Help please in which directions to go

splendidpear

Hi very new to this so please be gentle (I posted this in the bankruptcy section and got some helpful advice but then saw this part of the forum so apologies for the duplication - and thanks for advice so far)

Myself and my husband have some old debts from before we sold our house - it is a very long story but basically the solicitors didnt pick up one of our secured loans on the house and did not pay it off at time of sale. We continued to pay it - but then had a court order from solicitor - we submitted all our outgoings and incomings to the court and heard no more - the loan company stopped accepting our payments - returning them to our bank account and sent us a letter saying the loan was clear (and offering us another loan!)

We heard absolutely nothing more until now when we have had a court summons from one of the solicitors involved (this is 5yrs later) looking for repayment of £32000 - we also have some old debts to the Natwest and to Egg Card (both which we thought had been paid off in full and final payments but have been sold to a 3rd party debt collector)

We have to return our statement of earning within 7days and need some urgent advice - our current financial situation means we have approx £300 disposable income after all outgoings - should we choose bankruptcy as a way of dealing with this situation once and for all or an IVA

many thanks for your help

Pink-Angel

Hi there, I can appreciate this must have come as a shock after so long if you thought everything was paid off. I would suggest contacting one of the free debt advice agencies, such as CCCS or National Debtline, as they are really going to be in the best position to advise you. The CAB is also good, but it can take time to get an appointment, and it sounds as if need you need to speak to someone asap. All the best to you.

tealady

Hi
It may also be qorth checking to see if the debt is statute barred. I don't know much about it but there are peeps on here who could talk you through how to check.

GeorgeUK

It may depend on whether you are in Scotland or England.

In England a debt is statute barred after 6 years, in Scotland it's 5. Do you know when you last acknowledged the debt in writing? Did you keep a copy of the letter stating that the debt had been paid?

I can't really help with the IVA or bankruptcy queries, but you should be able to get the answers on the forum.

splendidpear

We had a letter from GE Finance stating the loan was cleared in 2005 - we received this after we had been taken to court by the solicitors on behalf of the people who bought our house to get the attachement removed. We heard nothing at all from the courts - we had sent in all our financial status and stated that we accepted liability for the loan and would continue to pay it. Then a few months later our payments to the loan company started to be retuned to us - then we had a letter stating the loan was clear - nobody else ever contacted us until now - I guess we presumed the solicitor had been found liable and it had been sorted via their insurance. Now they are claiming £32000 from us the original amount was £23000

Verbatim

Contact the CAB who may be able to support you in court or to refer you on to a free lawyer who can.

splendidpear

Hi there - we have now had a suspended attachment of earnings for £551.88 per month - they have taken no notice of our outgoings (we sent a complex budget sheet) or our reasons/concerns that htis had been left so long and now has over £10,000 added in interest - please help desperate now

GeorgeUK

Not sure if you can request the judgement be set aside. Did you attend the hearing?
I would advise also posting on the legal beagles forum to see what advice they can offer.

splendidpear

they stated that we did not need to attend the hearing - we sent a lot of information, and history regarding the situation, but it seems to have been ignored - it has given me the option to appeal so am just sending that letter off - feel like we are just a pawn - we tried to do the right thing originally and have all the documentation to prove it. we were not informed about anything for 5yrs and then out of the blue they hit us with this . . . . completely devastated