. I have contacted (emailed) the debt collectors but received no response. I imagine they don't believe me when I say I live overseas! I'm sure thats a tried and tested trick. The courts are useless and of course I have no documentation with reference numbers etc so I can't check it online on the court website.

I'll try the set aside thing (which costs £255) if all else fails!

quiltman

Have you called them? Do so and pay by credit card if you have no UK bank account. Emails are unlikely to be answered for a long time as they want instant payment and they are not going to call you as it costs them money!

catlover3

FYI, if you are following this thread and are in a similar position - I posted this to the legal beagles forum (so helpful!). I was advised to NOT pay and to apply to have the judgment set aside. This is possible because the court has no legal authority over a non-resident of England and Wales. The fee for setting aside is the same as the monies sought but are claimable back from the claimants (and I would rather pay the court than the car hire charlatans).

Anian

I have this occasional fear that there is some debt I don't know about in the UK that will come back to bite me somehow. I mostly blame this on the gas bills I received after leaving the country that alternately told me I owed nothing and owed 13 quid. The last one I got said I owed nothing, so I assume they sorted it out, but the fear still lingers that there are others.

spouse of scouse

But if the OP applied to have the judgement set aside, he'd have to provide his current address on the application form. I don't think having a judgement set aside cancels the debt, doesn't it just go back to the claim stage, and presumably the company chasing their money would now have the OP's address?

catlover3

AndyMan74

They are not going to chase you abroad for such a low amount. It's my understanding that the worse thing will be a BIg red mark against your credit rating but there would always be a chance of a big fat debt waiting for you when you return. Also some have said they will harass family members etc...this is HIGHLY illegal and should be reported to the police. The only person liable is the person named on the debt unless someone was unlucky enough to co-sign the loan then its a big DOH!.

GeoffM

I wouldn't put anything past debt collectors - costs virtually nothing to send a Very Important Letter With Big Words and Costly Deadlines, and no doubt it sometimes works. But if OP genuinely believes there is nothing to pay then it similarly costs virtually nothing to tell them to royally FRO. Keep a paper trail, send by recorded/registered delivery, and never talk on the phone.

robtuck

I might be missing something, but doesn't the original post state it was a threat of a CCJ, meaning not yet applied to the Courts? If so, you should be able to get ahead of any action. The Debt Collector will not care about the reason behind the claim, they will pass you back to the originator who they will then expect to here from to call off the hounds or not, as they may decide. if it does go to a point where they actually do apply for a CCJ, you can still provide a response to their claim in court without being in attendance anyway, even allowing for the fact they have no right to apply for a CCJ given current residency. Given the story as outlined, it would be interesting to see if the Court would even award a judgement in favour of the Det Collection Agency.

I haven't researched it, but given their is an ongoing dispute, I'd be amazed if the Courts would allow the punitive cares to be added.

catlover3

mrken30

Are the debt collectors licensed in your State? If not that have no authority to collect the debt and you can make a complaint with the FTC. I have done this and one report lead to arrest of the debt collector. The other option if you want to contest, might be worth looking at is calling the courts or CAB in the UK.