Enforcement Officer imminent!!!!

james316

Hi guys, after a little help. I will try to summarize what has happened and not go into too much detail but if you need more detail I am happy to give it.
My wife (before we were even together) had a dispute with the childcare company that looked after her children. Basically, they charged her AFTER she had given notice and with the ensuing argument ended up in arrears by a few months.
Over 12 months later (we were now together) a company wrote to her asking for payment. We replied challenging the facts and the amount. Got a letter back admitting they had overcharged but increased the debt. We also made an offer of goodwill payment which they cashed and have never acknowledged or taken off the debt.
The last correspondence was when we challenged them of why they were ignoring our questions and not noted the goodwill payment.
We then moved and updated the address, still nothing. 12 months later, it turns out that they have taken a CCJ against my wife for an increased amount (presume charges). She then gets another letter through the door demanding payment from another company.
She phones this company and explains the story who advise her to send all documentation and a covering letter. We wait 2 weeks and receive a letter demanding full payment, again with no questions answered. She phones them again to be told an enforcement officer will visit us for payment and it is up to them if they will except an arrangement. To which my wife then phones back to see if we are being charged daily and the person on the phone says if we Email the original company, it is up to them if they will except a payment plan!
We still dispute the amount but at the same time this could get worse the longer it is left!! HELP!!!!!!!

kaya

For a CCJ to be granted you must have been taken to court ? Did you choose to ignore the summons? You also need to clarify if the " enforcement officer" mentioned is a court appointed bailiff or just a term used for intimidation by the debt collector before you will get much usefull advice

james316

We knew nothing of the court order. We sent the last letter over 12 months ago and have heard nothing back from the original chasers of the debt.
The new collectors have referred to the old collectors as 'Their Client'.

kaya

Wel it must have been to court for a CCJ to be logged, and protocol says that you should have been given the chance to attend the hearing and put your side of the case across , first thing I would do is to contact the company threatening with " enforcement officers" and check if they are court certified bailiffs who have been instructed by a court to collect the debt or not, may be they are a bunch of jumped up wallys . If a court has instructed bailiffs then its none of their business as to how the debt came I to being and they won't be interested in any excuses, all they want is to collect the debt and make their own money from it with charges . So you need to find out if they are bailiffs or not,googling the company name on the letter you have should do it, I would also ask for a copy of the court order if applicable and then contact the issuing court to find out why I wasn't notified about the hearing , happy to offer advice about dealing with bailiffs which will make them go away but please use the PM system so I don't miss any of your replies or have to keep hunting down this thread

Tixy

Do you know for certain there is a CCJ? Has your wife obtained a copy of the judgement (she can get a copy from the court that gave the judgement).

If they have claimed for an incorrect amount (e.g. if they didn't knock off the payment that wife can prove she paid by cheque) then your wife may well be in a position to apply for the judgement to be set aside.

james316

Yeah, that's how we found out that it was still ongoing. She saw a judgement on her file online and when she phoned the court, that's when we found out it was the original company. Within 3 days, we had a letter from the new company asking for payment.

Tixy

Does she agree with the amount they claimed on the CCJ? If so then I would look in to a set aside claim - https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/12%20EW%20County%20court%20-%20how%20to%20set%20aside%20a%20judgment/Default.aspx

If a bailiff's warrant has already been granted then you may be able to apply to have it suspended while you deal with this debt.
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

kaya

If the op didn't attend the court hearing to dispute the debt amount it's very unlikely that they will be interested now, non attendance is usually viewed as an admission of guilt by the courts , however, dismissing bailiffs is as easy as pie when you know the rules they play by, it is also a way of removing all and any bailiff charges from the debt total making repayment or negotiation of the debt amount much easier