Received CCJ Claim Form from Essex & Suffolk Water

voorheves

Hi;

I just received a CCJ claim form from Essex & Suffolk water and had a very simple question.

If I contact the Water company and ask to enter into a payment arrangement, can they stop the CCJ process?

Or is there no way of avoiding getting CCJ on the register against my name?

Many thanks.

antonic

You obviously owe the money, but why have they gone for a CCJ ?.

Have you been discussing this debt with them previously or have you ignored it ?

Have you had a repayment arrangement with them previously that has defaulted ?

They are going for a CCJ because they cant cut you off.

Any more question, please ask away !

voorheves

Hey;

Thank you for the reply.

I had a payment plan with them which ended and had to be re-negotiated which I didn't do.
I have been putting off contacting them.
Can I try for a new payment plan? I just don't want a bad mark against my name.

raven83

voorheves wrote: »

Hey;

Thank you for the reply.

I had a payment plan with them which ended and had to be re-negotiated which I didn't do.
I have been putting off contacting them.
Can I try for a new payment plan? I just don't want a bad mark against my name.

Unfortunately once you have received a ccj there is nothing that you can do (unless you pay it off within a month) to get it removed. Water companies are well know to give out ccjs because as said before they can't cut you off. I would now come up with a payment plan with the court ( what you can realistically afford) and stick to it, because if you default on it once you have the ccj they can enforce it and that can mean having bailiffs coming to your home. Once the ccj is paid it will show on your credit file as "satisfied".

antonic

voorheves wrote: »

Hey;

Thank you for the reply.

I had a payment plan with them which ended and had to be re-negotiated which I didn't do.
I have been putting off contacting them.
Can I try for a new payment plan? I just don't want a bad mark against my name.

The good news is that all the court has sent you is the claim form, there is no Judgement against you (yet !).

You must contact them and try to arrange another payment plan, if they refuse they will go for judgment against you.

If they get judgment , then repayments will be set by the Court based on the Income & Expenditure details YOU supply.

The repayments may well be actually less then those you have made previously.

If your not worried about your credit rating, this may be the only way out, as with a CCJ against you you wont be getting credit for at least the next 6 years.

alanfp

I reckon the best thing to do is contact the water company TODAY and see if they will make an agreement without any court action.

I' dguess they don't want to go through the court process unless it's a last resort. Even if they get their costs awarded, it just means it there's less chance of them getting what you owe them (cos of the small risk that you'll go bankrupt). and it may take them longer to get the money from you.

voorheves

Ok;

So I contacted the water company only to be repetaedly told that they can no longer put me on a payment plan not that the summons papers are set - that I'd either have to pay the full amount or fill in the court papers.

Is there really no other option?

nottoolate

sending the ccj paperwork does not stop them negotiating if they wanted to. they are telling you rubbish. they just dont want to it seems

voorheves

Ok that's a start.
So what should be my next call-of-action?
Should I call back, call them out on their rubbish, try to negotiate? Keep doing this until I find someone willing to talk to me? Should I try to reach someone higher than the first level of representative?
Should I mount a defence saying I am trying to get into a payment plan but they won't give me the time of day?
I'm sorry to ask so many questions but this is all-new territory for me and so I just want to ask for advice from those that might know a bit more.

voorheves

Sorry to bump this up.

So through phone-calls this has escalated to Call Centre manager who still claims once the court papers are drawn up ,they can't negotiate.

Please - a quick help - what to do next? Get a debt agency to get involved? Can Citizens Advice Bureau call for me?

The deadline's looming and I'm rather nervous so any advice is gratefully accepted.

vax2002

You MUST !!"!!!
Fill in the Form to DEFEND the claim.
It will not go away.
here is how to do it.
Make your offer to pay the company in WRITING (An- e-mail is not writing)
use recorded delivery and KEEP the slip.
On the defence forms write that you are NOT refusing to pay and the water company are suing for and use these words. "for which they have refused" COPY the text of the letter on to the form offering to pay, do not attach or staple another on to it.
Once the water company get the defence they will contact you very quickly with reference to your offer to pay.

County court "bear pit" work on common law principles which are:
You can not claim if you have not suffered loss or harm:
You can not claim for which you have already had
You can not claim for what you have refused to accept
You can not claim for which you never asked for:
You can not claim for what might have been if :

They still have a claim for the full amount but any judge will want to know why they refused your offer of payment and if it is seen that the offer was reasonable, in keeping with which the defendant could afford then the CCJ can be refused until they have accepted payment and you have defaulted on the agreement.