HOW TO GET A CCJ AGAINST A COMPANY OR INDIVIDUAL WITHOUT A LAWYER

If you don’t want to read the background info, please scroll down to the ‘How to’ section below. Before you go, I would urge anyone contemplating a civil prosecution to do their due diligence and consider whether the company or individual they are suing has sufficient assets or capital to repay you. It would be futile to pursue someone and incur additional costs if they don’t.

In April 2023, I appeared on the BBC Watchdog programme in relation to a legal case I had brought against Wizz Air (the notoriously poorly run airline). The BBC were looking for individuals who had taken a company to court and obtained a CCJ. This is uncommon as it’s usually companies that obtain CCJs against individuals. At the time of airing, I was on holiday and was unaware that I had actually obtained the CCJ which was lying on my hallway floor and awaiting my return. It had taken me a few months to get to this stage. It shouldn’t take others as long if the address of the business or individual in known. Wizz Air doesn’t make anything easy for its customers and did not specify an address for claims anywhere.

It was the first time that I was going to travel with this airline. Back in October 2022 my flight to Dubrovnik Croatia had been cancelled after waiting to take off within the aircraft for five hours. There were no alternative flights from Luton or Heathrow airports in the proceeding few days due to the half term holidays and fewer flights post pandemic so my trip was also cancelled.

I initially tried to contact the airline via their App and their website as advised to do by the ground staff at the airport but I couldn’t get through due to a technical glitch on their App. Any business which makes it almost impossible for customers to get in touch with legitimate grievances doesn’t have a bright commercial future and is poorly managed in my opinion.

Once I started reading the customer reviews, I knew I had made a big mistake in opting to travel with them.

The only other way to contact the airline to lodge a claim for reimbursement of my flight and holiday costs was via telephone which was a premium rate line. This incensed me as not only had they ruined our holiday plans but they were uncontactable and now trying to make money out of misery due to their own incompetence. I had seen children in tears at the airport and families distraught at the news that their holidays had been cancelled. This was quite upsetting to watch. To add insult to injury, their woeful attempt at hospitality was a tiny bottle of water and small packet of Pringles in compensation for the five hours spent incarcerated onboard the plane.

As a matter of principle, I refused to call their premium rate number and incur more losses (which I could technically have claimed back). I think I read that they were charging in the region of £2.50 per minute to call them no doubt with plenty of waiting time before you actually spoke to a human.

I decided to write a pre-action protocol letter (letter of claim) to the Wizz Air offices. Here, I hit a brick wall because nowhere on their website could I find their company address. Again, more evidence of their unprofessional trading practises. After more google searches, I learned that the mother company was based in Budapest, Hungary and sent off a recorded letter together with documentary evidence (more on that below).

I didn’t receive a reply, so after about four weeks, I found a London address on Bedford Row, Holborn and sent a second letter there. This was returned by Royal Mail a few weeks later.
After further digging, I established that the British subsidiary of the airline is called Wizz Air UK Ltd and is located within Luton Airport. I sent a third letter by recorded delivery to this address and yet again heard nothing back from them within the three weeks I had granted them for payment.

The process up to here took me about four months but it should be a lot faster for you as most people have the address of the company they are suing from the outset.

How to get your money back from a company that owes you money.

1. After sending the company or individual concerned a letter of claim setting out how much they owe you with a copy of the evidence and granting them a reasonable period within which to settle the debt (I gave them 21 days) you must wait for this period to expire. Make sure to send the letter by recorded delivery post and keep a record of the receipt. Evidence is really important so gather as much as you can. Receipts, contracts, invoices, emails, voice messages, text messages should all be admissible although the county court may not be willing to listen to recordings so best to make transcripts.

2. If you do not receive a reply from the company within the time stipulated or they deny liability, you need to go on to the government ‘Make a court claim for money’ website (make sure it’s the www.gov.uk site) and click the link ‘make a claim’.

3. The link takes you into a series of questions about the details of the claim, just answer these as you go along. There is also a link below the questions offering advice and support if you get stuck. Then you are directed into a claim form which again is relatively straightforward. You are the Claimant and the other side is the Defendant.

4. In the section which asks about the particulars (or details) of your claim, you should keep this short and clear. Try not to repeat yourself or give unnecessary detail and explain why the company or individual owes the money you are claiming. Explain first of all what the relationship between you is/was. For example, ‘At all material times the applicant was a customer of the defendant who runs a car mechanic business. On the 1st of February 2023, the applicant took a Toyota RAV 4 registration number LR62 7DG to the defendant to fix an electrical fault. The applicant paid the defendant £300 plus VAT in consideration of the defendant’s promise to remedy the electrical issues identified by the applicant. A few days after collecting the vehicle from the defendant, the applicant noticed that the electrical fault had not been rectified satisfactorily. The applicant contacted the defendant and left several voice messages on his mobile telephone. The defendant did not return the applicant’s calls. The applicant attended the defendant’s place of business, namely, the garage situated at 123 Abbey Road, Hendon HA2 4BG on two occasions (dates) but was informed by the defendant that he had serviced the applicant’s vehicle to a satisfactory standard and could do no more to assist the applicant denying all liability..’ Write something along these lines trying to keep it formal and clear. Write in the third person. Don’t repeat yourself. Be succinct and to the point.

5. Make a claim for interest. One of the questions on the electronic form is whether you want to claim this. You should click ‘yes’ and input the principal amount owed to you. There is an interest calculator which works out how much you are owed from the date of the incident (not the date of the claim). You need to input the date from when you believe the defendant owed you the money.

6. Pay the court costs online. I paid £80 because my claim was for under £1500 but this fee goes up incrementally depending upon the value of your claim. Don’t forget you get your costs back if you win your case.

7. After following the online steps and lodging your claim online via the government portal (which I found very easy to use), you must wait for a reply from the defendant. They will be sent a notice of claim from the court enclosing a copy of your claim form and informed that they have a deadline within which to repay or dispute the claim. At this stage they contact you and settle the debt or dispute it to the court. If they dispute it, the matter will be listed for a formal hearing when both parties will be expected to attend.

I would urge caution here – you must diarise the deadline that the court issues to the defendant and log back into your account when this is passed to notify the court about whether the defendant has settled the claim or that you have not been contacted by them. Make a note of your login details as you will need these to update the court of developments and request a bailiffs order.

8. I logged in late not knowing that the court does not prompt you once the deadline for reply has passed so belatedly informed the court that the defendant had not settled the claim within the deadline stipulated. At this point, I obtained a default CCJ which means that the court enters a temporary judgement against Wizz Air but that it can be set aside by them if they can show that they were unable to reply to the claim within the deadline stipulated by the court. You must wait until all deadlines given by the court have passed.

9. Check online regularly to see if the court has uploaded a notice that an application has been lodged to set aside the CCJ. If so, there will be an administrative review will be undertaken by the court and if granted the matter will be listed for a hearing. You should receive a notice of hearing by post also.

10. If as in my case, the defendant does not contact the court or settle the claim, the next step (once all deadlines have passed) is to apply for bailiffs to execute the CCJ. Again, you do this by logging in to your claim and following the steps outlined. It’s self-explanatory and straight forward to do. I paid in the region of £200 for a bailiffs order. You don’t need to find the bailiff yourself. The courts will transfer your file to the nearest county court to the defendant, who will contact the bailiffs to execute the judgement. My case was transferred to Luton county court. There was nothing I could do to further the case from here on as it was now in the hands of the local county court and bailiffs office to recover my money (execute the judgement/CCJ).

11. At the time of writing, I have received two letters from Luton County Court confirming that my case has been passed to them and a subsequent letter confirming it has been passed to bailiffs for execution. This stage has taken longer than I had anticipated. I think it has now been about six weeks since I obtained the CCJ so be prepared for delays. At the time of writing, I haven’t yet received a cheque in the post but unless Wizz Air files for bankruptcy, I should eventually receive payment.

I wanted to upload this article to help anyone who might be daunted by the prospect of taking out a CCJ against a business or individual or who can’t afford legal advice. It really isn’t complex and something that most people will be able to undertake without a lawyer. I hope it’s helpful.

Good luck!