Judgment for Claimant question advice much appreciated

wayne87_2

Hi
I am actually sat here typing this feeling sick. My husband has today received a letter and when I opened it (as he is at work til 11pm) it is a "Judgment for Claimant (in default).

It says he must pay £3871.43 forthwith. I gather that means it must pay it in full.
There is no way at all that we can afford to pay this in full as only he works full time, we have a 2 year old and I am heavily pregnant again.
We can however afford to pay £300 per month. If he was to call the number on the letter that they have given to make payment and made £300 payment and continued to do that monthly would that be ok or would they take it further (ie bailiffs,prison etc...) Like i say £300 is the absolute maximum we could afford to repay a month.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I feel physically sick so please nobody judge us, Yes we were stupid to get in this position but it happens.

fermi

Talk to National Debtline. Freephone 0808 808 4000.

You can apply for a redetermination or variation by your local court for an affordable payment.

wayne87_2

thanks for your reply. the letter has come from Northampton Cpunty Court but we live in Barnsley SouthoYorkshire. does that change anything?

fermi

No. If you apply for a redetermination or variation it all gets shifted from Northampton to your local court to be done.

wayne87_2

do you know how much it costs to apply for a redetermination or variation by any chance?

fermi

If you can do a redetermination then it is free. Not all cases can do that though, depending on the circumstances of the judgement. Plus needs to be applied for by writing a letter which must be received within 14 days of the judgement date.

If you have to do a variation application instead it can cost up to £35 I think unless you are exempt.

As said, call National Debtline FREE on 0808 800 4000. They will talk you through it.

National_Debtline

Hello there,

If it is a judgment in default sadly a redetermination is not possible - the reason being is that a determination by the court hasn't actually happened. The other party have got their judgment uncontested.

A variation is possible, the fee is currently £40. You can complete a form called n245 - and ask the court to set the judgment at a rate that you can afford. So long as you stick to the instalments furtehr enforcement should not happen. If you are a homeowner the other party could try and apply to secure the debt to your property, this is known as a charging order.

Here's a link to our fact sheet which outlines the variation process: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/08%20EW%20County%20court%20-%20suspending%20a%20bailiff%27s%20warrant%20or%20reducing%20instalments%20on%20a%20county-court%20judgment/Default.aspx

*** You cannot go to prison over a civil debt like this. ***

Do consider going through a personal budget sheet, this will help you work out how much you can afford; here's a link to ours: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/steps/step2/Pages/Step_2_11.aspx

Do you have other debts?

Very best wishes,

David @ NDL.