First time getting court claim - what do i do?

lookingforthelight

Help please.........

MINT CC taken out before 2007.
Stopped payments May 2010
Occasional token payments to stop the phone calls.
Current balance 7600 inc court fees.

What can i do and by when....

I have 12 days to return the forms but thinking of asking for the CCA as its pre 2007. Can I ask for more time?

Should I dispute the debt because of possibly its unenforceble?
If I do and it IS enforceable will I have made things worse?

Huge thankyou.....

lvm

I'm no expert but just from my own experience (in Scotland btw)...

The form you have to fill out has a box where you can dispute the debt which MAY delay while Mint gather the appropriate documents and supply to court (although they may be told to submit prior to the hearing). Just because they don't have a CCA doesn't mean it's unenforceable - it's only unenforceable if you haven't acknowledged or paid for 6 years (5 in Scotland) so they have a pretty good chance of having a CCJ granted. The court will only ask that you pay what they believe you can afford but this will wreck your credit file for a further 6 years from the date it is granted.

Personally, I would say - you know the debt is yours so you shouldn't really be disputing it. Send back the form with the offer of a monthly payment. In my case, the credtor rejected but I was lucky enough to have parents to pay it off before it got to court to avoid the decree (Scottish version of CCJ). The court would have looked at the income/expense I stated and agreed with my offer though.

Good luck whatever you decide...