Threatened with court action - what next?

loopydonna

Hi

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, but I thought you were the best people on the board to help.

My husband has a debt with a book company. The short version is, he kept rejecting the editors choice, they kept sending it anyway, he asked them to send pre-paid postage to return the books or arrange a courier collection, they refused and said he had to pay for them, he refused tp pay and now a solicitor keeps contacting him and saying that he must pay or he will be taken to court and a CCJ taken out against him. He still refuses to pay as he never wanted the books in the first place.

What happens if it gets to the balliffs stage? Basically he moved into my house with no assets whatsoever. The home is still in my name, and I bought all of the furniture and fixtures in it. The only things he owns are his car (on HP), his PC and laptop (which he needs for a second self employed job, so I don't think they can take these?) and then just the usual personal odds and ends which are nothing of any value. Can the balliffs take electrical goods like the TV and stuff to cover his debts even though they belong to me?

I'm fending off phone calls as he refuses to speak to anyone, and I'm worried sick in case someone comes and takes my stuff to clear his debts.

boredofbeingathome

Are you aware how much he owes? Also have you had a good look at terms and conditions of sending items back?You may well be able to send stuff back. After that if still no joy ring up a free debt management company to get advice.

stapeley

It is very doubtful that for the amount involved it would go to court . It maybe a idea to request a copy of a consumer credit agreement or any agreement relating to the account .

loopydonna

The lady said it was for £65.

He doesn't speak to me about his finances at all and keeps it all to himself, but I think he buries his head in the sand a lot too.

I think his debt problems are quite bad now, as other creditors keep ringing up too - sometimes up to 6-8 times a day. I'm not aware of the extent of the problem, and try and get as much information as I can out of the callers even though I know they are not really supposed to tell me anything. I'm not being nosey, just worried about losing things from my home.

daz9643

Hi Loopydonna, I'm in the process of trying to deal with creditors on behalf of my mother in law, her husband died recently and she asked me if i could sort out her finances for her.
I'm no expert but it's amazing how quickly you learn when you need to.
Some of the information I'm going to say may be contradicted as its stuff I've read on the web and may not be exactly correct but here goes,
Firstly, debt collectors fall into 2 categories, debt collectors and baillifs. Debt collectors do not have the same powers as baillifs.
Your husbands debts are his own, assuming you didn't also sign agreements. By law the bailiffs cannot touch your posessions but when 2 large men turn up at your door it may be difficult to stop them. If they turn up at your house and there is a window open or a door unlocked they can enter your house but they are not allowed to break in. However, if they have been allowed in once they are allowed to break in on subsequent visits.
It's vital that you keep in regular contact with the creditors and explain to them exactly whats happening although it sounds like you don't know.
We have found accounts with debts that my mother in law was not aware of. The worst thing you can do is ignore the creditors, they won't go away. Some forums I've read have complained how nasty some debt collection agencies are but in my experience if you are reasonable with them they are to you. My mother in law used a debt management company and they produced a debt payment plan but i've since ditched them and am dealing with the creditors myself. The debt management company charged 20% of all payments made so if the payment was £100 per month, £20 went to them. What i'm most worried about in your circumstances is that your husband isn't telling you whats going on. This is what happened with my father in law, he was a very private man and had borrowed money from different family members for many years but kept them all isolated so none knew the others were also giving him money. The final straw came when i asked him to list all the outstanding debts and the total was £8500. He asked us for £3500 to get them out of trouble but it would only have delayed things for a few months, the other debts would have built up again. He died in September from cancer which my mother in law believes was not helped by the constant stress he was under.
If you want to e-mail me please do.

flaura

loopydonna wrote: »

The lady said it was for £65.

He doesn't speak to me about his finances at all and keeps it all to himself, but I think he buries his head in the sand a lot too.

I think his debt problems are quite bad now, as other creditors keep ringing up too - sometimes up to 6-8 times a day. I'm not aware of the extent of the problem, and try and get as much information as I can out of the callers even though I know they are not really supposed to tell me anything. I'm not being nosey, just worried about losing things from my home.

Creditors are not allowed to contact you this many time a day it's harrasment and oy are covered under the telcommunications act, tell them he will ot discuss it on te phone and to put all requests in writing, keep repeating yourslf....if the phone is in your name tell them that he is not available on that number and it is your private telephone line.....

They can't take what is yours they can only take what is in either both names or his. Don't let baliffs in

try and talk to him about it and tell him you want to help (if you do) but that you can't both igonore it... you need to sort out how much he owes as a starting point and you need this in writing from the creditors.

10past6

daz9643 wrote: »

By law the debt collectors cannot touch your posessions but when 2 large men turn up at your door it may be difficult to stop them. If they turn up at your house and there is a window open or a door unlocked they can enter your house but they are not allowed to break in. However, if they have been allowed in once they are allowed to break in on subsequent visits.

The above is inaccurate and misleading, it requires amending or deleting as it could cause unnecessary anxiety to anyone reading it with no knowledge of how to deal with debts / bailffs.

To clarify for anyone reading this thread, the only people who are entitled to access your property are COURT BAILIFFS no other person has a legal right to enter.

10past6

daz9643 wrote: »

Plus you're assuming debt collectors will stick to the law

Whether they stick to the law is their decision, I have a lot of experience in dealing with debt collectors, I'm stating what they CAN & CANNOT do.

There's enough new members coming on here already terrified due to template letters they've received and the part of your post I've quoted above is very misleading.

10past6

daz9643 wrote: »

HENCE THE REASON AT THE START OF MY POST I PUT:
Some of the information I'm going to say may be contradicted as its stuff I've read on the web and may not be exactly correct but here goes,

It's advisable then to do some research and post ONLY ACCURATE INFORMATION.

What's the point in posting advice when you're not certain it's correct

daz9643

Maybe with your wealth of knowledge you should share it with others on the forum instead of just looking to pick holes in other peoples threads. The post was written in a hurry as a rough guide. No-one should take anything they read on a forum as gospel and do their own research. I accidentally put debt collectors, should have been bailiffs and have now corrected the error in the post.

10past6

daz9643 wrote: »

Maybe with your wealth of knowledge you should share it with others on the forum instead of just looking to pick holes in other peoples threads.

Look at my post count, and thanks and I'll pick holes if people post misleading information.