Some CCJ/Credit Card Debt Advice

andy768

Hi,
Some quick background - my mum ran up £10,000 on a credit card and only told me when she couldnt afford the minimum payment. The card is with HFC bank. We agreed a repayment scheme which expired in February. They sent out the forms to renew it which I sent back the next day by special delivery. They received them the next day but did not process them for 2 weeks. By this time the debt was passed onto a solicitors as my mum was classed as unco-operative. When we sent evidence we had sent them in time it was sent back to HFC who then passed it on to the solicitors a second time. Now she has received a CCJ letter from the solicitors. Questions:

1. The solictors have placed a £1998.58 charge on top on the debt. Is this legal and is there anything I can do. It seems ridiculously unfair.
2. My mum wishes to continue making regualr payemnts and will fill in the CCJ forms accordingly. Should she complete the (admission (specifed amount) N9A) form.
3. Will interest be added to the balance once the CCJ has been processed as they are currently charging £7.54 a day?

Please say if I need to supply any further information. I have rushed this post a bit! Thankyou very much.

Quincifer

Hey, you've come to the right place for help.
I'm sorry I don't know anything about CCJs but I wanted to reply to you so you go to the top of the pile so more people see the thread and can help you!
Good luck, hopefully some people can give you some really good advice xxx

fatbelly

Yes that charge is ridiculous. Dispute it on the N9B (or rather admit the amount of 10k)

If you don't agree with the eventual order, remember you have 14 days to ask for a redetermination at your local court

andy768

Thanks for the advice, I will fill in the forms tonight. Anything further to add please?

hev_2

You should fill in the Part Admission part of the form - admitting that you owe the money on the card but disputing the extra charges.

This will all be done on paper. You are unlikely to get a hearing to put your side of the case, so draft out the replies on scrap paper first to make sure that it covers everything.

If the CC company dispute this, then you may have to go before a District Judge to explain. Write down all the facts first, before you go, so that everything is clear in your mind. You may be able to speak for your mother, but you will have to ask for permission to do so. The CAB can be very useful here.

If they do not dispute the matter then you will get the order back from the Court eventually. Make sure that when you send back the Part Admission that you give a reasonable amount as the repayment figure. It may also be worth asking the Court to freeze interest - it may not be possible, but it never hurts to ask. Fatbelly is right - you will have time to dispute the order if you think it is unreasonable, but remember - hearings can rack up phenomenal solicitor's costs. The amount is too big to bring it into the Small Claims which would limit costs and most solicitors will charge over £100 per hour + VAT.

You will get a CCJ registered against your Mum, which will stay on the record for six years (although if you pay the CCJ before then you can pay a fee, show proof of payment and get the record marked that it has been paid off). However, you can always go to Court to vary the payment order (although this may not stop interest mounting up) which I suppose is something if the CC people are asking unreasonable amounts.

If you file a Defence, you are unlikely to get anywhere, especially if you have a record of paying the debt, and it will almost certainly lead to a hearing which will rack the costs up faster than you can blink! If you file a full Admission, the extra charges will be included and there will be no way of getting rid of them later.

It may be worth trying to plead with the CC people not to take you to court - they don't have to continue if they don't want to (although they may want your Mum to contribute to what they will certainly call 'lost fees').

The interest is legal. If you take someone to court for debt they can charge a daily rate (Section 69 of the County Court Act) until judgement. Unfortunately, they can continue to add interest after judgement if the amount is over £5,000 or the debt comes under the Consumer Credit Act - almost certainly your Mum is got on both counts.

Depending how much is left owing, if you do get a judgment against your Mum, and if she has other debts, you may like to ask the Court staff about an Administration Order. This is a procedure which is very similar to a DMP, but is administered by the Court who take a 10% fee. Creditors hate these as they last forever, stop interest and pay out pro-rata to all creditors. The snag is that I think you may need to have a total of less than £5,000 owing. Most Court staff don't know much about them either, but it may be worth a try.

Finally, do chase the Court up if things seem to be slow and to check the above info. Don't forget to get names of people you speak to and ETA of decisions/orders. It's amazing how much stuff gets lost!

And hugs for looking after your Mum. It is scary getting court forms, and I am sure she is really glad she can rely on support from you. I hope it all works out for you and your Mum. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your Mum.

Hev