County court claim with lie about payment

jmp1971

Hi,

I just received a count court claim from from the solicitors (Shoosmiths) of Nationwide building society. It states that the last payment made by myself was 10/5/13, but I've never stopped paying the towards the debt. I pay an agreed amount monthy. I'm unsure if I should tick the box on the claim that says I only admit to part of this claim or not. In a separate letter they wrote saying if I disagree with the claim they will add interest and court fees. Please help. The debt is £2515.22. They also said they are going to apply to put a charge notice on my house. I can only afford to give them a max of £5 per month.
Please advise what to do.

fatbelly

Do you agree that you owe £2515.22? If yes, then you are just asking for an instalment order and the factsheet below applies

County court - replying to a claim form

If you think that you owe less than this then you do a part admission, and you may have to phone National Debtline if you need help.

It used to be the case that if there was an instalment order up to date then they could not apply for a charging order. But that is no longer the case and they can now proceed to a CO anyway. They will probably not be trying to force a sale so the debt just sits there attached to your house until you sell it.

County Court - charging orders

Is this debt just in your name and do you own the house jointly with someone?

jmp1971

Hi fat belly,

Thank you for your reply and advice.
Does it matter that they have said I've not paid when I have?
Only me on the debt. I've also got two children. Single mum.

jmp1971

I agree with the money owed. I'm so behind with all the debt I can only recall roughly how much I owe them, but this does sound about right.

fatbelly

jmp1971 wrote: »

Hi fat belly,

Thank you for your reply and advice.
Does it matter that they have said I've not paid when I have?
Only me on the debt. I've also got two children. Single mum.

jmp1971 wrote: »

I agree with the money owed. I'm so behind with all the debt I can only recall roughly how much I owe them, but this does sound about right.

It would matter if they hadn't taken into account several months of payment. Other than that, not really.

Shame - if the house had been jointly owned it would have added some protection, but I don't think you have a lot to worry about with this. No judge is going to make 2 children homeless for a 2k debt.

jmp1971

Hi,

They have no taken into account the last 17 months of payment. This is when I started paying a reduced payment. They make it look as if I stopped paying in May 2013, but I did not stop at all, just a greatly reduced amount.

Thanks for the reassure re not making homeless.

jmp1971

Hi,

They have not taken into account the last 17 months of payment. This is when I started paying a reduced payment. They make it look as if I stopped paying in May 2013, but I did not stop at all, just a greatly reduced amount.

Thanks for the reassure re not making homeless.

fatbelly

Then you are saying that the figure of £2515.22 is not correct.

Check what it was 17 months ago, deduct your payments and do a part defence, admitting the new figure and offering to pay in instalments against that.

You can have some correspondence going alongside the court claim if you want to (you could ask them for a full statement of payments as they appear to have missed 17 months of payment) but don't miss the court timescale. If you acknowledge service (ticking that you intend to make a part defence) then you get 28 days (from when the claim was served) to put in your defence.

It does sound like your last contractual payment was around 10/5/13, which is what their Particulars of Claim is probably saying.

jmp1971 wrote: »

I agree with the money owed.

jmp1971 wrote: »

They have no taken into account the last 17 months of payment.

It has to be one or the other

patman99

If you have proof that you have made payments over the last 17 months (i.e. bank statement showing transfer), then make sure to include this in your reply to the Courts as it provides proof.

Thrugelmir

jmp1971 wrote: »

They make it look as if I stopped paying in May 2013, but I did not stop at all, just a greatly reduced amount.

You need to separate the 2 points. The breach of contract occurred in May 2013 when you ceased to make the required payment. A greatly reduced amount i.e. £5 means that the outstanding debt (including interest and charges) is continuing to grow. The lender does not have to accept this amount on an ongoing basis.

The charge is to ensure that the lender stands the best possibly chance of recovering the full debt.

Is there any possibilty of you making higher repayments every month?

jmp1971

Hi,
I can offer them up to £10 per month, but they say they will only take £40 which is out of my reach.