Court threat from a website

hs78900

Hi, Ill tell you a little about myself. I got into lots of debt over the last few years, totalling about £10000. I had some paid of by a family member, and I have about another £4500 remaining covering about 6 different debts(paydayloans etc). I have a scottish decree against me from a university over fees i owed, which I pay £15 every two weeks. The rest of the debt agencies get £5 each every two weeks. Im on job seekers allowance so dont have much spare cash! I have been paying these consistently for over 6 months and im feeling much better about myself. However, during the summer I was really struggling to write a best man speech and a few days before I asked a company online if they would write it for me(they write speeches!), the quoted me £600 which I agreed fully knowing I wouldn’t be able to pay it back, but they said they would write the speech then invoice me two weeks later. I ignored there emails for months(not wise I know), and then after about September time I got sent an email saying they were going to take me to court for the money unless I got in touch. I emailed them saying I would pay £40 every two weeks, and to date have made payments totalling £240. Over the last month I haven’t paid anything and ive yet again had an email demanding £100 by tomorrow or else court action will be raised. I just would like some advice on how to proceed? I cant afford the £40 every two weeks, I should never have said that. I pay all my other debts £5 two weekly, so dont have much spare cash at all. Im not trying to get out the debt at all, but do you think the court threat is genuine? I have never signed a credit agreement or anything of the sort. They dont even have my date of birth, only name and address. All correspondence was done through email. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice for me? I dont have the £100 to pay by tomorrow thats for sure. Im really not sure what to do, I dont want another decree on my name, but I cant afford to pay £100 by tomorrow, or pay £40 every two weeks for that matter. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks, JP.

Tixy

The threat of court may or may not be genuine.
It is very possible to take people to court for debts that don't have credit agreement and are not covered by the consumer credit act.

I would suggest writing to them to explain that you are currently on jobseekers allowance and can currently only afford a payment of say £5 a month towards the debt (or even £1 a month). And start making that payment.

If they do take court action against you then you will be able to demonstrate you have tried to pay the debt, and you would need to ask the court to allow you to repay the debt in installments.

Have you ever spoken to one of the debt advice charities at all? Obviously at the current repayment rate you won't ever get on top of the debt repayments. Are you hoping/anticipating your circumstances will improve at some point? If not then it may be worth considering insolvency options.

hs78900

Ive not been able to work for almost 3 years due to health reasons. I suffer from crohns disease and Ive just not got on top of it at all, however hopefully an operation in March will make me much better. I have a good degree and so hopefully when Im better I should be able to a fairly good job, but it all depends on my health really. My actual total debt is actually nearer £4500 including the decree so im not in too bad a position debt wise. One of the debts is a £1200 debt from a £100 paydayloan through microcredit, crazy interest rates. However Ive just spoken to mackenzie hall who have said they would consider the account settled for a one off payment of £200. Im absolutely delighted with that, and i should be able to raise that in a couple of days so actually that'll only be £3300 in total, which is manageable until I get a job. I will take your advise and offer £5 every two weeks, that I can afford. Thanks for your advice

harrys_dad

Even if they take you to court you cannot pay what you haven't got. If you are on JSA the court will not make you pay more than £5 every two weeks so the company are likely to accept your offer.

spacey2012

They would have to serve some kind of notice in written form first.

National_Debtline

Hello there,

Are you living in Scotland or England currently? There could be a number of options available to you. As the others have said, the threat of legal action could be just that - though if they do bring action you'll be able to respond to the court papers and make a reasonable offer that you can afford each month. They would need to send you a letter prior to the claim being issued - there are processes that need to be be adhered to.

Once we know where you're living I'll let you know what options could be possible.

Best wishes,

David @ NDL.