credit card debt - court hearing

gstir_2

Hopefully this is posted in the correct place and maybe some kind person can give me some advice.

took out CC with A&L in 2000. In 2006 i gave up work to look after our son so income did dip but we, hubs and i got by. In 2008 and 2009 repectively sadly hubbys grandparents passed away and, we, having to pay for 2 funerals left us extremely short. We got into mortgage arrears and fell behind on other commitments.
After long talks to try and get things back on track, we decided just to work with 1 bank account, and so I closed my a/c, it was very seldom used anyway as I had no income/salary. Hubbys a/c had his sallary going in, child benefit and tax credits.. as soon as he was paid each month we paid the mortgage, plus extra as arranged by mortgage company towards the arrears and council tax. Keeping a roof over our heads was our main priority.

Now though A&L have sold my cc debt onto Link Financial and they want to take me to court to get their money back. I sent the time order back to the court offering to pay £40 per month, debt is for £2448. this is been declined by LF and they want a hearing to go ahead this coming thursday. I admit the debt and agree it has to be paid back, but paying a lump sum is literally impossible.

I have no childcare and if hubs takes a day off work then he will lose a days pay, can I write to the court and explain why I cannot attend?
I am so lost with all this, we are trying so hard to keep everything going but its really getting me down, please if anyone can offer any advice I'd be so grateful.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Sorry I don't know what to suggest for the best. But I would call the National Debt helpline in the morning if I were you. They will be able to advise you of what to do for the bes, what to expect and answer any questions you may have.

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

Also, hopefully someone on here with experience with this sort of thing will be along to advise.

D9

telboy99

Hi Gstir,
It is very important that you attend the court hearing.
Take along with you a statement of affairs/budget which shows how tight money is and the £40 is all you can afford.
No judge will make you pay more than you can afford.
I attended a court hearing 3 years ago.I was petrified but it was quite simple and i only paid what i could afford.
Good luck

fatbelly

Some of this doesn't hang together. Is this a redetermination hearing?

If there is a court hearing, then it is important that you attend. This could prevent a lot of hassle over the next few years.

Take a copy of your income/expenditure statement. There is a good chance that the court will give an instalment order at £40 per month, and this is binding on both sides.

You are less likely to get the order you want if you do not attend.

gstir_2

I'm not sure I got a small claims summons hand delivered to my house, within this there was the option to apply for a time order, which I did offering the £40 per month, it says within the papers, if the offer is declined then attend the court hearing? So not sure if its a redetermination hearing or not fatbelly? This is all just way over my head now. The credit card is just in my name, so how do I prepare an expenditure sheet hence the fact I personally have no income and no bank account etc? Do i do one just for the household, which will really just be hubbys income and outgoings from that? Just feel cause its in my name then what hubby has shouldnt be affected surely?

fatbelly

Time Orders are rare beasts and I've never heard of one being used on a credit card debt. From the National Debtline factsheet on Time Orders:

Unsecured credit
If you have an ordinary credit agreement which is not a secured loan/second mortgage you would not normally need to ask for a time order to be made.

If a creditor has already taken court action, then you should apply to pay the judgment at a rate you can afford.

The court should look at making an order for you to pay in instalments you can afford. Interest is normally frozen automatically on court judgments for agreements under the Consumer Credit Act.

I think the bottom line is that you have a hearing and will get some sort of an order at it. You do need to be there (as we've said). In your case you are going to have to include your husband's contribution to household income in order to justify the £40 offer (by the sounds of it).

If you don't get an order to pay in instalments, the other order that the judge can make (and presumably what the c/c company are looking for) is a forthwith order, i.e. to pay the whole lot in one lump. Post again if that happens and we'll tell you what that means (not a disaster but not as good as an instalment order)