Charging Order threat

LisaB1970

Hi everyone, i need some advice.
I had a car on a personal contract plan. My husband and i seperated and i could no longer afford the payments. I returned the car immediately. I had the car around 6 months. Prior to that i had a car with the same company and they offered me a better deal if i swapped it for a newer one, so i foolishly did. If i had not then i would have paid 2 years of the 3 year contract.
I was left owing just over £4000 once they had sold the car at auction.
I telephoned them several times to try and make an arrangement to pay and sent them an income and expenditure form and offered £20 a month which is all i can afford. I have been paying this for a couple of months now. The manager said this was not acceptable and they were going to put a charging order on my home. The house is jointly owned by myself and my ex husband and there are 3 children living in the home. My son is 18 and at college so he is financially dependant on me and i have 2 other children of 13 and 14. I had a letter from a solicitor today saying they intended to get a CCJ and then a charging order. I called them and the lady said thatif i couldnt pay the £4k then they would proceed and i would be slapped with a CO. My ex is helping pay the mortgage and some of the debts we have, but neither of us can get this money together to pay it off. Can anyone tell me what to do becasie im worried we are going to lose our home.
Many thanks

soontobemrsg

As I understand it, if the house is owned jointly they can't place a charging order on it.

RAS

You will not lose your home. Read Blueback thread on the myth of charging orders.

A lot will depend on what the order says exactly (and you will not know until it is issued).

You may also be able to fight this is the default was wrong. Do you have the default letter?

sistafromanothermista

Isn't a charging order something which can be enforced when you sell your home?
As in, when it's sold they get their 4k?

sistafromanothermista

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/charging_orders.htm


This might help and give a bit more advice...
(Presuming you're in England)

fermi

sistafromanothermista wrote: »

Isn't a charging order something which can be enforced when you sell your home?
As in, when it's sold they get their 4k?

In theory a creditor can apply to the court for an order of sale, if you fail to keep to payments as ordered by the court.

In practice such an application would be refused by the court for the vast vast majority of cases. It is as rare as hen's teeth for one to be granted on a family home. So much so, that although one can never say never, you can usually disregard the possibility.

LisaB1970

Thank you everyone. Its reassuring to know we wont lose our home. Yes RAS i have a default letter, and i have been paying them £20 per month before i got that. I am in England sista :-)

LisaB1970

The other thing is and i dont know if this would have any bearing on anything. I gave the car back before i missed any payments. They issued the default notice some time after they had taken the car?

eyeopener2

Maybe I've missed something here but have they actually taken you to court yet? Has a ccj been issued?

LisaB1970

eyeopener2 wrote: »

Maybe I've missed something here but have they actually taken you to court yet? Has a ccj been issued?

No they haven't. I was told by the manager of the company i got the car from they would go for a charging order. Today i received a solicitors letter telling me to pay the £4k in full or they would issue a CCJ against me. The lady i spoke to said they would then apply for a charging order. She said this particular complany always go for these. Im just trying to get some advice befoe it all happens as i dont know what to do

fatbelly

One step at a time.

They are going to make a claim through the courts for £X. Unless you agree that X is the correct figure you should defend the claim.

What you've had is effectively a letter before action. If I were you I would write (recorded delivery, keep a copy) for detailed breakdown of their figure. It's worth talking to National Debtline.