Debt cases take many forms but they generally start life as a simple money claim. There are currently two ways to start a debt claim. The Money Claim Online is probably the cheapest and easiest for those who are comfortable conducting their business over the Internet. Or, for those who prefer paper to PCs, there is the N1 form which should be available from your local County Court as well as being downloadable from the Ministry of Justice website.
A claim form should never come as a surprise to anyone. The Civil Procedure Rules, introduced in 1999, are all about making genuine efforts to settle a claim. There is no jumping up and down shouting out ‘objection!’ or pulling out last minute vital evidence in the hope of a dramatic final twist. The Claimant (the person claiming that money is owed to them) should always give an opportunity for the Defendant to offer a solution and should provide the Defendant with all available evidence. In fact, once a claim is issued, both Parties will be given the opportunity to engage in negotiation and mediation which is designed to find a solution without the additional time, energy and costs associated with a hearing.
For a case allocated to the small claims track (those under £10,000), the court offers a free mediation service. Even if you feel that you have a cast iron case, this process is recommended as you get to hear what the other side has to say and it may change your mind about your chances of success or of course, it may change theirs.
For larger money claims, they get allocated to one of the other two tracks: fast or multi. For claims between £10,000 and £25,000 which are expected to be heard in no more than one day, it’s the fast track, for all other higher value and more complicated cases, it the multi track.
Each track, although all dealt within the County Court, has its own procedure for which further details are below.
The Fast and Multi tracks (for claims over £10,000 in value) are a different beast to the Small Claims Track. Whereas the Small Claim Track is, allegedly, designed for people to use without the help of a legally trained person, the Fast and Multi Tracks not only mean more complicated procedures but the cost implications can be huge, especially for the losing Party.
There is no free mediation with these Tracks.
The court will tightly manage the timetable and give directions for legal processes such as disclosure, whereby both Parties are required to list all the documents they hold in relation to the case.
These cases can go on over many months, even years due to their complexity. Costs is a big issue, even more so following the ruling in Mitchell (aka Plebgate) which was the first high profile case to feel the effects of the 2013 Jackson legal reforms. Although this was a case about who said what to whom at the gate of Downing Street, the real issue for lawyers was a ruling on costs which, in a nutshell, leaves Parties open to very costly sanctions for missing deadlines.
The moral of the story, aside from perhaps not telling porkies to The Sun about what a Government Minster may have called you [edit: apparently no porkies were told, as a high court judge has since decided that the police office lacked the wit or imagination to make it up – ouch!], is that if you find yourself on the end of claim of over £10,000, seek legal advice very quickly.
Possibly.
CCJs are added to the Register of Judgments from which credit reference agencies such as Experian, Equifax and Call Credit take the information to add to your credit report.
You can get a CCJ removed if you pay the amount owed within a month of the judgment.
You could get a CCJ removed if you successfully apply for the judgment to be set aside.
You could also get a CCJ removed if it was entered incorrectly.
Otherwise, it will fall off after 6 years or be marked as ‘satisfied’ if you pay the debt off after the first month of entry. If you do pay it off after the first month, the CCJ will remain and it may be useful to apply to the court for a certificate of satisfaction as evidence it has been paid.
Author: Nona Bowkis
Published: 09 Mar 2011