Crackdown on rogue court ‘debt’ judgments thanks to Mail probe

A MAJOR crackdown on the abuse of county court judgments by rogue parking and utility firms is announced today.

Ministers pledge that anyone who has had a debt judgment passed against them without their knowledge will immediately have it struck from their record.

The announcement comes after a Daily Mail investigation revealed thousands of people have devastating county court judgments (CCJs) passed against them without any chance to defend themselves.

Private parking and utility firms making claims for supposed debts – some as small as 1p – often give courts old addresses, so warnings and information about court dates are missed.

The rulings do not come to light until years later when someone finds their application for a mortgage, loan or a mobile phone contract is rejected due to the CCJ’s effect on their credit rating.

Cases exposed by the Mail include a family left homeless because of a CCJ for a parking ticket that was meant for a stranger and a newlywed couple who missed out on buying their dream home because a water bill was posted to the groom’s old student address.

Following our investigation, the Government launched a probe and has been meeting with consumer groups over the past year.

Today the Ministry of Justice announced its crackdown as it launches a public consultation on CCJs, inviting anyone who has had an unfair ruling against them to get in touch.

Officials will focus particularly on how parking companies and unscrupulous debt agencies have been abusing the CCJ system.

Justice Minister Dominic Raab said: ‘We want to protect vulnerable consumers from abuse by rogue companies that can destroy the credit rating of innocent people without them even knowing about it. Debts should be paid, not exploited by a minority of cowboys

The Mail, September 12, 2016 who need reining in. I welcome the Daily Mail shining a light on this problem – we intend to tackle it.’

Last year, the Mail Investigations Unit revealed how abuse of the CCJ system is crippling the finances of thousands of families across the country.

Over the past four years, the number of CCJs has risen by almost two-thirds, with more than one million issued in 2016. In more than 80 per cent of cases – 2,000 a day – judgments j are issued with no defence heard in court.

Ministers are particularly concerned by the fact that, in many cases, individuals do not even know that court action is being taken against them.

Although claim forms are issued to defendants, there are no checks to make sure the papers have actually been received. In many cases they are sent to old addresses and never forwarded on.

While CCJs can be appealed, not receiving the claim because it was sent to an old address is currently not a defence and the judgment would not be set aside on this basis. The appeal process takes as long as a year and costs £255.

The Government now plans to immediately set aside all CCJs for those who can prove to a judge that they did not know about it when it was passed.

Ministers are also considering moves to make firms prove they have sent courts correct address details when making claims.

Would you like to tell the MoJ about an unfair CCJ sent to an old address? Visit www.dailymail.co. uk/ccjs to link to the consultation website from 10am today.

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