Judgement against me 'Payment Forthwith'

tindrawers

I recently had a CCJ from Northampton County Court for £6242 owed to Lombard.

I admitted the amount owed and completed a Income and expenditure form which showed that i had an income of £739.00 a month and outgoings of £1751.00 per month. and made an offer of £1.00 a month with the court accepted and I have been paying this each month even before the order was made.

Lombard then applied for a redetermination hearing which I went to today at my local county court.

I brought all up to date evidence of my many debts totalling circa £14-£15000 and the fact that I am now 15 weeks pregnant, have lost my part time job and am now signing on and now have an income of £176.14 per month which is lower than before the claim initally happened.

The judge didn't look at anthing I had brought with me and seemed quite uniterested in what I had to say and simply read the letter which Lombard had sent in (They didn't attend court) which basically siad that I had a shortfall each month and they didn't believe that my income and outgoings were as I had said as they had seen no evidence to substantiate this - (although they have not requested eveidence although I clearly have this) and basically if I had no money as my I&E stated then I shouldn't be able to afford even £1.00.

I told the judge I understood that £1.00 was not a great offer but at this time this is what i am paying all my other creditors and is all I can afford...I do not anticipate this to be the case for the rest of my life and would look to make larger payments when I am in a better position to do so and so clear the debt in time.

She said asked what I could afford to pay and I said no more than £1.00 as previously stated to Northampton Court and she asked why I couldn't pay any more and i said because I don'y have any money!! She asked if I owed any property or asets...which I answered no to as I do not and she then said " Well then I shall enter a judgement of 'payment forthwith' and if you don't have any money they will have to deal with how they want. I asked what that meant and she said well they could send the bailiffs in I don't know what they will decide to do but if you don't have any money to pay them then you can't pay them.

I'm now a bit confused and very scared...

Surely a payment forthwith judgement is only relevant if I own any property or have assets which I don't...not even a car!

What will Lombard do now, can they send bailiffs into my home or do they have to go to court to get an order for them to be allowed to enter my home.

If the bailiffs come what can they do...I am married but most of our property is my husbands and not mine. Can they take this anyway?? How can they prove what is or isn't mine? If I own things jointly with my husband ie tv can they still take it if it is half his? don't get me wrong ...we don't have anything of any value really no big tvs or flash cars jewellery etc but I don't want them coming in taking kids beds tvs etc, I just don't know what they can/cannot do.

Or will they go that route, what else can they do..? If I own no property or assets, have no money in bank account will they make me bankrupt? Is it in their interests to do so....It wouldn't be the worst thing to happen I suppose, as I mentioned I have a lot of debts including this Lombard one which have accrued since my small business failed in 2009.

What's my next move ...do I continue to pay £1.00 a month to them? do I write to them explaining once again my current situation or do I just let them get on and do what they are going to do??

I'm just a really worried what happens next and any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Tixy

A forthwith order means you have to pay in full.
And if you can't (which you obviously can't) then it means that the creditor can choose enforcement action, they do have to go to court to get permission to do this, although as you won't have paid a forthwith judgement I believe this will be automatically granted. Enforcement could mean an attachment of earnings if you started paid employment, a charging order (if you owned a property) or appointing a bailiff.

I would probably contact national debtline for some advice on what to do next.
In the meantime keep paying your £1s.
And if bailiffs do turn up then don't let them into the property/open the door to them.
If they cannot get access to your house then they cannot take anything from in the house. If you were to let them in the house your husband could sign a statement to say what he owns (a solicitor would prepare this for a very small fee). And there are various things they cannot take, which includes kids beds, bedding, clothing etc.

Will find you a link with some more info - but best is to keep them out the property altogether.
Info here about what can and cannot be taken http://www.bailiffadviceonline.co.uk/whatelse.htm

Some info on enforcement action http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=20_replying_to_a_county_court_claim_form#chapter12
And this might be worth a read http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=08_reducing_payments_or_suspending_a_bailiffs_warrant_on_a_county_court_judgment (but I would still try speaking to national debtline).

DVardysShadow

tindrawers wrote: »

The judge didn't look at anthing I had brought with me and seemed quite uniterested in what I had to say and simply read the letter which Lombard had sent in (They didn't attend court) which basically siad that I had a shortfall each month and they didn't believe that my income and outgoings were as I had said as they had seen no evidence to substantiate this - (although they have not requested eveidence although I clearly have this) and basically if I had no money as my I&E stated then I shouldn't be able to afford even £1.00.

I told the judge I understood that £1.00 was not a great offer but at this time this is what i am paying all my other creditors and is all I can afford...I do not anticipate this to be the case for the rest of my life and would look to make larger payments when I am in a better position to do so and so clear the debt in time.

She said asked what I could afford to pay and I said no more than £1.00 as previously stated to Northampton Court and she asked why I couldn't pay any more and i said because I don'y have any money!! She asked if I owed any property or asets...which I answered no to as I do not and she then said " Well then I shall enter a judgement of 'payment forthwith' and if you don't have any money they will have to deal with how they want. I asked what that meant and she said well they could send the bailiffs in I don't know what they will decide to do but if you don't have any money to pay them then you can't pay them.

I'm now a bit confused and very scared.

It is scary, but I think she has probably done the only thing she could do. £1/month on a £6242 debt is virtually irrelevant. She asked how much you could pay - and at £1/month, there is no sensible settlement she could broker. She is powerless in the face of your impecunity and although she might have appeared dismissive to you, she probably thought more that Lombard were wasting her time.

If she had ordered £50/month, you would not have met it. But Lombard would drag through her court a few more times and ultimately get a forthwith judgement, followed by bailiffs. So if they are going to get bailiffs later, they might as well get them now. At least you won't be in suspense over this for years to come.

Take on board the advice about the bailiffs and with any luck they will decide it is not worth the bother. Even Lombard probably realise that they would end up having to pay the bailiffs themselves.

chanz4

what you going todo once the baby comes? Maybe best to look at bankrupcy anyway as if you can only afford £1 nappys alone will cost more

thechippy

chanz4 wrote: »

what you going todo once the baby comes? Maybe best to look at bankrupcy anyway as if you can only afford £1 nappys alone will cost more

Well, for the first time I find myself agreeing with you...;)

Yep, this is a classic case of BR being pretty much the best route.

Trouble is, can you get the fee's together to do it?

Dca's really are a bunch of numbnutz idiots, what do they REALLY think they are going to gain from this?

Judges are just as stupid! If they can see the £1 is all that can be paid, why grant the forthwith? They really do need a reality check.

fatbelly

I agree with the others - DRO if under 15k in debt, bankruptcy if over that.

You may want to post on the bankruptcy board for more info.

chanz4

thechippy wrote: »

Well, for the first time I find myself agreeing with you...;)

Yep, this is a classic case of BR being pretty much the best route.

Trouble is, can you get the fee's together to do it?

Dca's really are a bunch of numbnutz idiots, what do they REALLY think they are going to gain from this?

Judges are just as stupid! If they can see the £1 is all that can be paid, why grant the forthwith? They really do need a reality check.

I just tell it the way it is, always bought up to pay what I owe

tindrawers

Thanks for your help and comments guys...I think you are right, I think maybe a debt relief order may be the best route to go...is this difficult to get granted?? I don't know a lot about these either or bankruptcy either, I think I'll have to do some investigations.

Tixy thanks for your comments and the links..I'm checking them out at the mo...what do you think about the DRO route...is this better then waiting around for what I presume will be the inevitable knock on the door from the bailiffs?

fatbelly

tindrawers wrote: »

Tixy thanks for your comments and the links..I'm checking them out at the mo...what do you think about the DRO route...is this better then waiting around for what I presume will be the inevitable knock on the door from the bailiffs?

Yes - if you qualify.