CCJ help - going to court

[movinghomeagain]

I had someone do some work in 2020, it was only partially done and wasn't done well. We took him to court to get our money back because it ended up being so bad it needed to be completely redone.

We won and he got a CCJ, he was fairly abusive so on police advice I never responded to any messages.

He has now taken me to court to have it set aside. I have to provide evidence to the court and him before a set date. Does anyone have any experience of this? Do I need to provide evidence to show the original CCJ or just evidence to show he knew about the CCJ?

His defence is that he's only just found out about it and its stopping him getting a mortgage, I have evidence from 2020 that shows he knew about it.

I've tried a few solicitors but they either aren't responding or can't help so any advice would be great.

Also if anyone knows what it's like inside the court, it would be greatly appreciated. Is it just a few tables and the judge etc? I've never been so have no idea what its like.

Thanks

He is trying to get the CCJ set aside on the grounds that he didn't know about it. You therefore need to submit evidence to show that you followed the correct process and he did indeed know about it. If your evidence is good (e.g. messages clearly from him that acknowledge the existence of the CCJ or, even better, anything that shows he defended the claim), he may well withdraw before this gets to court as he will have no chance of success.

Note that, even if the judgement is set aside, this does not cancel the debt. You will still be able to get a fresh CCJ enforcing your claim.

Thanks

I have text messages from him which show I sent the pre court letter and that show he knew about the CCJ in 2020, as far as I know he didn't defend it which I think is what he's going to try. I don't really know how it works.

Ill print copies off all the texts that show he received the pre-court letter and that show he knew he got a CCJ.

Should I include any other evidence - the police report I made, info from his social media to show he's doing well?

He also claimed assistance to pay for this, does this mean he will have a solicitor?

I don't see the relevance of information from his social media. Whether he is doing well or not has no bearing on whether he knew about the CCJ.

The police report is possibly relevant as further evidence that he has known about the CCJ for years.

I presume he has claimed assistance to pay the court fees. That doesn't tell us anything about whether he will have a solicitor.

Thanks again

I didn't know if the social media would show that he has the money to pay, it shows he has brought a second work van - but I was sure as he could have got it on finance etc.

Would showing that the business had several addresses show that I did what was reasonable to send him the pre court letter as I couldn't be sure of his actual address?

Thank you its really helpful.

The courts will Check service of the original claim form in 2020. So check you served on his last known address as it was on 2020 and put that in your evidence.

Thank you

He's trying it on.
Submit the original paperwork, plus the crime number and any communication from the police at the time. Point out you don't wish to attend court due to his threatening behaviour and police told you at the time not to engage with him down to this.

This sounds like a try on.

What evidence exactly are you being asked to show?

He needs to show the court that there was some issue with the original proceedings. Does he say he did not receive the 'summons' or some other vital notice? Does he say the wrong entity was sued for example him personally rather than the company?

In your shoes I'd take the papers to Citizens Advice or similar and ask their advice.

The court staff should be able to explain what happens in court - if it goes to a hearing at all.

Thanks
He says he never received anything about it, but I have texts in 2020 showing he knew and say 'good luck getting any money back' and 6 months later saying he was opening the case back up.
I'll try citizens advice tomorrow.
We have a court date at the end of the month

And I believe they are just asking for any evidence I want to submit, so anything relevant

Whether he has the money to pay is irrelevant to an application to set aside judgement. That is purely about whether the correct process was followed and he knew about the CCJ. Even if he was the richest man in the world and definitely owed the money, he could still get the CCJ struck out if he didn't know about it.

As long as you took reasonable steps to determine his address, you are fine on that front. Even if you didn't, if you can show that he knew about the CCJ in 2020 it is highly unlikely the courts will set it aside.

Thanks
I highly doubt we'll ever get the money back and had moved past it but I won't let him rip me off and then have it set aside when he knew about it
If he did pay on the day then id be happy for it to be set aside but I highly doubt that will happen