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Advice please
fedupwiththeworry
Posts: 366 Forumite
A couple of years back our non Ltd business went bust, the last straw came when the landlord hired a baliff to come in and ring fence the stock which he later sold to fund our rent arrears. Prior to this we were getting calls from various suppliers chasing for money owed and one in particular wouldn't settle for any form of payment scheme we tried to set up. Before the baliff came we even offered them the choice of coming in and taking back any of their stock to reduce the money owed but they refused.
Anyway after closing some suppliers contacted us at home and either by letter from themselves or via a court and we reached payment plans with them to pay off the debts. This particular one though we hadn't heard anything from so we assumed they written off the debt against their tax, that is until last August when we received a county court letter asking us to pay or offer a payment plan. It was unusual from the others though in that the supplier had included all our house details in the claim to the court.
We sent back the form offering to pay a monthly amount which was accepted by the court, however a short time later we got another letter stating the supplier wanted a re-determination. We couldn't attend court but sent a letter explaining our circumstances and the result was that our offer of payment was accepted for 6 months after which time we had to file and serve upon the court a schedule of assets & liabilities and a schedule of income & expenditure together with supporting documentation to evedence the figures set out in the 2 schedules. This will be due in March.
As said we've not had anything like this in the past so does anyone have any idea what the supplier can gain by taking this approach ? Do they think we've got money stashed in an offshore account or something ?
I must state that the business was just a small retail shop so the supplier certainly knows that there was no fortune to be made, it was just a hobby that we turned into a business (bad mistake). The fact that they sent house details with their original claim makes me wonder if they are looking to put a charge on the house. Can they do that ?
Would also appreciate just what supporting documentation you think we should send in i.e. we've no savings, the house is in negetive equity, no working car etc.
Thanks in advance.
Anyway after closing some suppliers contacted us at home and either by letter from themselves or via a court and we reached payment plans with them to pay off the debts. This particular one though we hadn't heard anything from so we assumed they written off the debt against their tax, that is until last August when we received a county court letter asking us to pay or offer a payment plan. It was unusual from the others though in that the supplier had included all our house details in the claim to the court.
We sent back the form offering to pay a monthly amount which was accepted by the court, however a short time later we got another letter stating the supplier wanted a re-determination. We couldn't attend court but sent a letter explaining our circumstances and the result was that our offer of payment was accepted for 6 months after which time we had to file and serve upon the court a schedule of assets & liabilities and a schedule of income & expenditure together with supporting documentation to evedence the figures set out in the 2 schedules. This will be due in March.
As said we've not had anything like this in the past so does anyone have any idea what the supplier can gain by taking this approach ? Do they think we've got money stashed in an offshore account or something ?
I must state that the business was just a small retail shop so the supplier certainly knows that there was no fortune to be made, it was just a hobby that we turned into a business (bad mistake). The fact that they sent house details with their original claim makes me wonder if they are looking to put a charge on the house. Can they do that ?
Would also appreciate just what supporting documentation you think we should send in i.e. we've no savings, the house is in negetive equity, no working car etc.
Thanks in advance.
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Comments
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How much is the debt for?0
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Can anyone help with this please.
Thank you0 -
If they put a charge on the house it just means you cannot sell the house without paying off the debt. As you are not a limited company anything you own (with certain exceptions) can be taken to recover a debt.
The stupid thing is that if you remain in the house for the rest of your life it may take them a long time to get their money!If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0 -
lincroft1710 wrote: »If they put a charge on the house it just means you cannot sell the house without paying off the debt. As you are not a limited company anything you own (with certain exceptions) can be taken to recover a debt.
The stupid thing is that if you remain in the house for the rest of your life it may take them a long time to get their money!
Thank you for your response, we weren't sure if they could force us to sell or not if they had a charge. We are going to pay them back, just we can only pay what we can afford at the moment. We just couldn't see what they were hoping to gain from a redetermination and all the documentation they want, it's as if they don't believe us.
Talking of documentation, any ideas on what we need to supply ? My 1st post gives the wording of the court letter.
Thanks again0 -
I'm sorry but I'm can't help on the court docs, I only knew about charge on house as following disagreement with solicitor over bill one was put on my house (without my knowledge) but was lifted very soon afterwards as sol and I came to amicable agreement.If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0
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Can you give the court a call to find out what they want?
Have you actually paid any of the money back yet? Regular payments can provide a lot more assurance than just documentation.0 -
Hi,
Yes we've been paying the amount we offered and was agreed as a temporary amount by the court for 6 months so far.0 -
fedupwiththeworry wrote: »We just couldn't see what they were hoping to gain from a redetermination and all the documentation they want, it's as if they don't believe us.
I would imagine this is exactly what's happening: they don't believe you and hope they can get more if it's discovered that you have more to give.
You may know that you have acted honestly and as reasonably as possible under difficult circumstances, but they don't know this. I'm sure you know that when you're in business, people come up with lots of excuses and made-up reasons for not paying. £3900 is quite a lot of money, so you can't blame them for doing everything they can to get it back.
So long as you're telling the truth about the lack of money available to pay this debt, and you send in all the information asked for, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.0
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