CCJ Advice Please

shavenlunatic

Hi,

I have a loan with HFC for £5000 (have paid more than 5k back over the last 6 years but its been topped back up with late payment charges)

They issued a CCJ, I filled in the statement of earnings and with a remaining £50 "spare" money I made an offer of £10 a month.. i have finally got the judgement back and the courts have advised that I have to pay £500 a month else they will be sending out the baliffs!!!!

This is simply impossible, I am supporting my wife, a 2 year old and a new born baby on my wage.. we simply do not have the means to pay this..

Can I appeal this?

Also, the categories on the main statement of earnings didn't fit all of our outgoings and it advised to attach any expenses on a seperate sheet, which we did.... if this sheet went "missing" then this may explain why they think I have 500 quid spare cash every month

Just as things were looking up, something like this goes and causes a whole boat load of stress again..

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.. i really don't know where to turn

rog2

Yes you can, and SHOULD, appeal - the sooner the better.
Probably worth talking to your local CAB, who should be able to talk you through the procedure and, if necessary, arrange for a solicitor's interview.
Also, you should consider a claim against HFC for unfair penalty charges.

plumduff-2

1. Put in a claim for unfair bank charges... all the info is on this site, so no excuses...

2. You can dispute the figure of £500 pm, you do this one of two ways:

a) if within two weeks of the judgement, you can ask the court for a re-determination of means... This means the Judge will look over the figures and advise what you can afford to pay. There is no cost to do this, but you are then stuck with whatever level the judge states..

b) if out of time for a re-det, you can apply to your local court for a variation order. Complete form N245 which can be found on the court service website... You fill this in stating you cannot afford the judgement and make an offer of payment showing your income and expeniture. VO are usually reduced accordingly and done by court staff rather than a judge... The costs of doing a VO is £35 unless you are on qualifying benefits... Whilst on court servoce website look for form ex160 - remission of fee form, which will tell you if you qualify for fee remission..

Good luck and dont worry.

shavenlunatic

rog2 wrote: »

Also, you should consider a claim against HFC for unfair penalty charges.

I am currently claiming back £1800 charges from my current account, I wasn't sure if this would apply to my loan.. especially as it has gone to CCJ now

plumduff-2 wrote: »

1. Put in a claim for unfair bank charges... all the info is on this site, so no excuses...

Already got the letter saved, thanks but would I claim against HFC or the debt collectors?

2. You can dispute the figure of £500 pm, you do this one of two ways:

a) if within two weeks of the judgement, you can ask the court for a re-determination of means... This means the Judge will look over the figures and advise what you can afford to pay. There is no cost to do this, but you are then stuck with whatever level the judge states..

yes, just received the letter today..

is this a bit risky or does it usually work out sensibly?

b) if out of time for a re-det, you can apply to your local court for a variation order. Complete form N245 which can be found on the court service website... You fill this in stating you cannot afford the judgement and make an offer of payment showing your income and expeniture. VO are usually reduced accordingly and done by court staff rather than a judge... The costs of doing a VO is £35 unless you are on qualifying benefits... Whilst on court servoce website look for form ex160 - remission of fee form, which will tell you if you qualify for fee remission..

I did this with my previous CCJ and they accepted a £10 payment, and I had slightly more money then too

Good luck and dont worry.

hahah, I will try not to, but I can't speak to the wife..

edit: thanks for advice given up to this point.. at least there is a light at the end of this tunnel

plumduff-2

Always go for the original creditor when claiming back unfair charges...

Re-det or VO - which is the best... horses for courses... all depends... some prefer VOs as court staff deal with these and are usually quite generous,,,, but there is the cost... Others prefer re-dets.. no costs but seen by a judge.. some of whom live in Ivory Towers and dont know much about us poor folk...

shavenlunatic

spoke to courts, they said it is VERY likely that the attached sheet with additional expenses went missing (and it often does).. they advised me to send a mail to the bulk center titled "Reconsideration" and explaining that the amount requested was unreasonably beyond my means and that I believe a sheet containing expenses went amiss... they also advised me that if this comes back as an unreasonable amount I can put in an appeal (I expect that is the N245 form) and get re-assessed.

I will write to HFC and get all my charges sent to me and get the ball rolling for a claim of unfair charges (which I honestly believe will outweigh the debt outstanding) .

Look, thanks to you both for the advice, it has set my mind at ease a little.. i just had visions of baliffs coming round and taking my shoes to auction for 50p of my debt

Thumbs up to you both

shavenlunatic

The solicitors who applied the CCJ just gave me a phone call .. they asked if i received the order for payment, i said yes, they told me that they didn't request so much, they only asked for £75, for some reason the courts upped it to £500????

Are they just full of crap or can this happen???

rog2

shavenlunatic wrote: »

The solicitors who applied the CCJ just gave me a phone call .. they asked if i received the order for payment, i said yes, they told me that they didn't request so much, they only asked for £75, for some reason the courts upped it to £500????

Are they just full of crap or can this happen???

Check with the Court - it MAY be a 'clerical?' error. Also could you ask the claimant's solicitor to put in writing what they told you on the phone?

shavenlunatic

rog2 wrote: »

Check with the Court - it MAY be a 'clerical?' error.

will ring the court during my next break

Also could you ask the claimant's solicitor to put in writing what they told you on the phone?

which part? the £75 offer or the fact that they said they only asked for £75?

rog2

shavenlunatic wrote: »

which part? the £75 offer or the fact that they said they only asked for £75?

If possible both, but certainly the fact that they only asked for £75.00. It is MOST unlikely that a Court would impose a payment order higher than that requested by the claimant. If you have this in writing it will help in any request for 'reconsideration' or 're-assessment'.