Received a 'claim form' from county court and not sure what to do! please help!

lil_chicken_legs

I have an outstanding balance of £109.25 from an old debt with next catalogue. The debt was sent to the lewis group debt collectors who I have attempted to resolve with over the past few months.

Anyway I recently moved house and have a mail divert in place and today received a claim pack...Ive never received one and Im not sure what to do. I really want to avoid getting a CCJ on such a tiny debt. The letter was dated 2nd aug, and it says I have 14 days to respond and they go from 5 days on the date of the letter..so I have until the 21st so not a lot of time at all.

They have asked for a total sum of £174.25, which is my outstanding debt and £50 solicitor cost plus £15.00 court fee.

Basically do I have to pay that amount or I will get a CCJ? Im very confused..I cant make any payment until 27th which is when I get paid anyway so I have no idea what to do and the forms are very confusing.

If anyone could help me that would be great.

crazyguy

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_rights/legal_system/small_claims.htm

Theres info in the link for you

lil_chicken_legs

Thanks, my main query is do I have to pay the court and solicitors fees?

nottoolate

you can call national debtline free for help with that

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=20_replying_to_a_county_court_claim_form

crazyguy

Yes I would think you need to respond to the letter and state that you admit to the debt or that you dispute the amount owed in which case you may need to go and defend yourself in Court and say why the amount owed is wrong.

Further info here :

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.direct.gov.uk/en/moneytaxandbenefits/managingdebt/courtclaimsandbankruptcy/dg_10013083

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/d_how_county_court_judgments_affect_your_credit_rating.pdf

SouthCoast

And:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_money/money_management_index_ew/action_your_creditor_can_take_index_ew/creditor_takes_you_to_court_for_debt.htm

lil_chicken_legs

Thanks guys...Ive gotta act fast to get in within the limit..so Im gonna just offer to pay the whole amount on my next payday which is the 27th. Im sure they will not mind me doing that?

crazyguy

You can email the court if you have all the reference numbers to hand, give them a call and ask for the email address if your running out of time !

vax2002

They can not claim the solicitors fee.
Advice, pay the company you owe the exact amount you owed.
Keep a copy of everything including any cheques you send.
If they refuse it, the case will be struck out.
PS how OLD is this OLDc debt, Months, years, decades ANY IDEA ?

lil_chicken_legs

I fell into arrears with next about a year ago, it was around 600, so i managed to get it down to 100 ish but lately have been going through extreme financial difficulties.

lvm

Hey,

Just thought I'd give you my experience (although I'm in Scotland so slightly different). I received the court claim pack in Nov/Dec (mine was for a bit more...£3k!). I didn't understand what big effect a decree (Scottish CCJ) would have on my credit file so just sent off an offer of £20 a month thinking that would be fine - then looked into it a couple of days before the due date and realised how bad it was.

So...after talking to the DCA and Solicitor, you wouldn't believe how much they didn't care about helping! They would accept nothing other than the full amount plus fees to stop it going to court. Luckily Bank of Mum and Dad came through (yet again!)

The one thing I'm sure I've heard (you would definitely want to have this confirmed though) is I'm sure you have 14 days from court date to fully settle the debt without it having an impact on your credit file. So that would fit in with you paying on 27th.

Hope it works out for you!