Please please help!!! I'm freaking out - Court Papers!!

El_Skinto

Please help guys i really need your advice. Just came home from work to find that Sherriff Officers have been to the door and posted court papers through!! OMG what happens now- this is the moment that i have been dreading!!

The debt is with the RBS (it was for our business which we had to close down) the total debt it around £7000. We are on a DMP through CCCS and have been paying £84 per month to them. RBS refused the payments from the start but we were advised to keep paying them the amount. A solictors phoned in January saying it was passed on to them and the min payment they would accept is £130. CCCS told us to keep paying the £84 as this is what they have said we can afford.

I really do not want to go to court please help is there any other way around this - CCCS are now closed and i feel really sick!!!

Would i be able to up the payment to £130 a month? I know this is defeating the purpose but i am so worried sick that i feel like just giving in!!. If we up the payment will this all stop??

Like everyone else we really want to pay off our debt but are struggling like a lot of people.

I am really panicking just in case this also go in our local paper!! Will this happen??

Can we tell CCCS we want to up the payment?

I'm gonna stop as i am pure rambling on.....sorry....but any advice would help.

Thanks guys.

El_Skinto

Please someone help....... I know i'm desperate.

Seye

Hi El Skinto

I havnt experienced your situation before however I assume nothing will happen between now and when cccs open tomorrow. Give them a phone first thing and tell them what the latest developments are and they will be able to advise you. The main thing is you have been paying what you can which is better than nothing.

best of luck. Let us know the outcome.

Simon

DarkConvict

Sherriff Officers doesnt sound familiar so i assume your in Scotland.

Other place to ring is national Debtline, very similar to CCCS, open til 9pm - 0808 808 4000

I can only say what would happen in England, a CCJ will only be made for what you can afford so long as you turn up and defend, showing your income and outgoings. End of the day if you don't have any money they can't take it. The other option is a charging order which means when the house is sold they get paid the £7000 before it goes into your account to pay for the next house.
Either way, don't worry, court action is always likely on larger amounts, the key thing is to turn up and defend your side in court.

olivia84

hi there,

RBS took us to court a year and a half ago as well - and our debt to them was £24000!! r u in scotland? i am and we went through the sheriff court as well. we were on a DMP and RBS actually accepted our reduced offer for 6 months then accepted it for another 6 months - however before the 6 months was up they started court proceedings anyway. basically here is what i think will happen - the sheriff will look at your case and decide if the bank should be granted a decree against you (basically a ccj) they will probably get it and all this will mean is that 1) your credit rating will be knackered (is that so bad anyway?) and 2) they will then be able to apply an inibition order to your home - this does not mean they will take your home from you or make you sell it. the only way they could do this is if they then petition for your bankruptcy - and for £7000 i honestly don't think they would do this or that a sheriff would allow them to. the inihition order basically means the bank takes first dibs on any profit you make from selling your home after you've paid your mortgage (obviously if you're not planning to sell this doesn't really affect you for now) with the decree they can also then arrest your wages, but they're only allowed to take a percentage of your pay - i think there is a chart thing on national debtline's website. what we did was basically agree to pay them a little bit more than they could legally take by arrestment anyway as it would be quite embarrassing. honestly - we owed much more than you but i know exactly what you're going through xx

El_Skinto

Hi Olvia84

Thanks for the reply. Can i ask if you agreed to pay a little more before it went to court? They have said that they would accept £130 and i would rather struggle to pay the extra than as you say get our wages arrested.

The whole court thing has really scared us. I was starting to think that the amount we owed was massive!! We had banked with them for years to - it was them that made us take out that loan and we said at the time we couldnt afford to do this but we had a failing business and they said we had to.

I i knew if could just say to up the payment to £130 just now then i would but not sure if this is possible.

Thanks for your help.

PS Yeah we are in scotland

El_Skinto

Just want to say thanks to everyone who has posted a message or pm me. It is really appreciated to know that you are there.

I will keep everyone updated.

olivia84

also - u asked if you are able to up the payment to what they're asking for - i think u will be able to and that they might then stop court action - it's up to u whether u can afford to or not however, it might annoy some of your other creditors if rbs are getting more than they are - but do they really need to know? RBS wanted £800 per month from us to stop court action!! (when i'm doing my 6 monthly reviews with the other creditors - i'm kinda doing a DIY DMP now - i just tell them that that £600 is through a decree and they can't really do anything about that as it's through the courts and not really my 'choice' to pay that) we obviously couldn't afford that however, through arrestment of wages they could probably have taken around £500 in total from us (my OH got promoted and got a large pay increase) they still got the decree against us but to prevent arrestment we pay them £600 per month. it kills us but the debt is coming down and i cannot wait till its paid. as i said - the sheriff will look at your case and decide whether it's fair for them to ask for that amount xx

olivia84

hiya,

i actaully think they probably would accept the £130. they might still go to court to obtain the decree - in our case they just really wanted the inhibition order on our home, the lawyer told us this! if they get this then they know you're more likely to keep paying them as the debt is kinda now secured on your home. it honestly wouldn't have bothered me if my wages were arrested but my OH would have been mortified so that's why we offered a little bit more than they could have legally taken. we were with RBS for years as well, and just like u, we were constantly encouraged to take loans and credit cards with them for years! it's horrible how normal working folk are paying for the A*se up the banks have made!! xx

Deep_In_Debt

I would suggest not to pay them more as this could be seen as favouring one creditor over another and could put your DMP in jeopardy.

If they take you to court, it could work in your favour as the courts will see that you are making every effort to pay and that you are paying all you can afford so are likely to fix the payments at what you are already paying.

nanna58

hiya olivia
i cud not agree more i feel sick and angry at the way we are treated this financial situation is the banks fault not ours but we all now suffer.
Typical how they give you a loan when you really may not need it .Our situation arose from lack of work for my oh (hes a builder) and my hours have been reduced so same out goings less coming in.Barclays are my bugbear no help at all so i wrote to head office in london telling them exactly what i think.NO REPLY
heyho.
Try not to worry to much skint they cannot have what you aint got sweetie
and it sounds to me that you have done all you can
good luck with lots of hugsxxxxxxxx