The Bankruptcy Club & Supporters Club

sandralovescats

desmonds wrote:

Sandra,

Have you heard of an Interim Order? "An interim order is a court procedure that your IVA provider will put forth. The interim order:

- prevents the creditor from trying or making the consumer bankrupt;

- prevents landlords from any right of forfeiture by peaceable re-entry;

- stops any court action or enforcement action against the consumer by the creditors without the courts permission.

The interim order only lasts for 14 days but it may be extended to allow for the creditors meeting to take place and the nominee to report back to the court"

Guide to Bankruptcy
URN05-1515

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/guidanceleaflets/guidetobankruptcy/guidetobankruptcy.htm

scroll down to section 13c Individual Voluntary Arrangements

quote"Then you may apply to the court for an “interim order”. This prevents your creditors from presenting, or proceeding with, a bankruptcy petition against you while the interim order is in force. It also prevents them from taking other action against you during the same period without the permission of the court. You do not have to apply for an interim order to put a proposal for a voluntary arrangement to your creditors. "

That will stop the bas£$%d!!!

desmonds

Thanks for this, it has helped a lot!

This solicitor has the least amount of money owing - £587 - now plus the £100 Court fees.

I had just let the IP get on with the IVA, I didn't question any of it, I knew that I would hear from them as soon as it was all sorted out.
Then the solicitor goes and puts a spanner in the works!

Will let you know what happens.

sandralovescats

rog2 wrote:

Sandra - Firstly, good advice from Desmonds, above.
Surely, you have good defence anyway - in that this person did not do what he had originally promised. When you receive the 'summons' you should contest the debt totally.
In the meantime, inform your IP again, and check to see exactly what action he is taking.

So, after these first 14 days are up, they will deliver a Summons? Is that correct? How is this delivered? The original court papers were just sent out to me by ordinary mail. Is the Summons delivered by Special Delivery?

It is pointless my contesting the claim - the solicitor will have me all stitched up anyway. The only paperwork I have to support my claim is that I emailed originally informing them that it had to be done on a no-win, no-fee basis.
After the initial consultation he sent a request for an advance payment of £400. Four days later the Secretary, on the phone, said he wanted £600. Then the invoice came for nearly £700. It had a 1 hour consultation, which I complained about since it was 50 minutes. The next invoice came with the figure reduced to 50 minutes.
The solicitor will just say that he did that amount of work @ £165 per hour.

rog2

sandralovescats wrote:

So, after these first 14 days are up, they will deliver a Summons? Is that correct? How is this delivered? The original court papers were just sent out to me by ordinary mail. Is the Summons delivered by Special Delivery?

It is pointless my contesting the claim - the solicitor will have me all stitched up anyway. The only paperwork I have to support my claim is that I emailed originally informing them that it had to be done on a no-win, no-fee basis.
After the initial consultation he sent a request for an advance payment of £400. Four days later the Secretary, on the phone, said he wanted £600. Then the invoice came for nearly £700. It had a 1 hour consultation, which I complained about since it was 50 minutes. The next invoice came with the figure reduced to 50 minutes.
The solicitor will just say that he did that amount of work @ £165 per hour.

It does actually sound like you have already received the summons if the letter is from the court - was there a date for the hearing?
I know exactly what you are saying about the solicitor having you all stitched up, but, in my opinion, I believe that it IS worth contesting as you have not received a 'satisfactory service'. If I remember, from your previous posts on the subject, the solicitor was unable to supply you with copies of letters purportedly written on your behalf. On the summons, there is, or should be, a section for you to enter your defence, which asks if you wish to contest all or part of the debt. Personally I would be inclined to contest ALL of the debt. I would, also, be inclined to attend the court hearing and to put your side of the story. Even if the judgement goes against you, the fact that you are going into an IVA will simply mean that this 'debt' will be included in your total debt and, at worst, the 'solicitor' will HAVE to wait for any payment.
I think you might also wish to complain to the Law Society about this Individual's handling of your original claim.

sandralovescats

I haven't got the form any longer, I sent it by Special Delivery to Grant Thornton in Belfast on Friday - by their request.

The form said "Claim". To respond within 14 days. It had all the paperwork for income/expenditure/debts, etc. I remember that it said if a response was not received by the 14th day that it would be automatically found against me.

My Medical Negligence Claim will not be paid for 20 months or so from now. If that doesn't work, I will still have to go bankrupt.

Thanks Rog2. I know I have my knickers in a twist over this and when that happens I cannot think straight!

rog2

sandralovescats wrote:

I haven't got the form any longer, I sent it by Special Delivery to Grant Thornton in Belfast on Friday - by their request.

The form said "Claim". To respond within 14 days. It had all the paperwork for income/expenditure/debts, etc. I remember that it said if a response was not received by the 14th day that it would be automatically found against me.

Okay Sandra - I think that you have some time - I would suggest that you contact Grant Thornton and ask if the "Claim" was a County Court Summons, or if it was a pre-cursor to a summons. You can ask them to send you back a copy, and you can also ask them what they will be doing to 'stop' any court action.

sandralovescats

Rog2. I have to wait until Christmas is over so that GT are back at work!

I am not sure how the impending IVA can stop a CCJ - I don't think that it will - but it should prevent any further action.

It doesn't really matter about court action as such, since my credit rating is shot to pieces with the IVA anyway. However, I don't want to have the solicitor declare bankruptcy on me, or to have him send bailiffs to my door.

rog2

sandralovescats wrote:

It doesn't really matter about court action as such, since my credit rating is shot to pieces with the IVA anyway. However, I don't want to have the solicitor declare bankruptcy on me, or to have him send bailiffs to my door.

The IVA SHOULD prevent any further action, Sandra, although it WILL be dependent on GT getting on to the Court before a CCJ is issued.
As I said before - even IF a CCJ is issued against you, it will be at least 28 days from issue before the court can send the bailiffs, so, hopefully GT will be able to do something in the meantime.
Also a creditor CAN NOT petition for your bankruptcy for a debt of less than £750.00.

sandralovescats

I found this on the insolvencyhelpline.co.uk website



Legal Issues Explained
County Court Summons
What is a County Court Claim Form?

A County Court Claim Form is issued because the lender has asked the court to enforce payment. If you receive a Claim form in the post don't panic!

The form issued by the court is designed to establish how much you can afford to pay the creditor towards the arrears. You are asked to complete an income and expenditure form and also to provide details of your other debts. The courts are interested in looking at what you can afford.

back to top

Completing the form

Complete the income and expenditure form to work out how much you can afford to pay your creditors each month after you have paid for essential living costs (i.e. your surplus income).

You will not have to attend court. Instead you will receive details of the Judgment made against you by post. This will state the amount that you are to pay to that creditor each month.

If you feel you are unable to pay this amount you can apply for a Variation Order.

County Court Judgements
I have received notification of a County Court Judgment - what should I do?

This is a common court procedure and nothing to worry about too much. There are several things you should do as soon as possible.

Firstly, check that the amount the Judgment states that you owe is correct.

If you are in a position to pay the amount in full then do so within one month otherwise the CCJ will be registered with the Register of County Court Judgments and credit reference agencies will note this on your file. This may make it difficult for you to obtain credit in the future.

If you are unable to pay the amount in full straight away but can do so at a later date, then when you do pay it off, you should request the courts to note that the Judgment has been satisfied . The CCJ will remain on your file for six years whether it is satisfied or not but potential lenders will be able to see that you have paid the debt.

If you are unable to pay the amount specified then you should ask the courts to "vary" the order by completing a form N245 , obtainable from the court. They will ask you to give information about your regular income and expenditure (called a means enquiry). There is a £30 fee (payable to the courts) for submitting this application.

sandralovescats

rog2 wrote:

The IVA SHOULD prevent any further action, Sandra, although it WILL be dependent on GT getting on to the Court before a CCJ is issued.
As I said before - even IF a CCJ is issued against you, it will be at least 28 days from issue before the court can send the bailiffs, so, hopefully GT will be able to do something in the meantime.
Also a creditor CAN NOT petition for your bankruptcy for a debt of less than £750.00.

GT are very good, as a rule, so all should be well.

desmonds

sandralovescats wrote:

Rog2. However, I don't want to have the solicitor declare bankruptcy on me, or to have him send bailiffs to my door.

Sandra,

The solicitor is not going to file for your BR. The cost inplication would be enormous and I mean it would cost him more than a grand. So he's not going to do that if he say's you owe him £600.

The cost for making oneself BR costs £475. The overall cost is far higher than that paid for by the tax payer.

Creditors would not have the support of the tax payer and would pay the full legal costs.

Anyway the judge will not issue a CCJ if he knows that you have already or in the process of entering into an IVA.

The solicitor is just trying to scare you into a false sense of security.

It's what you call 'menaces'

Default summons letters stating that if you don't pay we MAY do this and we MAY do that.

The thing is he won't do anything because he knows you are entering into an IVA and that he will just have to form a queue like everyone else.

You'll obviously have to put this down as debt owed at the creditors meeting unless you feel that you have not received a good service from the solicitor then send a complaint to the Law Society contesting the amount and poor service.

You may initially have to go through your solicitors complaints procedure and if no success then take it next step to the Ombudsmen.

Good Luck

Desmonds