Travelling

[Warwick65]

We are hoping to travel over the summer, possibly for a month if restrictions permit. I have a debt that will become SB during that time but what happens if a claim form arrives. If I end up with a default judgement would proof I had been out of the country be enough for a set aside?

[PlanB]

We are hoping to travel over the summer, possibly for a month if restrictions permit. I have a debt that will become SB during that time but what happens if a claim form arrives. If I end up with a default judgement would proof I had been out of the country be enough for a set aside?

How very sensible of you to ask the question before you 'set sail' or however you plan to travel

I'm going to ask you some questions too.

Before I do that I will advise you that evidence of your absence will be key if you need to set aside a default judgment.

So keep any/all receipts of flight/ferry bookings and even receipts from restaurants/coffee shops to prove that you were 'elsewhere' when the claim was served.

The debt owner should send you a formal Letter of Claim if they intend to issue legal proceedings which would give you 30 days to reply so if your intended trip is for a month you might have time to reply/respond to that to fend off a claim even if that (LOC) arrives while you are away.

However one forum member recently reported that they received a Letter of Claim dated 6th April which they didn't receive until 22nd April possibly due to Royal Mail delivery issues.

Di

[PlanB]

We are hoping to travel over the summer, possibly for a month if restrictions permit. I have a debt that will become SB during that time but what happens if a claim form arrives. If I end up with a default judgement would proof I had been out of the country be enough for a set aside?

Hello

You've not said whether the debt has the potential to be unenforceable for other reasons not just statute barred. Has a s77-79 CCA Request ever been sent to the current debt owner or the original creditor?

I'm not suggesting that you should send that now since the history of the debt is not known, but it might delay any potential claim from being issued in order to reach statute barred status.

Once a claim has been served you'd have 19 days to file the Acknowledgement of Service stating you intend to defend all of the claim. If that deadline is missed then a Default Judgment (CCJ) is likely.

The decision you need to make is whether you would prefer to delay or prevent a claim in preference to facing legal proceedings with the cost of a court fee for the set aside application (unless you're entitled to fee remission).

Your decision may be based on the amount of the debt being chased and what stage it has reached and when, such as the last correspondence received.

Di

[Joanna Connolly]

If a claim is issued against you and you are outside the UK when the Claimant obtains default judgment you will almost certainly be able to set aside the judgment without needing to be able to show that you have a real prospect of successfully defending the claim if you make the necessary application. You will need evidence when you left the country and returned.

However if the Claimant can show that you knew court proceedings were likely before you left the country then the court may well take the view that you should have made arrangements to arrange for collection of post or provide the creditor with another address for service.

[Joanna Connolly]

Once a claim has been served you'd have 19 days to file the Acknowledgement of Service stating you intend to defend all of the claim. If that deadline is missed then a Default Judgment (CCJ) is likely.


[/QUOTE]


You do not have 19 days from service of the claim form to file an acknowledgment of service. You do have a total of 19 days but it runs from the date of issue of the claim form not the date of service.

The claim is deemed to have been served 5 days after the date of issue as shown on the claim form. You then have 14 days to either file a defence or an acknowledgment of service.

If the claim is issued on 1 June 2021 then it is deemed served on 6th June 2021. A defence or acknowledgment of service would need to be filed and served no later than 4pm on 20th June 2021.

[PlanB]

hoping to travel over the summer . . . I have a debt that will become SB during that time but what happens if a claim form arrives. If I end up with a default judgement would proof I had been out of the country be enough for a set aside?

From your other posts on the forum it seems that all your debts have now become Statute Barred since you started this thread so hopefully this will now be less of a worry for you

If that is the case then you'll have both a reason for a set-aside (CPR 13.2 is mandatory) but also a Defence if you need it following the set-aside which 'removes' the CCJ but the claim still remains alive to defend.

However, hopefully that (SB status and the 'plane tickets etc which I suggested you should save) would be enough to get the Claimant to consent to a set-aside and ideally ask the court (respectfully) to dismiss their claim.

Enjoy your trip !

Di

[Warwick65]

Thank you and looking at the current conditions there is a good chance we will only be staying in the UK. But yes I’ve now confirmed the debts are SB

[PlanB]

I’ve now confirmed the debts are SB

*phew*.

Di

[Timewilltell]

Thank you and looking at the current conditions there is a good chance we will only be staying in the UK. But yes I’ve now confirmed the debts are SB

confirmed by your thoughts or their ideas of SB time frame?

[Warwick65]

confirmed by your thoughts or their ideas of SB time frame?

I have been rather focused in keeping and storing communication. The last definite communication with the OC was in 2012/13 and the last communication with the assignee was 5th May 2015 by both email and post. As such we are over that hurdle. It is debatable if the 2015 emails acknowledged the debt at all but you never know how a judge would interpret it.

Oddly they did start calling me earlier this year but when I refused security and said put anything in writing they answered the couldn’t until I passed security! I suspect they has misplaced my address and email address both of which I’ve had for 18 years so no excuse.


Last week they offered my an 80% discount by text which I ignored.

The bank account into which this money was paid is also closed and has been since mid 2012 and SB since 2019.